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The authors also argue that the lack of black political representations is not helping the cause and that the "three strikes you're out" rule is designed to punish repeat offenders and reward police officers and citizens who feel that blacks are inherently more criminal (Healey and O'Brien, 2007, pp. 207). When one segment of a society is labeled as "criminal," and even blacks begin to hate other blacks and assume their guilt, the entire system is unbalanced and unfair. It is impossible to assume that no racial bias or favoritism is present when the number of blacks in prison or jail is so disproportionately high, especially when one considers that there are also disproportionately high numbers of blacks in jail or prison for violent crimes.
The fact that the majority of those who are exonerated by DNA evidence are blacks serving time for violent crimes can be viewed from two different perspectives. Some argue that the high numbers of blacks in the prison system is a result of cultural and socioeconomic conditions while others argue that it is caused by an inherently racist or biased justice system. The likely answer to this question lies somewhere in the...
While there does exist evidence to show that the justice system is racist in many ways, more so in some areas of the country than others, the fact that socioeconomic conditions are present that put blacks in prison than any other ethnicity cannot be ignored. These explanations, when combined together, go a long way in explaining why so many of the DNA exonerations occur in the black population.
Works Cited
Blumstein, Alfred. (2009). "Race and the Criminal Justice System." Race and Social Problems Vol. 1, 4, December, 2009.
Gross, Samuel R.; Jacoby, Kristen; Matheson, Daniel J.; Montgomery, Nicholas; Patil, Sujata. (2005). "Exonerations in the United States 1989 through 2003" Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, Vol. 95, 2005.
Harris, Casey T.; Steffensmeier, Darrell; Ulmer, Jeffery T.; Painter-Davis, Noah. (2009). "Are Blacks and Hispanics Disproportionately Incarcerated Relative to Their Arrests? Racial and Ethnic Disproportionality Between Arrest and Incarceration." Race and Social Problems, Vol. 1, 4, December, 2009.
Harrison, Paige M.; Beck, Allen J.: Ph.D. (2006). "Prison and Jail…
Works Cited
Blumstein, Alfred. (2009). "Race and the Criminal Justice System." Race and Social Problems Vol. 1, 4, December, 2009.
Gross, Samuel R.; Jacoby, Kristen; Matheson, Daniel J.; Montgomery, Nicholas; Patil, Sujata. (2005). "Exonerations in the United States 1989 through 2003" Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, Vol. 95, 2005.
Harris, Casey T.; Steffensmeier, Darrell; Ulmer, Jeffery T.; Painter-Davis, Noah. (2009). "Are Blacks and Hispanics Disproportionately Incarcerated Relative to Their Arrests? Racial and Ethnic Disproportionality Between Arrest and Incarceration." Race and Social Problems, Vol. 1, 4, December, 2009.
Harrison, Paige M.; Beck, Allen J.: Ph.D. (2006). "Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear 2005." Bureau of Justice Statistics Report, May, 2006.
DNA Research "Unfortunately, the current Federal and State DNA collection and analysis system suffers from a variety of problems. In many cases public crime laboratories are overwhelmed by backlogs of unanalyzed DNA samples, samples that could be used to solve violent crimes if the States had the funds to eliminate this backlog…" (U.S. Representative Sue Myrick, arguing that federal funds should be appropriated to states to assist DNA cases; Congressional Record,
Racial Discrimination and the Death Penalty The United States Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics reported that at the end of the year 2000 that there was 1,381,892 total number of prisoners under the jurisdiction of federal or state adult correctional authorities (State pp). During 2000, the prison population rose at the lowest rate since 1972 and had the smallest absolute increase since 1980 (State pp). Relative to the number
A vastly accepted principle of the justice system is that bringing the guilty perpetrators to justice. Consequently, the danger of a guilty person remaining free dominated public attention (Bjerk & Helland, 2018). However, the justice system has been flawed for robbing of life experiences and freedom of wrongfully convicted individuals (Gould & Leo, 2010). The flaws in the justice system have attracted public opinion and research interest. Empirical interest in
Troy Davis and the Lessons of DNA Exonerations Wrongful Convictions The Case of Troy Davis: What DNA Exonerations Can Teach Us about Wrongful Convictions When someone is wrongfully convicted of a crime they lose years of their lives to unjust sanctions, the perpetrator is free to continue victimizing others, and if it happens too often society loses faith in the criminal justice system. With the advent of DNA analysis some of this faith
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