Racial Discrimination and Disparity in the United States...

Introduction The issue of racial disparity in the criminal justice system has been a longstanding debate in this county. According to Tonry (as cited in Cole Gertz, 2013) African Americans make up to 50% of the prison population but are only 12 % of the total United States population. Bobo and Thompson (2006) stated that Hispanics make up to 18 % of the prison population but are only 14 % of the total United States Population, while Caucasians make up to 75 % of the total population and are only 35 % of the prison population in American. (Coker,2003) supports Cole and Gertz and states that African Americans make up to half of the prison population while only accounting for 12 % of the population in the United States. According to NACP†¦show more content†¦Although in reality, the educated explanation behind the racial disparity in the justice system can be explained by various factors that begin with criminal legislation and crime control policies, but also includes discrim ination based on race and social status. The effect of legislation has impacted racial disparity in law enforcement, the judicial system, and corrections. Minorities in the United States face discrimination at every stage of the judicial process, from arrest to incarceration. The research will show that African Americans, Hispanics and other minorities face unjust profiling and targeting by police and other law enforcement officials. Minorities also face racially biased charging and plea bargaining decisions by prosecutors and discriminatory sentencing by judges in the justice system. Legislation in America was not designed to be discriminatory towards minorities, but by passing get tough on crime laws such as: legislation leading to the war on drugs, three strikes laws, mandatory sentencing led to a disparity in minorities involved in the judicial system. Racial Discrimination and Profiling in Policing The perception of racial discrimination in the United States is a highly sensitive subject that has many associated factors that leads the view of an unjust criminal justice system. Cole and Gertz (2013) believed that racial status must be taken into account when evaluating police interactionShow MoreRelatedCriminal Justice: Racial Disparity and Discrimination and O.J. Simpson768 Words   |  4 Pagescriminal law justice provides that the person alleging the commission of a crime must proof beyond reasonable doubt that the accused person(s) possessed mens rea, if the court is to hold a criminal liability against the accused. 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