Justice of the Unintended Impact of the Criminal Justice Process - Essay Example

IMPLICATIONS FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF JUSTICE OF THE UNINTENDED IMPACT OF THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE PROCESS Implications for the implementation of Justice of the unintended impact of the Criminal Justice process Introduction: The criminal justice system in the UK is not working. The cost of locking up a prisoner for a year is 37,500 pounds but recidivism is on the rose and prison populations are exploding (www.rethinking.uk.org) , while people do not feel any safer on the streets. The British criminal system has been based upon harsher and sterner measures than those employed in other countries and yet in spite of these measures, crime rates continue to rise and citizens continue to feel more unsafe on the streets and demand more stringent measures and more prisons to ensure that criminal elements do not pose a danger to the public. The issues: There are several issues that arise in coping with this problem. On the one hand, faith in the criminal justice system can be only restored if the members of the public achieve a level of confidence in the law enforcement process and its results. However, this confidence is being undermined, which has resulted in increased insecurity and sterner measures which are even more ineffective. Part of the reason for this may be seen in the imbalances that exist within the current judicial and law enforcement system as it exists in the UK today. The current composition of the common public has changed drastically from the way it was in the post World War II era. There has been a steady influx of immigrants from Asian and Afro-Caribbean countries as a result of which minority representation in the population is higher and the society has become multi cultural and multi ethnic. There is also a higher representation of female members of the community in the work force and in the criminal justice system. However, to counter balance this, there has been no corresponding rise in representation of these minorities and women in the law enforcement field and in the judicial arena which is still predominantly white and male. As a result, racism and prejudice have been noted within the criminal justice process which have proved detrimental to the interests of the minority communities and created imbalances by pushing a larger proportion of minority community members behind bars. The result of such increased incarceration is that members of the minority public lose their faith in the law enforcement system. An individual who has not been treated fairly by police officers nor given a fair verdict in the Courts as compared to his white contemporaries is likely to emerge bitter and mistrusting. Thus, while a prison sentence is intended to reform an individual and ensure that he or he does not slip back into a life of crime, most members of the minority communities who have faced discrimination from the white racist police officers become more bitter because their punishment is out of proportion to their crime and therefore, they tend to exhibit recidivist tendencies, convinced that they will not receive justice from the system as it exists. With exploding crime rates and increased prison terms, other issues that arise is the need to consider alternative approaches in dealing with the problem of increasing crime rates. The UK criminal justice system is founded upon the principle of strict punishment and punitive measures that are issued in proportion to the crime. However, the racist element that figures in the equation tends to send more minority offenders to jail faster than Whites, for offenses that are less serious, especially for first time offenders. There are certain provisions that are permissible under the law to deal with offenders. For example, fines can be imposed for minor violations, cautionary warnings can also be issued to the offenders in order to prevent them from committing the crime again. However, police officers are less likely to extend cautionary warnings to the minority groups and are quicker to arrest them (Landau and Nathan 1983). Similarly, there are also alternative options for sentencing of an offender when a crime has been proved. In some cases, the offenders are being remanded to custodial sentencing and others sentenced to community service. The community sentences provides a less harsh alternative which in the case of some individuals may prove to be beneficial in correcting them. However, the reality of the situation is that members of minority communities are more quickly pushed into custodial sentencing rather than community sentences. As a result, a crime which could have been corrected through the use of a less punitive measure is subjected to a punitive measure that is too harsh and could have been more effectively employed in the case of a more serious offender. This has resulted in an influx into prisons of members of the minority communities, especially blacks and produced overcrowding in prisons as well as a tendency to recidivism. The Criminal law Act of 1977 divided offenses into three categories – offences triable only on indictment, offences triable only summarily or those which may be tried either way.(Ashwrth 2005) Two kinds of Courts exist to deal with offenders – the Crown Courts and the Magistrate Courts. The less serious offences are dealt with by the Magistrate Courts and they do not have the power to impose sentences longer than six months imprisonment for one offense and 12 months for two or more. Therefore when a crime is felt to be more serious than can be adequately punished at the Magistrate court level, it is sent to the Crown Court, which ahs the power to deal with the more serious offences.(Ashworth 2005). The Crown Courts are staffed by full time judges, most of whom have begun their career by serving as recorders and assistant judges, working at lower tier levels. Crown Courts decisions, especially at the top tier level that deal with the most serious offences, are almost irreversible, because unless there is a point of law involved, they cannot even be appealed without the permission of the crown Court. In terms of sentencing, there are provisions available for absolute or conditional discharge and even for harsh fines to be paid by the offenders. However since most of the minority communities are also poor, the payment of fines remains an option that they are unable to avail of and therefore are forces to serve community sentences instead. According to the Criminal Justice Act of 2003, Section 148, a Crown court is not to pass a community sentence until the seriousness of the crime merits it (Ashworth 2005). The custodial sentence is the next order of sentence and the imprisonment is to be chosen as a last resort when the seriousness of the crime merits it. The lengths of sentences imposed for various crimes have been increasing in recent years, especially for crimes such as drug trafficking and felony. Black people are six times more likely to be imprisoned for a first offense as compared to whites, although imprisonment is to be used as a last resort. (Ashworth 2005). The criminal justice system is basically flawed in that it allows for magistrates to hear only a portion of taped evidence in order to arrive at a conviction. Interviewing has been acknowledged to be an important aspect of police investigations, however in most instances where minorities are concerned, these interviews are used to secure a forcible admission from a suspected person rather than to uncover the evidence and true facts that surround the criminal activity (Clark-Stapleton N.d). The fact that blacks are more easily stopped and charged, arrested and convicted has been documented in several studies and in many instances, the apprehending of the minorities is a result of over reaction of the police. Moreover, tapes produced during hearings are increasingly being used as the basis for conviction. The police often provoke the suspects into saying something that exists in a different context but may be present in quite a different context in the Court through partial taped evidence provided, which results incriminating statements that produce convictions in about 80% of the guilty pleas (Clark Stapleton n.d.) Since most stop and search arrests are based on prejudice and consequent presentation in Court is also presented with the element of racial bias to prejudice the Court against the minority defendants, the end result has been harsher sentences and less chances of probation or fines for minority suspects, particularly black minorities. So called social Inquiry reports that are produced have been rendered a mockery by the predominantly white male elements that comprise the police and the judiciary, with sparse representation and sparse consideration of justice for minority offenders. Literature Review: The element of prejudice that exists in the law enforcement system has been highlighted in several studies done in the U.K. According to David Smith (1994), the majority group in society has the power over the cultural, religious and social traditions in a particular country and therefore, all minorities who come later with different cultures are perceived to be inferior which sets in a natural bias against them, conditioned by their fewer numbers in society. This appears to have been the case in the U.K., where members of the majority community are predominantly white, with most people considering themselves superior to the immigrants who have been flooding into U.K. While the racism may not be flagrantly on display as it existed in Germany during the reign of Hitler, nevertheless in the law enforcement arena, there exists a definite prejudice that exists against the minorities, especially the Far-Caribbean minorities, who are perceived to be inferior, more violent and more criminally minded than the average population. This underlying public perception of the blacks as inferior and criminal elements is clearly reflected in the law enforcement system. A study conducted by Skogan (1990) reported that as compared to whites, more black minorities reported being stopped and searched by the police. While 15% of whites reported being stopped by the police, the figure was 20% for the blacks and they also complained more than the whites about the way in which they were treated by the police when they were stopped. The respect and dignity that is accorded to other white members of the population is replaced by an attitude that is intended to harass the offender and make him or her feel inferior and defensive. A British Crime Survey (1988) also reported that there was some evidence available that appeared to indicate a racial bias in the crimes that were reported by the public and those detected by the police. Therefore, at the very outset, from the reporting stage itself, the police are more willing to prosecute crimes involving members of minority communities as opposed to those from the majority community. Landau and Nathan(1983) had reported that the police were less likely to caution blacks as compared to whites and were quicker to arrest them. In fact, the existence of a definite racial bias by police officers had been discovered in a study by Goreman and Coleman (1982) wherein police officer attitudes were the subject of study. The police officers were asked to write an essay to test their personalities and attitudes and discovered that many of the officers were violently racist in their comments, especially in regard to the Afro-Caribbean population. Some of the comments that were made are: “Certain members of the colored population that I have met are OK, but the majority of youths of the West Indian community are savage, ignorant, vicious, thieving bastards…”, “….most of them are just dirty….”, “….over 50% of the trouble is caused by niggers….” “…smelly backward people who will never change….” (www.murderuk.com). An on line survey conducted by BBC in 2002 revealed that 51% of blacks surveyed felt that they are more likely to be mistreated under the law and about one in three blacks felt that they are perceived to be criminals merely because of the color of their skin. 37% of the black respondents on the survey felt that police treatment of the black minority was unfair.(Cowling 2002). According to the British crime Survey conducted in 2000, members of ethnic minority communities are more likely to be the victims of racially motivated crimes(www.homeoffice.gov.uk). The same survey also found that black minority suspects are less likely to be fined or discharged and are more likely to receive a community sentence, more likely to be stopped and searched and remanded into custody in spite of the fact that they have lower reconviction rates than whites. These statistics could also account for the reason why the black minorities constitute a larger percentage of the prison population (12.1%). In view of the fact that black minorities have a lower reconviction rate than whites, it would appear that there is room for more flexibility in the administration of punishment by the law enforcement system. These minorities are likely to respond easily and more quickly to measures such as cautionary warnings or fines if they are provided with an opportunity to receive those punishments by the white members of the police force. Unfortunately however, this is not the case. Black minorities are likely to be arrested on flimsier grounds than the whites (Gould 2000) thereby increasing the likelihood of punishment out of proportion to the crime itself and the denial of the opportunity to face a lighter sentence and the chance to improve and correct oneself. According to Lord Bingham, the rising levels in prisons could also be the result of injustice caused by “the imprisonment of those for whom that penalty is not strictly necessary.” In view of the fact that it is expensive to retain inmates in prison and it costs the state up to 37,000 pounds per person which is more than the average annual salary of an individual, it is even more important to take up viable alternative approaches which could be equally and perhaps more effective in functioning as a crime deterrent. According to the Lord Chief Justice, “Today too few community sentences are imposed and too many and too long prison sentences rare imposed. The consequences are doubly destructive of society.” The tendency to recidivism in inmates is increasing because it is fuelled and inflamed by the rampant injustice that they face in prisons, under the harshness of a sentence that is out of proportion to the crime and where they have not been treated fairly by being offered other options. Therefore, the ultimate purpose of law enforcement is defeated, i.e, to reduce crime. In order to make society safer and ensure that the incidence of crime is reduced, it is necessary to reserve the strictest punishments for the most hardened criminal elements. The most important factor that must be provided for is to ensure that criminals and offenders also receive fair treatment at the hands of law enforcement authorities, in order to encourage them to eschew the criminal path to reform themselves. But an unfair criminal justice and law enforcement is only exacerbating the problems of the minorities and contributing to an increase in crimes and recidivism from this section of society as the following statistics demonstrate: Statistics: Statistics available for 2003-4 indicate that racist incidents rose by 7% in 2003-4, with 5629 defendants prosecuted and 2440 convicted at magistrate’s courts and 457 at the crown Court.(www.homeoffice.gov.uk). Of the 2605 homicides that were recorded, 10% were black minorities, and this group was more likely to be shot (31%) as compared to Asians and other minorities. Of the 738,000 “stop and searches that were organized in 2003-4, 15$ were black people. In comparison to whites and the general population, black minorities were 6.4 times more likely to be stopped and searched, the reason for the stop and search being for possession of drugs in most cases (www.homeoffice.gov.uk) Of the 1.33 million notifiable offenses that took place 9% were recorded as originating from the black minorities. Minority groups are not highly represented as prison guards or supervisory officers, rather they have a higher representation as clients of the criminal justice system. Blacks form the highest percentage of the prison population (15%). Black people are more likely to be regarded as suspects by the police and are likely to be arrested on flimsier evidence as compared to white suspects to serve longer prison terms (Gould 2002). According to Justice Singh, the only non white District Judge in Wales, the justice system must reflect the multi-racial, multi-cultural society it is dealing with (Gould 2002). But this ha snot proved to be the case. While more members of the minority population were pushed into prison and the proportion increased from 16% to 25% in a ten year span from 1993 to 2003, the corresponding representation of members of minority groups on the police, prison and law enforcement force increased by a very small margin from 4.9% to 5.7% in the same ten year span of time (Dodd 2005). In fact, Paul Cavadino warns that if the criminal justice system does not undergo drastic reforms to be more representative of the people, then there is likely to be an ever greater alienation of the black minority community from the law enforcement process.(Gould 2002). This appears to be borne out in the fact that the crime rate continues to increase and more criminal elements are being born in the minority communities. Most violence and criminal activity is the result of unfair treatment by society wherein a victim feels persecuted and lashes out at society. Therefore if the present imbalances in the law enforcement system continue, it is likely to prove more detrimental in the future. Implications: According to Chief Executive Paul Cavadino; “We have a criminal justice process in which mainly white professionals arrest, prosecute, sentence and hold in prison a disproportionate number of black defendants"(Gould, 2002). The pro active pattern of law enforcement exists as far as black minorities are concerned; they are arrested and imprisoned for robbery, theft and assault. Populations of blacks are younger and reasons for increased criminal activity among the black minorities are believed to be fuelled by the nature of the neighborhoods that they live in (www.brad.ac.uk). Most neighborhoods which are stricken by poverty and where effective means for economic sustenance and the availability of jobs is low, people often turn to criminal activities as a means to supplement and earn income. Many of the poor neighborhoods are also infested by drug lords who are quick to pull people on the fringes into a life of crime. When the common perception that exists is one of unfairness and racial bias in the law enforcement system, members of the minority communities are less prepared to trust in the law and in its function of protection and are more likely to believe that they will face harassment rather than receive justice at the hands of the law. In view of the statistics given above, more members of the minority community are likely to anticipate that they will receive unfair treatment and there are more likely to believe that increased crime and violence is the only way to respond to an unfair criminal system. The young age of most Far-Caribbean members could also be a factor that accounts for increased crime rates and prison sentences in this community. For example, the 1991 census showed that 5.5% of the population were classed as ethnic minorities, of which 1.6% were from an Afro-Caribbean background. However, this censes also showed that a larger percentage of this population was young and this may account for the higher incidence of crime among this community, based upon the general findings in criminal justice of a higher incidence of crime among people whose ages range from 14 to 25. (www.murderuk.com). The law enforcement profile against black minorities generally represents the following characteristics (a) they are subjected to police law enforcement (b) decisions to prosecute a juvenile offender is more likely if the person is black and (c) sentencing is by the Crown Courts.(www.murderuk.com). Therefore, all indications point to the fact that there is a perceived bias against the members of the black community which has been the direct cause for increased convictions and a less equitable treatment from the Courts as compared to members of the majority white population. However, it must also be stated that although there have been allegations and evidence offered to support racial discrimination and prejudice against the black minorities by the police and prison officials, the bias against black people is also conditioned to a great extent by their background. The social and family background of the black minorities is likely to be less stable and it is this instability that may contribute towards their perceived escalated crime rates.(www.brad.ac.uk) Since most members of the Far-Caribbean communities are living in conditions of extreme poverty, there is a noticeable lack of stability and uniformity in their backgrounds. Parents of black minority children may be moving from place to place, searching for jobs and may vent their desperation and helplessness at their economic condition upon their children, which in turn breeds instability and uncertainty in the children. Several of these children do not have access to good education, a loving home and a stable family environment – being the product of broken homes and raised by single mothers. All these factors tend to exacerbate the instability prevalent in their lives and crime may often prove to be the only viable option for many of these minorities. Moreover, black suspects are more likely to plead guilty and therefore face longer sentences than other minorities who plead not guilty. Also, they are seldom offered lighter options such as fines and warnings and are more likely to be apprehended at once due to the existing bias. However, the overall white male composition of all law enforcement agencies could also be the product of a cumulative bias in the criminal justice process caused by a differential rate of offending (www.brad.ac.uk). Since the population of the Afro-Caribbean sections of the population is disproportionately young and therefore of an age where the tendency to crime is higher, some of the imbalance in the criminal justice system could also be a problem of sheer logistics.(www.murderuk.com). Since whites have traditionally been the majority in the UK and continue to be so, the majority representation is a natural consequence of their larger numbers in society and it is likely to take some more time before the distribution of minorities in the population is also reflected at the criminal justice levels. However, there can be no doubt that a definite racial bias exists as shown in the literature review and statistical information provided above and this is a problem that must be effectively addressed in order to generate renewed confidence of the public in the criminal justice system – not only the white members of the population but also the minority members. Steps taken so far: In the wake of the disturbing revelations of the imbalances in the criminal justice process as identified in the studies and data as set out above, the Government has been taking some steps to increase the trust of the minority public in the law enforcement system. The Race relations law which came into effect in 2000 is primarily concerned with improving race relations and investigating allegations of racial prejudices that arise (www.homeoffice.gov.UK). Recommendation no: 12 of the Lawrence Enquiry report on race relations identifies the criteria for a racial incident as; “a racist incident is any incident which is perceived to be racist by the victim or any other person”. Officers are now being given community and race relations training. The Crown Prosecution Service and the Lord Chancellor’s Department have both initiated programs to examine in detail whether there is any bias in decision making and whether the Courts adequately and fairly represent the legal needs of the community (www.homeoffice.gov.UK). The prison services are said to be working on steps to reform the system and to impart training to its officers and prison guards. However, recent reports present statistical figures that are not encouraging. For example in the case of Mubarek, an ethnic minority prisoner, the existence of racism was evident and neither the family nor the members of the minority communities are reassured by steps taken following his murder; they feel that it is not adequate to address the problems. Racial discrimination is still rampant in prisons against inmates who are colored and Mubarek who was killed 19 hours before he was due to be released by his racist cell mate.(Dodd, 2005). Racist abuse, innuendos and racist jokes, bullying and abuse are some of the complaints against white inmates and staff members. While the percentages of minority inmates increased from 16% to 25% between 1993-2003, the percentage of minority prison staff increased from 4.9% to 5.7% (Dodd, 2005). Therefore, the likelihood of fair representation and treatment is still in the future. Conclusion: Thus, in conclusion, it may be seen that the criminal justice system as it exists is predominantly white and male. The existence of a racial bias has also meant that more minority victims have found themselves at the end of an unfair criminal justice system. Therefore, a clear need exists for the introduction of more reforms into the criminal justice system through the induction of more minority officers and better policy reforms. However, it is also important that effective implementation of these reforms is also ensured. While the limitations of the criminal justice system have been recognized and preliminary steps have been taken, there is much more that needs to be done, especially in terms of ensuring that the new reforms are implemented as they have been set. It is only with effective implementation that rising crime rates can be stopped and more trust in the law generated in the minority public. References: “Alternatives to prison” [Online] Available at: http://www.rethinking.org.uk/facts/docs/alternatives_to_prison.pdf; accessed 10/9/2005. Ashworth, Andrew, 2005. “Sentencing and Criminal Justice, 4th Edition. [Online] Available at: http://www.cambridge.org/uk/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=0521674050&ss=exc; accessed 10/14/05 Clark-Stapleton, Karen Lesley, No Date. “Injsuitces within the System: Is the System fundamentally flawed?” [Online] Available at: http://www.portia.org/chapter13/KarenLCS/system.html, accessed 10/14/05 Cowling, David, 2002. “Disturbing findings on justice” BBC survey. [Online] Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/uk/2002/ race/disturbing_findings_on_justice.stm; accessed 10/9/2005 Dodd, Vikram, 2005. “Racism still rife in jails, five years after the murder of Zahed Mubarak” The Guardian. [Online} Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1585617,00.html; accessed 10/09/2005. * Coleman, A. and Gorman, L. (1982) “Conservatism, Dogmatism. and Authoritarianism in British Police Officers”. Sociology. 16, 1–11. Gould, Peter, 2002. “The changing face of justice” BBC report. [Online] Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/uk/2002/race/ changing_face_of_justice.stm; accessed 10/9/2005. Landau S F, and Nathan G (1983) Selecting delinquents for cautioning in the London Metropolitan Area. British Journal of Criminology. 23:128-149. “Murder in the U.K.” [Online] Available at: http://www.murderuk.com/criminology/black.htm; accessed 10/9/2005. “The facts”: [online] Available at: http://www.rethinking.org.uk/facts/index.shtml Skogan, Wesley. 1990. “Disorder and Decline: Crime and the Spiral of Decay in American Neighborhoods.” New York: Free Press. “Statistics on race and the criminal justice system-2004.” [Online] Available at: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs2/s95race02.pdf; accessed 10/09/2005 Read More