...Why are so Many Minorities in Prison? Robert Klein ENG 122 English Composition II Instructor Megan Lockard January 19, 2015 Outline: Why are so Many Minorities in Prison? I. Introduction A. Thesis: Racial disparity in the criminal justice system is widespread and it threatens to challenge the principal that our criminal justice system is fair, effective, and just. II. Body Paragraph I- As the rise of private, for-profit prisons increase in number there has to be a steady flow of inmates to keep a profit for these private, for-profit prisons. A. Supportive Evidence- As Hallet says in his 2002 essay, “ Race, Crime, and For-Profit Imprisonment: Social Disorganization as Market Opportunity,” “It is perhaps surprising to realize that the Thirteenth Amendment to the US Constitution, which ended slavery, also authorized the ‘involuntary servitude’ of prisoners as a punishment for crime.”(p. 370) 1.Explanation- The private, for-profit prisons or as some people are now starting to call them corporations. The prisons need people in them to receive taxpayer dollars to house inmates and the idea is to make a profit off of every inmate in the prison. The Thirteenth Amendment protects the prisons to have free labor, so the owner of the prison does not have to pay the inmates for the work therefor; the owner keeps the profit. 2.So What? – That quote is important because it shows that prisons can get contracts and be protected to use the inmates as free labor. It shows...
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...Jefferson Chen Professor Queen Writing 39C 21 February 2013 Essay of Prospective Claims: Michelle Alexander discusses how mass incarceration has ruined and dismantled many lives of young African Americans. The problem she discusses so passionately in her book is a relevant problem in our society today. Ever since Ronald Reagan’s presidency and forward, campaigns have been targeting crime and especially rug related crimes. While it is clear that many of these young African Americans are going to prison due to drug related crimes, stopping the war on drugs altogether is not the solution. Although stopping the drug war may seem efficient for stopping the incarceration of young blacks in the present, it does not guarantee that these same people will not commit other crimes. The cost for stopping the drug war is allowing drug usage and distribution to run rampant which can cause the society and the neighborhoods around the areas to become unsafe. Alexander discusses how there is no way around this issue and dismantling the system of mass incarceration is the only resolution; however if these poor neighborhoods were funded with government money, drug abuse can potentially become lower or even be stopped. Alexander is also discussing how a handful of reforms cannot be a solution to the problem. She argues that all the financial grants that are given to police departments for drug arrests and racial profiling should be halted. She believes that by halting the funding and supplies...
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...conditions fit the definition of slavery, which include: a civil relationship whereby one person has absolute power over another and controls his life, liberty, and fortune; the subjection of a person to another person, especially in being forced into work; work done in harsh conditions for low pay. 3) Synopsis: a. America has the second largest prison population in the world, second to China. b. Two-thirds of inmates in state & federal facilities are African-American or Hispanic. c. The prison population in the US will reach 2.7 million this year; 1.8 million are people of color. d. Americans are often surprised to hear of the varied companies that use prison labor; Nike, Victoria’s Secret, TWA, British Petroleum (BP), McDonald’s, and many others use cheap inmate labor. e. Inmates are forced to work under threat of solitary confinement, loss of good time/work time, loss of commissary privileges. f. Inmates may not receive adequate health care for injuries or illnesses from work performed while incarcerated. g. There is little or no oversight to ensure the inmates are treated humanely. There are no OSHA standards, no unions, no EPA guidelines… 4) We learned that he who has the money wins. 5) New...
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...and losses generated through the firm's operations, and have three distinct characteristics legal existence: a firm can (like a person) buy, sell, own, enter into a contract, and sue other persons and firms, and be sued by them. It can do well and be rewarded, and can commit offence and be punished. Limited liability: a firm and its owners are limited in their liability to the creditors and other obligors only up to the resources of the firm, unless the owners give personal-guaranties. Continuity of existence: a firm can live beyond the life spans and capacity of its owners, because its ownership can be transferred through a sale or gift of shares. Municipal authority of a town or city. A very large, usually diversified, firm. However, America and corporations go hand in hand. In the United States, where they say a prison population of up to 2 million – mostly Black and Hispanic – are working for various industries for a pittance. For the tycoons who have invested in the prison industry, it has been like finding a pot of gold. They don’t have to worry about strikes or paying unemployment insurance, vacations or comp time. All of their workers are full-time, and never arrive late or are absent because of family problems; moreover, if they don’t like the pay of 25 cents an hour and refuse to work, they are locked up in...
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...Operations of the Judicial System ENG 122 July 22, 2013 Introduction: This paper is going to give a good insight into how American prisons have a disparity toward the minority population. Is this trend due to a higher rate of minority crimes or the manner in which the judicial system operates? The Judicial System has a major affect about the way they look at Minorities and the crimes that they commit, but is the Judicial System just being racist about the differences if they commit a crime and if Americans commit them. The real question is what is the difference and why are our prisons having a disparity of minority inmates. American prisons have a disparity of minority inmate population. Because the high rate of inmates, all individuals can commit the same crimes, and is this trend due to a higher rate of minority crimes or the manner in which the judicial system operates. They say that minorities get treated differently because of the color of their skin and that can be true. They also say that the judicial system also treats those with different back grounds and different colored skin differently than Americans. Where does this come from? You still hear it in today’s society where an African American will get in trouble and all they have to say about it is that you are only doing this because I am black. The judicial system has a hard job to do when it comes determining punishments for crimes for crimes that are committed and putting individuals in prison for serious...
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...Is the higher rate to minority incarceration due to poverty or is it because the justice system failed them? Many groups of people have argued over this topic for years. The NAACP has made their views on the subject very clear. They are completely against racial profiling and they blame the justice system for the higher number of minority inmates. I believe that it’s because of the drug-war and poverty and not as much the justice system racial profiling. There is no way to answer this question without looking farther into what racial profiling is, and what affects it has on people. From my understanding, when most people hear the words racial profiling they automatically think of black Americans being harassed by the police or other law enforcement officials. Racial profiling does not just consist of law enforcement officers arresting or detaining minorities because of their color or ethnicity. It also consists of people harassing other people differently because of their name, appearance, beliefs, and any personal trait they have. Merrian-Webster defines profiling, as the act or process of extrapolating information about a person based on known traits or tendencies. (Profiling, 2013) In my opinion, most people do some sort of racial profiling on a daily basis. It may be something as simple as locking your door when you drive through a bad part of town. This does not make you a bad person because statistics may prove that where you are driving does typically have...
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...Some feel that those who fall victim of continuous hard times with little hope for help or change would eventually turn to a life of crime to obtain their necessities for survival. My own feelings are that although many were born and raised in poverty, they were reared with integrity and morals and may choose to live their lives as law-abiding citizens. Whatever essentials they can afford they would come by honestly and whatever they cannot afford, they accept living without. But what happens when victims of poverty become suspects of crimes and need court representation? According to the Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution, the accused is guaranteed the right to a lawyer at all important stages of the criminal process. America has an adversary system of justice. A trial is a contest between the prosecutor, who represents the state, and the defense attorney, who represents the accused. The facts of the case or an appreciation of the truth at the heart of it arises from the combat between these two sides. The role of the judge is to oversee what happens, impartially enforcing rules of evidence and procedure. But this doesn’t necessarily mean that the defendant will receive adequate representation. The state’s prosecutors are usually affluent,...
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...Brandon Bond March 16th, 2014 Racial Disparities in the U.S. Judicial System The United States has the largest documented incarceration rate in the world. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics at yearend 2012, approximately 6,937,600 offenders were under the supervision of adult correctional systems (2013). Of this number, more than 60% of the inmates in prison are minorities however; they make up only 37% of the United States population. Considering the trends in which minorities commit crimes, such broad statistics conceal that racial disparities pervade each stage of the U.S. judicial system, from arrest to trial and sentencing. The first stage of the judicial system is the arrest made by an officer. Police are given an incredible amount of discretion to use that leads to bias and racial profiling. According to Paul Bou-Habib in his article “Racial Profiling and Background Injustice”, he states, “The main reason in favor of using racial profiling in the context of criminal investigation is that I can increase the chance of catching criminals” (para. 2). A key factor in the imbalance of the arrests on minorities in comparison to whites is that they commit more crimes at higher rates. In the article, “The Correlates of Law Enforcement Officers’ Automatic and Controlled-Race Based Responses to Criminal Suspects” by B. Michelle Peruche & E. Ashby Plant (2006) suggests that: Such responses may be influenced by stereotypic expectations. For example, it is possible...
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...Massive Incarceration: A Racial Perspective Sociology 350N Abstract In 2010 there was a significant imbalance in the incarceration rate of males within the U.S.; these differences were among the ethnic groups of Caucasian (white), Hispanic and African American (black). In reference to the number of people incarcerated per 100,000 in their individual group, black males had the highest number of inmates, followed by Hispanic males; however, white males had the lowest number of prisoners (Wagner, 2012). We must ask the question “why”. Why and how is this occurring? The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world; so, is the system that was designed to protect and serve abusing its power. Some factors that can possibly be contributing to this disproportion is socioeconomic status, prejudices within the criminal justice system and power investments. Massive Incarceration: A Racial Perspective Introduction Today the US makes up for about 5% of the world’s population and carries 25% of the world’s prisoners, this 20% difference shows that the US imprisons more people then actually living in the country (NAACP, 2015). This is the highest prison population when compared to other countries. Records show from 1980 to 2008, the number of individuals that have been incarcerated has quadrupled from 500,000 to 2.3 million (NAACP, 2015). During that time frame crime & poverty rates have also increased dramatically, while unemployment & educational...
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...America’s Increasing Prison Population In the United States of America, we currently have approximately 2.2 million people in our jails and prisons and we incarcerate our citizens at a rate that is greater than any other country. Our number of incarcerated have increased 500% during the past thirty years. (The Sentencing Project) As of 2005, we had 737 people incarcerated for every 100,000 citizens in the United States, whereas the rest of world only put 166 people in jail for the same 100,000 people. (International Centre for Prison Studies 2007) It is obvious that something we do in the United States is having a direct impact on these burgeoning imprisonment numbers. The increase in the prison population really started to dramatically...
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...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 . . . for the same crime.” Not...
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...Hispanic, and White men. What factors or variables are associated with who gets involved in crime, why, and what happens to them in the criminal justice system? Also look into how many judges, lawyers, and lawmakers are White compared with those who are African American. What does this tell us about structured inequality? Topic Proposal I chose this topic because this because this is the normal scenario in my hometown that is has a similar meaning to my city. During the years I grew up here in Augusta, GA. I felt that African American men have a huge structure of inequality compared to White or Latino descent. This topic is important to cultural diversity because it talks about African Americans, Latinos, and White. Majority of America has a big diversity of African Americans, Latinos, and Whites that we see and work with every day. Learning about these major cultures makes a big impact of diversity and how to handle and notice different cultures. I want to research this topic to find out why there is so many black men are in jail. What are they in jail for? Why is this is a stereotype. Finding out this particular age group is always in jail more than Latinos and whites. They’re must be some type of inequality involved when I do research to find out what happens to them in the justice system,...
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...Capital Punishment Jason Schill One of the most talked about and controversial topics in any Criminal Justice, physiology, or philosophy class is Capital punishment or the act of taking a life for committing a crime. You can’t watch any election involving politics without hearing their stance on capital punishment are they for it or not? After reading the first paragraph you can start to guess what this paper is going to be about, my paper is going to be about my position on the death penalty and how I agree with Blackmun’s ideas on why the death penalty is unconstitutional. Also I am going to add sources to help with my persuasive argument. An argument can be made that the death penalty is not important and it does not affect most people, but most people pay taxes and our prison system comes and goes by how much money is poured into it, and the fact of the matter is that putting someone to death is an expensive process which can be argued that the tax payers are affected by it. So by saying that I think the death penalty is a very crucial topic that almost everyone has an opinion on. I’m going to start my persuasive argument with a quote by Associate Justice Harry Blackmun, after the Callins v. Collins case, Blackmun said “We hope, of course that the defendant whose life is at risk will be represented by competent counsel someone who is inspired by the awareness that a less than vigorous defense will have truly fatal confidence”. (Abelson 292) This is a crucial point in...
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...Rehabilitating criminals can create a great deal of discussion. On one side people may say ‘why should we give them programs after they have harmed the community.’ On the other said those inmates are released back into the society. According to Office of Program Policy and Analysis & Government Accountability (OPPAGA), ‘90% of the inmates are sooner or later released from prison.’ Another reason for the rehabilitant programs and other treatment is because, “The department screens inmates entering the system, and has determined that over two- thirds (68%) have less than ninth grade literacy proficiency and most were unemployed before incarceration; over 60% of the inmates also have a history of substance abuse, and 16% have been diagnosed with some form of mental illness” (Corrections Rehabilitative Programs Effective, But Serve Only a Portion of the Eligible Population at a glance). These rehabilitating programs are meant to prepare the inmates before they are released back into the society. These programs are being set up and operating at different prison across the nation. One must unquestionably ask how much money is being spent on these programs. According to OPPAGA’s report, “In Fiscal Year 2006-07, the Legislature appropriated over $2.1 billion to the Department of Corrections; of this, $36.4 million or 1.7% of the agency budget, was allocated to correctional education and substance abuse programs. The department was unable to identify the level of funds allocated to...
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...Endnotes 1. Mauer, M. (2006). Race to Incarcerate. 2nd Ed. New York: The New Press, p. 13. 2. Throughout this manual, we use terms such as “racial groups” and “minorities” interchangeably, with an understanding that many, but not necessarily all, of the dynamics of the criminal justice system apply to various racial and ethnic groups. 3. Leinfelt, F. H. (2006). Racial Influences on the Likelihood of Police Searches and Search Hits: A Longitudinal Analysis from an American Midwestern City. Police Journal, 79(3): 238–257. 4. Office of Justice Systems Analysis (1995). Disparities in Processing Felony Arrests in New York State: 1990–1992, Office of Justice Systems Analysis, New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services. 5. Sabol, W. J., and Couture, H. (2008). Prison Inmates at Midyear 2007. Washington, D.C. Bureau of Justice Statistics. 6. U.S. Census Bureau (2007). 2006 American Community Survey. Available online at: http://www.census.gov/acs/ www/index.html. 7. Sabol and Couture, op. cit. 8. U.S. Census Bureau, op. cit. 9. Bonczar, T. P. (2003). Prevalence of Imprisonment in the U.S. Population, 1974–2001. Washington, D.C.: Bureau of Justice Statistics. 10. Snyder, H. (2006). Juvenile Arrests 2004. OJJDP Bulletin: Washington, D.C.: National Disproportionate Minority Contact Databook. 11. Federal Bureau of Investigation (2007). Crime in the United States, 2006. Washington, D.C. 12. Spohn, C. (2001). Thirty Years of Sentencing Reform: The Quest...
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