Disparity and Discrimination in the Criminal Justice System

Disparity and Discrimination in the Criminal Justice System

Discrimination in the justice system is the dissimilarity based on the difference in treatment given to people regardless of their qualifications or behavior. The criminal justice system has different forms of discrimination including pure justice, contextual discrimination, institutionalized discrimination, and systematic discrimination. Every stage of the criminal justice system experiences systematic discrimination. Further, this form of discrimination occurs without variation in all corners of the world. This implies that systematic discrimination happens when a certain gender, ethnic, age or race group encounters discrimination in different parts of the world. Critics are of the opinion systematic discrimination does not exist while other believes that it exists when groups of people encounter consistent discrimination in the criminal justice system (Robinson & Williams, 2009).

Institutionalized discrimination is associated with disparities in the results and not in the policies. Institutionalized discrimination is based on the aspect of results and not race, gender, or ethnicity. An example of institutionalized discrimination is where a police officer whom normally patrols in minority or poor neighborhoods frequently because of the high rates of crime. Therefore, minority and poor areas are likely to experience high rates of arrests. The variation in the arrests made in the middle class area vs. The minority area is a result of policies enforced by law practices. Contextual discrimination is a form of discrimination that exists at certain times, in some places and some contexts. Previous studies indicate that defenders were forced to pay large bails while they were not able to pay bail. In conclusion, pure justice is a concept that demonstrates that discrimination does not occur at any place or time in the justice system (Mustard, 2009).

Both disparity and discrimination occur within the system of criminal justice at one phase or another. Nevertheless, experts must assess the decision in order to establish whether it was made based on legitimate factors such as criminal records of the offender. As discussed earlier, discrimination forms are found in the arrest directions while disparities occur during sentencing. In order to establish elements that influenced the decision, experts must analyze the intention of the person making the decision within the system of the criminal justice. For instance, it must be analyzed whether a sentence given to an offender was because of the offender's criminal record or whether the judge was biased in the sentence (Walker, Spohn & DeLone, 2004).

However, it is almost impossible to enjoy utmost pure justice because the criminal justice is system is influenced by various factors. Unlike discrimination, disparity is based on the explanation of different legitimate factors. The key variation between discrimination and disparity is extralegal or legal factors. Therefore, when conclusions are made based on the degree of seriousness of the crime and the prior criminal record of the offender, it results into disparity. Nevertheless, when decisions are made based on gender, lifestyle, social class, ethnicity or race, the result is discrimination (Robinson & Williams, 2009). Disparity implies that a difference exists among a group. If a prison holds 200 prisoners and 150 of them are blacks, then it suggests that the justice system discriminates against race. However, this may not be the case. It is necessary for one to carry out an investigation in the crimes committed, the degree of serious found in the rimes, and the criminal records of the criminals. It is impossible for the court to release a number of criminal based of maintaining the races imprisoned. This would be discrimination in itself (Mustard, 2009).

Disparity does not have to entail discrimination. Cities such as Detroit have been noted to have a large population of one race. Therefore, it makes sense if the prison contains a high percentage of this defined race. Therefore, disparity is a product of discrimination, which begins at the point of arrest and ends at the point of sentencing. For example, those who are employed are said to be given more linear sentences than those who are not employed. Male employees are believed to serve longer hours than their female counterparts who commit similar crimes. This belief draws the issue of discrimination while it could be a reason for disparity (Robinson & Williams, 2009).