Racial Discrimination and Disparity in the United States Justice System

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Introduction The issue of racial disparity in the criminal justice system has been a longstanding debate in this county. According to Tonry (as cited in Cole & Gertz, 2013) African Americans make up to 50% of the prison population but are only 12 % of the total United States population. Bobo and Thompson (2006) stated that Hispanics make up to 18 % of the prison population but are only 14 % of the total United States Population, while Caucasians make up to 75 % of the total population and are only 35 % of the prison population in American. (Coker,2003) supports Cole and Gertz and states that African Americans make up to half of the prison population while only accounting for 12 % of the population in the United States. According to NACP statistics (http://www.naacp.org/pages/criminal-justice-fact-sheet) African American and Hispanics make up 58% of all prisoners even though African Americans and Hispanics make up 25 % of the United States population. According to Hurwitz and Peffley (2010) Caucasian men older than 18 have a 1 in 106 chance of being imprisoned, while in comparison to a 1 in 16 chance of being imprisoned for African American men in the same age range. According to (Coker,2003) estimated that 28 % of African Americans will be incarcerated at one point in their lifetimes. Small (2001) stated that one out of three African Americans in their twenties are either in jail, prison, on probation, or parole. Small (2001) stated that although African Americans make up 13 % of all drug users in America, they are 35 % of the people arrested for drug possession and 55 % of the people convicted for drug possession. According to Small (2001) African American men are sent to prison for drug offenses at rate 20%-57% times great... ... middle of paper ... ... Criminal Justice: How Much Is Too Much? Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology, 100(3), 903-932. Engel, R.S., & Calnon, J. M. (2004). Examining The Influence Of Drivers' Characteristics During Traffic Stops With Police: Results From A National Survey. Justice Quarterly: JQ, 21(1), 49-90. Hurwitz, J., & Peffley, M. (2010). And justice for some: Race, crime, and punishment in the US criminal justice system. Canadian Journal of Political Science, 43(2), 457-479. Nation Association for The Advancement of Color People. Criminal Justice fact sheet. Retrieved from http://www.naacp.org/pages/criminal-justice-fact-sheet Small, D.( 2001) The war on drugs is a war on racial justice. Social research, 68(3) 896-902. The Bureau of Justice Statistics. Thomsen, F. (2011). The Art of the Unseen: Three challenges for Racial Profiling. Journal Of Ethics, 15(1/2), 89-117.

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