Racial Disparity In Sentencing - Essay Example

Racial disparity in sentencing Order No. 352578 January ‘10 Racial disparity in sentencing Introduction There is no doubt that minorities in America today enjoy greater opportunities in the economic and educational areas than ever before. Even though one cannot claim that the minorities enjoy complete equality in these areas it is certain that the US is making slow but steady progress in realizing the goal of equality. But this is not true in one critical area and that is criminal justice. Racial inequality or disparity in criminal justice and sentencing is not receding. The criminal laws which on the surface look neutral are enforced in such a manner that certainly appears biased. Racial disparity in sentencing has become a problematic issue. There are many people who believe that this disparity does not exist. But there is substantial proof to prove that it does exist. According to Marc Mauer, there has been an "unprecedented rise in the prison population over the past three decades a six fold increase, leading to the incarceration of nearly two million Americans” and that “One of every eight black males in the 25-34 age groups is locked up on any given day and 32% of black males born today can expect to spend time in a state or federal prisons if the current trends continue." (Mauer 2004) Racial disparity in sentencing in courtrooms today is a very real issue and needs be addressed with measures that will fundamentally change the judicial system and the structure of sentencing in such a way that racial disparity in sentencing can be eliminated. What is Racial Disparity? According to The Sentencing Project (2000) “Racial disparity in the criminal justice system exists when “the proportion of a racial/ethnic group within the control of the system is greater than the proportion of such groups in the general population” and that “Illegitimate or unwarranted racial disparity results from the dissimilar treatment by the criminal justice system of similarly situated people based on race. In some instances this may involve overt racial bias, while in others it may reflect the influence of factors that are only indirectly associated with race. ” (The Sentencing Project, 2000, p. 2) Racial disparity in sentencing The general consensus is that disparity is seen in all stages of the judicial process. This includes biases in policing, prosecution and sentencing. Studies have shown that racial disparity is a growing problem. especially so in cases of arrests or sentencing in connection with drugs .The minorities that includes African Americans , Native Americans and Hispanics, when they are arrested or sentenced for a drug crime have far more to fear from the politics of the justice system than the whites as the judges have discretionary powers over many laws. According to a Project Report by Tushar Kansal (2005, p.9), racial disparity manifests itself in various ways, some of them being: 1)“Blacks pay a higher “trial penalty” than comparably situated whites2) Blacks and Latinos with a more serious criminal record tend to be sentenced more severely than comparably situated whites 3)Blacks are more likely to be jailed pending trial, and therefore tend to receive harsher sentences 4)Whites are more likely to hire a private attorney than Latinos or blacks, and therefore receive a less severe sentence. 5)Latinos and blacks tend to be sentenced more harshly than whites for lower-level crimes such as drug crimes and property crimes 6)In the vast majority of cases, the race of the victim tends to have an effect on the sentence outcome, with white victim cases more often resulting in death sentences . Reports confirm Racial Disparity in Sentencing There is enough evidence to prove the existence of racial discrimination sentencing. “Statistics show that more than one-fourth of all black males and 16 percent of Latinos can expect to spend time in prison during their lifetime, while only 4 percent of white males ever go to prison. African-Americans make up 12 percent of the U.S. population, but they compose about half of all prison inmates and 40 percent of those sentenced to death. Even more startling, a third of all African-American males aged 20-29 are right now either locked up, on probation, or on parole” (Brown, 2006). Reasons for Racial Disparity in Sentencing The causes of disparity may be varied and include differing levels of criminal activity, law enforcement emphasis on particular communities, legislative policies, and decision making by criminal justice practitioners who exercise broad discretion in the justice process( The Sentencing Project 2000, p.2 ). It is generally believed that African-Americans and Hispanics commit more crimes. This may be because one finds more low-income individuals at every stage of the criminal justice system, and it is a fact that people of color mostly have low-incomes. Hence some claim that overrepresentation of minorities in the justice system is mainly the result of people of color committing more crimes. However an empirical analysis does not support this claim. Some of the disparities arise because of the bias and bigotry of law enforcement personnel such as police officers, defense attorneys, prosecutors, judges, parole officers or parole board members. These people may be prejudiced against blacks and other minority groups. Prosecutors have discretionary powers in the decision to prosecute and in the sentencing process. Even though it is the judge who imposes the sentence, the prosecution makes recommendations and it is possible that while making recommendations racial disparity is present. Many times there is abuse of prosecutorial discretion. In many cases the jurors themselves are prejudiced and this may lead to racial disparity in sentencing. Also disparity in sentencing may be attributed to legislative policies. Legislative policies are likely to have an unequal or disparate impact on the minorities. Many practices, statutes and classifications present in legislative policies at the federal, state, and local levels of the criminal justice system have had a disproportionate impact on minority communities. Sentencing policies that on the surface appear neutral to race have in fact been having clear racial effects. Research studies of sentencing policies have shown that there is a relationship between harsh sentencing and race. Another cause for racial disparity can be attributed to the fact that social classes to which the minorities groups belong affect the perception of law enforcing authorities. Blacks are often seen in a negative way by the criminal justice system. There is a negative label attached to them. This sort of racial profiling takes place because it is assumed by many that a black person is more likely to commit a crime than a white person. This assumption arises from plain prejudice. The quality of defense counsel of low-income defendants can also be one of the reasons for disparity in sentencing. Sometimes the appointed counsels are inexperienced, incompetent and poorly trained or may be overloaded and are not able to obtain releases for their clients. Sometimes resources that are required by defendants before they are sentenced and which may help them in their acquittal are not easily available for low-income groups. For instance resources that are needed to consult psychologists, to treat addictions or hire investigators or witnesses are not unavailable through public funds. This puts the defendants at a disadvantage. What Needs to Be Done There is no doubt that significant improvements have been made in the criminal justice system so that the minorities like the b lacks are given a fair trial. Blacks long ago did not have a right to trial leave alone a fair one. Also blacks were not allowed to serve on juries and this clearly affected their trials. It is not that the criminal justice system has not made any improvements in preventing racial disparities in sentencing. Improvement has been made in these areas through various court decisions and federal and state legislatures. But these are minor improvements. And there has been no further development of the legal system concerning race. The fact remains that that the United States criminal justice system still has discrepancies that adversely affect the blacks such as the abuse of prosecutorial discretion that needs to be monitored more closely and the appointment of ineffective counsel for defendants for minority races. There is need for further action to be taken to provide equal justice for all races. Racism by jurors still exists and this needs to be addressed so as to ensure that fair and objective people are examining evidence and that the jurors are looking at facts and not the race of the person on trial. The Judiciary should take steps to see that there is no disparity when minorities are arrested or when bail and release decisions are taken or at the time of assignment of a defense attorney. Finally, Judiciary must ensure that racial disparity does not take place at the time of sentencing. The judiciary must take the initiative in the setting up of institution training. Racial and ethnic disparities in the criminal justice system result from a complex set of policies and practices. Coordinated efforts should be made by policy makers, criminal justice leader and also community groups to reduce unwarranted disparities in the system. Some of the remedies suggested by Marc Mauer(2009) of The Sentencing Project include 1) Adopt Racial Impact Statements to Project Unanticipated Consequences of Criminal Justice Policies 2) Assess the Racial Impact of Current Criminal Justice Decision making 4)Shift the Focus of Drug Policies and Practice and 5) Provide Equal Access to Justice Racial disparity in sentencing is evident in every aspect of the present judicial system and is an integral part of the system. Hence it is necessary that the very structure of the sentencing system has to be changed fundamentally if racial disparity in sentencing is to be reduced or eliminated all together. This will require a focused effort by all concerned such as the judicial system at all levels, the criminal defense attorneys and prosecutors. The laws and legislations relating to sentencing guidelines also need to be reexamined. Conclusion In conclusion it can be said that are enough reasons for concern about racial disparity in sentencing. Racial disparity has resulted in the erosion of trust in the judicial system. This disparity has been a longstanding issue and it continues to be in spite of some measures taken to lessen the problem. There is an immediate need for some serious thinking and definite actions to be taken on the issue. There have been changes. Over a period of time things have changed from overt racism to more covert outcomes and manifestations. If one has to eliminate racial disparity in sentencing one has to change the fundamentals and this necessitates a focused effort from all those who are involved in the judicial process of sentencing. References 1. Brown (2006), Quote retrieved from http://www.anairhoads.org/calderon/disdisc.shtml on 19/1/10 2. Mauer, M. (2004), Quote retrieved from www.associatedcontent.com/.../racial_disparity_in_sentencing.html -on 20/1/09 3, Marc Mauer (2009), Racial Disparities in the Criminal Justice System,http://www.sentencingproject.org/doc/publications/rd_mmhousetestimonyonRD.pdf, p.6, 7 4. The Sentencing Project. (2000), Retrieved from http://lkeber.googlepages.com/ReducingRacialDisparityinCJS.pdf , p.2, on 19/1/10 5. Kansal Tushar (2005), Racial Disparity in Sentencing: A Review of the Literature, http://www.sentencingproject.org/doc/publications/rd_sentencing_review.pdf, p.9 Read More