Criminology and Criminal Justice System: Sentencing and Bias Analysis

This essay examines the United States criminal justice system, focusing on sentencing practices and potential biases. It begins by defining criminal sentencing and its objectives, including retribution and crime prevention. The essay then analyzes the case of actress Felicity Huffman, who received a relatively lenient sentence for her involvement in a college admissions scandal, and compares it to the case of Kelly William Bolar, highlighting disparities in sentencing based on race and socioeconomic status. Drawing upon reports from the U.S. Sentencing Commission and research on racial disparities in the justice system, the essay argues that racial discrimination influences sentencing outcomes. The essay concludes by emphasizing that despite constitutional protections, racial discrimination persists within the U.S. criminal justice system, with the social status of defendants like Huffman significantly impacting their sentences. The essay uses references to support arguments.

Running head: CRIMINOLOGY AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
Criminology and Criminal Justice
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Authors Note

1CRIMINOLOGY AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
In the United States, a criminal sentence usually means the official lawful consequences
involved with a conviction. The serious criminal sentencing include lifetime imprisonment, death
penalty or long-term incarceration (Mauer, 2011). Many theorists of Criminal law are of the view
that sentences are given in order to achieve two goals, such as to prevent future possibilities of
crime and to serve the objective of retribution, means who acted wrongfully must be punished.
A criminal sentence of 14 days was given to the Actress, namely, Huffman Felicity for
paying bribe in order to admit her daughter in a famous college. In fact, several news report
stated that she is the first parent against whom an order of conviction is given regarding immense
college admission shame. Huffman pleaded guilty and a penalty of 30,000 $ imposed on her long
with 250 hours of community service. However, it has been observed that the amount of penalty
paid by her is very less in comparison to other equivalent wrongdoers. It also has been observed
that poor and black color people paid more penalties for committing similar offence. Many
people are of the view that the judgment given in favor of Huffman discloses that discrimination
and racial disparities also subsists within the criminal justice system (Rehavi & Starr, 2014). In
Kelly William Bolar case, the lady in order to admit her daughter in a better college, provided
the address of her husband and did not live at that address. For this offence, the court imposed an
amount of 15,000 $ as penalty and 80 hours of community service along with 10 days jail
sentence because she is a person of black color and is not wealthy and influential like Huffman.
Therefore, it can be concluded that the judgment given to Huffman is fair.
After the 14 days jail sentence awarded to Huffman, many people argued that, in the U.S.
the criminal justice system operates on the basis of skin color and income. According to a report
published by the Sentencing Commission of U.S. (2012-2016), it has been observed that black
people get more severe sentences than that of white people. For instance, the jail sentences

2CRIMINOLOGY AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
provided to the black people are 19.1% longer, whereas the same provided to the white people in
federal courts are 22.2 % less. However, the researchers did not investigate the income or
property of those white people. Other reports in this regard recommends that poor and black
color people are far more prospective to head to jail than richer black people (Doerner &
Demuth, 2010). Many researchers, who worked with several aspects of racial disparity are of the
view that Kelly William Bolar might receive less jail sentence if she has money and property
with her and would be a woman of white color (Steffensmeier & Demuth, 2000). The
Constitution of the U.S. states that people cannot be discriminated on the ground of race, sex,
caste, creed, color, religion, sexual orientation and disability. Unfortunately, racial discrimination
is observed in the criminal justice system of the U.S. However, many philosophers aim to abolish
the racial discrimination from the criminal justice system of the U.S., but complete success has
not been achieved as of now. Therefore, it can be concluded that the social status of Huffman
influenced her jail sentence.

3CRIMINOLOGY AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
Reference
Doerner, J. K., & Demuth, S. (2010). The independent and joint effects of race/ethnicity, gender,
and age on sentencing outcomes in US federal courts. Justice Quarterly, 27(1), 1-27.
Mauer, M. (2011). Addressing racial disparities in incarceration. The Prison
Journal, 91(3_suppl), 87S-101S.
Rehavi, M. M., & Starr, S. B. (2014). Racial disparity in federal criminal sentences. Journal of
Political Economy, 122(6), 1320-1354.
Steffensmeier, D., & Demuth, S. (2000). Ethnicity and sentencing outcomes in US federal
courts: Who is punished more harshly?. American sociological review, 705-729.