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Racial disparity in criminal justice
Aspects of criminal justice system
Racial disparity in criminal justice
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The criminal justice system is composed of three parts – Police, Courts and Corrections – and all three work together to protect an individual’s rights and the rights of society to live without fear of being a victim of crime. According to merriam-webster.com, crime is defined as “an act that is forbidden or omission of a duty that is commanded by public law and that makes the offender liable to punishment by that law.” When all the three parts work together, it makes the criminal justice system function like a well tuned machine. In this paper, I propose to talk about how all the three parts of the criminal justice system works and also delve a little bit on the issue of racism in context of the criminal justice system as a lot of people believe that the system most of the times acts keeping the individual’s race in mind. When an individual enters the criminal justice system, it always begins with the police. So in order for police to be involved in any situation, there has to be a crime committed or violation of any law which has been put in place by the government. As the police act as the enforcement agents of these laws, they are the first ones to be involved. There are four steps that police follows when there is a crime – the crime itself, the report of the crime, the investigation of the crime, and the arrest to finish this process – these are the very basic avenues which police follows. We have already established that for the police to be involved, the crime has to be committed. Once the crime is committed, someone has to report about the crime being committed and when the report has been made, the police begin its job and starts investigating that report to determine if a crime have been committed. O... ... middle of paper ... ... Simpson Trial is a real life example of how once the crime is determined, courts follow a fair trial system and then corrections follow. Again, I will take up this example and will try to explain how I think the justice prevailed in this case. Works Cited Schmalleger, F. (2009), Prentice Hall, Publication. Criminal Justice Today: An introductory Text for the 21st century Heather Mac Donald (2008), City Journal, Publication. Article on “Is criminal justice system racist” Alvarado, A (2008). American Sociological Association. The Industrial Organization of Police Work. Wilson, J.A & Davis, R.C. (2006). Criminology and Public Policy. Good Intentions meet Hard Realities: An Evaluation of Project Green light Reentry Program. Fairchild, H. & Cowan, G (1997). Journal of Social Issues. The O.J. Simpson Trial: Challenges to Science and Society.
One of the most famous cases of the mid-nineties (and possibly one of the most controversial) of the wealthy being above the law is the O.J. Simpson trial, who fatally stabbed his ex-wife Nicole Brown and Ronald Goldman. Being accused of murder, the court had sufficient biological and psychological evidence to prove Simpson’s act of murder. However, Simpson was found not guilty by the jury and lives as a fre...
The police are just one agency within the Criminal Justice System All of the agencies within the Criminal Justice System work together. Another agency in the Criminal Justice System is The Ministry of Justice, of whom are responsible for other parts of the justice system such as the courts, prisons and probation services. For example, the police are responsible for keeping the peace and for the investigation of crime, they also collect evidence and arrest suspected offenders. In case of an emergency, the public is able to call ‘999’ and ask for the police to be sent out. Once at the scene the police then makes a decision, if the case is minor, then the police decide whether to caution them, or take no further action. They can also issue a fixed penalty notice, or they can refer to the Crown Prosecution Service for a conditional caution. If it is a more serious case, they send the papers to the Crown Prosecution Service for them to decide on the prosecution. Once sent to the Crown Prosecution Service it is ...
After a lengthy two hundred and fifty-two-day trial “not guilty” were the words that left the world in shock. O.J Simpson was your typical golden boy. He had it all, the nice car, the football career, and his kids. Unfortunately, this all came to an end when two bodies came to be spotted deceased in Nicole Browns front yard and was a gruesome sight. O. J’s ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ronald Goldman both found with brutal stab marks. Unfortunately, all his glory days now brought to an end, he went from playing on the field to begging for his freedom when becoming the main suspect of their murders. Since this trial has not only altered the way Americans viewed celebrities, but it also racially divided society,
Park, R. (1996). Character Evidence Issues in the O.J. Simpson Case - Or, Rationales of the Character Evidence Ban, With Illustrations from the Simpson Case. University of Colorado Law Review, 747-776.
The New York Times bestseller book titled Reasonable Doubts: The Criminal Justice System and the O.J. Simpson Case examines the O.J. Simpson criminal trial of the mid-1990s. The author, Alan M. Dershowitz, relates the Simpson case to the broad functions and perspectives of the American criminal justice system as a whole. A Harvard law school teacher at the time and one of the most renowned legal minds in the country, Dershowitz served as one of O.J. Simpson’s twelve defense lawyers during the trial. Dershowitz utilizes the Simpson case to illustrate how today’s criminal justice system operates and relates it to the misperceptions of the public. Many outside spectators of the case firmly believed that Simpson committed the crimes for which he was charged for. Therefore, much of the public was simply dumbfounded when Simpson was acquitted. Dershowitz attempts to explain why the jury acquitted Simpson by examining the entire American criminal justice system as a whole.
The prospect of a racially discriminatory process violates the ideals of equal treatment under the law under which the system is premised (Kansal, 2005). Law enforcement, as the frontline of the criminal justice system, has a great deal to do with who ends up being incarcerated. Law enforcement personnel are the initiating beings who start the path to incarceration for individuals they come in contact with. Their decision in terms of making a stop, making a report, making an arrest and so on determines if and how that individual will enter the criminal justice system. One discriminating practice used by police officers is racial profiling.
OJ “The Juice” Simpson is clearly responsible for the tragic deaths of his wife Nicole Brown, and Ron Goldman.There are more than enough proof that suspect that the verdict of this should be reconsidered.The shoes print which were indeed Simpson’s,blood marks that were left on OJ’s car the blood spots left on his gloves,his suicide note.All of these were compelling facts that OJ was the murdered.However due to the miscarriage of justice Simpson was unfortunately found not guilty.Wealth played a major role for the conclusion of the verdict, OJ had a very good legal team that raised questions over much of the evidence and testimony against him. If the average person were charged of crimes that OJ has committed, he/she couldn't afford the lawyers and staff to mount the defense OJ could.
Wright, J. (2012). Introduction to criminal justice. (p. 9.1). San Diego: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/books/AUCRJ201.12.1/sections/sec9.1
The criminal justice system is always criticized for a range of issues concerning the injustices that has taken place throughout history and even today. Many political leaders and social activists have sought to reform the criminal justice system; however, some have realized that there are systematic barriers that inhibit reformation. Political ...
Unfortunately, the criminal justice system is a vital piece of today’s society. Without it, the public would be free to do whatever they choose with no real consequence to negative actions. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, roughly 3 million workers were employed in the criminal justice field in 2015 (Occupational Employment, 2016). This is made up of countless different agencies, including law enforcement, corrections, homeland security, and many more. Corrections is a key element in the criminal justice system, which has its own unique functional philosophy, administrative structure and functions, theoretical assumptions that govern its existence, organizational mission, goals and objectives, and division of responsibilities.
From the beginning of the Criminal Justice System, the obsession was with prison and punishment. In the last few years, this focus forced the jail and prison populations to skyrocket higher than any other place in the world. There is never a class we are not reminded there are currently 2.3 million people in United States prisons and jails. The criminal justice system or the correctional system has not changed yet remained its focus on deterrence and isolation not on the proactive ways of dealing with crime.
The United States criminal justice system is an ever-changing system that is based on the opinions and ideas of the public. Many of the policies today were established in direct response to polarizing events and generational shifts in ideology. In order to maintain public safety and punish those who break these laws, law enforcement officers arrest offenders and a judge or a group of the law offender’s peers judge their innocence. If found guilty, these individuals are sentenced for a predetermined amount of time in prison and are eventually, evaluated for early release through probation. While on probation, the individual is reintegrated into their community, with restrict limitations that are established for safety. In theory, this system
Through a functionalist perspective, the justice system is an institution based upon the belief that justice, equality and fairness help to form the basic framework of society. If there is deviance, defined as “behavior that violates the standards of conduct or expectations of a group or society” (Witt 135), the society must discover how to deal with it. Examples of crime, which is an aspect of deviance, are theft, murder, and sexual assault. Another concept of this institution is the concept of social control, defined as “the techniques and strategies for preventing deviant human behavior in any society” (Witt 130). Through this concept, the justice system strives to direct individuals to be morally correct. The justice system is a dominant part of this by handling crime through punishment such as arrest. Therefore, when the officers that were a part of the justice system in this article partook in shooting different individuals, this can be viewed as the institution handling deviance through social control. If there was not this social control, then the justice system would not be doing its job that contributes to the overall higher structure of
Shelden, R.G., Brown, W.B., Miller, K.S., & Fritzler, R.B. (2008). Crime and criminal justice in american society. Long Grove, Illinosis: Waveland Press, INC.
The success of the criminal investigation process in achieving justice can be seen through its efforts to balance the rights of the victim, offender and the community, this is evident in the areas of police powers and discretion. Police powers constitute police officers to exercise special powers such as search and seizure and the use of reasonable force. These powers are outlined in the Law Enforcement (Powers