Inequality in the Criminal Justice System

Is there structural inequality in the criminal justice system? When we watch the news or read our newspapers, we can see that most of the criminals portrayed are of African American or Hispanic descent. Being a fan of true crime novels, they even depict more Black male criminals than White males. Are African American males committing more crimes than White males? What factors are involved for Blacks to be more involved in crime? How do African American stereotypes play a role with possible racial profiling from the policing force? Are Blacks treated fairly in the criminal justice system? After much research, I hope to answer these questions and determine if African Americans …show more content…

In 2009, the New York Times reported Blacks were nine times more likely to be stopped by law enforcement in New York (Baker, 2010). (Rushing, 2011) wrote an article about racial profiling. Rushing reports that black communities are over-policed. He also shares an experience that when driving through a black community, he noticed police cars stationed every couple of blocks. In a mostly White community, we would find this extremely odd where this is typically normal for big city Black communities. Rushing shares a story where he rides along with a police officer in a Black community. The officer has stopped a grandmother for letting her grandson out of the car at a school event. The woman had stopped on a double yellow line. This police officer had actually slammed on his brakes, got out and asked the grandmother for her information. The officer ran her information through a database to see if she had any outstanding warrants. It would be difficult to imagine this situation happening outside an upscale mostly White school. Michael Tonry has written many articles pertaining to racial profiling. In one of his books, he wants law enforcement to “end their practices of racial profiling” (Tonry, 2011). Tonry states that African Americans are ten times more likely to be pulled over by law enforcement than Whites are. Tonry relates that this problem has to do with crime and social policies enacted, meaning