“Most modem sentencing systems in the United States express an explicit commitment to ensuring that a defendant 's sentence is not affected by the defendant 's race or gender (Hessick, 2010).” Even though individuals are protected through the Bill of Rights and Sentencing Reform Acts, there are still disparities in sentencing within the criminal justice systems. Often, race and gender bias negatively affects sentencing. “The Federal Sentencing Guidelines Manual states that one of the three objectives Congress sought to achieve in enacting the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 was “reasonable uniformity” in sentencing by narrowing the wide disparity in sentences imposed for similar criminal offenses committed by similar offenders (Spohn, 2013).” …show more content…
If a judge is discriminatory towards Hispanics, then there is an increased chance he or she punishes and/or sentences illegal immigrants or drug dealers at greater lengths because of his personal views. Prosecutors play an important role in institutionalized discrimination as well. They decide what cases will go to court, therefore they may pick a case in which the judge will sentence the individual because of their skin color and possibly the crime they committed. Racial discrimination cannot be avoided since it continues …show more content…
(1997). Gender, Race, And Sentencing. Crime and Justice, 22, 201. Hessick, C. (2010). Race and Gender as Explicit Sentencing Factors. Journal Of Gender, Race & Justice, 14(1), 127-142. Markowitz, M. W. (2000). The system in black and white exploring the connections between race, crime, and justice. Westport, Conn.: Praeger. Michels, S., Netter, S., Marquez, L., & Ghebremedhin, S. (2009, April 14). Why Do Some Women Kill?. ABC News. Retrieved October 19, 2014, from http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=7326555 Spohn, C. (2013). THE EFFECTS OF THE OFFENDER 'S RACE, ETHNICITY, AND SEX ON FEDERAL SENTENCING OUTCOMES IN THE GUIDELINES ERA. Law & Contemporary Problems, 76(1), 75-104. Wang, X., Mears, D. P., Spohn, C., & Dario, L. (2013). Assessing the Differential Effects of Race and Ethnicity on Sentence Outcomes Under Different Sentencing Systems. Crime & Delinquency, 59(1), 87-114.
In 1984, The Comprehensive Crime Control Act was passed by Congress, and thus created the United States Sentencing Commission. The primary objective of the United States Sentencing Commission was to reform criminal sentencing procedures in this country (Miceli, 2008). Criminal sentencing procedures required reform as significant disparities exist between defendants with similar criminal history records. The aforementioned statement would suggest that prior to reform that judicially imposed sentences varied across defendants in ways that were deemed unjust by Congress. “Congress has p...
The majority of our prison population is made up of African Americans of low social and economic classes, who come from low income houses and have low levels of education. The chapter also discusses the amount of money the United States loses yearly due to white collar crime as compared to the cost of violent crime. Another main point was the factors that make it more likely for a poor person to be incarcerated, such as the difficulty they would have in accessing adequate legal counsel and their inability to pay bail. This chapter addresses the inequality of sentencing in regards to race, it supplies us with NCVS data that shows less than one-fourth of assailants are perceived as black even though they are arrested at a much higher rate. In addition to African Americans being more likely to be charged with a crime, they are also more likely to receive harsher punishments for the same crimes- which can be seen in the crack/cocaine disparities. These harsher punishments are also shown in the higher rates of African Americans sentenced to
The criminal justice system has been in place the United States for centuries. The system has endured many changes throughout the ages. The need for a checks and balances system has been a priority for just as long. Federal sentencing guidelines were created to help create equal punishments among offenders. Judges are given the power of sentencing and they are not immune to opinions, bias, and feelings. These guidelines are set in place to allow the judge to keep their power but keep them within a control group of equality. Although there are a lot of pros to sentencing guidelines there are also a lot of cons. Research has shown that sentencing guidelines have allowed the power to shift from judges to prosecutors and led to sentencing disparity based on sex, race, and social class.
The rate of women’s conviction is on the rise (Van Wormer, Bartollas). The increase of incarceration is outdoing the conviction of the men (Van Wormer, Bartollas). Female defendants found guilty of felonies in State courts has more than doubled the proportion of male offenders since 1990 (Greenfeld, Snell). Male offenders are estimated to commit about one violent offense for every nine males; the estimation is six times that of women (Greenfeld, Snell). Women are held accountable for about 2.1 violent offenses (Greenfeld, Snell).
Judges allocation of outcomes is constrained by a diversity of factors; race has no weight on sentencing. What is taken into consideration is the severity of the crime and the individual’s criminal history. The judge has to consult the Constitution and a group of statutes and court rules that governs sentencing procedure in that given jurisdiction.
Welch, Ronald H., and Angulo, Carlos T. 2000. Justice on trial: racial disparities in the american criminal justice system. Leadership Conference on Civil Rights. Washington, DC
The Sentencing Project. (2008). Reducing Racial Disparity in the Criminal Justice System: A Manual for Practitioners and Policymakers. Retrieved from http://www.sentencingproject.org/doc/publications/rd_reducingracialdisparity.pdf
A great disparity existed between judges; some were lenient while others were stricter this inconsistency led to sentencing disparity between judges. In response to concerns that judges were introducing unnecessary disparities in sentencing mandatory Federal Sentencing guidelines were set in place to create a uniform policy containing a fair and consistent sentencing range for convicted Federal defendants regardless of race, gender or class.
Racial disparities in sentencing are consistent with a larger pattern of racial disparities that plague the U.S. criminal justice system from arrest through incarceration. Blacks and Latinos are arrested at disproportionate rates and are extremely represented in the nationwide prison and jail population. Black and Latino offenders sentenced in state and federal courts face significantly greater odds of incarceration than similarly situated white offenders and receive longer sentences than their white counterparts in some jurisdictions.
It is all too often judges are faced with convoluted challenges. One of those challenges is when they lost their discretion to mandatory sentences. This not only negatively effects the judges, it also effects the average citizen in a negative manner. Furthermore, the aftermath of mandatory sentencing is even more devastating, due to, it assisting in overcrowding prisons with minor offenders. Another issue that has risen, due to, mandatory sentencing is the racial divide in prisons. The next topic discussed will be a possible future if this law doesn’t change. Getting to the main point, mandatory sentencing has quickly become a mandatory dilemma in the United States.
Among the many issues in sentencing, racial disparities are perhaps most evident in the population of penal institutions / prisons and jails. Bartollas and Siegel state “research supportive of racial discrimination in sentencing generally shows… “those convicted of drug offenses, those who accumulate more serious prior criminal records, those who refuse to plead guilty and those unable to secure pretrial release -minorities are singled out for harsher treatment. Minority defendants receive harsher sanctions if their victims are white…” and “those who murder whites are more likely to receive the death penalty…” (2013). Given the socio-economic status of many of these individuals, and based on the information presented, an argument can be made
Years of statistics on crime rates and incarceration have indicated a profound and disparate differential in number of minorities incarcerated across the United States. Alix S. Winter and Mathew Clair’s Sentencing Reform in an Era of Radicalized Mass Incarceration (Nov. 2016) addresses the disparity in sentencing with minorities, consequences of such disparities, and recommendations to improve sentencing and incarceration disparities. The purpose of the study is to bring a data driven approach to recommendations within the judicial system in order to reduce the disparities in sentencing with minorities. The methodology for the study was based on a review and a meta-analysis of race and sentencing research designed to explaining the inconsistencies and disparities within Crime Statistics.
Thus, supporting evidence from the claims of a criminal prosecutor and criminal defense attorney should be the only factors affecting the judicial officer's judgment. However, the imbalance of sentencing, especially between Caucasians and minorities, has implicated that race is a part of the deliberation process. David B. Mustard (2001) notes that "Hispanics receive a sentence of 54.1 months and blacks receive 64.1 months, which are 68.5% and 99.6% larger than the average sentence for whites (296). Based on observation and statistical information, it is important to highlight inequalities in the criminal justice system especially when it's designed to produce outcomes that are just and fair. It takes those in the position of power to recognize these inequalities to make the necessary policy changes to correct racial disparities or restore an imbalance in racial justice (Hurtwitz and Peffley
Sentencing for a fixed period of time removes that notion. As previously outlined there is the possibility of unequal treatment of offenders who have done equal wrong (Braithwhite & pettit 1990, p21), the issue here is the introduction of mandatory sentencing becomes, parliament vs judges, which I feel judges who have actively seen the system in work for a number of years would be able to attend to more consistent results. Discretion is unavoidable in the criminal justice system (Brown et al. 2001, p121.) Judges and Juries are in a position to adapt to the case and review the sentence so it fits the nature of the offender and circumstances, where fixed sentencing does
Discipline in the United States is serious and particular. With the world's most noteworthy detainment rate, and one in nine prisoners serving life sentences, the United States remains the main Western majority rule government as yet utilizing capital punishment. Low-pay non-white individuals have excessively borne the brunt of these approaches. Criminal equity approaches and rehearses, and not simply felony rates, are key drivers of these patterns: restorative populaces have developed amid times of declining felony rates and minorities are lopsidedly rebuffed notwithstanding for