The U.S. has made fundamental changes to ensure fairness and equal treatment of all people in the United. But one domain that has deeply lagged behind is its criminal justice system. The current system is characterized by race and racial disparity. In the U.S., ethnic and racial disparities exist at stages of the criminal justice process from arrest to parole. Ethnic and cultural minority groups remain overrepresented in delinquency, offending, and victimization (Carson & Anderson, 2018). In the U.S., sentencing is discriminatory, and the police are very instrumental in racial violence. This is because they actively participate, encourage, or fail to retrain mobs. Incidents involving police brutality still occur, and tensions between ethnic and racial minorities and law enforcement officers persist. For example, the U.S. has recently witnessed mass protests following the death of George Floyd in police custody. This paper will delve into discussing ethnicity, culture, and racism in the U.S. criminal justice system.
A number of research studies have documented the prevalence of race and racial disparity in the U.S. criminal justice system (Mauer, 2011; Carson & Anderson, 2018). Most of these studies have argued that racial discrimination is pervasive and deeply rooted in the U.S criminal justice system. According to Sentencing Project (U.S.) (2018) , the U.S. has a higher rate of incarceration than other nations. African Americans and Latinos make up 29 percent of the U.S. total population ( Sentencing Project (U.S.), 2018) . Despite this, they make up 57% of the U.S. prison population ( Sentencing Project (U.S.), 2018) . This indicates that ethnic and minority groups are more likely to end up in prison than Whites. IIn the U.S., African Americans are more likely to be incarcerated than other ethnic groups. According to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, African Americana adults are 5.9 times likely to be incarcerated than Whites (Carson & Anderson, 2018). In addition, Hispanic are 3.1 times likely to be incarcerated than Whites (Carson & Anderson, 2018). It is important to note that these disparities exist for all types of offenses, regardless of their seriousness. According to Mauer (2011), racial and ethnic disparities are more prevalent in men than in women (Mauer, 2011).
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
In the U.S., the sources of racial and ethnic disparities are much deeper as well as more systematic as compared to explicit racial discrimination. Sentencing Project (U.S.) (2018) , the U.S. operates two distinct criminal justice systems: one that serves rich people and another that serves people from disadvantaged communities and people of color. This is what makes ethnic and cultural minority groups remain overrepresented in terms of delinquency, offending, and victimization.
The racial disparities in the U.S. criminal justice system stem from a number of factors, which include “biased use of discretion, policies that discriminate people of color, and policies that disadvantage poor people” ( Sentencing Project (U.S.), 2018) . With regard to biased use of discretion, African American and other minority ethnic groups are highly likely to be prosecuted that Whites. Drug-free school zone laws disproportionately affect residents of urban areas, especially individuals from economically disadvantaged areas.
Conclusively, racial disparities exist in the U.S. criminal justice system. The current system is affected by years of an explicitly racist past. Sentencing is discriminatory, and the police are very instrumental in racial violence. Also, incidents involving police brutality still occur, and tensions between ethnic and racial minorities and law enforcement officers persist. Thus, there is a need to adopt concrete measures to reduce this disparity.
References
Carson, E. A., & Anderson, E. (2018). Prisoners in 2016. U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, NCJ , 247282 , 2.
Mauer, M. (2011). Addressing racial disparities in incarceration. The Prison Journal , 91 (3_suppl), 87S-101S.
Sentencing Project (U.S.). (2018). Report of the Sentencing Project to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance: Regarding Racial Disparities in the United States Criminal Justice System . Sentencing Project.
