Court Systems And Correctional Institutions: A Case Study

Minority groups are over-represented in both American Court Systems and Correctional Institutions. What role or actions should minority communities themselves play in reducing minority member’s criminal involvement with the justice system? Use current research or data to support your ideas.

Studies have been around since the 1970s and 1980s that asked if African-Americans and Hispanics were sentenced more harshly than Whites. Newer research, including the study by Spohn (2013, p. 76), focuses on “identifying the circumstances under which or the contexts in which race matters.” One of the most important findings by Spohn (2013) was that African-Americans and Hispanics were more likely to stay in custody while the case makes its way through the system. I am very curious why this happens. In Knoxville, Tennessee, where I have worked as a police officer for 18 years, we send our arrest reports by computer and go to the commissioner’s office to sign the warrant that is already prepared, including bond costs, from the information on our arrest report. Unless the commissioner looks very closely, he or she cannot tell the race or ethnicity of the offender. The bond amount is supposed to be based on charge and the offender’s criminal history. This is a phenomenon that needs a more complex study. Spohn (2013) also

In 1985, 7,200 juvenile cases were transferred and that number rose to 13,100 in 1994 (Howell & Hutto, 2012). The numbers have dropped since then, but were still at 7, 743 in 2001 (Howell & Hutto, 2012). Also alarming was the ratio of African-American juvenile offenders. In 2008, African-Americans made up 16% of the juvenile population, but comprised 34% of the juvenile offenders (Howell & Hutto, 2012). It is not known if this number had anything do with the offenders’ race instead of their actual acts and more research needs to be