The focus of this blog will be to identify specific policies and actions that have disproportionately affected communities across our nation. Above all, members of lower income communities as well as ethnic minorities have been unfairly targeted, and prosecuted within our criminal justice system. A report to the United Nations in 2018 by the Sentencing Project outlines many of the disparities evident within our criminal justice system. Many of these issues start at the root of our criminal justice system, policing. In 2016, African Americans constituted 27% of all arrests, while they are only about 13% of the population. Clearly, the proportion of citizens arrested should be roughly equal to their amount of representation within the population, but this is not at all the case. This issue stems from over-policing in minority communities, rendering them much more likely to be arrested for the same crime as a non-minority individual. Also, the proportions regarding minority children is even worse. While African American children only comprise 15% of the United States population, they account for 35% of juvenile arrests. This type of malicious policing sends shockwaves through communities, both economically and structurally. When such high rates of African Americans are incarcerated, it leads to a sort of systemic racism in which the effects of over policing damage minority communities, and prevent them from combatting crime. All of this leads to an unbreakable cycle that encourages crime, rather than prevent it. Stripping households of their fathers and sending children to prison for making mistakes only fosters a criminal environment, not prevent it. In these cases, guilt is being manufactured by the system of policing due to discriminatory legislation regarding these areas.
These issues are further highlighted surrounding the war on drugs, specifically the fact that minorities also constitute an extremely disproportionate amount of drug arrests. The same report cites the ACLU, who has determined that while African Americans and White Americans have approximately the same rates of marijuana use, African Americans are 3.7 times more likely to be arrested. In fact, more than one in four drug related arrests involved African Americans in 2015.
Unfortunately, within the later stages of our criminal justice system, the results are much the same. 57% of the American prison population is composed of African Americans and Latinos, while they only account for 29% of the United States population. Time and time again we see the ramifications of system racism within our criminal justice system, and these alarming figures only confirm its existence. The truth is that in order to address problems within our justice system, we must be willing to acknowledge the prejudice and racism that has impacted it for years. There is absolutely no reason that the numbers should be so far apart, and it should make us all question the integrity of the American criminal justice system as a whole.
Many of these issues regarding sentencing have two root causes: policies that target minorities and policies that target low-income communities. One such example of these policies are the strict drug laws that pervade cities and other areas with high population density such as Drug Free School Zone laws. Under these laws, people caught using and distributing drugs within a designated ‘school zone’ are subject to more strict punishment and sentencing. These laws, though, are almost always applied in high-density urban areas – areas that minority communities often exist within. Therefore, individuals who happen to make the same mistakes as thousands of others within our nation are subject to more strict punishment simply because of where they live. This does nothing but punish impoverished city communities, and ethnic cohorts within cities, which explains many of the disparities that have already been mentioned.
There are also a plethora of issues that go unmentioned, such as implicit bias and how it can affect not only criminal processing but also reintegration into society. Implicit bias explains the tendency of courts to rule against minorities, apply harsher sentences, and offer less options for parole or mixed sentences. For example, research cited in the same report suggests that African Americans are less likely to be eligible for parole, and are more likely to have their sentences extended for infraction within the prisons themselves. Additionally, the Urban Institute conducted research and determined that African Americans are more likely to have probation revoked compared to other ethnicities. Even if the person has been able to jump through all of these hoops, and has dealt with all of the obstacles posed by implicit bias, reintegration will certainly not be easy. While only 8% of Americans have a criminal record, the figure is 33% for African Americans. Such a disparity damages entire communities, and African Americans who have been unjustly affected by these measures will have a hard time finding work, and will be more likely to commit crimes in the future.
Implicit bias is also responsible for one of the most egregious offenses regularly committed within our criminal justice system: police brutality. While police brutality is a problem regardless of who happens to be the victim, the sad truth is that minorities are affected at higher rates than anyone else. According to the NAACP, 22% of fatal police shootings involve African Americans. This fact should be horrifying to all Americans, and luckily some light has been brought to the issue due to recent tragedies. The police killings of unarmed black people such as George Floyd and Breonna Taylor have brought the issue of police brutality into the national spotlight, and people are beginning to be held accountable for their actions. It is unfortunate, however, that it took the death of innocent people to bring attention to the issue. More police training is necessary to eliminate the implicit bias that leads to such tragic events.
It has become clear that low income and minority communities are negatively affected by many facets of our criminal justice system, and that the criminal justice system has widespread, fundamental flaws that prevent it from serving its actual purpose. Therefore, the next post will be dedicated to outlining potential solutions to many of these issues, so that America’s criminal justice system can actually pursue justice.
Report to the United Nations on Racial Disparities in the U.S. Criminal Justice System
The points you make about over policing and implicit bias are strong, and it is shocking to see how systemic racism plays a role in our criminal justice system. Like you mentioned, this systemic racism creates an unending cycle of poverty for people trapped in “targeted” populations as they are more likely to go to jail, get worse jobs, etc. What would be your proposed solution to this issue?