African-Americans and the Judicial System

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The prison system exists as a form of formal punishment for persons of wrongdoing and serves as a secure dwelling to protect the public from persons who engage in illegal and or violent behavior. Minorities are the majority of the prison population. Because of possible ingrained stereotypes regarding racial groups and drug related criminal offenses there are an elevated number of minorities in United States prisons (Tamborini, Huang, Mastro, & Nabashi-Nakahara, 2007, p. 342). Legal authorities and juries may show bias towards minority groups resulting in a disadvantage when it comes to charging those of the African-American race. African-Americans are generally more frequently targeted than Caucasians regarding drug related crimes. Due to the nature of inexpensive forms of illegal substances more frequently used in inner-cities, African-Americans may be more easily and more often pursued (Staples, 2011, p. 34). Opposition shapes the notion that minorities make up the majority of drug related criminal offenders. There are more persons of the African-American race charged for drug related crimes but this can possibly be attributed to skewed perceptions of a particular races’ tendency to engage in illegal behavior as well as lack of financial options and socio economic status to hire an attorney to defend their case, which negatively influences sentencing outcomes and statistics. As humans we hope to be revered as thoughtful beings without outside or possibly internal factors affecting our decisions, especially when it comes to someone’s freedom. According to an article “The Influence of Race, Heuristics, and Information Load on Judgements of Guilt and Innocence,” by Tamorini, Huang, Mastro, & Nabashi-Nakahara (2007), when i... ... middle of paper ... ...ifferent outcomes could present an image of a more fair and balanced judicial system. References Bucolo, D. O., & Cohn, E. S. (2010, September). Playing the race card: Making race salient in defence opening and closing statements. Legal & Criminal Psychology, 15(2), 293-303. http://dx.doi.org/10.1348/135532508X400824 Conyers, Jr., J. (2013, Spring). The Incarceration Explosion. Yale Law & Policy Review, 31(), 377-387. Retrieved from http://ylpr.yale.edu/ Staples, R. (2011, ). White Power, Black Crime, and Racial Politics. The Black Scholar, 41, 31-41. http://dx.doi.org/10.5816/blackscholar.41.4.0031 Tamborini, R., Huang, R., Mastro, D., & Nabashi-Nakahara, R. (2007, December). The Influence of Race, Heuristics, and Information Load on Judgements of Guilt and Innocence. Communication Studies, 58(), 341-358. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10510970701648566

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