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Court Systems And Correctional Institutions: A Case Study

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Recommended: Ethnic and racial inequality in the criminal justice system essay

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 …show more content…

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

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In America, criminal justice has been an issue for generations. People are convicted of crimes and their convictions are oftentimes based on their race and/or social status. Unfortunately, it is a reality that the criminal justice system privileges those who are “rich and guilty rather than if they are poor and innocent. Many African American men and women have suffered due to this. In the book Just Mercy and the movie 13th, both sources give great examples of how the criminal justice system continues to overlook the truth to keep black Americans incarcerated.

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A recent study of sentencing decisions in Pennsylvania (Steffensmeier et al., 1998) identified significant interrelationships among race, gender, age, and sentence severity. The authors of this study found that each of the three offender characteristics had significant direct effects on sentence outcomes and that the characteristics interacted to produce substantially harsher sentences for one category of offenders—young black males. This study responds to Steffensmeier et al. 's (1998:789) call for “further research analyzing how race effects may be mediated by other factors. ” We replicate their research approach, examining the intersections of the effects of race, gender, and age on sentence outcomes.

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Prosecutors and judges know the conditions that most of these minorities face and appear to be willing to aid in their rehabilitation for a greater cause. This offer helps to rebuild relationships with the communities that have become distrusting of the criminal justice system. Prosecutors are well aware of the poverty that exist within minority communities and they have extended the hand of help for all minorities due to the socioeconomic conditions that all minorities face in society today. When racial minorities are given the opportunity for sentence reduction that shows the courts are trying to alleviate the burden that sentencing puts on families and the community. Kamalu, N. C., Coulson -Clark, M., & Kamalu, N. M. (2010).

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