Systemic Injustices In The Criminal Justice System

Systemic Injustices: Life Imprisonment, Disparities for People of Color: In the United States, the shadows of the justice system, more often than not, obscure the path to equality, which casts a wall over the lives of people of color, who find themselves caught in a system of inequality. As individuals try to navigate this complicated labyrinth of the American Legal System, they encounter multiple barriers. These barriers can obstruct access to fair and equal justice. They show systemic flaws that cannot be ignored. There are clear signs of injustice: The disproportionate number of life sentences for people of color unveils systemic flaws in the justice system that include, racial bias, socioeconomic disparities, and disparities in similar
This highlights the huge gap in disparities in incarceration rates between Black Americans and White Americans. The rate of 5 times proves that deeply rooted racial bias influences almost every single decision point in the justice system. Racial bias can come in many shapes and forms, but one of the most recurring forms is racial profiling. The ACLU refers to racial profiling as, “...the discriminatory practice by law enforcement officials of targeting individuals for suspicion of crime based on the individual's race, ethnicity, religion or national origin” (ACLU, 2024). The practice and usage of racial profiling creates huge gaps and undeniable inequalities in the justice system. Racial profiling leads to disproportionate stops, searches, and arrests of people of color, which keep adding up to this racial bias and disparities in incarceration. These lead to Black Americans facing the unnecessary effects of racial bias in law enforcement. According to many recent surveys, “41 percent of Black Americans say they have been stopped or detained by police because of their race”
These experiences of being stopped or detained add up to racial biases being more and more common for all kinds of reasons, whether it's from the color of the individual’s skin or socioeconomic factors of the said individuals Socioeconomic factors play a significant role in determining life imprisonment sentences, which often leaves underprivileged communities at a higher disadvantage. The SBC has been quoted stating“...55 percent of Californians... experienced at least one civil legal problem... yet nearly 70 percent of them received no legal assistance... 27 percent of low-income Californians received some legal help, while 34 percent of middle-income individuals did” (SBC, 2020). What this means is that individuals who are from low-income backgrounds, usually can’t afford high-quality representation. And the representation that they get, is nowhere near as good as high-quality