Law
Topic:
Discrimination of African Americans in the Criminal Justice System as Offenders/ You can Change the topic
Evidence of Racial Disparity, and Discrimination due to Stereotyping
Another topic that can be used is Disparities of minorities in the criminal justice system as offenders. sources 1 criminal justice organizations 2. investigating Difference 3 Forensic and legal Psychology 4 The color of Justice. please you these source .
CRITICAL ANALYSIS PAPER: Worth 33% of your grade. Suggest Possible Reforms for the Criminal Justice System. In a paper of approximately 10 pages in length, you will write an essay describing your reactions and reflections of the assigned readings (textbooks). You will address a couple of the themes raised in the texts and propose at least two ways to “fix” issues of discrimination, prejudice, racism, and others within our criminal justice system. This paper requires that you conduct a critical analysis of class readings and integrate the learning from the course. You should do additional research to back up your position. At least five outside sources are to be cited in addition to the materials used in our class. Your paper MUST follow PBJ Paper Guidelines. We will engage in a review/editing process. Papers for review must be submitted to the instructor on or before November 7, 2019. Your revised final paper is due on December 10, 2019. This revision is required and you must include an explanatory page outlining and detailing all changes/revisions made to the paper based on my original feedback to you.
For this paper you are required to use APA formatting, more information available at: http://www.oswego.edu/library/ref/APA_style.pdf
NOTE: All papers will be run through Safe Assign in Blackboard, which is a plagiarism detection software. While there will inherently be a proportion of matching (e.g., citations), your matching score should not exceed 15%. Students will be able to see this score after uploading their paper (it may take some time to process as each paper is checked against a large repository of other papers, so please plan accordingly). If the score is too high and students wish to revise and resubmit, they may do so before the deadline. High levels of matching will be considered plagiarism and will result in failing the assignment, failing the course, and/or the violation being reported to the Office of Academic Integrity for further review.
PLEASE CHANGE TOPIC/ TO Fit This paper
Abstract
The American justice system has, for the longest time, been accused of discrimination of minority races hence the disparities in the numbers of arrests, trials, and convictions. Stereotyping has contributed to these numbers that are somewhat alarming when compared to the white community. There are differential, individual and institutional forms of discrimination that influence the justice system. Differential involvement explains racial bias in criminal justice to come from the living standards of the minority groups. Hispanics and African-Americans are said to constitute a more significant percentage of the races behind bars because they are unemployed and live in poverty. Individual discrimination comes from predefined beliefs of criminal justice authorities against these minority groups. Institutional discrimination is attributed to classifications and practices that have an unequal impact on racial minorities. This paper focuses on the evidence of disparities within the justice system and the possible solutions to discrimination.
Evidence of Racial Disparity, and Discrimination due to Stereotyping
Despite campaigns for equality, it is common to find that people treat each other differently if they differ in physical features, class, beliefs, or backgrounds. It is no different within the criminal justice system. Discrimination affects not only the individual but also the outcome of that person’s life. As the text, Criminal Justice Organizations, states, “discretionary decisions made by police officers can be based on the race of the officer as well as the race of the offender” (Stojkovic, 2012). African American offenders are influenced more by this inequality due to prior beliefs and assumptions about their behavior – stereotyping. Many reasons do explain this inequality, for example, poor socioeconomic status and negative encounters with law enforcement as juveniles (Stojkovic, 2012). Statistics have uncovered conflicting data between African American and Caucasian offenders. Also, important information describing irregular patterns in crimes involving capital punishment have been found, thus proving that there is some discrimination against African Americans. These factors help to shed some light on possible remedies for the explained discrimination. America should start looking for solutions to deal with the disparities within the justice system and the discrimination towards the minority youth since it only a matter of time before it turns into a catastrophe.
The justice system, to some extent, has contributed to the discrimination of young minorities hence the high arrest and recidivism rates. African Americans are more likely to commit crimes when compared to other minorities, but even more likely when their statistics are compared to Caucasians. Inconsistencies can also be seen with the incarceration of young African Americans when compared to the rates of young white individuals. Criminal Justice personnel is expected to hand down fair judgments no matter who commits the crime. Medicaid also contributes to the situation when they discontinue their contracts with offenders. Sadly, this is not always the case when race and ethnicity are both thrown into the mix. In the book Investigating Difference, Brian Smith points out that police officers tend to focus more on crimes that are considered “street crimes,” which include; robbery, drug dealing, car theft, etc (2009). However, “Street crimes are more likely to be committed by those at the bottom of the social class system, and African Americans are more likely to occupy those bottom rungs,” (Smith, 2009). The disproportionate numbers of African Americans in the criminal justice system are caused by the fact that they are the usual culprits of street crimes. Since most African Americans live in communities that are very poverty stricken chances of getting a good lawyer or proper health/rehabilitation are a challenge. These are but some of the general reasons why there is an inequality between whites and black injustice.
According to some researchers, such as Steven Spitzer, some categories of offenders are more likely to prove problematic as compared to others. He claimed that this category would most likely be youthful, alienated and politically violated (Walker, 2012). Such as is the case with young unemployed males. To make it worse, those who belong to a racial minority will most likely face formal sentencing since society perceives them as threatening. Justice officials tend to view these offenders as potential prisoners since they believe that by doing so, they will be getting rid of the threat. Other researchers claimed that young black men would most likely receive harsher punishments as compared to black men as a whole. Judges will most likely give stricter ruling towards these young men based on the focal concerns perspectives such as the blame against the young men; the judges need to protect the community and the fears about practical consequences on sentencing decisions. In worst-case scenarios, some juveniles are tried at adult court. Since judges rarely have sufficient knowledge about the offender’s background hence they rely on the stereotypes and extralegal factors such as race, gender, and age. This makes the offender seem less likely to conform to rehabilitation hence a harsher punishment. Another obstacle for the stereotype of African Americans is the fact that they possess a hostile attitude when dealing with law enforcement. As stated in the text, as mentioned earlier, “young, urban, minority males are more likely than other demographic groups to have hostile attitudes toward police” (Smith, 2009). What can be concluded from this information is that even if the hostile demeanor is considered “race-neutral”, African Americans will still be overrepresented because they are more likely than any other race to have a malicious attitude toward law enforcement.
Cases of stereotyping have influenced how probation officers act in providing help towards minority juveniles. To explain why minorities are more likely to be repeat offenders, George C. Bridges and Sara Steen examined narrative reports created by juvenile probation officers. They found that “probation officers attribute crimes committed by whites to negative environmental factors, but attributed crimes committed by African Americans to negative personality traits and “bad attitudes” (Walker, 2012). These probation officers then concluded that because the African American youths committed crimes due to internal causes they are more likely to have future contact with law enforcement and the justice system. Therefore, instead of treating each case with the correct necessities of the juvenile offender, they grouped these youths into one minority category and failed to offer them the help they needed to prevent recidivism. Due to stereotyping, they believed that once a minority made initial contact with the justice system they will be repeat offenders for the rest of their lives.
It is time to consider the fact that discrimination causes recidivism of young minorities hence the need for solutions. To come up with solutions for the previously stated problems, studies have focused on how to treat the youthful opposition who has been convicted of a crime. The idea of rehabilitation for juvenile offenders instead of just detaining them is one of the solutions that help. Jane Wilson states that there are three types of policy reforms to reduce juvenile recidivism, these include; “eliminate unnecessary detention of juveniles, restrict the practice of transferring juveniles to adult criminal courts, and ensure the continuation of delinquents’ Medicaid benefits upon release,” (Wilson, 2007). Along with her proposals, she gives reasons why these types of reforms will be successful in reducing recidivism rates due to the unfairness of discrimination. When a juvenile is placed in a detention center and then released, they are 4.5 times more likely to commit another crime than those individuals who are placed in other programs. This is believed to be effective because, “setting a clear standard of who should be detained will eliminate the individual variance, prejudices, and discrimination that often result in unnecessary detention,” (Wilson, 2007). A way to make this proposal a reality is only to make juvenile detention a mandatory sentence for certain crimes.
Research also shows that fifty percent of juveniles are convicted in adult criminal courts, of which most of them are from minority groups. These youths have also portrayed higher chances of recidivism when compared to those that are convicted in juvenile courts. To ensure that the transfer to adult criminal courts is not overused, it should be made an option only for the most serious of crimes. To help decrease recidivism with this method there needs to be a line drawn separating severe crimes from not so severe crimes. Not only should the nature of the crime be considered but also the motive behind the crime. Being sent straight to adult court tells the child that the justice system is not willing to help them. Young people are bound to develop fear in such cases since they already have the mentality that adult courts portray a faster way of ending up in jail. No matter the crime, any underage person should be tried in a juvenile court since the judges are well prepared in handling such cases. Since most young minorities make up fifty percent of cases feel in adult court, it is fair to say that it is a contributing factor to recidivism. Minors who commit crimes should receive help so that they are more accustomed to having a positive attitude toward the justice system thus decreasing recidivism.
The reason why young minorities may seem as problematic is that they mostly come from poor backgrounds, and the system rarely favors them. When the Medicaid of such a person is discontinued, they do not receive the proper mental healthcare they need. Everyone has a right to healthcare and sometimes Medicaid is all that young minorities may have. It is discrimination when a young person is stripped of their right to health. Jane Wilson states that “a delay in receiving healthcare benefits is linked to a significant increase in recidivism” (Wilson, 2007). To avoid this delay, Medicaid should not be allowed to terminate contracts with specific delinquents entering jail. Instead there should be a suspension put on those contracts, which would then be reinstated once the juvenile is released. Abiding by this policy will considerably lower the probability of recidivism for portions of the seventy percent of all delinquents with a mental disorder (Wilson, 2007). To make this program have some effect on the recidivism rates, programs like Medicaid need to work with the justice system to come up with a type of care that incorporates the time that these juveniles spend in detention. They need to provide the care necessary for these individuals when they are released. Without efforts to prevent the youth from continually coming into contact with the justice system, they will be more likely to enter a pattern of criminal behavior, damaging the whole of society
When it comes to the racial disparity of the crimes committed, research shows that Black and Hispanic people have a likelihood, more significant than that of whites, of getting arrested and incarcerated. Data found in the text, Forensic and Legal Psychology, explains the previous statements by stating, “Black men are incarcerated at a rate about six times higher than white men,” (Costanzo, 2012). African Americans receive the extended sentence usually because they have extensive criminal records and they commit most of the violent crimes as explained by the statistics (Walker, 2012). These extreme prison sentences can be defined by time hereditary factors, which include; seriousness of the crime and prior record. Even though both whites and blacks commit crimes, law enforcement will focus more on the street crimes committed by the minorities, or if both sets of individuals determine the same type of crime, blacks are more likely to do more time based on more prior offenses. Even while individuals are on death row they face disparities in the Justice system. Most of the time when individuals are on death row they usually die before they are sent to the execution chamber. However, black inmates on death row that have previously been convicted of murder, especially murdering white victims, have a much higher probability of actually making it to the death chamber to be executed. Their chance for death row is much higher because they are African American and they killed a white individual. As previously described, not only do African Americans face discrimination while in incarceration for violent or drug offenses, but they also face disparities while awaiting death on death row.
Due to continuous discrimination, minorities have viewed the justice system to be against them hence indulging in crime as a form of resistance, which results in more minorities being incarcerated. The peers of African Americans are also to blame based on the idea of cross-racial identification found in the book Forensic and Legal Psychology. This process has a negative effect on how minorities view law enforcement due to wrongfully identified suspects and convicted criminals who did not commit crimes. By these individuals losing faith in the justice system there is a higher likelihood that crime rate will increase, thus further increasing the disparity of African Americans in the criminal justice system. This type of identification would negatively influence the way that African Americans look at both the death penalty and the disparities in crime because they become aware of the fact that it is harder for whites to identify blacks accurately. There is a lot of stress and pressure put on eyewitness testimonies, so much so that with cross-racial identification many minorities are being wrongly incarcerated due to inaccurate identification. The witnesses are not aware that they are, in fact doing it. However, minorities are being sent to prison and being put on death row due to subconscious discrimination.
Since time immemorial, racism has been directed by the whites towards the smaller groups through employment, housing, education, and the criminal justice system. It is fair to say that the criminal justice system is biased. From the point at which an individual is arrested to the point where they are incarcerated, they go through multiple locations in the justice system, and race may play a role in some of those points. The formal and informal policies within law enforcement determine the degree to which an individual can penetrate the system. The harsh punishment system adopted since ancient times is still used these days and contribute to a rise in imprisonment levels. It makes no sense to have Hispanics and Blacks making up the least percentage in the general population, but the highest percentage behind bars. Evidence of racial stereotyping can be seen from the lowest levels of law enforcement, such as traffic stops and drug-related arrests. It is fair to say that areas with minority groups experience the most traffic stops and drug arrests by law enforcement. So it is not a matter of segregating the two – racial disparity or racial discrimination. Law enforcement already believes that Hispanics and Blacks are more likely to commit crimes as compared to the rest of the minorities. It is no surprise that the decision of the judges would be affected due to these stereotypes since they consider the minorities to be “dangerous.”
Despite the main issue being disparity, focusing on reducing the total prison population and running time programs would minimize the number of minority group inmates and mitigate recidivism rates. It may be tough segregating offenders in terms of their race to take action on population control. Take the example of the New York Police Department: in 1990, they formed a new strategy of making more arrests for misdemeanors and few arrests for felonies. This forced the commission for felonies to drop, hence a drop in felony arrests. The ability to reduce the correctional population was attributed to lower felony arrests even though the misdemeanor arrests contributed to society. But taken together, these two shifts contributed to a significant drop in the general population. New York State also increased its Length of Stay for First Release through enacting the “truth-in-sentencing” laws where offenders were required to serve 85% of their time on violent crimes. The bill was driven by the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act where the state was given over $216 million. New York City then used the money to start a Merits Time Program (MTP), where inmates were released six months before the end of their time served. In 2003, violent crime offenders were released under MET after completion of the 85% time served which led to reduction in the prison population. If American prisons focused on strategies that reduce prison population, it would be easy to ensure that the justice system gives minorities proper attention since they constitute the most significant percentage of offenders.
Another solution to disparity would be educating the justice system on the cons of stereotyping and discrimination. With advancements in technology, cross-racial identification should no longer be an issue. It is quite saddening that innocent inmates are incarcerated due to confusion about their facial appearance. Such an act reflects poorly on the justice system since facial recognition software is readily available in the market. It only shows a case of discrimination when an individual is forced to serve jail time due to their skin color. Stereotyping is the same cause for police officers patrolling Black neighborhoods more than white areas. Such actions can be seen in random searches, traffic stops, or drug busts. This makes one question whether the case would be the same if police officers were sent to patrol a white neighborhood. The justice system needs to rebrand its image since the one viewed by minority groups is one that spreads fear and injustice. This new image could kick off by acts of fair treatment towards minorities such as less harsh sentencing, reasonable jail periods, concerned probation/parole officers, and rehabilitation programs. It is true to say that minorities come from areas plagued by poverty and joblessness, but these are all due to primary discrimination emanating from education, job markets, and stereotypes. Cases of minorities should be handles with more care since most of them are mentally and emotionally strained. Giving them more harsh sentencing is just another step towards discrimination.
In conclusion, it is fair to say that there is evidence of racial discrimination and disparity, but there are possible solutions to the case. The over-involvement of African Americans in the justice system due to previous stereotypes of constant criminal activity is a contributor to disparity. America as a whole should continue to campaign against racism and find ways to act on it practically rather than theoretically. To fix this problem, minority youths need rehabilitation that is effective in a way that prevents them from continuing a life of crime. Moreover, they need continued support even after the rehabilitation, or incarceration period. Through recovery both adult and youth minority offenders can be made to view the justice system differently. In a more generalized view, the justice system needs to focus on reducing prison population hence reducing the number of minorities behind bars. Awareness and education about the discrimination of African Americans in the Criminal Justice System are not enough to truly stop this phenomenon. The underlying facts that create discrimination hence, disparity must be addressed appropriately to prevent these types of inequalities.
References
Alexander, M. (2010). The New Jim Crow. New York: The New Press
Brian, S. (2009). Investigating difference: the significance of race african americans and criminal justice. (2nd ed., pp. 106-108). Saddle River: Pearson.
Glover, K. (2009). Racial Profiling. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield.
Mark, C., & Daniel, K. (2012). Forensic and legal psychology psychological science applied to law. New York: Worth Publishers.
Samuel, W., Cassia, S., & Miriam, D. (2012). The color of justice race ethnicity and crime in america. (5th ed.). Belmont: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Stan, S., David, K., & John, K. (2012). Criminal justice organizations administration and management. (5th ed.). Belmont: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
