Racial Discrimination in the Criminal Justice System - Admission/Application Essay Example

? Racial Discrimination in the Criminal Justice System The criminal justice system of the US perpetuates and signifies racial discrimination, which constitutes a structural feature. It is clearly evident that there is a well – entrenched racial order in the US, wherein the possessors of a darker skin are at a much greater risk being subjected to economic, social and spatial marginalization. It is widely proclaimed in the US that its criminal justice guarantees equality and fairness to all. However, analysts, advocates, policymakers, practitioners and the ordinary citizens had observed that there is no such equality under the law in the US.1 Moreover, even a cursory look at the prisons of US, discloses that there is longstanding racial discrimination. The prison population is composed of Latinos and Blacks, and this is to the extent of 67% of the prison population. This is in sharp contrast to the proportion of the US population that Blacks and Latinos constitute. The latter figure is 25%. This sorry state of affairs has been persisting from a very long time, and the substantial reduction in crime, across the US, which commenced in the 1990s, has not affected the percentage of Blacks and Latinos who are incarcerated. 2 In order to rectify this terribly inequitable situation, several reformers in the area of criminal justice have advocated a basic reassessment of the assumptions and values that form the basis of the functioning, maintenance and structure of the criminal justice system. At this juncture, it is essential to realize that the origins and arrangements of American society have emerged from a racial hierarchy. 3 With regard to what is understood to be appropriate and equitable in the societal domain, racial hierarchy has assumed crucial importance. Thus, the whites are deemed to be at a distinct advantage, in comparison to the non – whites, with regard to the economy, politics and national culture. There is a definite racial bias among the various institutions, and norms of equity and justice that are not very clearly visible. 4 As such, the criminal system of the US displays a biased attitude while dealing with subordinate groups. Minorities are subjected to a greater number of traffic stops, and this has been justified by stating that these individuals are more liable than the whites to engage in crime. Although the US arose as a nation, from the common cause of ensuring justice and liberty for all; it was not till the 1960s and 1970s that this objective was achieved. During this Civil Rights period, several rights were provided to the minorities.5 The criminal justice system of the US is a racial institution. In this system, Americans of African origin are directly targeted and punished to a much greater extent than the members of the dominant white community. There is overwhelming evidence to support this contention. The question that arises is whether this system is racist and functioning as intended, or whether such discriminatory action is due to flaws in what is otherwise an exemplary system.6 Another related doubt that arises, is whether the criminal justice system of the US has the express objective of marginalizing and subjugating the African – Americans. At every stage of the criminal justice system, such bias is clearly evident. Thus, discrimination is visible from police stops, arrests, grant of bail, provision of legal representation, selection of the jury, sentencing, prison parole and freedom.7 During the past forty years, there has been an escalation in arrests and convictions. The principal reason for this has been stated to be the war against drugs. With regard to the crimes of murder, rape and burglary, there has been a substantial reduction. Despite this reduction, there has been a four – fold increase in arrests. 8 In this context, it is important to realize that drug offenses, possession and sales are almost equally indulged in by the African – Americans and the whites. Furthermore, African – Americans constitute just 13% of the total population and 14% of the drug users. However, they constitute 37% of the individuals arrested for drug offenses.9 In addition, there is considerable evidence to establish that the police stop and search African – Americans and Latinos to a much greater extent than the whites. For instance in New York City, 84% of the instances, in which people had been stopped by the police involved Latinos and African – Americans. The proportion of the non – whites in this city is 53%.10 During the period 2005 to 2008, just 10% of the police stops involved whites. The whites constitute 44% of the population. Among the whites stopped by the police, a mere 8% were frisked. On the other hand, 85% of the stopped Latinos and African – Americans had been frisked. The situation is more or less the same across the US. 11 Although, drivers from the minority communities were stopped and searched with greater frequency by the police, no significant difference was found with respect to the possession of contraband, in comparison with the whites. The Department of Justice has provided data, which clearly shows that since 1970, there had been a 400% increase in drug arrests. Thus, in the year 1970, such arrests were of the order of 415, 000. By the year 2009 this increased to 1.66 million. 12 Another disturbing feature of these arrests was that in 80% of these cases, the arrests had been made for the mere possession of banned drugs, and not for the manufacture or sale of such drugs. As of the year 2009, the number of African – Americans arrested for drugs was 300% that of the whites arrested for such offenses. Moreover, arrested African – Americans were much more likely to be detained in prison, awaiting trial, than their white counterparts. 13 With regard to bail setting it was seen that in the state of Connecticut, there was significant racial discrimination. This situation was also seen to prevail in the New York. For instance, the New York State Division of Criminal Justice conducted a review of the time taken for processing felony arrests. This was for the period from 1990 to 1992. The observation of this review was that African – Americans were detained to an extent that was 33% more than the whites, in the context of felony trials. Moreover, federal data has disclosed that the pretrial detention of whites was to the extent of 19%; whereas that of the Latinos and African – Americans was 46% and 35%, respectively. 14 Furthermore, laissez – faire racism and racist views could facilitate a system, whereby opinions regarding the criminal justice perpetrated against minorities could be correlated with racial politics. Such associations constitute a conceptual prototype that is distinguished by the following. 15 First, this model provides a mechanism for describing racial differences in political behavior. This is due to the fact that African – Americans, on the basis of their personal experiences, and those of their family and friends; will in all likelihood conclude that the criminal justice system discriminates against them. This has been seen to induce African – Americans to prefer ameliorative policies, such as affirmative action and to oppose racially motivated policies like capital punishment. 16 Second, a mechanism is made available by this model that transforms perceptions of criminal injustice to political behavior. It is to be realized that perceived racial injustice causes considerable damage to racist attitudes, which promote support for affirmative action. At the same time, opposition towards capital punishment is generated. 17 Those who are in favor of racial profiling as a method of law enforcement state that this intervention enables the police to target individuals who are more likely to be criminals. In other words, racial profiling will enable the law enforcement authorities to take a larger number of offenders into custody. 18 This argument has been put forth as justification for the greater number of stops and friskings of members of the minority groups. It has also been employed with regard to its emergence as a device in the war against terrorism. Nevertheless, this contention has attracted considerable criticism. One example that is frequently cited is that the police do not achieve better results by using race as a targeting factor. 19 Another challenge emerges from the existence of constraints, such as those emerging from the rights against discrimination. These rights prohibit the use of racial profiling, regardless of its perceived benefit in procuring a higher hit rate for criminals. Furthermore, it has been pointed out that the increased hit rate of criminals brought about by the utilization of racial profiling cannot be construed as bringing about a reduction in the number of criminals. 20 Although, the criminal profiling of a minority group may effect a reduction in the offending pattern of that group, the majority could offend to a greater extent, as they would be searched to a lesser extent. The majority group is obviously much larger in terms of its presence in a society, and in combination with improved racial profiling; this could bring about an increase in crime. 21 Therefore, it can be construed from a utilitarian criminal justice approach that the chief assumption of the hit rate contention for racial profiling, which contends that such profiling enhances the number of criminals who are apprehended, could prove to be unsuccessful in sustaining the use of racial profiling. 22 The fact of the matter is that there is no benefit in indiscriminately apprehending people, at an ever increasing rate, as criminals. The apprehension of criminals can be better achieved by resorting to methods that do not involve racial profiling. In addition, it is not beneficial to excessively punish people who are perceived to be criminals. Divisive politics are deeply entrenched in the US, and this has brought about the system of mass incarceration that is a characteristic of this nation. The Republican Party adopted the War on Drugs as an important component of its southern strategy. Under this strategy a very strong attempt was made to woo the whites of the poor and working class, by promising severe action to address issues of crime and welfare. The Republicans were convinced that these measures would influence the whites of the Southern States, to the benefit of the Republicans. 23 This strategy proved to be successful, as the Southern whites were suffering from anxiety, in the aftermath of the benefits procured by the African – Americans in the civil rights movement. The War on Drugs initiated by President Ronald Reagan was a reflection of the campaign promises made by the Republicans. 24 Though it was not made explicit, the enemy in this war was defined on the basis of race. In addition, the American judiciary provided admirable support to this racial discrimination. It did so by substantially diluting the protections provided by the Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution. These protections were against unwarranted searches and seizures. In addition, the US judiciary imposed impediments at every stage of the proceedings, in claims of racial bias. 25 The legislature proved to be no laggard in this commendable endeavor! Thus, it left no stone unturned in its objective to adopt the harshest possible measures against crime. As a consequence, Republicans and Democrats were seen to invariably promote very severe mandatory minimum sentences for minor drug offenses. These sentences were more stringent than the punishment inflicted for murder in the other democracies of the West. 26 This system is founded upon what can be termed an intentional indifference towards the people of the minority communities. It is believed by the whites that these people live in ghettos, are good for nothing, unworthy of care or concern, disposable, and beyond redemption. There is a tendency among the white community to believe that such people are capable of any crime. It is this attitude of the whites that has permitted laws to be passed, which have rendered them the permanent underclass. 27 Those who oppose racial discrimination have been vociferous in their claims regarding the proliferation of racial profiling in the US. These individuals stress that discrimination is the primary cause for the higher proportion of incarceration among members of the African – American community and the Latinos. 28 Thus, Barack Obama, when he was a senator, had declared during a presidential primary debate that for the same crime, African – Americans and whites were arrested and convicted at dramatically different rates. Moreover, the punishment was also significantly different. This was strongly reiterated by Hillary Clinton, who roundly condemned the US criminal justice system, as it incarcerated African – Americans to a much greater proportion, in comparison to the whites. 29 This clearly depicts the truth of discrimination in the criminal justice system of the US. Moreover, there has been an unprecedented increase in drug related cases, in the criminal justice system of the US. As of the year 1979, drug offenders constituted 6.4% of the population of state prisons. This proportion increased to 20% by the year 2004. The proportion of property offenders at that time was quite high. Thus, in the year 2004, offenders incarcerated for violence were 52% of the state prison population; and the corresponding figure for those imprisoned for property crimes was 21%.30 The percentage of drug offenders in federal prisons increased from 25% of the total federal population, in the year 1980 to 47.6% of the federal prisoners in the year 2006. It is precisely this set of data that those who oppose the War on Drugs policy tend to highlight. However, the proportion of prisoners in the federal prison system was around 12.3% of the prisoners in all the US prisons, as of the year 2006. 31 These figures tend to downplay the contention that African – Americans are imprisoned to a disproportionate extent, due to the War on Drugs. Furthermore, it has been contended by some that imprisonment in the African – American areas has per se, has resulted in crime, in these neighborhoods. This argument goes on to declare that as the African – Americans have the highest rate of incarceration; their imprisonment is tantamount to a disproportionate and unjust burden, on them. 32 This notion of disproportionate and unjust burden, Vis – a – Vis the African – Americans, has proved to be very popular in academic circles and among the intellectuals who oppose incarceration. For instance, Fagan of the Columbia University had emphasized that incarcerating African – American males had a detrimental effect on the general social control of children in general and adolescents in particular. Due to incarceration, an increase would transpire in the number of single parent households. In addition, crime would escalate in such neighborhoods, as there would be greater likelihood among the boys to take to crime, due to the absence of adequate supervision. 33 Thus, incarceration would beget further incarceration in a vicious cycle. In general, contemporary research has discerned differences in the rates of police actions related to white and colored citizens. Among the 13 studies, whose results were examined, all depicted disparities in the majority of police actions. In fact, six of these studies had arrived at the conclusion that these differences were the outcome of racial discrimination by the police officers. 34 However, the remaining seven studies took into account race – neutral explanations for the differences and arrived at somewhat more conservative interpretations regarding the discrepancies in the data. In fact, these studies suggested that the differences in police actions were not solely attributable to racial discrimination. It was proposed by these more conservative studies that the differences in police actions could perhaps be on account of greater police presence and differences in driving behavior. 35 The Bureau of Justice Statistics administered a national survey. This survey was conducted as a supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey. It was revealed by this national survey that colored drivers were more likely to be stopped by police officers, in comparison to white drivers. However, due to the non – collection of data on law violating behavior, it was not possible to definitely ascribe these reported differences to racial profiling. 36 Despite these drawbacks the fact remains that significant disparities were noticed with regard to police stops, arrests, citations, searches, and the use of force. In all these interventions by the police, the rates were substantially higher for colored people than those obtaining for the members of the white community. 37 During the 1990s, it had been frequently reported by colored people that police officers targeted them and stopped their vehicles for minor, insignificant or even imaginary traffic offenses. Thereafter, they would search their vehicles, with scant regard for the provisions of the Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution. The situation was exacerbated by the absence of comprehensive data, which rendered it very easy for the police department to declare that the colored people were making false accusations. 38 It was in this context that a bill relating to the collection of police stops data was passed by the House of Representatives in 1998. As was to be expected, the National Association of Police Organizations vehemently opposed this bill. This led to the demise of the bill in the Senate. However, due to various lawsuits in New Jersey and Maryland, it was revived, as the statistics from these cases clearly established that despite the black population of drivers constituting a mere 17% of the pertinent population, 70% of these drivers had been stopped and searched. 39 Discrimination against colored people in the US is rampant and this is undeniable. In the words of Marshall Frank, a retired captain of the Maryland State Police, the police functioned in a racially targeted manner. He also disclosed the disturbing fact that although African – Americans comprised 12% of the population, they occupied half of the prisons in the country. 40 In the US there is structural racism, or racism that is promoted and preserved by public policies, institutional practices, cultural representations and other standards, which work in mutually supportive ways. Structural racism highlights those aspects of the culture and history of the US that had supported the privileges enjoyed by the whites, while promoting the shortcomings of being colored. Moreover, institutions like the police and judiciary exhibit considerable bias, while dealing with the people and this is based on their color. It can be surmised that the criminal justice system in the US has been significantly influenced by racial profiling, under the guise of policy interventions. The officials exhibit scant regard towards the fundamental rights of the people, while dealing with such cases. Consequently, it is difficult to accomplish equality in the criminal justice system of a country where all the governmental systems are aimed at targeting the vulnerable people on racial grounds. As such, the whites have consciously or unconsciously harbored the feeling over the centuries that they are superior in every aspect to the colored man. The term ‘Whiteman’s burden’, which was employed by the whites to justify their ruthless exploitation of indigenous people, all over the world, is an example of the philosophical basis of this conviction. Therefore, the blatant discrimination towards colored people in the criminal justice system of the US should not cause surprise. Bibliography Clyde L Cronkhite, Law Enforcement and Justice Administration 289 (2nd ed., Jones & Bartlett 2012). David A Harris, The Reality of Racial Disparity in Criminal Justice: The Significance of Data Collection, 66 Law & Contemp. Probs. 71, 74 (2003). Heather Mac Donald, Is the Criminal – Justice System Racist?, 2008, 18 City Journal, http://www.aspeninstitute.org/sites/default/files/content/images/rcc/Rethinking%20Crime%20and%20Punishment%20for%20the%2021st%20Century.pdf (last visited Oct. 20, 2012). Jesper Ryberg, Racial Profiling and Criminal Injustice, 15 J. Ethics. 79, 79 (2011). Keith O Lawrence, Rethinking Crime and Punishment for the 21st Century, 2008, http://www.aspeninstitute.org/sites/default/files/content/images/rcc/Rethinking%20Crime%20and%20Punishment%20for%20the%2021st%20Century.pdf (last visited Oct. 20, 2012). Ross L Matsueda & Kevin Drakulich, Perceptions of Criminal Injustice, Symbolic Racism, and Racial Politics, 623 Annals Am. Acad. Pol. & Soc. 163, 168 (2009). William Quigley, Racism: the Crime in Criminal Justice, 13 Loy. J. Pub. Int. L. 417, 417 (2012). Read More