Race in the Criminal Justice

Race in the Criminal Justice System

There are a disproportionate number of minorities in the prison system compared to their White counterparts. As of 2006 Blacks accounted for only 13.4% of the American population (U.S. Census Bureau), however they accounted for 41% of all inmates in the prison population (U.S. Dept. Of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics). Altogether, minorities made up 66% of the entire prison population (U.S. Dept. Of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics). With the disparity of Blacks and minorities incarcerated, the question of systematic inequality has been raised.

As an emergence of the war of crime, harsh sentencing practices such as three strikes and charging juveniles as adults has arisen. These practices have been implemented as deterrents to crime however, are the harsh sentencing practices being distributed equally among all offenders. Weather perceived or real, concerns about racial profiling, sentencing disparities and jury composition are factors that should be examined.

One issue that insinuates inequality in the punitive system is the disparity in sentencing for crack cocaine opposed to powder cocaine. According to the article "Justices Unfetter Judges on Sentences; The Supreme Court said Sentencing Guidelines are Advisory, not Mandatory. A Racial Disparity was seen." By Emilie Lounsberry, "harsher penalties for crack cocaine was unfair to Black defendants" (pg. 1 paragraph 4). According to the article, a two-tier cocaine sentence existed as crack cocaine was more punitive than that of powder cocaine.

The author, Emilie Lounsberry, suggests that the problem in the two-tier cocaine sentencing targeted Blacks. Crack cocaine was more prevalent in the Black community, therefore the chances of usage and distribution would more likely be from Black individuals. A person convicted of distributing powder cocaine would have to distribute 100 times more than that of crack cocaine to receive the same harsh sentence.

The disparity in this law has not gone unheard. For years civil rights activist have argued against mandatory sentencing in the drug law. This law is currently in the appellate court arguing for the right to allow judges more discretion when sentencing individual based on review of the individual's case.

The revelation of the preceding information suggests judicial inequality exits, and according to the article "Racial prejudice, perceived injustice, and the Black-White gap in punitive attitudes," by Devon Johnson there is a gap in the opinions among blacks and whites about punitive distribution. The author suggests that whites are more in favor of stiffer prison sentences and the death penalty than their black counterparts. Devon Johnson examines the reason why blacks are less favorable and whites are more favorable for harsher sentences and states that "blacks' support for the punitive policies should be tempered by the belief that the criminal justice system is biased against them" (pg.3 paragraph 1).

The author reveals that Blacks have more negative views about racial fairness and the police than Whites. Since more Blacks could identify with vicarious exposure to incarceration, Blacks were more apathetic and less supportive to severe sentencing. Devon Johnson survey revealed that 79% of Whites polled believed that juveniles charged with violent crime should be tried and sentenced as adults compared to 62% of Blacks polled. It also suggested that 67% of Whites and 44% of Blacks believed that penalties for violent crime were too light (pg.7 paragraph 1)

The pattern of Whites being more punitive than Blacks was consistent with 84% of whites and 66% of Blacks being in favor of the three strikes law. The 3 strikes law would mandate life imprisonment for individuals being convicted of their 3rd felony. Finally, the poll revealed 78% of Whites and 65% of Blacks agreed that parole boards should be stricter.

The aforementioned study revealed the perception of fairness in the judicial system among Whites and Blacks. This is not a new concept and judicial research has been conducted to examine the differences in the response. According to the article "Studying Inequality with One Eye: A New Agenda for Evaluating Disparate Treatment in the Courts" by Jon B. Gould, judicial systems have to address the concerns about disparate treatment and its affect on sentencing outcomes (pg.1 paragraph 1).

In 1989 the National Consortium of Task Forces and Commissions of Racial and Ethnic Bias in the Courts (the Consortium) was established. Its primary goal was to encourage judicial authorities to investigate the treatment of minorities in the court. The Consortium was challenged to understand if disparate treatment existed and affected sentence outcomes.

According to the author, The Consortium not only wants to know if racial disparities exist, but want to know the reasoning behind the existence. The author goes further to say that imperative data should be assessed in order to reach a fair conclusion. The Consortium should obtain information on the litigants' background, characteristics of the case, type of representation and demographics of tier of fact.

The litigants' background should be assessed for things such as household income, education, age, and job status. Characteristics of the case should include substantive type and number of claims raised. When examining type of representation, imperative data such as court appointed or paid for attorney should be analyzed. Finally, when gathering information about demographics or tier of fact, the judge's race, ethnicity, experience, age and gender should be collected. The mentioned information is deemed essential as the author states that "relationship between demographics and case outcome may be explained by a litigant's available resources throughout the litigation process" (pg. 322-323).

One of the most vital components that attributed to Black and White perception about punitive distribution is income level. According to "The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science" by Lauren J. Krivo and Ruth D. Peterson, injustice towards Blacks and other minorities can be attributed to social inequalities. Inequalities in education, employment and health can be attributed to the disproportionate amount of minorities imprisoned