Essay Example on African American Inequality in Criminal Justice System

Introduction

There are several studies, which have pointed out to the fact that the African American is vulnerable to arrest by the police more than the whites. Other studies have shown that the discrimination that ensues after conviction is more to blacks as they are subjects of longer sentences than whites. The benefits of parole and probation are also limited to African Americans in the criminal justice system (Balko, p. 3). In the ten years between 1967 to the next decade, the population of the prison systems loosened from a common of whites to the majority of African Americans. The author of the article confirms that there was a development of specific policies and rules to make sure when the black person returns to the public, he was worse off than when he was convicted. That went ahead to show how the authorities did not want the black person free on the streets again, and they would frame them with anything to make them go back to prison.

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The conspicuous institutional racism in the criminal justice system is the conspicuous domination of the white race in the institutions that administer criminal justice, mainly the police force, the courts, and the correctional system. There are statistical references than can be drawn between the races of convicts and the sentences they receive in the courts. It is, however, difficult to prove the causal relationship as far as a discipline in the cells is confirmed. Certain courts made rulings that blacks are more likely to receive more punishment than white offenders and that if convicted of punitive isolation, they are more likely to stay in there for a longer time than their white counterparts (Debro, p. 5). Covert racism in the correctional facilities also takes the form of assignments that the inmates are assigned while inside those facilities. Whites are given the ability to choose, which provides them with the freedom to walk while blacks are given those that limit their movement.

In your reading, Souryal has posted a question: To what extent does a morally right end justify an illegal or unethical means to its achievement? Is overstepping authority to achieve what one perceives to be a higher good justified?

There are situations and many stories where the police have used the mantra the end justify the means and take matters into their own hands, claiming that the result is for the greater good. The police force has the work to protect and maintain order in the precincts they serve, and sometimes they may be faced with situations that threaten their security and that of their loved one (Souryal & John, p. 123). In such cases, they are supposed to make decisions that protect them and guarantee that justice is served to the offenders (Alpert et al., p. 10). This is a question on the ethics part of the profession, and they are required to ensure they uphold that always. However, that is not the case when they are pursued with an armed robber who is ready to use and kill anyone with their weapon. This is where the police are said to have used excessive force in handling criminals who were threats to their existence. They have thus walked away from such situations as their use of force justified their actions, which was the greater good, the security of the rest of the team, and that of the people at large.

The use of force of excessive force by the police sometimes is unwarranted and results in questions on the profession's ethics. Some of the police officers are driven by their hate and racist impetus against blacks, which form most of the victims. There are numerous reports of police using excessive force where none was required at all (Arnett, p. 64). The most recent case is the case of George Floyd, who was strangled across the street even though he was not a threat to any of the officers who apprehended him. The officers used a lot of force that was unnecessary to achieve an end, which was justified. The officers in the scene were charged, and the cases are still in court.

In the 1976 case of Estelle v Gamble, 429 US 97 (1976), the US Supreme Court established that prisoners in the US have a “right to healthcare” and that to deny them that right might, in some cases, rise to the level of a violation of the 8th Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. But in 2015, that same court refused to hear a case in which an inmate in Massachusetts sought gender reassignment surgery (GRS), thus leaving a ruling by the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit denied the inmate that surgery. In your initial post, please address the following:

Does an ethical obligation exist to provide this surgery to an inmate?

In the 1976 case of Estelle v Gamble, 429 US 97(1976), the US Supreme Court established that prisoners in the US have a right to healthcare and that to deny them that right might in some cases rise to the level of a violation of the 8th Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. From the case, there exists an ethical obligation by the court to authorize the surgery for the inmate as it pertains to their healthcare as ruled by the court (E v Gamble, Estelle. "429 US 97 (1976)). The ruling puts the facility to an obligation to make sure the demand is met, and thus the failure to do so goes against their initial ruling.

Is the inmate’s sentence a consideration? (For example, in the MA case, the inmate was serving LWOP. Can we ethically consider that in determining if the surgery should be provided?)

The ruling of the Supreme Court in Estelle v Gamble, 429 US 97(1976), demanded that all inmates should be provided with healthcare by the state, and failure to do so amounted to cruelty and unusual punishment. The case did not say that the necessary care was pegged to the type of sentence the inmate was serving, and thus they are all supposed to receive the care. The inmate's sentence should, therefore, not be considered when determining to give them healthcare necessity.

Is there a case to be made that the court's denial of the appeal in the MA case results in a violation of the inmate's 8th Amendment rights?

From the earlier ruling of the court, a case can be developed in favor of the inmate in that the court had earlier on agreed that all inmates deserve to be taken care of by the system. In that light, the court violated their earlier ruling concerning this particular inmate, resulting in a violation of the inmate's 8th Amendment right.

Where does one house an inmate sentenced to LWOP who was born a male but is living as a female, with or without GRS?

The inmate can remain in the male prison for the sake of their security. Like in Chelsea Manning's case, it is in the best interest of the inmate to stay in the prison where they were previously held before (Savage, p. 1). The inmate may also pose a challenge to the other inmates in the new prison.

In recent years there has been a push to reduce our reliance on traditional models of corrections and to embrace community-based corrections, which encompasses pretrial supervision, parole, and probation. For this question, you will write two persuasive paragraphs.

There is power in community corrections to change the lives, lower the violence rates, and, consequently, help build more functional communities. The significant population of offenders will get in touch with probation, pretrial, or an officer dealing with parole. Those, as mentioned earlier, can work with various people to change the affected people and bring the necessary change through supervision and service to the specific people at a time. Acts were developed by the government to help assist inmates when they are out of prison. They end up being trained in educational and employment programs, which make them essential people at the end of their terms. Community-based correction reduces the cost of correcting offenders and also reduce the overcrowding in prisons (Welsh & Farrington, p. 116). The community programs also help prevent the exposure of offenders to the harsh prison conditions and thus help them generally grow into law-abiding citizens.

Conclusion

Community-based corrections sometimes end up accommodating any people whose capacity it was designed for; thus, the overcrowding problem is transferred to these facilities. This is because judges may grant offenders who do not necessarily need to face those charges. Community-based corrections leave many offenders walking free of charge, which may be a security threat to the rest of the population. Also, many of the centers for community-based corrections are disconnected from the wholesome services required for the complete reform of the offenders. Thus they may end up not receiving the exact care and correction they need.

Works Cited

Alpert, Geoffrey P., et al. "Police officers’ decision making and discretion: Forming suspicion and making a stop." National Institute of Justice, Washington, DC (2004). 1-151

Arnett, Jerome C. "The ‘Tavistock principles’ of medical ethics." Medical Sentinel 6.2 (2001): 63-65.

Balko, Radley. "There’s overwhelming evidence that the criminal-justice system is racist. Here’s the proof." The Washington Post 18 (2018).

Debro, J., GK Hall, and the United States of America. "INSTITUTIONAL RACISM WITHIN THE STRUCTURE OF AMERICAN PRISONS (FROM BLACK PERSPECTIVES ON CRIME AND THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM, 1977 BY ROBERT L WOODSON-SEE NCJ-44997)." (1977).

E v Gamble, Estelle. "429 US 97 (1976)." This is the Supreme Court case, which established that correctional facilities who deliberately deprive adequate medical care to inmates violate the Eighth Amendment of the US Constitution (2014).

Savage, Charlie. "Chelsea Manning describes bleak life in a men’s prison." The New York Times (2017).

Souryal, Sam S., and John T. Whitehead. Ethics in criminal justice: In search of the truth. Routledge, 2019. Chapter 4: Meeting the Masters Ethical Theories, Concepts, and Issues. 118-193.

Welsh, Brandon C., and David P. Farrington. "Correctional intervention programs and cost-benefit analysis." Criminal Justice and Behavior 27.1 (2000): 115-133.