Criminal Justice in America - Essay Example

Despite the fact, that African Americans just form a small minority in the country their chances of imprisonment are eight times higher than White Americans. Moreover, the chances of imprisonment of Asian Americans are three times higher than White Americans. Official reports reveal that during a two year time period in Maryland, more than 70 percent of cars stopped for searching were of Black people. Moreover, police did not find anything at all in 90 percent of those searches (Cole & Smith, 2007).

Moreover, many state officials accept that for investigation and arrests, their first targets are always blacks and other ethnic minorities. Not only this discrimination is on the ground level but also at the higher levels of the system since these minorities have a higher chance of getting higher fines and punishments for minor crimes. Since the majority of the officials in this present system have germs of discrimination, an independent review committee can solve the problem to some extent. That committee would have legal experts from all minorities and would listen to review petition of individuals who think that they were discriminated against on basis of race.

Even if this system would not be able to provide 100 percent accuracy but still it would give hope and message to the minorities of the United States that the government wants to ensure a legal and fair trial system (Cook, 2001).The primary method of punishment in the United States system has been confinement and imprisonment. However, this is seriously questionable. The theory of confinement asks law enforcement agencies to isolate criminals from society and put them in their own world. Moreover, feeding them becomes a responsibility of the state and obviously, the state does it with public taxes.

However, on many occasions, people who commit non-serious and small crimes end up going to the same criminal prison, which actually helps them to become serious criminals under the guidance of professional imprisoned criminals (Free, 1996). Despite the fact that the legal system already is doing this but still it needs to ensure more community services or small fines.Moreover, the system also needs to avoid treating juveniles as adults while punishing them. Pregnant women and women with young children also deserve leniency in punishments because their punishments would result in an increased burden on the foster care system and children from foster care are not always the best in terms of physical and mental health.

In fact, foster care children are most likely to end up in jails as compared to other children of their age.