...Equal Opportunities for Minorities in 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...
Words: 2104 - Pages: 9
...Analysis of Racial Profiling In the Criminal Justice System Police officers today face many challenges. Some concerns include dangers or safety concerns related to being a police officer, questions of the use of force and the public’s perception of officers being corrupt. Additionally, with cases of deaths and accusations that have come to the forefront about police throughout the United Stated, questions about police racial profiling have also come to light. Today’s police are considered to be corrupt and prejudice against minorities. Their image has been tarnished and police are now seen as the enemy. Many compare today’s law enforcement officers to the police officers that were prejudice and brutalized blacks during the civil rights movement. If police are to change the public’s perception of them so they can get back to the business of protecting and serving, they must address issues of racial profiling, police brutality and the criminal just system must partner with the community to reduce crime rates and recidivism rates among minorities. First, racial profiling is defined as “any police action initiated on the basis of race, ethnicity, or national origin of a suspect; rather than on the behavior of the individual or on information that leads the police to a particular individual who has been identified as being, or having been, engaged in criminal activity (Ramirez, 2008, p.3). Originally, racial profiling was used to combat the issue of drugs and assist with...
Words: 3239 - Pages: 13
...03-Banks.qxd 1/30/04 4:52 PM Page 57 3 Racial Discrimination in the Criminal Justice System ETHICAL BACKGROUND It is generally agreed that discrimination based on ethnic origin is morally wrong and a violation of the principle of equality. The equality principle requires that those who are equal be treated equally based on similarities, and that race is not a relevant consideration in that assessment (May and Sharratt 1994: 317). In other words, it is only possible to justify treating people differently if there exists some factual difference between them that justifies such difference in treatment (Rachels 1999: 94). Equality is a nonspecific term that means nothing until applied to a particular context. Thus, in a political context, equality means equal access to public office and equal treatment under the law, and equal treatment extends to equality in terms of job hiring, promotion, and pay. Race refers to groups of persons who are relatively alike in their biological inheritance and are distinct from other groups (American Anthropological Association 1997: 2). Ethnicity is a cultural phenomenon referring to a person’s identification with a particular cultural group (Hinman 1998: 403). Race is socially constructed, and the notion that persons “belong” to a particular race was developed in the last century based on the belief that there was a biological basis for categorizing groups of people. Biologically, however, the term race has no meaning, yet society...
Words: 10761 - Pages: 44
...between and resolved by the feuding couple rather than an issue of criminality. Today, those views have changed, and it is now an issue that is dealt with in legal aspect. In this paper, I will address the mentality that judges and juries hold that perpetuate the cycle of violence among intimate partners, as well as sentencing disparities between domestic violence and violence outside of familial/intimate relationship contexts. While there is a significant occurrence of domestic violence against men, for...
Words: 1429 - Pages: 6
...In Ontario, aboriginal boys aged 12 to 17 make up 2.9 percent of the young male population. However in Ontario youth facilities they make up nearly 15 percent of young male admissions ( Rankin 2013). In Ontario black boys are more likely to go to jail four times higher compared to white boys where there isn't such an overrepresentation ( Rankin 2013). Toronto criminal lawyer Ried Rusonik highlights the racial disparities in our sentencing system he states; Black people go to jail for possessing and selling crack cocaine. White people who sell and use cocaine powder rarely do," he says. White people get all of the discharges and conditional sentences for illegal possession of firearms; black people go to jail. Name any essentially similar offense and the case law always seems to find it more serious when a black man commits it. ( Rankin...
Words: 1783 - Pages: 8
...Introduction The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) is the principal federal program through which the federal government sets standards for juvenile justice systems at the state and local levels. It provides direct funding for states, research, training, and technical assistance, and evaluation. The JJDPA was originally enacted in 1974 and even though the JJDPA has been revised several times over the past 30 years, its basic composition has remained the same. Since the act was passed in 1974, the JJDPA focused solitary on preventing juvenile delinquency and on rehabilitating juvenile offenders. Since the original enactment of the JJDPA in 1974, the periodic reauthorizations have been controversial, as the Act's opponents have sought to weaken its protections for youth, reduce prevention resources, and encourage the transfer of youth to the adult criminal justice system. The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act follow a series of federal protections, known as the "core protections," on the care and treatment of youth in the justice system. The four "core protections" of the act are, the Deinstitutionalization of Status Offenders (DSO), Sight and Sound separation, Jail Removal, and Disproportionate Minority Confinement (DMC). The "DSO" and "Sight and Sound" protections were part of the original law in 1974. The "Jail Removal" provision was added in 1980 in response to finding youth incarcerated in adult facilities resulted in "a high suicide...
Words: 6750 - Pages: 27
...Please post a 200-300-word response to the following discussion question by clicking on Reply. What is crime? What are the components of the criminal justice system? How does crime relate to the law? What changes would you recommend to better improve the criminal justice process? Crime is any act or omission (i.e. something intentionally or unintentionally left out), which violates established laws of the local, state, or federal governments (Schmalleger, 2011, p. 7). What does this mean? It means that if there is a law governing a particular act and an individual commits the act in violation of the established law, they are committing a crime. For example, if there is a local ordinance (law) banning smoking of any kind of tobacco or tobacco product within 25 feet of a business or government building and you find yourself smoking a cigarette within 10 feet of one of these specified locations (act), you are in violation of the law and in effect committing a crime. The components of the criminal justice system consist of law enforcement, courts and corrections (Schmalleger, 2011, p. 14). In all of the components of the criminal justice system, you will find various agencies, titles, and roles specific to ensuring the administration of justice. These systems of processes are designed to protect the innocent and ensure fairness (due process) of the law is adhered to before, during, and after arrest (Schmalleger, 2011, p. 14). Crime in a sense is an act or omission, which society...
Words: 1826 - Pages: 8
...A Look at Racial Disparity in the United States Prison System Micah O’Daniel Institutional Corrections 2/22/11 Racial inequality in the American criminal justice system has a strong effect of many realms of society such as the family life, and employment. Education and race seem to be the most decisive factors when deciding who goes to jail and what age cohort has the greatest percentage chance of incarceration. Going to prison no longer affects just the individual who committed the crime. Instead, the family and community left behind gain a new burden by one individual's actions. The United States still has a large disparity between Whites and Blacks and now a growing Hispanic population. This racial disparity in the educational system, job sector, and neighborhoods have all contributed to the booming prison population in the latter part of the 20th century which has only continued to widen in the 21st century. At the end of 2006, the Bureau of Justice released data that stated that there were 3,042 black male prisoners per 100,000 black males in the United States, compared to 1,261 Hispanic male prisoners per 100,000 Hispanic males, and 487 white male prisoners per 100,000 white males (USDOJ, 2008). The likelihood of black males going to prison in their lifetime is 16% compared to 2% of white males and 9% of Hispanic males (USDOJ, 2008). Other social factors can be linked to the racial inequality in the criminal justice system such as socioeconomic status, the environment...
Words: 1466 - Pages: 6
...PRINCIPLES OF SENTENCING: TOWARDS A EUROPEAN CONVERSATION Paper delivered at Conference on “The Limits of the Criminal Law” at Leiden University, January 23, 2008 and subsequently published in Cupido (ed), Limits of Criminal Law (Nijmegen, 2008).[1] Tom O’Malley Senior Lecturer in Law National University of Ireland Galway First, I would like to extend my warmest congratulations to the students of Leiden Law School for having organised this conference. Thanks to their vision and energy, representatives from several European countries have gathered in this historic venue to discuss some key aspects of criminal law and criminal procedure. More often than not, we think of European law solely in terms of European Union law, the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights or both. Needless to say, the study of European law even in this limited sense is of the highest importance given its impact on our national legal systems and our daily lives. However, growing levels of legal and political integration now demand that we broaden our vision of European law to encompass the domestic legal systems of individual European states. Some work has already begun in this regard,[2] but it is only on rare occasions such as this that we can engage in a meaningful exchange of ideas and information on areas of common concern. Criminal justice is a most appropriate and worthy topic with which to begin. In times past, sentencing would not have featured very prominently...
Words: 9462 - Pages: 38
...Rehabilitation Pap CAJ: Introduction to Corrections . Rehabilitation Paper The goal of rehabilitation came during the middle of the twentieth century when corrections adopted a medical model, in which crime was believed to be the result of an underlying pathology of offenders that could be diagnosed and treated (Seiter, 2011). Offenders were considered sick and in need of treatment to prepare them to return to the community as productive, law-abiding citizens. Correctional agencies implemented a variety of treatment programs to improve offenders and to provide them with the tools necessary to be successful members of society (Seiter, 2011). The need for rehabilitation of offenders was emphasized by the Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice, appointed by President Lyndon Johnson in 1966, which noted a need for “substantial upgrading” of the correctional system and its reorientation “toward integration of offenders into community life” (Seiter, 2011). Throughout the years, many processes have been created to form the rehabilitation process of criminal justice. This process has reached out to many offenders and their families by allowing them to return to the community as changed individuals. Rehabilitation has many different process, but most, if not all have been proven successful in returning offenders to the community as changed individuals (Seiter, 2011). Rehabilitation is defined as a return to a previous form. In criminal justice, rehabilitation...
Words: 1454 - Pages: 6
...Social & Economic Justice Issues with Racial Disparity LaToya Foster Shaw University A lot of historical injustices have happened towards the black community over the years. It is clear that they have suffered a lot as they were considered part of the society that was not worthy of certain privileges. The African American communities were brought from Africa to work as slaves to the white people. They were property to be owned rather than people with feelings and needs. They were bought and sold just like any other property. A person who had the most slaves was considered to be the richest (Marte, 2014). The slaves were treated in whichever way that the owner felt. However, over the years, improvements have been made as the African American community have fought for their rights and have been acknowledged by the white community. However, black people are still being discriminated against especially when trying to secure employment. They are considered to be inferior to the white people and the skills that they have. Society can still be stuck in the cloud that most black people come from poor backgrounds and therefore do not have the same opportunities to study as their white counterparts. Therefore, they are not able to access the same job opportunities. Furthermore, the African American population is said to commit the most crimes and therefore making people afraid to hire them. Research...
Words: 876 - Pages: 4
...system for adults in the United States, could benefit from undergoing a few changes. Delaware is one of the states where juvenile justice policies are extremely complicated and usually result in many people losing hope and giving up, meaning a higher recidivism rate amongst our youth. The purpose of this memorandum is to propose five changes the state of Delaware could make within its juvenile justice system that would benefit the juveniles, the law enforcement officials, and the public alike. One of the first changes Delaware can take to make their juvenile justice system stand out from other states is to remove the mandatory rules to charge some juveniles as adults. Currently, only four other states do not utilize mandatory rules for sentencing juveniles as adults (Trying Juveniles as Adults, 1998). This may seem like an easy way out for some juveniles who have committed more serious offenses, but it’s important to remember that these juveniles are, in fact, still juveniles. They haven’t fully developed mentally, physically, psychologically, etc., and it’s unreasonable to charge them as adults for crimes that they have committed as juveniles. Focusing on rehabilitation for our juveniles should be a main priority, not locking them away for years on end and depriving them of services such as substance abuse counseling and psychological therapy programs that they would immensely benefit from. Another recommendation that could help Delaware’s juvenile justice system is to expand...
Words: 1087 - Pages: 5
...MALE AND FEMALE PRISON DIFFERENCES 1 MALE AND FEMALE PRISON DIFFERENCES Carlette Hawthorne New England College Professor Kathy McDonnell-Corrections MALE AND FEMALE PRISON DIFFERENCES 2 Abstract This paper will point out some of the differences between the men and women prisons. This paper will also give examples of how gender plays a huge role in the prison systems, regarding programs that are offered to both women and men in the prison system. MALE AND FEMALE PRISON DIFFERENCES 3 A prison is a supervised facility for adults that have committed a crime. These facilities house both women and men. The housing structure for men and women are different. The women prisons do not have the heavy armed guards, watch towers or the high barbed wire fence (Schmalleger & Smylka, 2013,p 351), that we all are so use to seeing, when we ride past the men prisons. With the rise in women being jailed, for the crimes that they commit, it is only a matter of time, before the structure will change. “Between” 1980-1999 the incarceration rate for women out -weighed the men. During that time the incarceration rate for men was 303 percent, and for the women it was 576 percent (Austin, Bruce, et al. 2001). Although the incarceration rate has increased for women, the men still out-weigh the women, when it comes to men and women being in prison (Schmalleger & Smykla, 2013). The prisons, like other correctional facilities are designed to reform and rehabilitate their...
Words: 814 - Pages: 4
...It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back: The War on Drugs, Mass Incarceration, and a Call to Action for America's Black Youth By Carl L. Young An Alternative Plan Paper Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Science In Sociology: Corrections Minnesota State University, Mankato Mankato, Minnesota Spring 2013 Final Draft 4/20/2013 1 This Alternative Plan Paper has been examined and approved by the following members of the Examining Committee. _____________________ Dr. Leah Rogne, Advisor _____________________ Dr. William Wagner _____________________ Dr. Penny Jo Rosenthal _____________________ Dr. Nadarajan Sethuraju ________________ Date 2 A bstract This alternative plan paper examines the circumstances that have evolved as a incarceration of the Black community. In the last thirty years, the federal government of the United States of America has engaged in camp which has involved a variety of policies to stop the production, distribution and sale of illegal narcotics. Hundreds of billions of dollars have been spent in a war that has targeted the most vulnerable in our society, impacting its youth for generations to come. This alternative plan paper addresses...
Words: 18864 - Pages: 76
...It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back: The War on Drugs, Mass Incarceration, and a Call to Action for America's Black Youth By Carl L. Young An Alternative Plan Paper Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Science In Sociology: Corrections Minnesota State University, Mankato Mankato, Minnesota Spring 2013 Final Draft 4/20/2013 1 This Alternative Plan Paper has been examined and approved by the following members of the Examining Committee. _____________________ Dr. Leah Rogne, Advisor _____________________ Dr. William Wagner _____________________ Dr. Penny Jo Rosenthal _____________________ Dr. Nadarajan Sethuraju ________________ Date 2 Abstract This alternative plan paper examines the circumstances that have evolved as a result of the Reagan Administration’s War on Drugs and the increase of mass incarceration of the Black community. In the last thirty years, the federal government of the United States of America has engaged in campaign known as the “War on Drugs,” which has involved a variety of policies to stop the production, distribution and sale of illegal narcotics. Hundreds of billions of dollars have been spent in a war that has targeted the most vulnerable in our society, impacting its youth for generations to come. This alternative plan paper addresses the impact of the War on Drugs and the criminal justice policies that have impacted the life chances of Black youth nationwide and calls for a new social movement...
Words: 19872 - Pages: 80
