Racism in the US Justice System

This article examines the presence of racial disparity in the US justice system, focusing on the role of police, prosecutors, and judges. It discusses the factors contributing to racial discrimination and explores potential solutions to end racism in the system.

1
Explore racism in the US justice system. The switch attention to the role that the police,
prosecutors and judges play separately and collectively in playing the race card. What will it
take to end racism in the system?
Student Name
Date
Institution

2
Since long it has been mentioned by the criminologists that there are racial disparity is present in
the justice system in the US. However, the pertinent question in this regard is why? Why is
argued by certain experts that observed differences are the result of more criminal behaviour
present among the minorities, the weight of available evidence reveals that this is a partial
explanation at the most? Therefore, criminologists have examined the racial differences that are
present in the experiences of the criminal justice system for some time now (Cole and
Smith,2010). The results of the studies vary in mentioning the level of racial disparity present in
the system and the proportion of the differences that can be ascribed to legally relevant variables
like the seriousness of the offense, criminal involvement and the criminal history of the offender.
It has been discovered by earlier research that self-reported delinquency is not able to explain the
racial differences present in the contact of the police with the students of middle school
(Bowman and Bowman,2014). The answer that is popularly used for explaining the findings like
this is the presence of discrimination among the police, prosecutors and the judges. However,
most of the studies failed to evaluate no discrimination or racism present among the actors of the
criminal justice system. Therefore it is not surprising that generally, the officials hesitate to
reveal in interviews or questionnaires that prejudice is present in this regard. Although laboratory
studies conducted to measure implicit bias are capable of evaluating unconscious reactions to the
race of the individuals and for this purpose study the psychological changes that are the result of
controlled stimuli. However, this method does not allow arriving at definitively drawn
conclusions related to discriminatory behaviour or attitude (Donnelly, 2016). The result is that
discrimination remains as the interpretation of legally unexplained differences on account of race
present in the criminal justice system, that are probably beyond the measurement methods that
are available at present.

3
A major problem present in case of the criminal justice system of the United States that it is
based on racial disparity as a result of which the African-Americans are blatantly beleaguered,
and they're penalized more severely as compared to the white people. In the present research
work, an attempt has been made to add up the racial discrimination that is present in the US
justice system. For this purpose the role played by the police, prosecutors and the judges also
need to be considered. At the same time, the steps to be taken for ending racism in the judicial
system also need to be discussed (An,2015).
Many experts argue that society in the United States is turning more inexpensively and ethnically
polarized. There are a large number of poor and minority citizens, who are ready to bear
testimony to the prejudice theory that there is criminal impartiality. It has been revealed by
certain studies conducted in this regard that nearly 2/3 of the African-Americans think that the
judicial system has been assembled against them. This opinion is also shared by several civil
rights groups. On the other hand, the Conservatives were eminently refuse the charge that the
judicial system is racist.
The information related to race can be accessed regarding each face of the criminal justice
system. It includes the use of drugs, police stops, custody, bail, representation in the courts,
charging courtroom and selection of jury members, the term of imprisonment, liberty, and
parole. Under the circumstances, it is clear that a policeman can stop a person on the highway for
no reason and ask the person to prove his or her identity and ask where the person is from. In
most of the cases, the car and belongings of the person being searched. This result in believing
that they believe that the racial identity of the person can be blamed for the person is a criminal.
Therefore, any person who votes like them can be stopped and interrogated (Roger Leroy

4
Miller ,2012). If the person has been accused of a particular crime, then it is likely that the
representing war will only give a few minutes and convince the person to plead guilty. If a
person decides to argue being innocent, then the person is likely to remain in jail for some
months (Russell-Brown,2009).
It is also likely that all the proof and the information will be provided against the person,
particularly if the person is an adolescent. The rate of incarceration for certain ethnic groups is
seven times more than the common people, as most of them believe, along with the police that
there are certain ethnic communities that tend to create violence and result in committing the
crime. Perhaps this is the reason that certain ethnic communities like the African-Americans are
arrested, convicted and killed in police firing more as compared to the general people (Donnelly,
2016). It has been revealed in this regard that one in every third person with colored skin,
particularly in the age group of 20 to 29 has been imprisoned, or is on parole or is facing trial.
There is significant evidence present regarding the racial minorities are disproportionately
detained by the police (Kurtz et al., 1993). The US Supreme Court has stated that it is not going
to examine if the police target particular individuals based on their race so long as the police can
identify other factors that are race-neutral, or supporting their doubts. Although these are very
subjective facts like the furtive behaviour of a person or the presence of the individual in high
crime neighborhood, will be sufficient in this regard (Kim and Kiesel, 2017). However, the
permissive attitude that has been adopted by the Court towards police stops may have some
serious repercussions. Generally, it is during these stocks that violent incidents like fatal shooting
take place between the police and the citizens. This type of violence has a significantly higher
frequency in the United States as compared to the other nations. For example, it has been
estimated by constantly that in 2014, 458 persons were killed by the police and the US.

5
Similarly, in this year, only eight persons were killed by the police in Germany and no killed in
Britain and Japan. Therefore, the failure of the Supreme Court to regulate police stops is also a
reason for such a high number of civilian deaths by the police (Kerr and Walsh, 2014).
At the same time, it also needs to be noted that the Supreme Court has also ignored the racial
injustice that is present during the state of the judicial system. It needs to be noted in this regard
that there are nearly 2.3 million persons who have been imprisoned in the United States in 2017.
This number is 30% higher, as compared to the second highest rate in China. This is a situation
even though the United States has considerably lower population. Such mass incarceration
infects the racial minorities disproportionately. Therefore, blacks are incarcerated at a rate that is
five times higher than the whites. It has also been revealed by the studies conducted in this
regard that the arrest records alone are not able to explain the reasons behind the fact that racial
minorities are sentenced much more frequently and also more severely as compared to the
whites. According to some estimates, the discrimination on part of the prosecutors after the arrest
results in nearly 25% of the sentences for the racial minorities. Also, considerable evidence is
present regarding the systemic inequality, but the Supreme Court had stated very little regarding
this mass incarceration, which affects the racial minorities disproportionately.
It also appears that the US Supreme Court is not considering the disproportionate imposition of
the death penalty in case of the ethnic and racial minorities. The Court was not ready to consider
the fact that nearly 54% of the persons who are on the death row are black or Latino. This can be
compared with 42% white present on the death row. The other aspects related with the
imposition of the death penalty have been closely scrutinized by the Supreme Court, and it
recognized that the application of such ultimate punishment should be rare and supported by

6
careful oversight. Still, it was mentioned by the court that the disparity present in the application
of death penalty to various racial groups does not result in triggering the protection provided by
the Constitution (Roger Leroy Miller, 2012).
In the end, it needs to be noted that such issues have the effect of tearing the fabric of society in
the United States. There are several protests taking place in response to the videos, where the
police are shooting the citizens and the presence of evidence which suggests that the prosecutors
and the police are targeting the minorities that are traditionally disadvantaged. Still not much has
been stated by the Supreme Court in the face of clearly visible. Racial disparities are present in
the justice system.
It is also worth mentioning that the studies related to racial bias are not able to fully take into
consideration, all the legitimate factors that have an impact on how ease is handled. As a result
of these unmeasured factors, it may be possible to explain the racial disparity if these factors are
the ones regarding which the races differ. In view of the small disparity, such as evaluated
factors may become significantly important. Another issue that is present in this regard is the one
that can be seen frequently in racial bias studies that combine the samples from various states
and countries; is if the black defendants have been represented more heavily in the jurisdictions
where the sentences are probably tougher, not only for the black people but also for the whites. If
this is the case, combining the jurisdictions may result in the presence of sentencing disparity
even when there is no disparity present in reality. However the races are scattered differently
across jurisdictions in the United States and the sentences for the jurisdictions are different from
each other, aggregating may have an effect that can be mistaken for the presence of racial
disparity in sentencing.

7

8
References
An, R. (2015).The racial/ethnic disparity in obesity among US youth, 1999–2013.International
Journal Of Adolescent Medicine And Health, 29(4). doi: 10.1515/ijamh-2015-0068
Bowman, S., & Bowman, S. (2014). Color behind Bars. Westport: ABC-CLIO.
Cole, G., & Smith, C. (2010).The American system of criminal justice. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth
Cengage Learning.
Donnelly, E. (2016). Racial disparity reform: racial inequality and policy responses in US
national politics. Journal Of Crime And Justice, 40(4), 462-477. doi:
10.1080/0735648x.2016.1176950
Donnelly, E. (2016). The Politics of Racial Disparity Reform: Racial Inequality and Criminal
Justice Policymaking in the States. American Journal Of Criminal Justice, 42(1), 1-27. doi:
10.1007/s12103-016-9344-8
Kerr, C., & Walsh, R. (2014).Racial Wage Disparity in US Cities.Race And Social Problems,
6(4), 305-327. doi: 10.1007/s12552-014-9127-0
Kim, J., &Kiesel, A. (2017). The Long Shadow of Police Racial Treatment: Racial Disparity in
Criminal Justice Processing. Public Administration Review, 78(3), 422-431. doi:
10.1111/puar.12842
Roger Leroy Miller, L. (2012). Criminal justice in action. Broadman&holman publish.

9
Russell-Brown, K. (2009). The color of crime. New York: New York University Press.