Racial Discrimination within the Criminal Justice System - Coursework Example

Racial Discrimination within the Criminal Justice System Introduction The United s of America has one of the most diverse populations in the world, but in terms of those incarcerated in penal institutions; African-Americans represent about 40 per cent despite being only about 13 per cent of the population (Quillian, 2008). This clearly shows that there is some form of racial discrimination within the criminal justice system which can be explained from many angles or perspectives. This paper seeks to address the role that race plays in the criminal justice system especially on such facets as, who is more likely to come in contact with the law and who is more likely to be imprisoned. The paper will give insights on the history of the racial discrimination in the criminal justice system, and how this has been carried out to the present time in terms of bias in the treatment of persons of black origin. It will also expound on studies that have shown that persons of African-American origin are more likely to be convicted of crimes as compared against white Americans despite the notion of innocence until proven guilty. At the end, there shall be a conclusion that confirms the notion that there is real discrimination on the basis of race against African-Americans within the American criminal justice system. Racial Discrimination within the Criminal Justice System The relationship between race and the criminal justice system came initially about due to the slavery, whereby the Southerners wanted to exert control over the Southerners after attaining the freedom. Even after the slavery experienced around this time, there were what were then known as ‘Black Codes’ that made it criminal to act in a certain manner or behaviour only when you were black. Such behaviour included breaching of job contracts, owning firearms, vagrant behaviour and gestures deemed as insulting amongst other acts and omissions (Alexander, 2010). The ‘Black Codes’ were usually misinterpreted to suit the demands of the masters thus targeting the African-Americans for punishment within the criminal justice system. To make matters worse, the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution legalized forced labour as a way of punishment for criminal acts and the major victims were the African-Americans. Later, the Jim Crow Laws allowed the segregation of persons on the basis of their races with the major victims being the African-Americans as well as other minority groups in the United States (Alexander, 2010). This culminated into the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s led by the likes of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Junior who advocated for equal treatment of African-Americans just like the whites in the United States. At this time, the calls for legislation on rights and liberties were linked by those who were racially motivated to calls for law and order through incarceration of blacks. All these acts set the stage for a criminal justice system that has been used to the present times to punish and incarcerate African-Americans and other minority races (Weaver, 2007). The major cause for the racial discrimination in the criminal justice system is racial profiling in terms of prosecution and punishment of alleged perpetrators of crime. This means that individuals are targeted by the law enforcement authorities on the basis of their race amongst other factors when making arrests, searches or seizures (Alexander, 2010). The racial discrimination has also been experienced in terms of punishment as there is bias in terms of how individuals are punished in terms of their races from trial to execution. For instance, statutes and laws that address capital punishment have a bias in the determination of which persons to be executed by law enforcement authorities (Amnesty International, 2003). In a study of two thousand murder cases in Georgia, it was found that persons charged with killing a white person were eleven times likely to be sentenced to death as compared to a person who kills an African American (Alexander, 2010). These two reports clearly show that the criminal system tends to be biased against a particular race as compared to another in most instances the African-American population against the whites. There is also the unconscious or implicit and stereotyping behaviour that effectively prejudice an individual because of the particular race that he belongs to especially the African-Americans (Quillian, 2008). This means that a person unknowingly discriminates against a person within the criminal justice system simply because that person is black thus rendering that person lack the racial neutrality required of the justice system. This is important especially in the real world of trials within the criminal justice system that requires that persons are assumed to be innocent unless they are otherwise proven guilty. African-Americans are also stereotyped within the criminal justice system and this affects the making of the laws, their execution and enforcement. The stereotypes that are held by the society against African-Americans have also confirmed the notion that the criminal justice system discriminates on persons on the basis of their races (Oliver, 2003). There is also discrimination in the criminal justice system in the selection of the jury who play a bigger role in the trial process. Despite the presence of sober and judicious members of the public, the American criminal justice system tends to ignore African-Americans under the guise that they are not intelligent or morally upright to be part of a jury (Robinson, 2000). This is also practiced by those involved in the prosecution who tend to be racially biased in the identification of jurors making it difficult for African-Americans to be treated fairly by the law. Through this, persons of African-American descent usually find themselves facing unfair juries which in most instances confirm their charges and return guilty verdicts leading to their incarceration or punishment. The above argument shows that African-Americans are more likely to commit crime as compared to white persons and this makes them more susceptible to pass through the criminal justice system. The discrimination by the criminal justice system clearly shows that it is a greater social problem that must be addressed by the system from the root causes to the point of incarceration (Coker, 2003). It must address the fact that the mere fact that a person is African-American does not merely mean that he has committed a criminal act or that he is more likely to commit one. Therefore, it can be authoritatively stated that the criminal justice system, its practices and policies show that it discriminates against African-Americans in terms of the entire judicial process. Conclusion This paper highlights the fact that despite African-Americans comprising less than 13 per cent of the entire American population, they comprise about 40 per cent of those in penal institutions and are more likely to be incarcerated. Through a discussion of the underlying principles and studies that have been carried out, it clearly shows that the criminal justice system condemns the blacks more than any other race. Further, African-Americans are usually unconsciously or implicitly discriminated against by the criminal justice system on top of being stereotyped making them be incarcerated. These are even made worse by racial profiling which makes it difficult to enforce the criminal justice laws in an equal, fair and just manner. However, there have been attempts to reform the criminal justice system in order that all persons are accorded similar treatment in the enforcement of the law. Unless this is done, racial discrimination within the criminal justice system will continue to happen as the entire law enforcement system from arrests, enforcement and sentencing is biased against African-Americans. References Alexander, M. (2010). The New Jim Crow: Mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness. New York: The New Press. Amnesty International. (2003). United States of America: Death by discrimination - The continuing role of race in capital cases. Retrieved from Coker, D. (January 01, 2003). Supreme Court Review - Foreword: Addressing the Real World of Racial Injustice in the Criminal Justice System. The Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology, 93, 4, 827. Oliver, M. B. (January 01, 2003). African American men as "criminal and dangerous": Implications of media portrayals of crime on the "criminalization" of African American men. Journal of African American Studies, 7, 2, 3-18. Quillian, L. (March 01, 2008). Does Unconscious Racism Exist? Social Psychology Quarterly, 71, 1, 6-11. Robinson, M. (May 01, 2000). Construction and Reinforcement of Myths of Race and Crime. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 16, 2, 133-156. Weaver, V. M. (January 01, 2007). Frontlash: Race and the Development of Punitive Crime Policy. Studies in American Political Development, 21, 2, 230-265. 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