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Racism in the judicial system
The effects of social media and law enforcement
Racism in the judicial system
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Prejudice in the Criminal justice system
We are not all treated equal where equality is required to assure the law is upheld. One of the flaws in our criminal justice system is how prejudice is often present in trials, and prevents suspects from having a fair trial. In “Serial”, a podcast about a first generation American teenager of Muslim religion named Adnan who was charged with the murder of his ex-girlfriend, prejudice is shown very strongly. At his bail hearing the prosecutor led the court to believe that Adnan 's extended support from his Muslim community would do anything they could to help Adnan escape the country and the justice system, ultimately getting away with murder. She furthered this claim with a report that there was a
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In "There Is Nothing Casual About Prejudice", the author informs readers of 'implicit bias ' which includes "stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions in an unconscious manner"(Mitchell 46) This is explained as a mentality that people in the criminal justice system have; whose actions have been of prejudice. Many people do not even realize they are prejudice unless otherwise pointed out. This is an upsetting thought to have, especially about our justice system, something we put our trust in to uphold the law and act fairly. In the podcast 's 10th episode the prejudice in Adnan 's case is fully revealed to listeners. When talking about Adnan’s case, his mother says, "it 's discrimination. Because we are Muslim, and we are minority in this country"(Podcast 10) If even someone who has hardly ever been exposed to discrimination in her life can clearly see it in the case, who is to say it was not present through the investigation and trials. While discrimination may not have been the entire case against Adnan there was definitely a considerably good amount, when there should not have been any. Discrimination does not belong in our criminal justice system if we want to abide by the law that requires a fair …show more content…
In the podcast, Jay, the eye witness that the entire case is based off of, changes his story several times throughout the investigation and trial. After the trial, after seeing most of the arguments surrounding Adnan 's Muslim religion, Jay said that Adnan said "only Allah knows" in reference to the crime being one of religious intention. There was no mention of religion having a role in the crime that Jay describes until after the trials. This leads one to believe that perhaps he added this religious part in to tie his story to the prosecution 's argument. It is also possible that Jay realizing that his plea deal was on the line, added in these extra details to make Adnan look as bad as possible. It is also believable that he was changing his story to please the police and prosecution, since the prosecutor helped Jay get a private attorney to represent Jay for free. This is something that is frowned upon by the law since it is a form of bribery, and can make the receiver feel indebted to please the benefactor. In addition to discrimination, unreliable witnesses are another deficiency of our criminal justice
Racial discrimination has been an immense problem in our society for a very long time. The fact that the race of a victim plays a role in his or her sentencing is appalling. Discrimination within our society needs to come to an end. It’s frightening to think that if you are a minority facing a capital punishment case, which you might be found guilty only because of the color of your skin.
Jonathan Rauch’s essay “In Defense of Prejudice” essay immediately stood out to me for a few reasons. As a black Muslim woman living in America, I’ve dealt with my fair share of prejudice and for that I’ve always had a negative view towards it. Also, I found the title to be striking and unconventional which automatically drew me towards it. In “In Defense of Prejudice”, Rauch makes it clear that while he is not in favor of prejudice, he is in favor of allowing people to express their prejudice as openly and freely as they choose to. He takes a somewhat controversial stance with his belief that banning hate speech actually goes against freedom of speech and that eradicating prejudice should not be the goal of Americans, but to use prejudice
Welch, Kelly. 2007. “Black Criminal Stereotypes and Racial Profiling.” Journal of Contemporary Justice 23(3): 276-288 also talks about the discrimination within the courtroom, in the court it has been shown that the prosecutors when fighting a case against the defendant who’s client is Black use their race as an argument to win the case. They try to show how Black people are prone to be violent due to racial factors and therefore should be sentenced harshly. Given the history, unfortunately this argument sets in well and therefore leads to sentencing and prison time for the Black
The criminal justice system is full of inequality and disparities among race, gender, and class. From policing neighborhoods, and the ongoing war on drugs, to sentencing, there are underlying biases and discriminatory practices in the criminal justice system that impacts minority communities and groups. Fueled by stereotypes and generalizations, it is important to identify and discuss what crimes take place and who actually makes it up.
Racial Disparities in the Criminal Justice System “We simply cannot say we live in a country that offers equal justice to all Americans when racial disparities plague the system by which our society imposes the ultimate punishment,” stated Senator Russ Feingold. 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 Institutional racism is racism that is shown through government organizations and political institutions. In a report done by David Baldus in 1998, he discovered that when it comes to the death penalty, blacks are more likely sentenced to death than whites, and those who kill whites are more likely to be given the death penalty than the killing of blacks (Touré).
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.
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.
One of the many arising problems of America’s students is they are becoming sleep deprived. The busy daily schedules of children and teens are not allowing them to get enough sleep. “Less sleep is unhealthy especially with the new research that as teenagers move through teenage years, they need increasing amounts of sleep. Nine hours per night is the necessary amount to avoid behaviors associated with sleep deprivation” (Final Report Summary, 2001). Among other things, sleep deprivation is causing students to sleep during class instead of being awake and aware. When the students are sleeping in class, they are not retaining information being taught to them. Researchers have now proven that the majority of adolescents retain more information later in the day. Contrary to this information, America’s school systems are programmed to begin early in the day, which according to the sleep rhythms of most teenagers, they should still be sleeping.
The status of the criminal justice system in Europe during the 1700s was the product of long tradition of aristocracy. An aristocracy government is one in which land is owned by particular families and is passed down through the generations of a family line. The monarch of the region grants titles and powers to the privileged classes, who in return keep order within their land and swear loyalty to the monarch. Property and power in an aristocracy were the privileges of birth alone and being merit was simply irrelevant. Their lives circled around maintaining, while attempting to expand, their wealth and power. Historically, as a higher class among others, aristocrats were known to be negligent towards the poor. To where they were prone to appoint
Sleep is a condition of the mind and body in which the nervous system is relatively inactive, the eyes are closed, the muscles are relaxed and consciousness is practically suspended. On average a person needs between seven and nine hours of sleep, which can be hard to achieve with the stresses of life. Sleep can drastically affect how the mind functions. Studies have found that a lack of sleep can decrease motor skills and affect a persons memory. Among memory and motor skills, lack of sleep can negatively affect cognition. Cognition is the process of thinking which is needed for the writing process and other creative elements. If people increase the amount of sleep they receive, then there writing process will be better. Some studies have
The criminal justice system has come under fire over the last couple years over the handling of many incidents involving police officers use of force and the lack of punishments being handed down to them. Police officers play a vital role in ensuring law and order is maintained in the communities they are protecting and serving against any crimes and to help during natural disasters. This paper will explore how the criminal justice system is viewed in the eyes of a police officers and the thoughts on everything that has been ongoing.
Researchers have found a way to connect sleep with education. Gary Scarpello who wrote "Lack Of Sleep Could Be Trouble For CTE Students” , did a research study with liberty mutual showed that teens had an average of 7.2 hours of sleep on school nights and 33 to 75 % of all students have sleep problems. In the article it had stated that not getting enough sleep can cause impaired hand eyed coordination, reaction time and brief mental lapses. (Scarpello). The same researchers also found out that Sleep helps restores brain functions such as alertness, metabolism, and memory and regulate hormones (Scarpello). Researchers Mary A. Carskardon and A.R. Wolfson studied 3,120 Rhode Island children. They had figured out that college students who slept more than nine hours a night had a gr...
Race and crime is a major topic in today’s world because it is a highly debated subject and has a major impact on how society is today. Race and crime go hand in hand. No matter who commits a crime, there is always a race involved. With race and crime there are many stereotypes that come with the subject. Race and crime are both active matters in everyday life. It is everywhere. Social Media involves race and crime in practically anything. If one is active on say for example twitter, the point of twitter is to keep your followers interested by what you are showing them. There is a reason why the news opens up with the most violent crimes and twitter is no different. As a matter of fact any form of media grasps onto it. Another example would
The United States of America’s criminal justice system is defined as the system of law enforcement that is directly involved in apprehending, prosecuting, defending, sentencing, and punishing those who are suspected or convicted of a criminal offense. And while nothing is perfect, the goal of this system is to make sure every citizen is treated fairly and that justice is served. Over the years the United States has made a lot of changes to the way their law enforcement handles certain situations and offenses. These changes have come from learning experiences. For example the Miranda vs. Arizona case taught us that every person, guilty or not, needs to be read their rights before taken into custody because it is fair. A more modern topic that has constantly been changing the way our government and criminal justice system operates, is terrorism. Terrorism over the past two decades or so, has had a huge influence on the way our law enforcement goes about protecting us from threats. There have been new laws and acts created, new task forces
In Intro to Criminal Justice class, I had the opportunity to learn about the Criminal Justice System more thoroughly. I learned that there are three components that make up the Criminal Justice System such as the courts, law enforcement, and corrections. Each component has its own role in making sure the the Criminal Justice System is functioning properly. If one of these components are not efficient the Criminal Justice system will not be as strong as it could be.