What It Like To Be Black In The Criminal Justice System Summary

Words: 471
Pages: 2
Open Document
African Americans throughout history have gone through many hardships against the United States’ Criminal Justice System. These people were often seen as threats primarily by the majority group, the whites. The average African charge had a larger severity than to those of lighter skin. To be fair, saying that historically, the Criminal System favors others over the Blacks wouldn’t be true. One could find many arguments that would favor both sides. In the past (and possibly present), Africans were seen as more distrustful than lighter-skinned people. Stated in the article “What It’s Like to Be Black in the Criminal Justice System”, police would frequently search their vehicles for anything, even if they weren’t doing anything suspicious. Also stated in the same article, prosecutors would twice as likely to file charges against blacks that have mandatory minimum sentences than those of white ethnicity. Although, the article by Heather Mac Donald states that the blacks’ stronger charges are due to their higher offenses and criminal records. Their actions do speak for how they are treated. According to “What It’s Like to Be Black in the Criminal Justice System” article, blacks are treated more severely than other races for the same crime. One could argue that the sentences are plausible, …show more content…
The article, “What It’s Like to Be Black in the Criminal Justice System”, states that there is twice as much as blacks being arrested on drug charges compared to whites even though the usage between the two is about the same. In a Rhode Island study, black drivers were shown to be stopped and even checked by police even if they were less likely to receive citations.In the article by Donald however, according to prior records of the defendant's, chances are that they did the same crime before, or at least done a crime. Whether these arrest records are solely based on bias or just a coincidence is open to
Show More

Related Documents: What It Like To Be Black In The Criminal Justice System Summary

Eyewitness Fallibility: The Innocence Research Task

Eyewitness fallibility The innocence project research task Part one: Research the history of DNA and how it came to be used as criminal evidence DNA testing made its way into the courts in 1986, when police in England asked molecular biologist Alec Jeffreys, who had begun investigating the use of DNA for forensics, to use DNA to verify the confession of a 17-year-old boy in two rape-murders in the English Midlands. The tests proved the teenager was in fact not the perpetrator and the actual attacker…

Words 693 - Pages 3

AJS 552 Week4 Essays

Death Penalty - Public Safety vs. Individual Rights Introduction This paper will focus on the criminal justice system, public safety and civil rights in specific relation to the death penalty as a form of punishment and its effects on society. The execution of criminals and the effects on society are most intriguing and can be debated upon both for and against the issue give a thorough elaboration on criminal executions and the effects on society. In this day and age, research not only illustrates that…

Words 1054 - Pages 5

Gloria Browne-Marshall Case Study

Gloria Browne-Marshall stated that historically, American society has criminalized black behavior, therefore, the public and law enforcement agencies have been brain-washed into to associating blacks with criminality. She said that because there are more whites in the country, overall they commit more crimes, yet their encounters with the police are not being reported nor entered into the system’s database. Browne-Marshall argued that there is a double standard of policies when dealing with…

Words 1036 - Pages 5

Life: Crime and Criminal Justice Essay

violence 7. What is “evidence based” crime policy mean? This approach requires policies to be based on one of the most important developments of criminology(evidence). 8. Does this “innovation” reflect well or badly on how crime policy was made in the past? We’ll; The movement has added a refreshing, demanding element of rigor to policy debates. 9. Dare (Drug Abuse Resistance Education program) : does it work? NO 10. The Scared Straight program: does it work? No 11. What does it mean…

Words 6103 - Pages 25

Argumentative Essay On Michael Brown

However, current events are displaying quite the opposite mindset. In summary, there is a lack of minority representation when it comes to race, which can be seen when observing, environmental issues, the standards of beauty, and the justice system. To solve the environmental issue, it is important to educate minorities on the issue, for people who are less represented include people who are less educated (Williamson…

Words 650 - Pages 3

Essay about The Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Prison

University or the same criminal behavior, the poor are more likely to be arrested; if arrested, they are more likely to be charged; if charged, more likely to be convicted; if convicted, more likely to be sentenced to prison; and if sentenced, more likely to be given longer prison terms than members of the middle and upper classes.1 In other words, the image of the criminal population one sees in our nation’s jails and prisons is distorted by the shape of the criminal justice system itself. It is the…

Words 12487 - Pages 50

Female Gang Subculture

Female gang members and their criminal subculture is a very interesting issue in the study of the underclass and street-based criminal subcultures, due to the fact that there has been a failure in adequately reporting female gang activity and how they as females contribute to gang activity. Since females also grow up surrounded by the street underclass, there have been cases where they have displayed importance in gangs with their similar upbringing, yet we still do not have a good grasp of all…

Words 2903 - Pages 12

Alexander V. Sandoval Case: The End Of An Era

15) What happened to Adolph Lyons and how did he respond? How has the Supreme Court allowed the police to racially discriminate, and how have police in Maryland, New Jersey and New York done so? Why was the Sandoval case “the end of an era?” Adolph Lyons was a black young adult detained by the LAPD while driving his car in Los Angeles one morning. While detained Lyon failed to follow orders properly, causing the officer to chokehold Lyons who eventually collapsed. Lyons sued the City of Los Angeles…

Words 1992 - Pages 8

The Importance Of Background Checks To Higher Education

THE DOORS TO HIGHER EDUCATION: ANOTHER COLLATERAL CONSEQUENCE OF A CRIMINAL CONVICTION EXECUTIVE SUMMARY In recent years, colleges and universities in the United States have increasingly included criminal history background checks in their admissions processes and have started to create exclusionary policies. These polices are being implemented despite the fact that there is virtually no evidence to suggest that the past criminal histories of students are relevant risk factors that affect the rate…

Words 7752 - Pages 32

Essay on Marijuana Legalization

they will be enforced and whether or not the federal government will recognize them. We will examine the laws that the state of Washington has passed for the recreational use of marijuana, how they conflict with federal laws, what it means for taxes and health care, and also what it might mean for the future of marijuana laws here in Iowa. In Washington it had been illegal to possess marijuana under the Uniform Controlled Substance Act. Under this act Marijuana is just one of several drugs that falls…

Words 1656 - Pages 7