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Racism in criminal justice system essay
Racism in the modern day american criminal justice system
Racism in the modern day american criminal justice system
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Indigenous people are incarcerated at much higher rates than non-Indigenous in Canada and are incarcerated for longer periods of time (Cook & Roesh, 2012, p.222). Canadians have put Indigenous communities through much heartache and pain. With the colonization of Indigenous people to residential schools, Canadians continue to stigmatize and treat Indigenous people poorly. Indigenous people are more likely to suffer from drug abuse using needles because of the intergenerational trauma suffered through their parents attending residential schools in Canada (Bombay, Matheson, & Anisman, 2014, p. 327). This puts them at a higher criminal risk than others because of what they have been subjected to.
According to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, “Any person charged with an offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty according to law in a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal” (Legislative Services Branch, 2017, para. 11). In the significant Canadian case R. v. Kokopenace, an Aboriginal man was tried by an unfair jury as the community where the trial took place was 25 percent First Nations, however, the jury only included 4 percent of First Nations people (Pinder, 2015). This report will summarize the major facts of the case, court’s decisions, and dissenting opinions of the judges. Clifford Kokopenace was an Aboriginal man who lived on the Grassy Narrows First Nations reserve
The following essay will aim to address several issues in regards to the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (RCIADIC). The first issue of focus will identify how the RCIADIC links policies and practices of colonisation to Aboriginal people’s deaths in custody. Such policies and practices includes segregation, protection and assimilation. This will be followed by identifying how the RCIADIC recommends that relations between First Australians and police could be improved before discussing one such recommendations effectiveness of implementation in New South Wales. Segregation, protection and assimilation are all policies that have been linked to Aboriginal people’s deaths while in custody.
The Howard government’s policy of “practical reconciliation” has been a failure on two substantial levels which resulted in failing to benefit Indigenous Aboriginals. First the policy ignores the significance of “symbolic reconciliation” which provides justice to Indigenous people. Second, the policy, although set out to improve the socio economic disadvantage experienced by Indigenous Australians, did not actually succeed. The election of John Howard’s government in 1996 marked the beginning of a discursive shift away from the view of social justice which has been a target pursued by the Council of Aboriginal Reconciliation and supported by the previous Labor government. The new Howard government refused to accept the approach of previous
This criminal code encourages sentencing judges to have recourse to a restorative approach to sentencing. Also, the enactment of s. 718.2 (e) is a definite direction by Parliament to pay particular attention to the circumstances of aboriginal offenders during the sentencing process because those circumstances are unique and different from those of non-Aboriginal offenders. Further, when sentencing Aboriginal offenders, courts must take judicial notice of such matters as the history of colonization, displacement, and residential schools. And they should look at how that history continues to translate into lower educational accomplishment, lower income, higher unemployment, higher rates of substance abuse, suicide, and, of course, higher levels of imprisonment of Aboriginal peoples. (Canadian Law, an Introduction 6th Edition: Neil Boyd 2015; page,
Denis, 2011, p. 306-307). To further explain her thesis, she claims that multiculturalism is used by the government of Canada as a method of colonizing Aboriginal people and diverting the issue of recognition and retribution for the Aboriginal people (St. Denis, 2011). St. Denis proposed at a provincial social science curriculum discussion that Aboriginal studies should be considered a separate course in the Canadian curriculum as opposed to being combined with social studies and history (St. Denis, 2011). The suggestion that was made was interjected by the comment, “Aboriginal people are not the only people here” (St. Denis, 2011, p.306). Although the comment may hold truth, the author uses that remark to further provide evidence that multiculturalism is used as a form of colonialism (St. Denis,
Rational choice or societal norms? Perhaps in the case of Cody Kimewon who has been in and out of jail cells since the age of thirteen, its is the interaction of self interest and culture that has driven him into a cycle of dubious encounters with the law. From home to home as a foster child, and from jail cell to jail cell as a petty criminal, Kimewon fought homelessness and happenstances with the law throughout his young adult life. Could he be reacting to the surrounding externalities as a member of a tribe, as a minority facing sociopolitical and economic disadvantages a typical white Torontonian may not be? Or is it an inherent cyclical culture of crime associated with Tribal members who are fundamentally deprived of societal standings
Royal Commission on the Donald Marshall, Jr., Prosecution Background When considering the purpose of the Royal Commission on the case of Donald Marshall Jr., it can be said that this Inquiry was not just to help the one individual but rather to prevent cases with systematic racism in the criminal justice system from happening again in the future. This is done through the commission’s detailed list of the findings on how the criminal justice system failed Donald Marshall, Jr. during the course of his arrest to the time of his acquittal and their recommendations on how to remedy this for this particular case and for the future. It was in 1971 that Marshall was convicted for murder and began his ten years in prison until 1983 when he was finally
In order to answer the question of why Will Kymlicka views Aboriginal rights as a class of minority rights, I must first establish what kind of person Kymlicka represents, and the beliefs that he holds. Kymlicka is a Canadian liberal political philosopher known for his work on multiculturalism (Will). He believes in moral individualism, which asserts importance on the individual as the focus of rights, value, and moral worth. To say it simply, each individual person should be treated both equally and fairly. Kymlicka also thinks that liberals have not taken issues such as the differences in culture seriously.
Since colonisation in 1788 Europeans believed the Aboriginal peoples to be a primitive race with no societal structures in place because their system did not resemble one that was recognizable or fit within it did not resemble a system that was recognizable by white settlers. National identity is believed to be a general concept that referred to a broad set of codes with a shared understanding within a nation, and the sense of belonging that is reinforced through myths, symbols, media activities, and everyday practices (Carter, 2006, p. 7; Van Krieken et al., 2017, pp. 234-244). Australia is now regarded as a diverse country with an identity that has evolved over time and will continue to do so. For Indigenous Australians to conform to this national identity, they had to assimilate and give up their values, beliefs, and cultural rights to become more like white Australia.
For instance, a Queensland study on the ethnicity of young people moved on has found that Indigenous background represent the 37% of respondents, despite the fact that Indigenous youth only accounts for the 4% of Queensland youth population (Spooner 2000, 27). This over-representation may be resulted from the ‘moral panic’ framed in our society and ideal to govern the risk in our society. According to White (1999, 39), the greater surveillance and intervention of Indigenous young people in public places is due to their high levels of contact with the criminal justice system. The overrepresentation of indigenous people in the criminal justice system may cause their generalisation as a greater threat for public order compared to others in society, which may lead their representation as ‘moral panic’ and the increase in community’s anxiety of this group.
The overrepresentation of Indigenous peoples in the Canadian criminal justice system is a deeply concerning issue that has garnered significant attention from academics, policymakers, and the wider public. The notion that Indigenous peoples account for more than 30% of the federal prison population, despite comprising just 5% of the Canadian population, highlights the extent to which they are disproportionately impacted by the legal system. The overrepresent of indigenous peoples in the justice system in Canada needs to be addressed through a review of the fairness, equity and effectiveness of the legislation that is currently in force, due to its lasting impacts on indigenous communities. Through examining the failures of Canada's
Although there are over 5000 indigenous communities around the world, the global responsibility to protect the indigenous is not being realized, since Indigenous communities still suffer socio-economical disadvantages, marginalization, discrimination and denial of justice to a certain extent. This is evident throughout the world, in nations such as Australia and Canada, which pride themselves on their nations freedom, equality and safely. Australia despite being a first world nation has immensely failed at protecting it’s indigenous population, most notably it’s Indigenous youth, since over 80% of youth suicides in 2010 were of young Aborigines. Early intervention is the key to protecting Aborigines, as commented by Social Justice Minster,
The basis of these problems is a loss of identity and a sense of knowing that their values are oppressed, and their rights are ignored. Likewise, non-indigenous Canadians have become increasingly aware of the unfairness of the richness of indigenous and aboriginal cultures that are taking place.
The way that society sees you should not depend on the colour of your skin. Even today, in the 21st century, people in our society judge other human beings by their colour or race. One of the main racism issues is the discrimination towards our Indigenous people. National data from the Challenging Racism Project reveals that 27% of Aboriginal people over the age of 15 experience racism more than once in their life. Racism towards Indigenous Australians includes mostly verbal abuse such as name-calling and insulting language.
