BEST PRACTICES

Best Practices



Best Practices

Introduction

The judicial process is a system that involves various steps that are today under immense debate. One of such debate is about the biases and discretion in sentencing. It has been noticed that the there is a high level of discrimination in the judicial system based on racial criteria. These racial biases incline the judges to give conflicting decisions to different ethnic group even if they both committed the same level of crime (White, 1976). There is a multitude of options and best practices available that reduces this level of racial biases. There the Supreme Court should formulate a set of policies that rejects the discrimination based on racial belongings. A new committee should be formed that will check all the sentencing process of every court decisions. Adequate training should be provided to the individuals involved in the sentencing process.

Background and Best Practices

Since its inception, the legal category of American citizenship was fashioned around the active construction of racial designations. As early as 1790, Congress restricted naturalization to whites and strictly enforced the racial taxonomies of their Enlightenment authors. Because whiteness became the basis of citizenship, the criteria for deciding what constituted whiteness became a pivotal legal and political concern adjudicated by courts, scientists, and philosophers. Ultimately, the codification of America's racial taxonomy revolved around the possession of Anglo-Saxon heritage. This newly legislated property interest made the biological designator of blood and ancestry the central determinate of citizenship, for it was in the interest of the courts and of Congress to legislate the homogeneity and cultural superiority of American society.

Best Practices

Following are some of the best practices that can be adopted to eliminate some of the bias and discretion in sentencing.

Policies

There the Supreme Court should formulate a set of policies that rejects the discrimination based on ...