Law Enforcement Agencies and the Judicial System - Research Paper Example

How Discrimination Is Used By Law Enforcement Agencies and the Judicial System How Discrimination Is Used By Law Enforcement Agencies and the Judicial System Discrimination occurs in virtually all institutions and is perpetuated by various groups who do not have respect or value for certain attributes. The perpetrator may target a certain race, social group or color and inflict pain deliberately. Institutions such as law enforcement agencies and judiciary are supposed to play a leading role in reducing the menace. However, police departments and courts or judicial officers where discrimination is carried out without remorse or fear of the resultant effects. The law enforcement agencies and judicial systems have strayed from their ideal duty of treating all Americans equally. The discriminatory practices are carried out in the form of racism, employment, social groups, gender and judicial punishment and sentence. The following presentation will demonstrate how discrimination is used in the judicial system and law enforcement agencies in the aspects of race, gender, social institutions, or groups, employment opportunities, gender and judicial punishment and sentencing. Discrimination through Race Systematic racism entangles police office where young black officers are on the receiving end. According to Mallonee & Perez (2015), the discriminatory practice in the police force does not take into account the fines and punishment that comes with violating racism codes within a government office. The problem is severe when the police target young black men. For example in Baltimore and Maryland State Police Departments, there are strong biases against young black men who are perceived to be drug peddlers in the streets. The way policing is done is skewed on the basis of race, and it does not matter if it is a black or white cop (Walker, Spohn & DeLone, 2012). The problem is part of US since it was founded and has targeted the minorities in the state. The policing tactics affect the way they handle crime in neighborhoods dominated by black people. Implicit bias comes into play when police officers use personal and racial oriented tactics. Law enforcement agencies perpetuate racial discrimination when conducting patrols. The officers target poor, crime neighborhoods with segregated populations. The minority communities in United States receive intense policing than where crime rates are low. The policing have affected the administration in Chicago where Windy City received intense and brutal policing between January and October in 2014 (Walker, Spohn & DeLone, 2012). Racial Discrimination in the Judicial System United State criminal or judicial system has become a race-based institution. African-Americans are targeted and punished with more severity than their white counterparts. The problem is aggravated by the divided political groups in the country leading to the marginalization of African-Americans during prosecution, legal representation, parole, and sentencing, trial, bail, arrest and prison time. Human Rights acknowledge the fact that white and black people commit drugs related crimes at almost equal rates. However, the surge of arrests in the last two decades has been concentrated in the African American populations (Quigley, 2010). The drug offenses, sales, and possession of illicit drugs do not matter with the race. More than 80% percent of the black or Hispanic people arrested get a public defender that is charged with tedious work that is not commensurate with the pay (Quigley, 2010). Public defenders spend integral time in courts, but the suspects end up getting severe sentences even when they are innocent. Hardly does the system give public defenders a chance to explain their rights. The American Bar Association argues that the racial problem has occurred in Alabama and Houston service. Alabama and Houston counties offer exclusive criminal jury service for African Americans. In a study carried out by Equal Justice Initiative, African Americans do not get jury service (Walker, Spohn & DeLone, 2012). The racial practice also uses plea bargaining methods more than the trials as stipulated in the constitution. Most of the African American defendants are not granted a fair trial. Discrimination in Employment Law Enforcement Agencies The cumbersome recruitment in the police force is riddled with unfair impediments (Finkelman, 2006). The application and employment decision centers do not carry out fair recruitment or evaluate candidates based on the needs of the immediate community or the individual involved. The recruitment of minority officers in the law enforcement agencies has been minimal. For example, the Connecticut has fought with a bias that comes when applications make their expression of their initial interest to join the police force and the time it takes for the interests or job to be confirmed. Kentucky and Lexington have struggled with a biased administration that has concentrated on majority communities during recruitment (Finkelman, 2006). The biased police force has engaged in lethal force incidents and biased traffic enforcement efforts. An overhaul of the police recruitment has been considered to include Black and Hispanic officers who understand the dynamics of crimes in their parent communities. Hardly, do the current law enforcement agencies incorporate citizen involvement in the ultimate operations. The citizens represent the needs of the communities and increase the level of trust with the agencies when they are involved more in the policymaking. Employment-Based Discrimination in the Judicial System The glaring employment of prosecutors and judges in the judicial system excludes black and Hispanic potential employees. The system is filled with incompetent lawyers and public prosecutors who cannot process criminal case at trials within the limits of the constitution. Walker, Spohn & DeLone argue that (2012) the lawyers or judges pass their Bar exams but are not given a period to demonstrate their competence before admission. Prosecution employment is based on the political interests of the people or government officials in power. The job of the prosecutor is to make sure that the politician who led to his or her employment has been reelected. The prosecutors may be competent, but they serve interests of the politicians other than the citizen. Durham County has been on the receiving end where prosecutors have been deployed to carry out political convictions other than justice (Quigley, 2010). Not only does the prosecution lack credibility when hiring lawyers, public defenders, prosecutors and crime lab assistants but also lacks proper appraisals. Appraisals are meant to give incriminating evidence to the judicial officers who do not have the ultimate discipline as required by the law. Finkelman (2006) argues that the misconduct during trial and investigation lack remedies due to the skewed watertight prosecutorial immunities. The offices or the bar does not carry out evaluations that would lead to dismissal or fair punishment for the errant prosecutors. Judicial Punishment and Sentencing The ultimate Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights (2015) argues that the judicial punishment and sentencing involving death penalty is more discriminative than fair. The justice system has offered capital punishment against racial minorities and poor people or suspects in United States. The execution of the innocent souls has increased in the last two decades, and the justice system is yet to consider an overhaul. Judicial punishment in Chicago has featured a high number of death penalty cases than any other region. Many European states have discarded death sentencing for long, but the punishment has not been scrapped off from the law enforcement agencies and judicial systems in United States. The judicial and law enforcement agencies are yet to heal from vengeful sentencing (Fathom.lib.uchicago.edu, 2015). While immense prominence has been placed on the deterrent value of the sentence, many judges and law enforcement officers still believe that crime creates an imbalance that should be rectified through severe punishment of the wrongdoer. Deterrence becomes a choice when the incident elicits extreme public attention. Bias sets in when judges or officers fail to view the suspect as a unique individual who deserves a fair sentencing irrespective of race or gender. New York federal courts spend an integral part of a day offering sentences. The prosecution must ensure that the punishment fair, but it sometimes serves demands of individuals who render the entire process discriminative. Eighth Amendment does not offer functional and formal restrictions on how the criminal justice system should carry out punishments and administer prison terms (Fathom.lib.uchicago.edu, 2015).The failure to have comprehensive clauses has resulted in agencies that exercise discriminative powers during punishing sentencing criminals. The Cruel and Unusual Punishments clause prohibits police officers and prosecution organs to carry out the unconstitutional sentence. The sentence or punishment must match the degree of crime committed. Prosecutors have been given undue discretion powers to decide the minimum or maximum sentence and a suspect should get (Baumer, 2013). Prosecutorial discretion becomes the discriminatory evil that does not exercise sentencing in a transparent way. There are prosecutors and judges who stand to gain professionally when they administer successful but unjust convictions. The prosecutors lack professional training on how to participate in sentencing, but their influence becomes inevitable. The police decide who investigate and the people whom they will punishment for a crime. Hardly do police officers with ill intentions carry out a procedural investigation to give the prosecution sufficient proof to administer proper sentencing. One Michael Morley from Texas was a victim of confirmation bias from the police. The first responder from the crime investigation confirmed Michael as the murderer of his wife and that wrongful conviction of 25 years in prison (Mallonee & Perez, 2015. Gender Discrimination Law enforcement agencies use wrong places to recruit police officers (Miller & Segal, 2012). Military bases and gyms admit more men than women. The agencies miss out on the input of prospective police women who have conflict-resolution skills in schools and health centers. The history of violent behavior for men recruits is often ignored. While male applicants are likely to have histories of violence, the agencies dismiss women and use aggressive and physically unfair screening procedures. The discriminatory hiring practices feature physical testing during hiring. Not only is procedure unnecessary but also unfair for female gender that may face abuse at the hands of male recruitment officers. Pennsylvania is conducting an overhaul in the recruitment process to scrape sex discrimination hiring acts. The state understands the absence of a study or evidence that can validate the use of physical testing (Miller & Segal, 2012). Law enforcement agencies are yet to eliminate gender inequality aspect. Women have come from holding clerical positions to assuming powerful leadership roles on the police force. According to National Association of Women Law Enforcement Executives (2015), recommendations for more women roles in the police force than there was during the era of Commander Ziman are yet to be approved. The state and federal law enforcement dockets have not come of age in considering the competency of women as opposed to their gender. The underrepresentation of women in policing stands at only 15 percent countrywide. The family court system in United States still features gender biased aspect. The court system has not yet implemented a system whereby women can be seen as rampant recipients of domestic violence. Hardly has the judicial system implemented or passed watertight sexual harassment laws that can see more women get justice for sexual or gender violence cases. The Department of Justice is charged with enforcing laws that do not shut one gender and admit another. With allegations and series of complaints coming from the public, the criminal justice system is yet to unravel the mysteries that happen during criminal enforcement admissions. More competent women should be admitted to the bar and assume positions in the judiciary. Despite the increasing number of female judicial nominees, the state has not confirmed a good number to compete with equal male positions (National Womens Law Center, 2015).The confirmation of 130 female judges during Obama administration surpasses the number of female nominees appointed to represent women in US judicial system in the past. Social Discrimination Hardly does the law enforcement agency answer to the call of diversity when performing its duties. United States officers have continued to shut citizens, a certain gender, and minority communities from participating in the policing and administration process (Miller & Segal, 2012). With Black, Hispanic and Latin American communities continuing to fight for more positions and participation in the police force, racial discrimination has not been eliminated since 1972. According to Lucas (2008) the history of black participation in the law enforcement agencies is insufficient. Despite the existence of Equal Employment Opportunity Act, social discrimination in terms of race, religious groups still exist in the U.S justice and Police force. The agencies hire racial minorities and gender groups, but they do face promotion and assignment issues. FBI has been accused of offering few promotions and job assignments to Asian, Hispanic and African American agents. United States Customs and Border Protection agency has been in the spotlight for immigration based discriminatory practices. The agency is supposed to carry out investigations and admissions within the federal civil rights on behalf of the judiciary and law enforcement agencies. However, patrol agents have demonstrated official misconduct, unjust killings, sexual abuse and assaults between 2010 and 2014 (Lucas, 2008). The Southwest border demonstrates discrimination against U.S immigrants. Summary It is without a doubt that law enforcement agencies and judicial systems in United States use discrimination for vested interests. Racial groups namely African Americans, Hispanic, Asians and Latin have been targeted for crimes and their white counterparts ignored by the criminal justice system. The discrimination has also been tough on immigrants and gender groups that are believed to lack competence or the natural orientation towards judicial and law enforcement agency profession. As United States continues to grapple with more women representation in the judiciary and police force, the dilemma of judicial punishment and sentencing is yet to be solved. Proper laws should be implemented to ensure that criminals or suspects get fair punishments from professionally trained persons in the law enforcement agencies and judicial systems. References Baumer, E. (2013). Reassessing and Redirecting Research on Race and Sentencing. Justice Quarterly, 30(2), 231-261. doi:10.1080/07418825.2012.682602 Fathom.lib.uchicago.edu,. (2015). Capital Punishment in the United States: A Forum on Death-Penalty Issues. Retrieved from http://fathom.lib.uchicago.edu/2/10701044/ Finkelman, P. (2006). Encyclopedia of American civil liberties. New York: Routledge. Lucas, S. (2008). Theorizing discrimination in an era of contested prejudice. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. Mallonee, M., & Perez, E. (2015). DOJ targets racism in police forces - CNNPolitics.com. CNN. Retrieved from http://edition.cnn.com/2015/03/26/politics/doj-police-racially-offensive-text-messages/ Miller, A., & Segal, C. (2012). Does Temporary Affirmative Action Produce Persistent Effects? A Study of Black and Female Employment in Law Enforcement. Review Of Economics And Statistics, 94(4), 1107-1125. doi:10.1162/rest_a_00208 National Womens Law Center,. (2015). Women in the Federal Judiciary: Still A Long Way to Go. Retrieved from http://www.nwlc.org/resource/women-federal-judiciary-still-long-way-go-1 Quigley, B. (2010). Fourteen Examples of Racism in Criminal Justice System. The Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-quigley/fourteen-examples-of-raci_b_658947.html The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights,. (2015). Discrimination in the Criminal Justice System. Retrieved from http://www.civilrights.org/publications/reports/cerd-report-falling-further-behind/discrimination-in-the.html Walker, S., Spohn, C., & DeLone, M. (2012). The Color of justice. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Co. Read More