Racial Disparity in Sentencing
Racial Disparity in Sentencing
Donna Black
CJA423
October 18, 2010
Shomari L. Gilford
Racial Disparity in Sentencing
Racial disparity in sentencing continues to be a long time culmination in the criminal justice system. The disparity in criminal sentencing is seen when individuals who commit similar or the same criminal act results in acquiring different sentences upon conviction (Jones-Brown, 2002). The paper will take a look at racial disparity in sentencing today, do an examination of reasons for racial disparity in sentencing, and possible solutions to racial disparity in sentencing.
In 1998 a national picture shows an indication that African Americans account for about 35% of adults on probation, about 49% of adults in prison, and about 44% of the adults on parole (Jones-Brown, 2002). Marc Mauer indicates that the prison populations has been on the rise for number decades, and continues to climb. From 2001 to 2004 Marc Mauer concludes that the prison populations have grown by two million incarcerations (Mauer, 2004). Marc Mauer breaks down his numbers like this: one in every African American male between the ages of 25-34 is put behind bars on any day, and about 32% of the African American males born today will do some time in a prison during his lifetime (Mauer, 2004).
The reason behind why racial disparity continues to grow is for four reasons. The four reasons would be prosecutorial discretion, ineffective assistance by attorney’s and procedural bar, venue and jury selection, and racism by the jurors. In the case of prosecutorial discretion the comparison of white-collar crime and street crime will show the discretion. The sentence in a white-collar crime case is less than the sentence in a street crime. An example would be that if individual’s cheats on his or her taxes no time will be spent behind bars. Cheating on taxes is usually in the hand of the Internal Revenue Service. On the other hand if an individual is caught with a small
Donna Black
CJA423
October 18, 2010
Shomari L. Gilford
Racial Disparity in Sentencing
Racial disparity in sentencing continues to be a long time culmination in the criminal justice system. The disparity in criminal sentencing is seen when individuals who commit similar or the same criminal act results in acquiring different sentences upon conviction (Jones-Brown, 2002). The paper will take a look at racial disparity in sentencing today, do an examination of reasons for racial disparity in sentencing, and possible solutions to racial disparity in sentencing.
In 1998 a national picture shows an indication that African Americans account for about 35% of adults on probation, about 49% of adults in prison, and about 44% of the adults on parole (Jones-Brown, 2002). Marc Mauer indicates that the prison populations has been on the rise for number decades, and continues to climb. From 2001 to 2004 Marc Mauer concludes that the prison populations have grown by two million incarcerations (Mauer, 2004). Marc Mauer breaks down his numbers like this: one in every African American male between the ages of 25-34 is put behind bars on any day, and about 32% of the African American males born today will do some time in a prison during his lifetime (Mauer, 2004).
The reason behind why racial disparity continues to grow is for four reasons. The four reasons would be prosecutorial discretion, ineffective assistance by attorney’s and procedural bar, venue and jury selection, and racism by the jurors. In the case of prosecutorial discretion the comparison of white-collar crime and street crime will show the discretion. The sentence in a white-collar crime case is less than the sentence in a street crime. An example would be that if individual’s cheats on his or her taxes no time will be spent behind bars. Cheating on taxes is usually in the hand of the Internal Revenue Service. On the other hand if an individual is caught with a small
References: Boies, J., Gorton, J. (1999). Sentencing Guildlines and Racial Disparity across Time: Pennsylvania Prison Sentences in 1977, 1983, 1992 and 1993 Jones-Brown, Delores D. (2002). "Race and Sentencing." Encyclopedia of Crime and Punishment Mauer, M. ( January, 2004) Race, Class, and the Development of Criminal Justice Policy, Review Of Policy Research, Vol Misha. (November 20, 2005). Racial Disparity in Sentencing. Retrieved from http:///www.associatedcontent.com/…/racial_disparity_in_sentencing.html Newman, Nathan. (January 15, 2009). Racial Impact Statements: Addressing Racial Disparities in Criminal Justice Systems Stevenson, Bryan A. (June 2010). Illegal Racial Discrimination in Jury Selection: A Continuing Legacy