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Racial Disparities In Criminal Courts

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Racial Disparities in Criminal Courts

The earlier criminal courts started to punish those who committed a crime or differentiated from the norms of society (NACM, 2017). It was a system put in place to keep order. In the 16th century , if the person was found guilty, it was most likely going to result in a death sentence(NACM, 2017). Unlike in modern criminal court, the accused was guilty until proven innocent. The earlier criminal courts followed numerous laws that displayed discrimination until centuries later, philosophers and policy maker, began to change the laws to try to assure all citizens’ rights were protected.

Criminal courts are made, to uphold the rights of citizens to have a fair trial when convicted of crime. Criminal courts are the center of establishing order and creating justice in society (NACM, 2017). It is the duty of the courtroom workgroup to assure that the convicted that step in the court has their due process, which is individual's rights as a citizen such as a fair trial, jury trial, no discrimination, exclusionary means, and other rights that are established in the amendments. Although the “going rate”, which is the normal way of handling crimes, is a consistent method of deciding sentencing, there are many types of punishments that the guilty receives.

The initial purpose of punishments were to prevent others from committing crime and to discourage felons from committing more crime. The most popular type of punishment is incapacitation,

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