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Criminal Justice Disparities

Criminal Justice Disparities


Ashley Lingwall- Bills
Salt Lake Community College

Criminal Justice Disparities

Introduction
Racial disparities throughout the criminal justice system have
long been a topic of conversation within the United States. These
conversations include whether these disparities actually exist, if they
are a systemic problem, a prejudicial problem, or whether there are
just large handfuls racist cops, judges, etc... that are making the United
States look bad. In order to dissect this problem, one must look at all
angles in order to truly understand what is happening to the African
American population throughout our system, as well as analyze the
United States regarding institutional racism, and the policies that play
a fundamental role within this system.
History
Exactly when did the racial disparities between the criminal
justice system and African American males start? This is arguably
difficult to pinpoint being that some individuals still argue its
existence, yet by analyzing the United States history, it is apparent
that these inequalities exists. Whether we are looking into the criminal
justice system, employment system, political system, etc there are
blatant signs that one demographic of people hold all of the power
within this nation.

Criminal Justice Disparities

Tonry (2016) suggests that while slavery was the number one
offender at creating the prejudicial separation within the justice
system, laws such as Jim Crow amplified white dominance for
decades after the official ending of slavery (p. 280). At the time,
these laws were mostly dominant in the south so when African
Americans fled to the north, equal treatment was expected, but what
was discovered was that big-city ghettos, housing discrimination, and
racial bias kept blacks in their subordinate place (Tonry, 2016, p. 280).
Once policies and/or corrupt actions against minorities were
discovered, the United States, attempted to help solve the problem
by adjusting policies, but rarely did it produce an effect large enough
to create change.
History of policies
When analyzing this problem from a systemic point-of-view, one
must consider the policies that have played fundamental roles in
creating and continuing these disparities. According to Gaynes, Miller,
and LeRoy (2010),
After the Civil War (18611865), many African Americans were
driven from the South by Jim Crow laws designed to keep them
from attaining power in the postwar period. Today, the criminal
justice system performs a similar function. One out of every eight
black men in their twenties is in prison or jail on any given day,

Criminal Justice Disparities

and African American males are incarcerated at about 6.5 times


the rate of white males (p. 49).
Power policies, that subconsciously promote prejudicial
separation within the judicial system, have continued throughout
todays society but the difference now is they are not as blatant, which
is where the argument of its existence comes from. For example,
Hurwitz and Peffley (2010) have often described the crack cocaine
policies that assist in the continuation of inequalities between African
Americans and Whites. The infamous 100-to-1 crack-cocaine policy,
which shifted to 18-to-1 in 2010, is the perfect example of a policy that
instills racism on a sociological scale.
Hurwitz and Peffley (2010), show that before the 18-to-1
provisions were instated, there was a substantial difference in sentence
length concerning crack vs. powder cocaine. If a person was caught
carrying 100 grams of powder cocaine, the mandatory minimum
sentence to be served was 5 years. Now crack cocaine also has a 5year mandatory minimum sentence, but the amount necessary for
sentencing was 1 gram, 99 less than powder cocaine (as cited in
Rogers, Organista, Lingwall, Watson, Zeting). Regarding the lack of
pharmacological difference between these two substances, Ryan
Salter, CEO of Ascend Recoverys substance use disorder residential
treatment center describes how baking soda is the main difference.
Really, a person takes powder cocaine, mixes it with baking soda,

Criminal Justice Disparities

regulates its heating process, and it turns to a hard substance, now


known as crack cocaine. Who knew that baking soda came with such
a hefty sentencing. This idea is also reinforced by Gaines et al (2012),
whom suggest that, powder cocaine and crack, a crystallized form of
the drug that is smoked rather than inhaled, are chemically identical
(p. 371).
According to Dylan Mathews (2013), writer for the Washington
Post, it is unproven that African American men use drugs (focusing on
marijuana), at a larger rate than White men, yet the arrest rates are
vastly different among these two. The chart below shows arrest rates
of marijuana possession of both African American men and White men.
This chart spans the years of 2001 to 2010, and what can be seen is
that White men stay around 200 arrests per 100,000. Yet, it can also be
seen that African American men are arrested at a rate between 550
and 750 per 100,000. Now for not having a large difference in
consumption, this figure meets the burden of proof regarding the
disparity in the criminal justice system.

Criminal Justice Disparities

Criminal Justice Disparities

According to Tonry (2016), African Americans are imprisoned at


a much higher rate than whites, and the blatantly obvious reasons
behind these rates are higher arrests for both violent crimes as well as
drug related arrests (p. 273). Now this does not mean that African
Americans are more violent, but what Tonry is suggesting is that the
frequency of arrests are higher due to police officers focusing on
certain areas that are more widely known for these illegal activities,
certain substances that are more prominently used by blacks, as well
as certain policies that induce such sentencing (p. 273). Ultimately,
what is being suggested, is that officers seek out neighborhoods known
for selling substances such as crack cocaine (prominent among African
Americans), make the necessary arrests, and then statistics shoot
through the roof somehow vaguely showing that African Americans
commit more crime.
Arrest Rates
Arrest rates are also a sure way to understand and observe the inequalities
throughout our judicial system. When taking an overall look at the population of the
United States by race, roughly of the population are White and about 12% of the
population is African American. In 2014, the FBI claimed that 70% of people arrested
were White, and almost 30% were Black, leaving a tiny percentage of other ethnicities
(Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI], 2012, as cited in Rogers et al). Now, this may

Criminal Justice Disparities

look like White individuals are arrested more frequently, but due to the fraction of
population that African Americans populate, the numbers are boldly in the reverse.
(Hartney, C., & Vuong L, 2013).
Conclusion
It is no secret that the United States has, for centuries,
implemented policies, and programs that have constantly reinforced
racial disparities throughout the minority populations. This includes
slavery, the redlining of real estate districts, police brutality, Jim Crow
laws, institutional racism, and many more. The scarier aspect of
todays society, is the underlying racism that is so embedded within
our political, judicial, institutional, and educational systems that it
seems anything other than a colossal social movement would go
unseen and unheard. It is up to us as individuals to create as much
awareness as possible surrounding this topic, because with awareness,
must come change.

Criminal Justice Disparities

References
Gaines, Larry K.; Miller, Roger LeRoy (2012-01-17). Criminal Justice in
Action (Page 49). Cengage Textbook. Kindle Edition.
Hartney, C., & Vuong, L. (2009, March). Racial and Ethnic Disparities in the US
Criminal Justice System. Retrieved from
http://www.nccdglobal.org/sites/default/files/publication_pdf/created-equal.pdf
Hurwitz, J., Peffley, M., (2010). And justice for some: race, crime, and punishment in the
US criminal justice system. Canadian Journal of Political Science, 43(2), 457479. doi:10.10170S0008423910000120

Criminal Justice Disparities

10

Mathews, D. (2013, June 4). The Black/White marijuana arrest gap, in 9


charts. The Washington Post. Retrieved from:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2013/06/04 /
the-blackwhite-marijuana-arrest-gap-in-nine-charts/
Tonry, M. (2016). The social, psychological, and political causes of
racial disparities in the American criminal justice system. Crime
and Justice: 39(1) 273-312.

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