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Racial Inequality In The Criminal Justice System

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Numerous studies have provided different perspectives and evidence on the impact of racial inequality in the criminal justice systems, specifically how these racial inequalities affect black Americans. Lisa Miller found in The Invisible Black: Victim, “mistreatment by law enforcement, law-makers, and federalism” in the racial bias toward black Americans (2010). Pettit and Skyes in Civil Rights Legislation and Legalized Exclusion, point out that black males are more likely to end up in jail (2015). A sociologist named David Garland contrived the term “mass incarceration” to explain high incarceration rates in the United States (U.S) (Pettit and Skyes 2015). Currently, the highest incarceration is among black men of 1 in 15 (Miller 2010). Through these findings, it is evident there are serious inequalities that effect the criminal justice system. Moreover, Darren Wheelock in Collateral Consequences and Racial Inequality, found black people have a tough time after …show more content…

2010. “Criminology as a social control: discriminatory research & its role in the reproduction of social inequalities and crime.” Crime, Law and
Social Change 53:383–96.
Miller, L. L. 2010. The Invisible Black Victim: How American Federalism Perpetuates Racial
Inequality in Criminal Justice. Law & Society Review,44(3/4), 805-842.
Ousey, Graham C. and Matthew R. Lee. 2008. “Racial Disparity in Formal Social Control.” Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 45:322–55.
Pettit, Becky and Bruce Western. 2004. “Mass Imprisonment and the Life Course: Race and
Class Inequality in U.S. Incarceration.” American Sociological Review 69(2):151–69.
Pettit, B. and Sykes, B. L. 2015. Civil Rights Legislation and Legalized Exclusion: Mass
Incarceration and the Masking of Inequality. Social Forum, 30: 589–611.
Wheelock, Darren. 2005. “Collateral Consequences and Racial Inequality.” Journal of
Contemporary Criminal Justice 21(1):82–90.

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