Racial Indifferences In Sentencing Case Study

I believe the federal government has not made satisfactory progress in its efforts to rid the country of racial discrimination in the capital punishment system. There is clear and conclusive evidence of racial indifferences in sentencing. Concern over racial discrimination in federal sentencing remains strong today. Race matters at all phases and aspects of the criminal process which include the quality of representation, the charging phase, and plea agreements. Racial indifferences in sentencing result in part from decisions from prosecutors in the charging phase, suggesting that racial bias affects the ultimate decision of punishment to certain crimes. In general, studies have also found that racial indifferences exist in nonviolent crimes such as theft or drug offenses.

Racial disparities in sentencing are consistent with a larger pattern of racial disparities that plague the U.S. criminal justice system from arrest through incarceration. Blacks and Latinos are arrested at disproportionate rates and are extremely represented in the nationwide prison and jail population. Black and Latino offenders sentenced in state and federal courts face significantly greater odds of incarceration than similarly situated white offenders and receive longer sentences than their white counterparts in some jurisdictions.

Studies have found that Black defendants face significantly more severe charges than whites, even after controlling for characteristics of the offense, criminal history, defense counsel type, age and education of the offender, and crime rates and economic characteristics of the jurisdiction. Racial disparities in the justice system damage hope among all races in the fairness of the criminal justice system.
An example regarding damaging hope among race is when minority youth get unfair sentencing that results in consequences for development and prospects for the future.

Disproportional confinement of minorities has been recognized as a problem by the federal government. For juveniles, the racial disparities grow with each step into the criminal justice system from arrest, to referral, to secure confinement. According to past research, black youth account for 16% of all youth, 28% of all juvenile arrests, 35% of the youth waived to adult criminal court, and 58% of youth admitted to state adult prison. Black youth are twice as likely to be arrested as white

youth.
Among juveniles who are arrested, Black children are more likely to be referred to a juvenile court and more likely to be processed rather than diverted. Among those juveniles found guilty, Black children are more likely to be sent to secure confinement and are more likely to be transferred to adult facilities. Among youth who had never been incarcerated in a juvenile prison, Blacks are more than six times as likely as whites to be sentenced to prison for identical crimes. Black children are also more likely to be prosecuted as adults and incarcerated with adults: Black youth compose 35% of youth judicially waived to adult criminal courts and 58% of youth sent to state adult prisons.