Why Is It Important To Reduce Racial Disparities?

Disparities occurs during the sentencing process as well as the arrests that is made by the police officers. Law enforcements focus more in particular communities, legislatives policies and decision making are usually focus on in different stages of the system. There are many people who works in the criminal justice system and are fully aware of the problem of racial disparities and they would like to counter that big problem. The growing number of our mass incarceration is promoting changes at the state and the federal level to reduce the scale of imprisonment. We need to acknowledge that racial disparities are a problem in the society, and not just in our criminal justice system. we need to take into action to reduce those disparities.
(Ghandnoosh, 2015) The war on drugs is usually the main factor in the disparities practices by law enforcements, With the combination with the sentencing policies in effect. It represents a significant contributor to the disproportionate rates of incarceration. The evidence of the racial profiling by the law enforcement doesn’t mean that all the agencies do engage in those behaviors. Many of those agencies have been engaged in training and oversight measures that are designed to prevent and identify those practices. African Americans are more likely to have their cars searched compared to white men. Police are more likely to search their cars when they are stopped for a traffic violation. They are more likely to be pulled over and less likely to receive a reason for being stopped. (Khan, 2015). Once racial minorities enter the system after being arrested, they will continue their journey to confront the racial bias at every stage of the criminal justice system. once they are convicted, they are more likely to be sentenced into more harshly than white defendants that was convicted for the similar crimes. ("Shadow Report to the United Nations on Racial Disparities in the United States Criminal Justice System | The Sentencing Project,"
low income individuals are over represented at every stage. People of color are disproportionately having low income. They are overrepresented in drug arrests. There are many evidences that shows the racially disparate treatment of drug arrestees, by looking at the reported drug use among African Americans. The U.S department of health and human services reported that African Americans constituted 14 percent of drug users in 2006. ("Color of Justice: Racial and Ethnic Disparity in State Prisons | The Sentencing Project," n.d.). Law enforcement practices, crime rates and sentencing policies, do contribute to racial disparities in the criminal justice system. another reason is the criminal history. The more serious prior criminal records, leads to a greater likelihood of receiving a prison term for first time offense. There are many solutions to those racial disparities in the criminal justice system. like shifting the focus on drug policies and practices. By shifting those drug policies in ways that could be more effective in addressing substance abuse. By scaling back on the war on drugs, the department of justice need to reconsider and reduce the volume of the low-level drug offenders that are prosecuted in the federal courts, and focus more on the suppliers and drug dealers. We could invest more into treatment centers and drug