Criminal Justice The Criminal Type What do you think of when someone talks to you about the 'criminal type'? Is there a specific 'type' of person that can be construed 'criminal?' According to Jessica Mitford, "Americans are preoccupied with crimes of the poor and as such the 'criminal type' has surfaced in American consciousness as a social creation." This paper is going to examine the concept of 'criminal types' and argues that

Baker reviewed three landmark Supreme Court decisions on capital punishment and concluded that the death penalty is capriciously imposed on Black defendants and thus serves the extra-legal function of preserving majority group interests. He viewed discrimination in capital sentencing as deliberate and identified the primary reasons why Black defendants with white victims have been denied fairness in capital sentencing. These are prosecutorial discretion in the selective prosecution of capital

224). The strongest case in the criminal law annals for race-based affirmative action occurs in "drug possession offenses," Heffernan writes. The drug busts show "compelling evidence of discrimination against blacks," the author insists; moreover, he claims that many law enforcement personnel have admitted that they practice "a kind of affirmative action: they admit that they selectively enforce anti-drug laws in the black community." The justification for busting black people in

The need for mental competency was most recently addressed by the Supreme Court in Indiana v. Edwards, a case that helped to reinforce these fundamental constitutional rights for mentally ill defendants. The research also showed, though, that the criminal justice system is faced with some profound challenges in conducting mental health assessments in a rapid manner due in large part to the multifaceted evaluation approaches that are involved as

Ethics in Criminal Justice: The police function has continued to be the most needed elements since the beginning of the existence of human societies because social coordination and harmony have never prospered without some kind of supervisory authority. The supervisory authority or power has usually been shared among several agencies or departments including policing. These various departments have been planned and synchronized to provide the service efficiently and effectively. Since its

Research reveals that those who kill white victims are much more likely to receive the death penalty than those who kill black victims. One study found that for similar crimes committed by similar defendants, blacks received the death penalty at a 38% higher rate than all others (Dieter, 1998). It is significant to note that the death penalty is more likely to be imposed on men than woman. Death sentences