Criminal Justice System: Racially Biased and Problematic - Free Research Paper Sample

Introduction

The criminal justice system comprises of government agencies and institutions that are responsible for maintaining order. Through the system, they get to rehabilitate offenders and prevent other crimes from happening. The police are responsible for fighting crime and problem solve through community service. Unfortunately, the criminal justice system is racially biased. There is always conflict when it comes to people of color and the police in America. They will often end in conflict or death. The criminal justice system has been featured as one that discriminates more by race (Gray & Parker 2020: 1). African Americans are harmed by policies and by judicial power. The judicial system in America does not favor Afro Americans.

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Police Incidents

There have been several incidents of police killings of Black Americans. Racial threats to Blacks have gradually increased. For example, in November 2014, Tamir Rice, a Black 12-year-old having fun with an airsoft gun, was gunshot and murdered by a police force in Cleveland (Gray & Parker 2020: 1). I view this as unfair since he had not committed any crime. The police officer ought to have approached the child peacefully, investigate the possession of the gun, and take necessary action. The fact that the kid was a Black made the police to make the rush decision of killing him. This inhuman act explains how much policing and the criminal justice system is racialized. In most cases, the police associate Black men with criminality and destruction (Gray & Parker 2020: 4). Although law enforcers have fought about this and police powers declined, killings of Black Americans by the officers of the law have gradually increased. This article stresses how the composition of a state is greatly associated with deadly police shootings of Black citizens.

Racial Discrimination

Racial discrimination is, to a high degree, practiced in the criminal justice system—race and origin matters in criminal justice outcomes. There is a huge difference in how justice is administered between Blacks and whites. Punishment after committing crimes is not measured by the extent of the offense one has performed but by their skin color. Tougher penalties are exerted on blacks despite the crime committed. The murders of many unarmed people have fueled both public and policy debates about the inequalities directed to the blacks. Cases of police brutality towards the blacks have even led to the rise of a popular movement ‘Black Lives Matter’ (Ghandnoosh 2015:19). The movement criticizes and fights for rights due to the victimization of black youths at the hands of the police and the lack of proper justice to offenders.

Research has consistently shown that Blacks are over-represented as victims and offenders in violent crime as compared to the whites (Ghandnoosh 2015:10). When questioned on statistical estimations of crime rates, whites attribute an inflated total to persons of color. Whites also rank Blacks as more violence-prone than their identifiable race (Tonry 2011: 1). Also, when it comes to the sentencing period, native Americans are imprisoned for a long time as compared to the whites despite the crime committed. There are also fewer law enforcers and judges who are Blacks, explaining every reason how people of color are discriminated against when it comes to justice (Walker et al 2012: 4). The police have continued to harass the Blacks in day to day life activities. Blacks are consistently stopped, searched, frisked, and arrested at an insignificantly high rate.

I would like to conduct research about what consequential action is taken against police due to these killings. The right to life for every individual should be valued without limitations. Police have proven guilty of killing people of color without them committing a crime should be jailed and convicted and fired. He or she should be treated as a civilian. In most cases, the police officers are immediately arrested but later acquitted the public goes quiet about the issue. This is unfair since it shows how the criminal justice system is driven by racism. Normally, whoever is guilty of murder in America is punished by death or imprisoned for life. Unfortunately, a police officer guilty of the same is given a bail and even released. I would like to conduct this study by using recent cases like George Floyd’s and follow up on what happened to the police officers guilty of his murder.

Conclusion

In conclusion, to reduce injustice from the police to the people of color, everybody should take it as an initiative to ensure that fairness is applied. As citizens, we rely on the police to protect us, to maintain order, enforce the law, and to work toward crime prevention. It is unethical when law enforcers are at the forefront, encouraging racial discrimination and being involved in the killings of people. There is robust proof that racial discrimination does occur at several points in the criminal justice system. Persons should fight for their freedoms and engage in civil rights movements. Delivering punishment to those caught committing crimes should be in a way that is equal and does not discriminate against any race—ensuring that strict policies that follow human rights on how police should handle citizens should be noted down and be followed. These policies will promote harmony and reduce tension among Black people in the streets. The police ought to be educated that all lives matter despite the fact that the racial group one belongs to. Black offenders and particularly the young, are more probable to be penalized to prison as compared to their white counterparts. When it comes to penalties that people are given after committing a crime, it should be equal to all races. There should be strict sentencing guidelines that should be followed. Policymakers should adjust sentencing procedures and policies and ensure they favor no one. The law should also ensure that proper punishment is accorded to police officers who have proven guilty of killings of Black Americans. By taking such steps, it will act as a lesson to all law enforcers who practice racial discrimination when it comes to justice.

References

Ghandnoosh, Nazgol. 2015. "Black Lives Matter: Eliminating Racial Inequity in the Criminal Justice System (Washington, DC: The Sentencing Project."

Gray, Andrew., and Karen Parker. 2020. "Race and police killings: examining the links between racial threat and police shootings of Black Americans." Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice: 1-26.

Tonry, Michael H. 2011. Punishing race: A continuing American dilemma. Oxford University Press.

Walker, Samuel, Cassia Spohn, and Miriam DeLone. 2012. The color of justice: Race, ethnicity, and crime in America. Cengage Learning.