People of all different races and ethnicities are locked behind bars because they have been convicted of committing a crime and they are paying for the consequences. When looking at the racial composition of a prison in the United States, it does not mimic the population. This is because some races and ethnicities are over represented in the correctional system in the U.S. (Walker, Spohn, & DeLone, 2018). According Walker et al. (2018), African-Americans/Blacks make up less than fifteen percent of the U.S. population, while this race has around thirty-seven percent of the population in the correctional system today. Along with African-American/Blacks, the Hispanic population is underrepresented at both the state and federal levels while the Caucasian/White population are underrepresented (Walker, Spohn, & DeLone, 2018). This essay will discuss multiple different races and ethinicities to regard their population make up within the prison system. Although race and ethnicity relate to one another they are different. According to Walker et al. (2018), race is defined as the, “major biological divisions of mankind,” for …show more content…
Since the courts are backlogged and many public defenders and judges being overworked, this causes plea bargaining to be used repeatedly. According to Walker et al. (2018), plea bargaining leaves many people no option but to plea guilty even when this is not their best option. This is due to a multitude of reasons but mainly to receive a lesser charge. For example, a felony and little time in jail may be better than risking multiple felonies and an excessive amount of time in jail. Therefore, making plea bargains necessary for the courts although more minorities use these plea bargains, which could potentially explain why so many minorities are over represented in the correctional system (Walker, Spohn, & DeLone,
If there wasn't any plea bargaining, courts would be overcrowded and forced to be shut down. It is an advantage for the defense since it will be less work required on their part (Tapscott, 2017). Because plea bargains are much quicker and require less work, it keeps the cases moving and courtrooms unclogged. This works for both prosecutor and defendant since the case would close quickly allowing them to move on to bigger, serious cases. The benefit of agreeing to a plea bargain is that it de clogs the courts and the overcrowded jails.
According to Heather Donald’s article Is the Criminal Justice System Racist? “About one in 33 black men was in prison, compared with one in 205 white men”. The number of black men in jail is appalling enough on its own, but when it is compared to the number of white men in jail it is beyond outrageous. Why are there more Black Americans in jail than White Americans? As stated in What It’s Like to Be Black in the Criminal Justice System “Social science research shows striking racial disparities at nearly every level .”
Plea bargaining is essential to the efficient function of the criminal justice system, where such agreements can conserve judicial and prosecutorial resources and offer defendants alternatives to trial. Plea agreements accomplish this by allowing defendants to plead guilty in exchange for certain benefits, which then reduces the amount of cases going to court. When fewer cases go to trial, resources can be allocated so that more serious cases can be tried in court, while lesser offenses can be resolved quickly through a plea, allowing often overworked judges and prosecutors to devote less time to individual cases, and complete more cases within a given time period. In contrast, if all cases went to court it would be infeasible to devote
For being such an advanced country, America’s biggest issue stays unresolved. That issue is its justice system. In the book Just Mercy, the author Bryan Stevenson writes, “We have to reform a system of criminal justice that continues to treat people better if they are rich and guilty than if they are poor and innocent.” The majority of prisoners in the U.S. are black, mentally ill, or poor. Minorities are treated harshly by the justice system in the United States because it’s built to benefit the rich, guilty, and white.
There are various arguments in support of plea bargaining; for example, it is beneficial because it helps the state and the court contribute with caseloads. This process allows the prosecutor’s work load decrease; this lets them prepare for more dangerous trials and leaving the easy charges to settle through. “A quickly reached plea bargaining may give victims the satisfaction of having the case closed quickly; in addition, victims may not want to testify or risk the possibility that the prosecution will not succeed in obtaining conviction(Seigel).” Because trial cases are congested to schedule, plea bargaining helps the scheduling process less jammed. The main advantage for someone accepting a plea bargaining is that a judge can ease the need to schedule and hold a trial on an agenda that may already be overloaded.
Plea-bargaining dominates the American criminal justice system by offering a reduced sentence to those who stand accused of a crime in exchange for the accused pleading guilty or to a lesser charge and waiving the right to trial. The problem with plea-bargaining is that it lays a heavy burden on the accused while theoretically reducing the burden carried by prosecutors and the court system. Plea-bargaining has trickled its way into the American criminal justice system disguised as a win-win for accused criminals and prosecutors but has weakened the justice system by allowing prosecutors to score guilty pleas from vulnerable individuals and allowing serious criminal offenders walk on lesser charges. Plea-bargaining severely undermines the criminal
One of the best quotes I found on the motivations behind the use of plea bargains comes from former President Jimmy Carter, in which he points out that “In many courts, plea‐bargaining serves the convenience or the judge and lawyers, not the ends of justice, because the courts lack the time to give everyone a fair trial,” (“Excerpts from Carter’s Speech to the Bar Association,” 1978). The plea bargaining system is convenient, not just. Plea bargains are not negotiated for the best interest of the defendants, but for the prosecutors and judges looking to funnel cases out of the courthouse as quickly as possible. This lack of care for the defendant obviously leads to mistakes. Eighteen percent “of known exonerees pleaded guilty to crimes they didn’t commit,” (Why Innocent People Are Pleading Guilty, 2018).
The Johnson v. California 2004 Supreme Court case, questioning a prison’s policy to segregate inmates by race, remonstrated by prison officials stating: “that the practice reduces racially motivated violence” (Racial Segregation in Prison). This exposes a biased stereotype of African-American men, making the assumption that they are easily subject to gang violence; therefore, they are unjustly separated from others based on their race and the presumption they are inherently violent. Within this prison, “When cell assignments are made, the inmates are divided into four general categories: black, white Asian, and other” (Racial Segregation in Prison).
Fast forward to the present day, we have the Ferguson, Mike Brown of Emmitt Till’s still occurring in our justice system. A person must view the criminal justice threw a godly telescope to see the inequalities that exit, and need to come to the forefront of our government, and the population worldwide. Sentencingproject.org statistically show that African American men, women, and juvenile are arrested more often than any other races across the nations. This report will prove, and argues that racial disparity in the justice system is at large in our system. This research paper will further explain, and presents evidence that display the presence of racial bias in the criminal justice system in America.
Unfortunately, there are racial disparities in the United States in the legal system. Prison sentences imposed on African American males in the federal system are nearly 20 percent longer than white males convicted of similar crimes. The 1994 Crime Bill signed by President Clinton established mandatory minimum sentences. African American and Latino offenders sentenced in state and federal courts face greater odds of incarceration than white offenders who are in similar situations and receive longer sentences than whites in some jurisdictions. Research has shown that race plays a significant role in determination on which homicide cases resulted in death sentences.
The number of minorities in the prison system is quite startling. Minorities make up 60% of the population imprisoned. To support this allegation, 1 in 3 African American men will be imprisoned at least once in their lifetime thus creating a racial stereotype. Since 1 in 3 African Americans will be arrested and imprisoned in their lifetime, it creates a target for police officers as well as the public. Police officers will primarily be on the lookout for a colored male or female as oppose to a caucasian male or female.
Racial inequalities in the criminal justice system are evident now more than ever. Although some believe that we are now past racial disparities, people of color are still facing injustice in the criminal justice system as appose to whites. Furthermore, my research has found that mass incarceration of one race, leads to mass poverty in
Plea bargaining is an confessed agreement used in most criminal cases to avoid a long inessential trial. This includes pleading to a lesser charge as well as pleading guilty in exchange for a shorter sentence. Roughly 90% of criminal cases are settled by the plea bargain rather than a jury trial. There are numerous advantages and disadvantages of plea bargaining. While the lawyer and defendant come to an agreement to avoid a prolonged trial in court.
According to Courts: A Test/Reader, stakeholders favor plea-bargaining because it furthers “mutual interest in avoiding conflict, reducing uncertainty, and maintaining group cohesion (Cassia,
The United States has a larger percent of its population incarcerated than any other country. America is responsible for a quarter of the world’s inmates, and its incarceration rate is growing exponentially. The expense generated by these overcrowded prisons cost the country a substantial amount of money every year. While people are incarcerated for several reasons, the country’s prisons are focused on punishment rather than reform, and the result is a misguided system that fails to rehabilitate criminals or discourage crime. This literature review will discuss the ineffectiveness of the United States’ criminal justice system and how mass incarceration of non-violent offenders, racial profiling, and a high rate of recidivism has become a problem.