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Racial Disparities Regarding Sentencing

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Racial disparities concerning sentencing have an adverse effect on the African American community. Racial profiling and plea bargaining are contributing factors that lead to overrepresentation of minorities in the judicial system. Data and statistics support the assumption that African Americans are disproportionately subjected to racial profiling, traffic stops which leads to searches and seizures that lead to minor offenses which can also lead to incarceration, rather than probation or rehabilitation (Kamalu, Coulson-Clark, & Kamalu, 2010). The existence of racial prejudice exists when African American defendants are more likely to be convicted and given harsher charges than their white counterparts that have received the same charge, but …show more content…

If found guilty the sentencing phase is addressed. One of the main functions of criminal sanctions is to offer offenders rehabilitation, retribution, deterrence, and incapacitation, there have been discussions that regard the possibility of differential treatment of groups and the overrepresentation of males and Blacks within the criminal justice system (McNamara, & Burns, 2009). It has been suggested in early research that sentencing and the severity of sentencing for minorities showed signs of discrimination, with more recent research the findings are conflicting. Socioeconomics status influences incarceration for those of the minority …show more content…

This gift can be offered due to socioeconomics that has hindered minorities for centuries. It gives the community a chance to heal. Socioeconomics affects the environment, education, employment, housing status, guidance that is needed for many. Many of these offenders live in poverty and most are single parents raising children. With this gift, it gives them the advantage to turn their lives around with the help of the court system and programs that teach minorities how to advance in society. 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). Racial disparities in sentencing. Implications for the criminal justice system and the African American

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