David Tillman
Professor Kathrine LaPrad
Critical Thinking ID 301
28 October 2011
Reevaluating the Judicial System: Does Race Determine the Severity of Your Sentence? If a white and black man both commit robbery under similar circumstances who will receive a more severe sentence? In this essay we will review instances that will help to determine if the judicial system needs to be reevaluated due to racially unfair sentences. The judicial system was created to interpret laws instituted by the state or federal government. It was also brought about to serve as a setting where individuals can have their disputes resolved (www.answerbag.com). Many issues over the years have come up where race has played a major issue on what kind of sentence is handed down to the accused and continues to go on to this day. Any system can only be as good as its contributing parts. The criminal justice system constituent parts are imperfect human beings. Through multiple research that had been deemed sufficient; a decision of whether the racial bias that is within the system is the fault of the system or the people who create the system had yet to be determined. There is no doubt that there is a need to eliminate racial bias within the criminal system because it does exist. The question that keeps coming up is whether the changes need to be made within the system or within the society that it is a part of.
Does Race Decide Your Sentence Severity? In every state statistics show that the prison population is overrepresented by Hispanic and black people. Many Hispanic and Blacks as well as other ethnicities from lower socioeconomic groups are more likely to be convicted of crimes and more likely to receive more harsh sentences than others (www.answerbag.com). According to a specific instance that was published in the St. Petersburg Times there was Tamara Graham a white female who