Racial Inequalities In The Criminal Justice System

In the U.S criminal justice system, most Americans are unaware of the reality of inequalities minorities face during sentencing. People have colorblind ideologies in which they assume race is no longer a major factor in the criminal justice realm. “The most serious problems facing contemporary minority groups are structural and institutional” (Healey 2012:466). The pseudo environment in peoples minds paints a perfect world of what they believe is equal treatment and punishment, but in the environment, or better known as the real world, racial inequalities and disparities are achingly present in the forms of prison sentencing and capital punishment policies. The capital punishment policy, or better known as the death penalty, is the policy …show more content…
Capital punishment is marked by bleak racial disparities. Minority groups such as African Americans and Latinos, receive harsher sentencing treatment within the criminal justice system due to evident controlling variables that include the defendant’s socioeconomic status, the type of crime being committed, the defendant’s personal criminal history, and the racial background of the victim (Glaser, Martin, & Kahn 2015:540). Studies show clear discrimination based on the race of the victim, regardless of other factors (Cole 1999: 215). The sentencing of these minorities also depends on the racial background of the jurors, defendants, and prosecutors. The rulings may be bias and based on emotions, for an example, the jurors may have a preconceived notion about the individual based on prior life experiences. According to Drehle, “capital punishment relies largely on emotion…the public’s attitudes, politicians attitudes, and even scholarly attitudes are frequently shaped by sentiment and preconceived notions (Drehle 1995:272).” In all aspects, minorities are represented unfairly and inconsistently on the sentencing of death …show more content…
Kemp case raised questions on the unequal distribution of capital punishment amongst minorities. The Supreme Court challenged the idea of racial discrimination and the equal protection of the laws in the courts by reinstating that a dependent must prove that a “prosecutor, judge, or juror intentionally discriminated against them, that results in the death penalty” (Inwood & Barron 2015:11003-1104). Regardless of the Supreme Courts rulings that discrimination amongst the courts must be proven, discrimination is evident in all aspects of the rulings, solely based on statistics. There is an obvious pattern of minorities receiving unjust and unequal sentences throughout the criminal justice system, in which researchers and other social scholars have noticed and brought to life. Once a minority is placed in the criminal justice system, this not only negatively affects their life, but it affects society as a whole as