Discrimination through sentencing



Discrimination through sentencing

Thesis Statement

Sentencing disparity is evident amongst minorities and Caucasians. The full force is felt throughout property crimes

Introduction

Racial disparity equates to the differential treatment of members of a particular racial or ethnic group from members of the majority group when all other factors are the same. The differential treatment of offenders based on non legal characteristics has been discussed at length in over 40 research studies. Nevertheless, the criminal justice community has yet to derive a comprehensible agreement regarding the cause of these disparities. Legislation at the state and federal levels has been developed and implemented in an attempt to establish fairness and uniformity in sentencing decisions (Barkan, 2005). The Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 was a catalyst for the establishment of some form of determinate sentencing in many states.

A national survey of sentencing practices revealed that all 50 states have employed some form of determinate, structured, mandatory or habitual offender sentencing or truth in sentencing laws and done so with goals and expectations in mind. The goals most frequently cited was increasing fairness, reducing unwarranted disparities, establishing truth in sentencing and creating a sense of balance with sentencing policy and few correctional resources. Arizona began its journey to determinate sentencing in 1978. Lawmakers made the transition with the goal of lessen sentencing disparities. In the years after the passage of the federal reform act, the state toughened its sentencing system with the addition of increased ranges of sentencing and more stringent mandatory sentencing enhancements. In addition to the aforementioned, discretionary parole and other forms of early release saw their demise. The Caucasians Department of Corrections confidently purported that the new reforms would result in their prison population decreasing by 5%. Instead, the number of inmates grew significantly causing Caucasians to have the highest rate of incarceration in the West and the ninth highest in the Nation. This growth has been accompanied by a pronounced overrepresentation of minorities who were more likely to be sentenced as repeat offenders that any other racial/ethnic group.

Discussion

Disparities in the rates of incarceration amongst African Americans and Caucasians have been documented in studies dating back to 1928. Even then African Americans were found to be incarcerated at rates of almost 14 to 1 over Caucasians. Determinate sentencing policies were established to provide uniformity and predictability to a sentencing system fraught with inequitableness. These efforts were perhaps futile as recent data suggests that racial and ethnic disparities have continued to flourish. A modification to criminal justice policies at state and federal levels has led to not only enhanced sentences for habitual offenders, but swelling prison populations as well (Robinson, 2009).

The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) in July 2008 reported 2.2 million prisoners being warehoused within federal, state and local facilities. This statistic translated means that one in every 142 Americans is in prison. Facts provided by the U.S. Census Bureau (2008) reveal that African Americans are 900,000 of the 2.2 million incarcerated ...