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Racial discrimination in the justice system
Racism in the judicial system
Racism in the criminal justice system in the united states
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The American Legal System has not changed much since the 1930s. Race relations in America has to do with when people with different skin colors interacting with each other. Interactions between white people and black people have not alway been positive because the black people have alway been punished more than the white people. Although much has changed in the United States over the past 60 years, this country’s legal system has failed at providing justice for all people. Police Officer kill and arrest innocent black people in the USA everyday.
The first reason that many see as proof of the justice system has failed is that police brutality is more of a problem now than it has ever been. The article entitled Choke Hold by Cop Killed NY Man, Medical Examiner Says, is about Eric Garner,
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an African American man who is 43. “He died on July 14 after being confronted by the police on staten island for allegedly selling cigarettes illegally.” It say, “A police officer's choke hold on a man being arrested for selling loose cigarettes killed him.” This story reveals that the way the police treated Eric Garner was brutal when they put him in a unnecessary chokehold that led to his death.
In the article entitled Cop Involved in Amadou Diallo Shooting is Promoted, it focuses on, “Kenneth Boss was one of four officers who fired a total of 41 shots at the 22-year-old immigrant from Guinea, thinking he was pulling a gun when he was reaching into his pocket for his wallet, on Feb. 4, 1999.” This article reveals how unjust the american legal system it is. Even after being involved in the shooting and killing of innocent man, the police officer Kenneth Boss is promoted insect of jailed. Another fact that proves how far the American legal system has not grown is racial profiling which is used to prosecute people unfairly. According to The U.S. court system is criminally unjust, “We’ve known that race was a problem with the death penalty for a long time. Far more people on death row are African American than would be predicted.” This show the in US courts black people seen as criminal and they are more likely to get death penalty. This is a bad thing because everyone makes mistakes,
but the black people are the ones who get more death sentences. The article entitled African American Wrongful Convictions Throughout History, reports that “Racially disparate treatment has permeated the United States criminal justice system throughout history.” This article explains how in the past the people from the US courts were all white and black people had no one to help them. This is a useless thing because it is not fair that white people from the court could say something and the white judge were agree with them insect of the black people. Those who believe that this country has grown so much since the 1930s might say that it has evolved. They might say this because now people are coming together and they are equal to each other. They might also say, the American legal system has also affected the ancestral profiling. Some people may argue the American legal system has done an impressive job at providing justice to all citizens.
Much progress has and is currently being made over history for the laws concerning the equal treatment, but this civil rights crisis seems like the criminal system does not follow its own laws. There are more African American males arrested and incarcerated than Hispanic or White males. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics in 2010, the Black male imprisonment rate was 3,074 per 1000,000 U.S. Black males in total. They are incarcerated at seven times higher than Whites (The Sentencing
This research essay discusses racial disparities in the sentencing policies and process, which is one of the major factors contributing to the current overrepresentation of minorities in the judicial system, further threatening the African American and Latino communities. This is also evident from the fact that Blacks are almost 7 times more likely to be incarcerated than are Whites (Kartz, 2000). The argument presented in the essay is that how the laws that have been established for sentencing tend to target the people of color more and therefore their chances of ending up on prison are higher than the whites. The essay further goes on to talk about the judges and the prosecutors who due to different factors, tend to make their decisions
The criminal justice system is united under one basic law body, in which no racism is present. Personal beliefs and anecdotes prove nothing, the criminal justice system isn’t racist. Although it may seem African Americans are highly discriminated upon in the justice system, there is ample amounts of data to prove otherwise. The criminal justice system is united under one basic law body, in which no racism is present. The system is not to blame for the racial differences found in the United States criminal justice system. The racial issues found in the system are due to inner city isolation and common crime patterns involving drugs even if it may seem as if the system is racist.
For much of the twentieth century, punishment and crime have portrayed some of the most powerful signs of the racial divide in the United States. Marginalized and the poor remains the most biased against the criminal justice scheme (Barak, 2010). Throughout the Americas. racial minorities were tried in white courtrooms by white juries. Class and race are challenging.
In 2014, the death of Eric Garner in New York City raised controversial conversations and highlighted the issues of race, crime, and policing in neighborhoods that tend to be poor and racially isolated. Garner, an unarmed black man, was killed after being tackled and held in a “chokehold.” According to the AP Polls in December 2014, “Police killings of unarmed blacks were the most important news stories of 2014.” The problem is that young black men are targeted by police officers in which they have responded with the misuse of force and policy brutality. It is evident that this issue affects many people nationwide. The civilians do not trust the police department and the justice system because they hold the perceptions that police officers are immune from prosecution despite their actions. In particular, black individuals, specifically black males, do not feel safe in the presence of police officers because they are not held accountable for their mistakes.
Throughout the years there has been limitless legal cases presented to the court systems. All cases are not the same. Some cases vary from decisions that are made by a single judge, while other cases decisions are made by a jury. As cases are presented they typically start off as disputes, misunderstandings, or failure to comply among other things. It is possible to settle some cases outside of the courts, but that does require understanding and cooperation by all parties involved. However, for those that are not so willing to settle out of court, they eventually visit the court system. The court system is not in existence to cause humiliation for anyone, but more so to offer a helping hand from a legal prospective. At the same time, the legal system is not to be abuse. or misused either.
Even though racism has always been a problem since the beginning of time, recently in the United States, there has been a rise in discrimination and violence has been directed towards the African American minority primarily from those in the white majority who believe they are more superior, especially in our criminal justice system. There are many different reasons for the ethnic disparities in the criminal justice system between the majority and the minority, but some key reasons are differential involvement, individual racism, and institutional racism to why racial disparities exist in
These statistics demonstrate that racialized mass incarceration exists in the U.S. There are a few reasons why African Americans are discriminated against by the legal system. The primary cause is inequitable protection by the law and unequal enforcement of it. Unequal protection is when the legal system offers less protection to African Americans that are victimized by whites. It is unequal enforcement because discriminatory treatment of African Americans that are labeled as criminal suspects is more accepted.
To look closely at many of the mechanisms in American society is to observe the contradiction between constitutional equality and equality in practice. Several of these contradictions exist in the realm of racial equality. For example, Black s often get dealt an unfair hand in the criminal justice system. In The Real War on Crime, Steven Donziger explains,
Racism within the Justice System. Living in the twenty first century, Americans would like to believe that they are living in the land of the free, where anyone and everyone can live an ordinary life without worrying that they will be arrested on the spot for doing absolutely nothing. The sad truth, with the evidence to prove it, is that this American Dream is not all that it appears to be. It has been corrupted and continues to be, everyday, by the racism that is in the criminal justice system of America. Racism has perpetuated the corruption of the criminal justice system from the initial stop, the sentencing in court, all the way to the life of an inmate in the prison.
Even after slavery was abolished as an act of the end of racism and a dominant race, the criminal justice system has been involved in many cases in which racism has been evident. Rosa Parks, as a vivid example, could not help but make public the abuse of authority she felt when denigrated on the bus destined to Cleveland. She was asked by the bus driver to stand up and give up her seat to the white passengers that were standing. However, she refused to give it up and she was arrested. Parks was intentionally disobeying the Alabama Law that required her to forfeit her spot to a white person. This law in and of itself is racist and exemplifies the inequality permeated in the criminal justice
It is important that each case is treated equally when carrying out justice to keep the United States a safe place, to form a nation with good education, and to teach people to judge right from wrong. However, sometimes rights are taken from the wrong people. Our legal system is creating a dangerous path for African Americans in our country because of its’ highest per capita incarceration rate, its’ favoritism towards those in power, and its failure to carry out justice to protect people from the dangerous acts of those who are defined as criminals. Was justice really served in the “State of Florida vs. George Zimmerman” case? Is our justice system fair to all races?
Throughout history many African Americans have been treated cruelly. Slavery and Jim Crow Laws have really hurt African American families in the past. Many people today believe that the justice system is bias towards African Americans. Many people would say there is still racial inequality from: arrest rates, bailing acceptance, and sentencing of African Americans. African Americans are suffering from discrimination throughout America from the Criminal Justice System.
The American Court System is an important part of American history and one of the many assets that makes America stand out from other countries. It thrives for justice through its structured and organized court systems. The structures and organizations are widely influenced by both the State and U.S Constitution. The courts have important characters that used their knowledge and roles to aim for equality and justice. These court systems have been influenced since the beginning of the United State of America. Today, these systems and law continue to change and adapt in order to keep and protect the peoples’ rights.
Our laws have allowed individuals to slip through the cracks of our justice system. Criminals who have raped and killed have walked on technicalities. The results have left the officers with a sense of failure by the system. Some police officers have taken matters in their own hands.