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Pros And Cons Of Mass Incarceration

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Pros and Cons There are two common viewpoints when discussing mass incarceration. The first of the two revolves around the idea that the system of criminal justice is working, while the second provides that the word “justice” means “just us” – referring to the profiling of people of color (Brown, 2008, p. 53). Looking at the statistics at face value may seem staggering, but there are important aspects to consider before determining whether mass incarceration is justified. For those who believe that mass incarceration is justified, there are facts that may provide some truth. It is true that blacks disproportionally commit street crimes (Russell-Brown, 2008). On average, as seen in the 2015 Uniform Crime Report, blacks tend to commit more murder …show more content…

Regardless of the side when examining mass incarceration, it conceded that black people are disproportionately imprisoned. The higher numbers incarceration of blacks due to violent crime can tip the scale when looking at crime overall. However, in 2015, when looking at both state and federal prisons, more than 51% of the population of criminals were incarcerated for something other than violent crime (Wagner and Rabuy, 2016). These other crimes included property crime and drug charges; both of which are committed at a much higher rate by whites than blacks. Bisto (2018) provided there are four to ten times more illicit drug users than any other demographic. Therefore, if proportionality remained consistent, there would be many more white people incarcerated than black people. For many people on this side of the argument, there are reasons beyond the simple concept of racism. Mainly, much discretion is left to the police officer when determining charges for arrests (Russell-Brown, 2008, p. 57). Such discretion may prove to be cumbersome especially when the police officers patrolling these areas have no experience with the living …show more content…

Many of this street crime is coming directly from gang violence in many inner-city communities. Gang violence cannot be attributed to the nature of the black community, but rather the conditions forced upon them. The answer to stopping gang violence is not to prey upon the individuals participating in it, but to address the issues that can cause them. Many of the individuals participating in this behavior have no choice. The schools and job resources are slim to none, leaving these individuals to make a living elsewhere. Since the drug economy is prevalent in these communities, it makes sense for these individuals to turn to them. The final issue to address on the topic of mass incarceration of minorities is the policy change that is needed to fix the issues. First, localized policing has been a solution called for since the Black Panther Party in the 1970s. Having better control of communities could help prevent police shootings and backlash like seen in the riots in Ferguson, MO. Secondly, passing policy mandating ethnic studies for police could be a viable option. Understanding the pressures minority communities can have could have an influence on the tolerance police have with the

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When talking about prisons, race is always talked about because it’s assumed that more black people are in prison than white people. When in all actuality, it’s pretty close to even between white and black prisoners. When the police crews were told to surprise certain neighborhoods, majority of the neighborhoods were black. On the flip side, as a police officer it must have been functional to assume the black neighborhoods would have more drug dealers because they’re black right? Overall, race does play a major factor in Mass Incarceration that simply will not change for many years to

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For example, In the "US Department of Justice, 2010" charts it showed that there were more white offenders (52.2%) than black offenders (38%) (Gains, Morton, Tillman, 2016,

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100). At the same time, however, police officers also target more Africa American communities due to high crime rates. Even though the crime rates in Black communities are not as high as it has been, those communities are still targeted. Mass incarceration, on the other hand, is not due to the fact of these crime rates. According to Alexander’s (2011) studies, “As of September 2009, only 7.9 percent of federal prisoners were convicted of violent crimes” (West & Sobol, 2010, p. 101).

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Coker gives great evidence that supports racial injustice in the criminal justice system. She discusses on the Supreme Court’s rulings and accusations of racial preference in the system. This article is helpful because it supports my thesis on race playing a role on the system of criminal justice. Hurwitz, J., & Peffley, M. (1997). Public perceptions of race and crime: The role of racial stereotypes.

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In 2012, only 28.1% of total arrests were black, while 69.3% were white (FBI). When accounting for the higher incarceration rates for blacks for minor crimes, such as drug possession (NAACP), this statistic becomes even more telling. I believe that as

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Equally important, Recent studies show that minorities are given a more harsh punishment than Caucasians with similar criminal backgrounds. In fact, “African Americans are likely to get sentenced twice the prison term than whites that committed the same crime under the same circumstances” (Josh Salman, Emily Le Coz and Elizabeth Johnson Graphics and Site Development by Jennifer Borresen and

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The racial disparity can be accounted for through the mass incarceration of black offenders in terms of sentencing with mention of a racial caste in place, not allowing those of color to move from their position. As such, mass incarceration has led to prisons being filled with an overpopulation of those who are black than any other race. Interesting enough, it has been proven through surveys that those who are white are more likely to engage in drug crime rather than those who are black. I found this to be an interesting point to discuss as it raises the question as to just why are more people of color incarcerated at a growing rate than

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Identifying the causes of high homicide rates will help people understand the reasons behind the high statistics. This does not condone what is happening but may shed some light on the situation. Social problems among the African American community are leading to many young deaths and creating a cycle that is hard to escape. The cycle begins with single parent homes living in concentrated poverty. Exposing children in these families to gangsta rap music that promotes the code of the streets and the intentional misuse of firearms among each other are part of the cycle also.

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When compared statistically, the ratio of a black unarmed civilian being killed by the police is 3.49 times higher than that of a white (Makarechi, 2016). In Weitzer and Tuch?s research book, ? Race and Policing in America: Conflict and Reform,? they explain that such a relationship on policing and racial inequality is not explainable at the local level, but the data for racial biases is indeed shocking in the case of police shootings. It?s even more common at local crime scenes.

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