The lack of trust in the judicial system explains why some individuals claim that guilty defendants are likely to go unpunished while innocent defendants were found guilty. Criminal justice actors, such as the jurors and public defenders, do not necessarily have neutral views (Free, 2017). They believe that defendants are guilty of some crime even if it is not the one for which they are charged. This problem exacerbates when a defendant cannot afford adequate legal representation. Since black people have low incomes and live in communities under heavy police surveillance, they are more likely than whites to be arrested and charged. “Criminal stereotypes often derived from these categories (poor/minority) make a verdict of guilty more feasible” (Free, 2017, p. 8). Most black men have a history of criminal involvement, making the presumption of innocence difficult. Compared to white people, African Americans are 2.2 times and six times pre likely to the arrested and incarcerated, respectively (Taylor et al., 2018). African American men face wrongful convictions involving prolonged sentences and death penalties. The US criminal justice system contains racially-biased laws that target African American men since the legal actors perceive they have undesirable characteristics and physical features that make them more susceptible to criminal activities than white men.
Critical Race Theory (CRT) explains how racism affects the US criminal justice system. Derrick Bell developed the CRT and asserted that racism is found in US institutions at macro-, meso-, and micro-levels (Saccomano, 2019). CRT points out that American society is organized along racial lines that promote inequality and white privilege. Whiteness functions as a mechanism to steer the “us” versus “them” attitude (Saccomano, 2019). American society labels certain people as whites, giving them a status of privilege. White people receive benefits such as social and economic opportunities. Today, a white person is more likely to access housing, education, and employment opportunities than a black person (Saccomano, 2019). White people continue to benefit from the atrocities their ancestors committed against other races. CRT asserts that white people rely on Enlightenment and Protestant Reformation values (Saccomano, 2019). For this reason, white culture upholds individuality, and personal liberty, and patriarchy. Other races rely on principles like interdependence and unity.
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The differences in the belief system are evident in the criminal justice system. Prisons were established to reformed people’s characters. Individualized punishment, indeterminate sentences, and parole are used to enhance rehabilitation (Saccomano, 2019). The idea of character is deeply racialized in the criminal justice system. Black men are perceived to possess undesirable characteristics such as violence, unloyalty, mischief, and aggressiveness. CRT highlights an offender’s socioeconomic status affected their freedom. For instance, it is believed that people who grew up without family support lack mentors to teach them appropriate behaviors (Saccomano, 2019). Consequently, they are likely to commit crimes. African American families lack either one or both parents. Even if the parents are present, they are too preoccupied with their jobs, making it impossible for them to attend to their children’s needs. Instead of improving income equality, the US criminal justice system has punished African American men through prolonged sentences. Besides, jurors focus on black men’s criminal history during trials. They believe that being a convicted criminal is a reflection of one’s character. For this reason, criminal history determines the range of sentences black men receive (Saccomano, 2019). White people rarely face such scrutiny. The jurors consider them innocent and remorseful since they are educated and grew up in stable families. Instead of focusing on the severity of the crime, jurors determine a defendant’s fate based on their race.
African American men are likely to be wrongfully convicted in the US criminal justice system based on their physical appearances. While black men contribute up to 13% of the US population, they constitute 40% of the prison population (Hetey & Eberhardt, 2018). Besides, black people are likely to receive harsher sentences compared to their white counterparts. According to a study, innocent black men are 3.5 times more likely convicted of sexual assault than white men (Kovera, 2019). African men ascertain their physical appearance have contributed to this trend. Having dark skin, a wide nose, and thin lips instead of European facial features is linked to harsher sentencing. In Georgia, for example, first-time black men offenders receive harsher sentences compared to their white counterparts (Kovera, 2019). While crime severity and socioeconomic status affect the jury’s decision, a person’s race is still a significant factor. In Manhattan, for instance, black men are likely to be incarcerated for misdemeanors and minor felonies (Kovera, 2019). White men who have been accused of a similar crime receive less punishment.
The phenotypic black features are linked to criminal behaviors. Consequently, the jurors are likely to misidentify the black men who possess these features. Atypical black features, such as narrow lips and nose and light skin, are linked to drug dealing and car-jacking activities ( Kleider‐Offutt et al., 2017). Black men who possess these phenotypic features are likely to serve long sentences and receive the death penalty in actual trials. Three-strike laws that enforce life sentences enhance racial disparity in the US criminal justice system. In California, 45% of the inmates imprisoned under the three-strike law are African American men (Kovera, 2019). Indeed, racism is still a major problem in the US criminal justice system.
The war on drugs is a representation of a racially-biased criminal justice system. When US government officials introduced the war on drugs, they created laws that aim at punishing black men and providing health care to white men with drug problems. During the crack cocaine epidemic of the 1980s, New York governor Mario Cuomo implemented a policy stating that any person caught selling crack cocaine would serve a life sentence (Hart & Hart, 2019). Since crack cocaine was prevalent among black people, there was heavy policing of African American neighborhoods. Congress passed a law that mandated 100 times harsher sentences for crack than powder cocaine offenses (Hart & Hart, 2019). For this reason, most black Americans were wrongfully convicted and served long prison sentences. Both crack and powder cocaine have similar effects on the body, but the harsh sentences target the African American community. Besides, black and white people use drugs at similar rates, and they purchase them from drug dealers within their racial groups. Despite this fact, by 1992, over 90% of crack cocaine offenders were black men (Hart & Hart, 2019). The white people accused of crack addiction received medical attention. Although President Obama changed the crack offense policy, there is still a racial disparity in the criminal justice system since most convictions affect black men. White people rely on the social benefits that the law affirms, legitimizes, and protects (Bryan, 2018). They benefit from the expansion of healthcare services that alleviates drug addiction. On the contrary, black men face prolonged sentences for committing similar crimes. At the state level, African American men are likely to be arrested and sentenced for cannabis possession than their white counterparts (Hart & Hart, 2019). Currently, opioid is one of the drugs that has affected Americans’ health outcomes. Although most users are white, lawmakers and prosecutors are suggesting harsh sentences for drug traffickers. In some states, the prosecutors are proposing murder charges against drug dealers and anyone who may have facilitated drug acquisition (Hart & Hart, 2019). Such policies influence the jury’s decision. The jurors perceive African Americans as criminals destroying the white population and recommend harsh sentences.
Jury decisions are influenced by race due to the underrepresentation of black people on the bench. Judges and American citizens are concerned about the “all-white jury” since the trials tend to be unfair and illegitimate (Rose et al., 2018). The current laws prevent black people from participating in jury debates. According to a study, one in every thirteen black people cannot vote due to criminal history (Kovera, 2019). In the US, voter registration records inform the state and court about the potential candidates for jury duty. For this reason, black people are significantly underrepresented in the jury pool. While the court summons some African Americans to participate in jury duty, they fail to show up due to poverty (Kovera, 2019). As a result, African American men are underrepresented in the jury pools and are likely to receive racially-biased sentences. During the jury selection process, state attorneys may remove members who are too biased to provide impartial insights into the case facts and apply the law (Kovera, 2019). However, this process is never transparent, creating a possibility of formulating a racially-biased jury. According to a study, attorneys are likely to use a peremptory challenge to remove a black man from the jury (Kovera, 2019). The pattern of jury selection influences the case outcomes. In North Carolina, prosecutors of death penalties are likely to use peremptory challenges to remove black venirepersons (Kovera, 2019). When a jury has no black members, the jurors are likely to convict a black defendant. White jurors believe that white-collar crimes like embezzlement are linked to white people, while violent offenses, such as robbery and assault, are associated with black men (Peter-Pagene, 2019). White people learn about stereotypes about black people from their childhood. Most of them believe black men have undesirable qualities such as laziness, hostility, and laziness, and thus, they support and justify the policies that punish them harshly. Stereotypes about black men originate from slavery. Slaveholders lived in constant fear that black men would rebel, rape white women, and take over America (Peter-Pagene, 2019). Some white jurors recommend punitive measures based on restraint and making black men loyal to the US. In criminal cases, jurors serve as lie detectors, but they have failed to racially-biased opinions. They focus on the witness’ body language cues, such as the inability to maintain a steady gaze. These cues display discomfort, not deception. Jurors tend to be misled by deceitful witnesses since they focus on their racial backgrounds (Rodriguez et al., 2019). Racial bias and stereotypes impair the jurors’ abilities to assess a witness’ credibility and misdemeanor. Especially if the witness of a different race. As a result, most black men have been wrongfully convicted for rape and sexual assaults (Free, 2017). Jurors perceive black witnesses as untrustworthy since they are inclined to lie under oath. Even well-intentioned jurors may be unaware of the stereotypes and racial biases during the assessment of trial witnesses. Racial discrimination continues to affect jurors’ decisions and serves as a proxy for credibility during trials.
Overall, the US criminal justice system racially discriminates against African American men due to their physical features and behaviors. During trials, the jurors assess the defendant’s phenotypic characteristics; if a person possesses the “black features,” they are likely to receive harsh sentences. When scrutinizing witnesses, the jurors overlook the black people’s testimonies. They believe black men are untrustworthy and unpatriotic to the US. These racial biases and stereotypes prompted the introduction of draconian drug laws that targeted African Americans. The black men’s criminal justice system experiences prompt the need to change laws that limit black people’s involvement in the jury pool. Jurors should also assess their bias and allow black witnesses to give their testimonies without excessive scrutiny of their past and physical appearances. This approach will reduce the mass incarceration of black men.
References
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