Racial Profiling in the Justice System - Research Paper Example

 Racial Profiling In The Justice System Racial profiling or racial discrimination is eminent in the United States of America criminal justice system. The minority groups in the U.S comprise of the Blacks, Hispanics and other races such as the Asians. These groups continue to face discrimination in the criminal justice system to date. The discrimination is evident in all stages of the criminal justice system. The discrimination is because it is assumed that the minority groups commit more crimes than the White Americans (Lynch et al., 2008). Discrimination of the minorities in the justice system is eminent at the very initial stages in the system when the law enforcers start investigating the causes of crime committed. Mostly, the minority groups are the first targets as suspects in the investigation process. The result of the law enforcers is racial skewing of the individuals charged and they end up convicted and incarcerated. More so, these actions are known as racial profiling because it involves the identification of potential criminals based on their accent or color the color of their skin (Cole, 2000). Racial discriminations is very pervasive because the law enforcers who are the police are given a substantial amount of discretion in they should consider as suspects of crime. This makes the police to carry out racial profiling to undertake investigations of a suspected criminal activity. For instance, the traffic police target black motorists for minor offences because the assumption is that the minority groups are prone to committing criminal activities. The police engage in questioning which greatly humiliates innocent black drivers. Similarly, in the interrogation process, some end up arrested and this actions result in a disproportionately large number of the blacks being arrested. It is important to note that the blacks are arrested for non violent criminal activities which rest a high probability of the discovery of the crime without racial profiling or discrimination by the traffic officers. It is thus for this reason that there exists a majority of blacks taken to the courts of law and charged with traffic offences as compared to the white Americans (Free, 2003). This implies that the prime victims of the corruption and brutality in the police department are the minority groups. The practices should be eliminated and shunned forever. Furthermore, creates the feelings of racism in the police department. Another example is a study carried out in the year 2000 in Los Angeles as an operation against gangs. The outcome of the study revealed that the police did not base their operation decisions based on factual information but on assumptions. Afterwards, the evidence was used to execute convictions. Additionally, the officers were brutal in intimidating their victims and above all, they were involved in drug trafficking trade whereby aliens were deported for witnessing the crime. The aliens were deported under the naturalization and immigration services (Free, 2003). In addition, this study showed that the Hispanic and Black individuals were more at the risk of being violently treated. More black Americans admitted being guilty of crimes they did not commit. From this information, it is crystal clear that racial profiling is very prevalent at early stages of the criminal judicial system (Lyubov, 2006). Moreover, the same is prevalent on the trial process. This is due to the fact that the public prosecutor has the right to deny a case from going into trial and hence end the prosecution process. However, the discretion has been vastly practiced on the basis of racism. The public prosecutors tend to favor the white Americans and in most of the cases, a decision is made on the foundation that the seriousness of the case is wanting and not enough to warrant a trial. This therefore stipulates that most of the crimes are committed by the minority groups, the Blacks and Hispanics (Lynch et al., 2008). The sentencing process is another important aspect that is abused by the criminal justice system because racial discrimination is evident in the process. However, even though the legal procedures established and enforced by the police department to make sure that the punishment given reflects the offence committed, there exists a substantial amount of leniency applicable to the sentence that is to be given. The state of New York criminal justice division carried out a study on the verdicts given. It revealed that the Whites were given shorter sentences for similar crimes committed in respect to the crime circumstances (Petersilia, 1983). On the other hand, the study portrayed that only one third of the black minorities received shorter sentences for similar crimes as compared to the whites. Therefore, the study concluded that the black people were sentenced to imprisonment more as compared to the whites who committed similar crimes. The investigation of why the minority races are discriminated in the criminal justice is significant. This is because there exist social attributes which are believed to be the cause of criminal activities. The attributes include the ways an individual was brought up and the influence of peers. It is believed that majority of the black Americans are exposed to poor upbringing and lack of education and the result is indulging in criminal activities. Therefore, it can be noted that the reasons why law enforcement agencies discriminate the minority groups is because of their upbringing and lack of lack of better education. More so, that it can be concluded that is the reason they are stopped by traffic officers and eventually end up being arrested (Lyubov, 2006). The need to evaluate the impacts of racial discrimination in the criminal justice system is also of importance in this study. Firstly, any form of discrimination in the criminal justice system acts a compromise to the main ideology of the system which is ensuring justice is given no matter the race, skin color, accent or family background. Justice should hold zero tolerance against racial discrimination. Racial profiling is in itself an injustice even when it is offered outside the jurisdiction of the criminal justice system. However, it even gets worse when such acts of injustice permeates in the same system that is created to ensure that injustice is avoided and shunned in other institution. Therefore, in this situation a system that in itself commits injustice is not liable to uphold the position of promoting justice in the society (Lynch et al., 2008). I chose this subject because it is real and ought to be thoroughly addressed. I personally am against injustice of any kind whatsoever. Therefore, I saw that it was keen to research on the issue because it eminent and present in a time where such discrimination should not exist in the modern age error. Intelligence is important and the minority should not be subjected to racial discrimination based on assumptions as to why they engage in criminal activities. On the other hand, I was not interested in the topic because I experienced it, but I believe every human being is equal no matter the status quo and that no man is superior to the other. Respect should be there so that the justice system may uphold and desist from using racial profiling to counter the rate of crime. There are so many families that have ended up losing their loved ones because they were convicted on crimes they never committed based on their race (Cole, 2000). The racial discrimination in the criminal justice system heightens tension within communities and further lead to racial segregation and violence between races. Therefore, the subject was vital to be addressed to shed light on what is not addressed by the criminal justice system. Additionally, based on what we have been studying, the criminal justice is a body that was created to maintain law and order and above all ensure that justice is maintained in the society. It is a system that should not tolerate discrimination of any kind despite the races involved. The class readings helped to shed light on some of the very many issues neglected by the criminal justice system and what needs to be done. The readings were meant to appreciate and recognize the existing issues in the society neglected by the justice system in order to promote an outstanding justice system in the future devoid of any intentional mistakes. Conclusion The criminal justice system is a body entrusted to promote justice in the society. However, it has been affected by racial discrimination of the minority groups such as the Blacks, Hispanics and other races. Operations to counter crimes were based on assumptions rather than evidence to pursue the criminals. Racial discrimination saw more blacks arrested on minor offenses resulting in even longer sentences for similar crimes committed by the whites. Therefore, the criminal justice system should eliminate all forms of discrimination because it amount to injustice. Due to the prevalence of racial discrimination in the system, the real suspects end up going scot-free while the innocent rot in detention facilities. I believe that the guardians of the justice system should be vetted and more qualified personnel motivated by thirst for justice should be appointed. This is because the effects of racial discrimination in the justice system are far reaching. Therefore, there should be campaigns to foresee that racial discrimination in the justice system is totally eliminated. References Lynch, M. J., Patterson, E. B. & Childs, K. K. (2008). Racial divide. Monsey, N.Y.: Criminal Justice Press. Cole, D. (2000). No equal justice: Race and class in American criminal justice system. USA: Press. Petersilia, J. (1983). Racial disparities in the criminal justice system. Santa Monica, CA: Rand Corp. Free, M. (2003). Racial issues in criminal justice: The case of African Americans. USA: Preager. Lyubov, M. (2006). A study of the criminal justice system. United States: Indiana University. Read More