...RACISM IN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM By Nichole Griffith Advised by Professor Chris Bickel SOC 461, 462 Senior Project Social Sciences Department College of Liberal Arts CALIFORNIA POLYTECHNIC STATE UNIVERSITY June, 2012 © 2012 Nichole Griffith Table of Contents Research Proposal ............................................................................................................................1 Annotated Bibliography ...................................................................................................................2 Outline..............................................................................................................................................6 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................7 Research ..........................................................................................................................................8 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................29 Bibliography .................................................................................................................................31 Research Proposal The goal of my research is to expose the racism in the criminal justice system that is so hidden. I want to show how racism contributes to the huge number...
Words: 9753 - Pages: 40
...Introduction The United States of America’s national anthem the “Star Spangled Banner” and the “Pledge of Allegiance” state that the United States is “land of the free” with “liberty and justice for all.” Yet, the United States houses 25 percent of the world’s inmates even though it only houses five percent of the world’s population (Martensen, 2012). Additionally the fundamental concept of the United States Criminal Justice System is that an individual is “innocent” until proven guilty. This makes one question whether, people in the United States are really held to this standard, or are certain people more prone to crime in the land of opportunity and freedom? Our society is built around the societal norms of the dominant white group and racial and ethnic inequalities are intertwined in every aspect of our society causing minority groups to struggle against a society built around white privilege. Prevalence Minorities in comparison to their population in the United States are incriminated at a higher rate than Whites. Spohn (2000) stated that “a majority of the studies reviewed…found that African Americans and Hispanics were more likely than Whites to be sentenced to prison, even after taking crime seriousness and prior criminal records into account” (as cited in Hartney & Vuong, 2009, p.10). In 2010, racially the United States population identified as being comprised of 196.8 million Whites who identified as White alone (69.1%), 38.9 million Blacks or African Americans...
Words: 3943 - Pages: 16
...Introduction With practices aimed at reducing discrimination such as affirmative action, the argument has been made that racial discrimination is no longer a pressing issue in American society.[1] It has further been argued that the Constitution protects all citizens, and race has no weight in the American criminal justice system.[2] While the United States Constitution guarantees equal treatment of all citizens, regardless of race, racism still exists in the American law enforcement and criminal justice systems. In this era with the end of official institutional racism, there has been a corresponding shift from de jure racism to a de facto racism where members of minority groups, especially African Americans, are subject to unequal protection of the laws and excessive in the American criminal justice system, particularly in drug law enforcement.[3] Drug law enforcement is far more discretionary than for other offenses. It is for the police to decide when and where they will seek to make drug arrests, and what priority they will place on enforcing drug laws.[4] Since the war on drugs began in the 1980s, two general trends have been identified. First, there has been a substantial increasing in the number of drug arrests overall; and second, black males have constituted an increasing proportion of these arrests.[5] Based on this evidence, it would be natural to assume that the number of arrests is proportional to the crime rate – that blacks began using drugs in...
Words: 3035 - Pages: 13
...Inserts His/her Name Customer Inserts Tutor’s Name Customer Inserts Grade Course (06, 07, 2012) Racism in criminal justice system Introduction Justice is a term that we hear a lot in our everyday life and also accept it although many of us might have a doubt as to what it truly means. Justice is the phenomenon through which we could achieve righteousness and equality. But unfortunately racism has been a common practice in the criminal justice system. Racism is actually discrimination against a group or individual based on color, social and financial status. It is something that occurs more than we notice. Many scholars believe that racism play a more important role in targeting and sentencing process in the criminal justice system and this is something which should not happen in any country no matter what. In order to understand the role that racism plays in the criminal justice system we must, first, look at the role that it plays before the criminal reaches the day of sentencing in the court. There are various publications that speak on profiling and actuarial methods which unwillingly get people into the system. Though these are two major components of the discriminatory acts that exist within the criminal justice system, it does not actually begin with these institutionalized methods. It is the laws and crime control policies that create discrimination in the system. It has been witnessed that in some instances these laws and policies are set in favor of the white...
Words: 5548 - Pages: 23
...African American Males Victims of the Criminal Justice System? Institution Tutor Name Date Table of Contents Chapter One 3 Chapter One Introduction The United States of America is credited to have the largest criminal justice framework globally, as at 2011, seven million people were under various programs within correctional facilities and programs. Among these people, 2.2 million were incarcerated in federal, state as well as local correctional facilities. Such incarceration rates dwarf the rates of all other countries globally. However, its magnitude is not void of challenges. The criminal Justice System is ailing form a vast array of challenges. Of importance to us with regard to this context is racial disproportionality within the criminal Justice system. By definition, racism is the perception that inherent differences between various racial groups consequently lead to the superiority of certain races and discrimination of other groups. This is the perception that great men such as Booker. T. Washington, as well as Martin Luther King, fought against during the 1960’s in a bid to end racism. For years these men under the African- American Civil Rights movement advocated for equality for all leading to the ‘end’ of racist perceptions. Today, the belief that their efforts halted racism stands to be questioned, on further examination of this subject it is eminent that racism is still existent in the twenty- first century. Racism has simply found ways of adapting...
Words: 1914 - Pages: 8
...The Myth of a Racist Criminal Justice System By William Wilbanks The name of the book that I read was The Myth of a Racist Criminal Justice System by William Wilbanks and was published in 1987. It talks about the myths of having a racist criminal justice system. In this book the author does not believe that that the criminal justice system is racial but believes at times there is racial prejudice and discrimination within the criminal justice system that goes both ways between blacks and whites. According to the text this book is written in the belief that many aspects of the question "Is the criminal justice system racist?" have not been addressed by Criminologist. This book is intended to fill that void of not knowing. Wilbanks wrote this book basically to give us a better understanding of how sometimes what looks to be racism in the court system really isn’t but is looked at that way because of a high difference in number in the black/white ratio involved negatively in the court system. The book was written from a more general point of view in order to give a neutral understanding to both parties as to why the court systems are looked at to be racist but really aren’t.. The author also gives very interesting arguments of proof to back up his beliefs. There was a part in the book where Wilbanks says, “Thus the question of whether the criminal justice system is racist must not be confused with that of whether blacks commit crimes at a higher rate than whites because...
Words: 564 - Pages: 3
...if they were all treated equally by the law. Racism is still very much a major part of our society. Growing up in NY I always knew that there were racist people, but I never knew how the racism actually affected our society and how strongly it influences such things as government funding for education and housing developments. Racism and prejudice always seemed secondary to me. I always knew that this country had issues with racism, but I never imagined that it affected serious issues so heavily. Minorities in this country are put at a greater disadvantage than whites. Many minorities, especially those that do not speak English as their primary language, have to deal with inadequate housing, underfunded school districts and the everyday struggle of discrimination for their differences and beliefs. Most people believe that black and Hispanic people simply commit more crime; the situation is actually more complex. Research suggests crime exists across all societies; it is the type of crimes committed that varies. Those who are victimized by crime are the lower economic levels of society. I think it’s a lack of knowledge and we only focus on these two groups. White collar crimes that are committed primarily by the middle-class and whites are underreported and often not counted in official crime statistics. In our criminal justice system blacks are treated more harshly at every stage in the justice system than a lot of races. More than 2.3 million...
Words: 615 - Pages: 3
...Felicia Mitchell English Online Dr. Logan December 12, 2013 Criminal Justice System is it "Justice" or "Just Us" Section I: Introduction I have always been intrigued with the criminal justice system every since I started working as a Correctional Officer for Solano State Prison. I also worked in the Inmate Appeals Division where inmates had the right to appeal a write up written upon them by any staff. It is not my intention to raise any more controversy on the subject but to open the eyes of people to see their is still discrimination against those of color than whites still in the 20th century. While working in this division, I noticed a lot of discrimination within this system such as the African Americans and Hispanics would receive a denial on their appeal and their property would be taken away from them whereas, if a Caucasian inmate appealed the same situation they would receive a granted appeal and get their property back. Working as an Officer, their were a lot of mistreatment in the prison system; such as if their were fights among the Blacks and Hispanics or Whites and Blacks or Whites and Hispanics, the minorities would always receive the harsher treatment by being locked down for months whereas the white inmates would just be locked down for a few days. At a presidential primary debate Senator Barack Obama charged that blacks and whites “are arrested at very different rates, are convicted at very different rates, and receive very different sentences...
Words: 1304 - Pages: 6
...Cultural Diversity in Criminal Justice Brent Weaver Cultural Diversity in Criminal Justice, CJA/423 Torria Richardson 5-30-11 Cultural Diversity in Criminal Justice Society has shown racial diversity among communities. Racial disparity can be found in the criminal justice system. A system designed to be fair and equal to individuals is not existent. Racial diversity can be found at the time of arrest to the time of sentencing. The purpose of this paper is to focus on the diversity in sentencing. Case studies will be discussed throughout this paper. Leaders of criminal justice are not exempt of racial diversity. Racial diversity has changed over the years, but racial diversity remains strong in sentencing minorities. Diversity is not biased of offenses. Racial diversity can be seen in the smallest of charges, such as a traffic stop to the most serious sentence of the death penalty. Most of the sentences are because profiling an individual of minority. African Americans are likely to be the targeted racial group. Hispanic individuals are likely to be another racial group profiled for harsher sentencing. Racial disparity in the criminal justice system should always be considered a violation of ideas of the forefather’s of this nation as equal treatment under the laws of the United States Constitution. Many reasons for racial disparity can be identified in the sentencing process. The sentencing process is a difficult process, and adding racial bias may create a...
Words: 1983 - Pages: 8
...other minorities are over-represented in the criminal justice system, but under-represented politically in the United States of America. Since well before its inception in 1776, the United States of America has been a nation characterized by white supremacy. In fact, modern day America may not exist if not for the taking of land from the Indigenous Peoples on this very premise. Today, many Americans believe they reside in a post-racial nation, citing the abolition of slavery in the 1860s. While racism has certainly been reduced in modern America, it is still ever-present in society, and more alarmingly, the criminal justice system. Today, the American criminal justice system is used as a front for state racism,...
Words: 757 - Pages: 4
...2015 The criminal justice system has caused a lot of heartache and pain due to its unfair, racist, biased opinion. Resulting in killings, shootings, and protests. There are a variety of races that make the headline stories of these events, but there is a specific race that repeatedly makes headlines of newspapers. The shootings and killing of African-Americans teenage boys have been the trending topic lately. It is hard to distinguish why these events happen. Certainly, there is no one, or race, to blame for this happening, however, understanding the root cause may help. The high incarceration rates of minorities is an examples and the killings proves how the criminal justice system is extremely flawed to this day and has always been built off of the privilege whites inherited and that blacks do not have. It has been proven time and time again that black and whites are not equal within the criminal justice system. History even says that the early conception of the criminal justice system and punishments were formed under conditions of colonialism and slavery. An example is white police offers repeatedly killing African American Males and being found not guilty; from Emmitt Till to the Ferguson case. Which is history repeating itself, the more things change, and the more they remain the same. In each generation, new tactics have been used for achieving the same goals—goals shared by the Founding Fathers (Alexander). Which is also known as institutional racism, which is systematic...
Words: 821 - Pages: 4
...socially constructed. Official statistics show there is a high level of ethnic minority crime in society for example blacks are five times more likely to be in prison than a white person. Left realists Lea and Young argue that statistics highlight that Black men are committing more crimes due to racism in society which is marginalising black people for example racism has led to high levels of unemployment amongst ethnic minority groups hence leading to poverty and poor housing situations. Lea and young believe that the Medias etherises on consumerism leads black men to feel relatively deprived as they are not able to maintain the goals of society via legitimate means hence they turn to delinquent subcultures as a means of gaining rewards through illegitimate means. This also links to Merton’s strain theory. However Neo Marxists criticise official statistics representation of ethnic minorities and crime, claiming that they are socially constructed and don’t reflect reality. Gilroy argues that Black crime is over represented in official statistics and is in fact a myth created by racist stereotypes. For example victim surveys rely on people’s memory to identify the ethnicity of the criminal, however people tend to rely on their stereotypical typifications, often saying their attacker was black when in reality they...
Words: 881 - Pages: 4
...Racism has been a widespread epidemic in our U.S. Criminal Justice system. It is evident that racism exists in the court systems and behind prison walls. However, in the Criminal Justice system, it is covered up by rules, regulations, and the law. The writings of James Baldwin’s “If Beale Street Could Talk”, (1974) exposes how the views of racist individuals can put another person in the custody of the court. Further, causing this person to be placed in the prison system as the outcome of racialism. Fonny, a black male, is falsely accused of committing a crime and he is at the mercy of the justice system. He is an example of how this racist cycle can have long- lasting effects on a human being. The struggles of a black man trying to deal with...
Words: 328 - Pages: 2
...The criminal justice system consists of three main parts: 1) the police; 2) the courts; and 3) the corrections. In the criminal justice system, these three groups function together under the rule of law to maintain the law within society. Despite its important role, there is a sufficient amount of evidence that blacks and aboriginal people are over-represented in the criminal justice system. The logic behind this problem is that racial discrimination and profiling is present, or it is the result of the differential offending patterns of the minority. After researching, I believe that aboriginal and blacks are over-represented in the criminal justice system due to racial discrimination and profiling. My reasoning behind this is based on the collected data that supports the fact that racial discrimination and profiling is apparent in the criminal justice system. Racial discrimination and profiling is most associated with the police, and that is strictly because they are the first contact with the suspects, victims, citizens, and the offenders. I also believe that the causes of the problem and the potential solutions are the same for both aboriginal and black people. The only variable that might alter the causes of the problem, and the potential solutions is the location in which the aboriginal and blacks live in. This being said, racial discrimination and profiling are without doubt the primary attributes in the over-representation of aboriginals and blacks in the criminal justice...
Words: 1772 - Pages: 8
...meaning lack of similarity and or inequality. Even though, in the criminal justice sytsem these words have diffenet meanings. These two terms have been evaluated within the criminal justice system, the dicrimination and disparity of ethic and racial groups have been recognized for a long time by some. At sometime or other disparity maybe the result of discrimination within the justice system in some situations. Disparity refers to the inequality in all aspects within the criminal justice system, for certain groups of individuals it conists og arrest to sentencing; this nearly will always refer back to ethic and racial disparity. Racial disparity is present within the criminal justice system as the porportion of an ethic or racial group is within the control of the system are greater than the the porportion of such groups within the general population ( The Sentencing Project,2008). Even though, it may not always be a relation to intentional discrimination racial disparity has been definately established within our justice system. Discrimination is defined as a distinction based on personal characteristics of an individual resulting in some degree of disadvantage to the indiviudual ( Law Encyclopedia, 2011). In order for us to better understand the similarities and differences between these two terms researchers have recently created the discrimination/disparity continuum in regards to the criminal justice system processes. Five elements consist on this spectrum, ranging from...
Words: 927 - Pages: 4
