...Justice System or Not? Jessica Anders Chamberlain College of Nursing Justice System or Not? According to the U.S. Justice Department, in 2003 about 10.4% of all African American men between the ages of 25-29 were incarcerated, as compared to 2.4% of Hispanic men and 1.2% on non-Hispanic White men. What is going on here? Why are black men in this age group so much more likely to be in jail than are people of white or Latino descent? Topics discussed in this paper include the most affected ethnical population in regards to criminal behavior and convictions, the difference between convictions and when/how individuals of different ethnic background are sentenced, and what the consequences may entitle based on individuals of alternate ethnical upbringing. African Americans make up 13% of the general U.S. population, yet make up 40% of all incarcerated men. While whites make up 67% of U.S. population, yet they also only make up 40% of incarcerated men. The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world compared to other nations ("Sentencing Project," 2013). There is clearly an abundance of African American men incarcerated in the justice system as compared to men of other ethnicity (Hartney & Vuong, 2009). “If current trends continue, one in every three African American males born today can expect to go to prison in his lifetime…….,compared to one in every seventeen white males” ("Sentencing Project," 2013, p. 1) . As stated by Kirby, males of African American...
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...Are 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...
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...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...
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...Justice System Abstract This paper wills discuss how the verdict of the “Zimmerman Trail, a 28 year-old Hispanic male who was acquitted on murdering charges for the killing of a 17-year-old African American male. The trail caught the attention of many Americans around the country and which was amplified by the media rather race played a big part in the outcome of the verdict. The outcome of this case has become one of the most controversial issues among many Americans people today. Justice System On July 13th 2013, a Florida jury acquitted George Zimmerman of all charges in the February 2012 shooting and killing of 17-year-old African American male, Trayvon Martin. The verdict “Not Guilty” caused an outrage among many Americans, mostly African Americans. Many Americans sought for justice, believing that Mr. Zimmerman was indeed guilty of murdering Mr. Martin on the act of racism, and that the justice system had failed to protect the rights of African Americans. Zimmerman was cheered by those who agreed that he was acting in self-defense, whereas others believed Zimmerman had targeted Martin because he was African American. On February 26th, 2012, Mr. Martin was walking back home from a Convenient Store, where he was followed by Mr. Zimmerman. Mr. Zimmerman who was on the Neighborhood Watch Committee for his community, believed that Mr. Martin was suspicious because he was walking in the rain at nighttime. Mr. Zimmerman...
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...RACE AND THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM 2 “According to the U.S. Justice Department, in 2003 about 10.4% of all African American men between the ages of 25 to 29 were incarcerated, as compared to 2.4% of Hispanic men and 1.2% of non-Hispanic White men” (DeVry, 2015). This topic is critical to the study of cultural diversity because of the racial disparity among the young African American males in the criminal justice system and the lasting effects of incarceration. This research paper will unveil the truth about why African men in this age group are much more likely to be sent to prison than are people of White or Latino descent. . African American men are often charged and prosecuted more aggressively than White or Hispanic men. This paper will also reveal the adverse mental and physical health endured by black males during incarceration and upon release. Recent studies indicate that inadequate education and low socioeconomic status has a direct correlation between black males and crime. As the United States becomes an increasingly diverse nation, many studies confirm racial inequalities exist amongst judges, lawyers and legislation. This creates the very serious concern of racial profiling. While racial profiling is illegal, studies prove that black males are more likely to be stopped and searched. New York State is only one of two states that automatically processes, prosecutes and incarcerates 16 and 17 year-olds as adults. Legislation...
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...the Criminal Justice System Wendell Wrice English 122 English Composition II Prof. Deborah Zeringue October 7, 2013 For many Americans the scales of justice is blind. It stands as a symbol that everyone is treated fairly in the eyes of the law. Many Americans, especially minorities this is simply not the case. In fact the United States has the highest incarceration rate in the entire world-five times the world’s average. A total of 2,380,000 are now in prison. The US has five percent of the world’s population, but 25 percent of the world’s prison population (Fisher, 2010).In fact minorities make up a large share of the prison population in the U.S. African Americans have a 32 percent chance of serving time in prison at some point of time in their lives, Hispanic males have a 17 percent chance, while white males a 6 percent chance (Fisher, 2010) . Such disproportions of incarceration rates gives reason to believe that minorities, especially African Americans commit the majority of crimes requiring incarceration or the fact that our justice system is flawed to the point where it singles out a specific racial or ethnic group. The question of why there are so many minorities especially African Americans being held in our criminal justice system leads one to...
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...America’s Justice System: Justice for All? ENG122 English Composition II Instructor: August 26, 2013 America’s Judicial System: Justice for All? Law enforcement can be an admirable job for anyone who takes this position seriously. It is a job that has its rewards. Conflict comes to light when the differences of opinions regarding the disparities in the judicial system on all levels of law enforcement. Even though there are many whites that do not agree with the facts, the statistics show that African Americans and Hispanics are incarcerated at a much higher rate than whites. The judicial system in the United States has shown favoritism and bias towards white defendants, especially the wealthier white defendants for hundreds of years. There are racial disparities that burden our judicial system with the appearance and often the reality of unfairness. Visit any criminal trial in America today and you will see that the judge, the prosecutor, the court stenographer, the clerk, the bailiff, other various court personnel, the defense attorneys, and more often, the jurors are all white. One excellent example of these disparities would be in the recent “George Zimmerman” trial in Sanford, Florida a town who has allegedly had a history of racial violence and judicial disparities in and out of the court room (Maur, 2010). There are questions often asked, is there justice for “all” in our criminal courts and judicial system, and what is racial disparity? Some...
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...Racial Disparity in Sentencing Racial disparity in sentencing in the criminal justice system is a problematic issue. Individuals often believe that racial disparity in sentencing does not exist; however, substantial proof in the criminal justice system proves otherwise. According to statistics of Marc Mauer, “unprecedented rise in the populations of prisons over the past three decades is a six fold increase, resulting in the incarceration of nearly two million Americans.” The breakdown of statistics is as follows: “One in every eight African-American male groups between 25-34 year old is a result of incarceration and 32% of African-American males born to society can expect to spend a term in a federal or state prison if the current racial disparity continues” (Mauer, 2004, p. 79). Four reasons of Racial Disparity The four reasons for the flourishing continuance of racial disparity in the criminal justice sentencing process are ineffective assistance of procedural bars, and council, jury selection and venue, prosecutorial discretion, and juror racism (Tabak, 1999, p. 6). Research documenting states like New York and California prosecutions have board spectrums concerning discretion seeking capital punishment; however, these four reasons apply to cases, which capital punishment is sought. “Capital punishment can be sought for intentional murders which individual may commit during the course of a felony and the intent to commit murder can be formed instantaneously before the...
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...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...
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...than the police and the criminal justice system? Argue from the perspective of African Americans. Introduction * In recent years policy attention regarding the crisis of the African American male has focused on a variety of areas in which African Americans have suffered greatly. * This includes education, housing, employment, and health care. Have these problems been displayed as prominently as in the realm of crime and the criminal justice system? * First, African Americans have almost always been more likely to be victimized by crime than other groups. * Second, the rates at which African American males have come under some form of criminal justice supervision, which not only affect individual victims and offenders, but families and communities as well. Incarceration * African Americans now make up nearly 1 million of the total 2.3 million incarcerated populations. * African Americans are incarcerated at nearly six times the rate of whites. * Together, African Americans and Hispanics make up 58% of all prisoners in 2008, even though both these groups make up one quarter of the US population. * According to Unlocking America, if African Americans and Hispanics were incarcerated at the same rates as whites, today’s prison and jail populations would decline by 50%. * One in one hundred African American women are in prison. Drug Sentencing * About 14 million Whites and 2.6 million African Americans report using drugs. * Five...
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... A. In 1964 Congress passed the Civil Rights Act prohibiting discrimination in employment. Yet today, three out of every ten African American males born in the United States will serve time in prison, a status that renders their prospects for legitimate employment bleak and often bars them from obtaining professional licenses. In 1965 Congress passed the Voting Rights Act. Yet today, 31 percent of all black men in Alabama and Florida are permanently disenfranchised as a result of felony convictions. Nationally, 1.4 million black men have lost the right to vote under these laws. Congress also passed the Immigration and Nationality Act, which sought to eliminate the vestiges of racial discrimination in the nation's immigration laws. Yet today, Hispanic and Asian Americans are routinely and sometimes explicitly singled out for immigration enforcement. In 1968 Congress passed the Fair Housing Act. Yet today, the current housing for approximately 2 million Americans – two-thirds of them African American or Hispanic – is a prison or jail cell. (http://www.civilrights.org/publications/justice-on-trial/) B. Rather than reducing unfair racial disparities in federal sentencing, the evidence shows that the guidelines made the problem worse. Just before Thanksgiving, the Sentencing Commission released a report assessing whether the federal sentencing system has achieved the goals of the 1984 reforms. It confirmed what...
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...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 people and...
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...SOCIOLOGY IN CRIMINAL SYSTEM Abstract Sociology in the criminal justice system s both interest but very complicating. There are some many different aspects on what can be touched upon. The criminal justice system is known to be very biased. In specific terms the system is racial bias and unfair. The America uses a formal social control, to deal with crimes. Statistics show a fair difference and connection between race and the percentage of people convicted of crimes. Other components influence these percentages but always seem to come back to race. The racial unfairness has taken a toll on the American people and contrasts the idea that America was originally built on Incredible as it is America is one of the most tolerant nations in the world. America is a country that was built on freedom, pride, happiness, and equality. Though this is common knowledge and an allusion of the American people, the country has some faults. Equality is a major moral in America that was fought for in history and even in today's society. Throughout our history minority groups have fought hard for there rights and we have accepted the fact that its wrong to discriminate. It is agreed that racial discrimination is wrong as well (Banks, 2009, p 79). Racism has been a problem in America seen the country was founded. Slavery was a form of racism in the early centuries of America. Our judicial system has been a pride and...
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...Roichelle Marble Sociology 134 Bryton Fredrick May 3, 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)...
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...directly impacts incarceration and recidivism; specifically for African American males. This is an age old issue in our country that continues to propagate itself. Our society strips away the rights of felons and they become life-long criminals. The implications of incarceration, recidivism and race directly creates quality of life issues for a large percentage of people in the country. There are several sociological concepts that apply to this theory. Poverty leads to higher crime rates. People with lower social classes are more likely to be targeted by the police. The Drug Policy Alliance (n.d) explains in the article “Race and the Drug War” that law enforcement has a “focus on urban areas, on lower-income communities and on communities of color” (para. 1). This type of targeting creates a negative view and disrespect for authority; as a result, it is more likely for crime to be committed. Macionis (2010) states that “race is closely related to social standing, which as already explained, affects the likelihood of engaging in street crimes. Many poor people living in the midst of wealth come to perceive society as unjust and are therefore more likely to turn to crime to get their share.” (p. 232). Higher crime rates in lower income neighborhoods leads to the next sociological concept which is the arrest rate for African Americans in the United States. There is a higher arrest rate for African Americans in the United States than that of any other race. Bonczar (2003...
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