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Need for reform in judicial diversity
Need for reform in judicial diversity
Diversity in judiciary
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Diversity in the judiciary has increasingly become a concern among those involved in the administration of justice in the United Kingdom. It was long believed that the social background of most judges were elitist. This is because majority of judges were and are products of private schools and universities and are predominantly white, male and from middle and upper class background. As a result of this, the judiciary does not necessarily mirror the views and values of society as a whole, especially on issues involving diverse cultural and generational matters because they would require more perspectives, as judges tend to interpret and enforce law based on their own
In conclusion, "To strive for justice, one must be a person of principles. There is no single principle that one can use to achieve justice in the resolution of legal disputes." This is true because one must use a wide array of principles that come from moral and legal perspectives in order to gain a resolution. Unfortunately society has deemed it necessary to incorporate social stratification into some of these principles. The law tends to have more leniencies to those who have higher positions in society. With as many classes as our society today, it is impossible to find a jury of peers. Each person has their own idea of cultural norms, legal and moral principles, and a socio-class in which they belong to. Therefore, I contend that social stratification, whether it is between races, or economical levels, will always have some role in legal decisions.
How are the powers of the judicial branch unique among the three branches of government?
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
Addressing the cause of these disparities from the grass roots is very crucial. Strategies are needed to tackle the challenge and to combat unjustified disparity, at every level. phase of the criminal justice system, and to do so in a harmonized manner. Without a systematic approach to the issue, gains in one range may be offset by the setback in another. Every decision idea and constituent of the system requires exceptional approaches.
New York, New York: LFB Scholarly Publishing LLC. Ryan D. King, K. R. (2010). Demography of the Legal Profession and Racial Disparities in Sentencing. Law & Society Review Vol. 78 :
Judges are typically white men with strong political connections. Do you see any problems with this in terms of fairness in sentencing?
In modern-day America the issue of racial discrimination in the criminal justice system is controversial because there is substantial evidence confirming both individual and systemic biases. While there is reason to believe that there are discriminatory elements at every step of the judicial process, this treatment will investigate and attempt to elucidate such elements in two of the most critical judicial junctures, criminal apprehension and prosecution.
The jury system has evolved from a representation of all white men to both men and women from very diverse backgrounds. This is important if one is going to be tried in his/her community of peers.
Ward, G., Farrell, A., & Rousseau, D. (2009). Does racial balance in workforce representation yield equal justice? Race relations of sentencing in federal court organizations. Law & Society Review, 43(4), 757-806. doi:10.1111/j.1540-5893.2009.00388.x
The topic of race, redistricting, and minority representation in Congress has emerged as one of the most salient issues in contemporary political thought. The creation of so‑called majority minority districts has been attacked as unfair and racially polarizing by some observers and ultimately struck down as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. The study of race in relation to American politics and institutions, and, in particular, to the institution of Congress, has produced a wealth of research and literature in recent years. This scope of budding research ranges from legislative activity and Congressional voting to the electoral process and campaigning. This study examines the effects of race in Congressional elections and campaigning, and will be primarily focused on constituent relationships with members of the House of Representatives. Through this research, a better understanding of the differences in constituent relationships and engagement between African American House members and their Caucasian colleagues will be reached. Based on the current literature and prevailing scholarly attitudes, one could likely conclude that African American Congress members, on the whole, develop closer and more personal relationships with their constituents than do white representatives.
Ragers, Simon. / The Guardian (2012) White and Male: diversity and the judiciary. Available from: //www. Theguardian.com/news/databblog/2012/mar/28/judges-ethnic-sex-diversity-judiciary.
Judicial diversity has been a continuous topic of discussion in both society and in the English legal system. Currently, the process of the merit system causes a lack of diversity in the English bench, which is highly due to the undiverse characters of the upper reaches of the legal profession. There have been numerous unsuccessful attempts to promote diversity within the judiciary. The Constitution Reform Act 2005 (CRA 2005) was then introduced to ensure selection is based on merit and to promote judicial diversity. Lord Sumption views that the judiciary will remain very standardized in its makeup without any form of positive discrimination. This will create issues within the English legal system, as opportunities are not equal
Torres-Spelliscy et al. (2010) encouraged diversity in the American court system and provided ten practices to attract the brightest female and minority candidates for the judiciary, and they are as follows: (1) grapple fully with implicit bias; (2) increase strategic recruitment; (3) be clear about the role of diversity in the nominating process in state statutes; (4) keep the application and interviewing process transparent; (5) train commissioners to be effective recruiters and nominators; (6) appoint a diversity compliance officer or ombudsman; (7) create diverse commissions by statute; (8) maintain high standards and quality; (9) raise judicial salaries; (10) improve record keeping (p. 3). Appointing minorities and females to the U.S. bench will increase public confidence, and it will also bring important value towards the representation of women and ethnic
It is widely acknowledged that the judiciary within England and Wales is not representative of the wider society. The composition of the judiciary is regularly subject to criticism on its apparent homogenous identity’ being largely comprised of elderly, white male barristers educated at Oxford or Cambridge. This ethos has prevented diversity within the judiciary, particularly the upper echelons of the judiciary. Academics such as John Griffith have suggested that the narrow range of the judiciary threatens to undermine public confidence in the judicial system. Similarly, Baroness Hale argues that a representative judiciary is paramount for directives associated with the promotion of equal opportunities and strengthening of judicial legitimacy. The government has attempted to combat these issues with statutory and procedural changes to the Courts and Legal Service Act 1990, the Courts Act 2003, the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, and the Judicial Appointments Committee. However, the government’s reforms have made little impact on the demographic profile of the judiciary, as the cornerstone of all judicial appointments is merit. Until diversity can break into the judiciary, particularly the upper echelons of the judiciary there will continue to be a lingering threat to the publics confidence of the judiciary as diversification has yet to materialize.
The given statement suggests that the emphasis on judicial diversity is unnecessary since there is no guarantee that a diverse judiciary would arrive at a different decision than that of a conservative judiciary. This essay attempts to argue that although there is no evidence that a diverse bench would radically change the outcome of a given case, the quality of justice will be substantially enhanced by the inclusion of a range of perspectives from which are currently not represented by the English judiciary.