CHARLES R.

DREW HIGH SCHOOL

Criminal Justice
System
British Literature 2nd Period
JeKiya Wilson

This paper discusses the racism towards black people within the criminal justice
system.

Criminal Justice System

According to Google the Criminal Justice System is the system of law enforcement that
is directly involved in apprehending, prosecuting, defending, sentencing, and punishing those
who are suspected or convicted of criminal offenses.
The Criminal Justice system is unfair to those who are African American, and it favors
those who are Caucasian. The Criminal Justice System, which is supposed to support us all,
meaning everyone, and not just a select group, doesnt correctly serve justice as it is said to. In
accordance to The United States General Accounting Office, 82 percent of studies reviewed that
the race of victims was found to influence the likelihood of being charged with capital murder or
receiving the death penalty. In reference to the Casey Anthony case, a white mother was
convicted of the murder of her two year old toddler daughter. Later on as the case progressed and
prolonged, Casey Anthony was found innocent, and freed due to time served in prison. If the
tables were turned and it so happened to be a black mother who committed the same crime, the
African American woman would have been immediately sent to prison, and the courts would
have pressed for the death penalty.
Additionally, according to Americanprogress.org, African Americans make up an estimate
of 30 percent of the United States, but they form 60 percent of those incarcerated. Statistics have
shown that 1 in every 15 African American men and 1 in every 36 Hispanic men are
incarcerated in comparison to 1 in every 106 white men. Stated by the Bureau of Justice, one in
three black men can expect to go to prison in their lifetime. Due to African Americans constant
encounters with law enforcement, racial profiling is still a reoccurring issue. A study conducted
by the Department Of Justice discovered that people of color and Hispanics are approximately
three times more likely to be searched during a traffic stop other than a white person.

Criminal Justice System

Also, stated by Americanprogess.org, African American youth have higher rates of

juvenile incarceration, and are more likely to be sent to an adult prison. As with black males, it
is also the same for black females. They are also sent to prison more frequent than any other
white woman. After black offenders are found guilty and convicted they receive a more extended
sentence than the white offenders.
Moreover, stated by the U.S Sentencing Commission, black offenders are given sentences
that are 10 percent longer than white offenders for the exact crime. A black person could kill a
white person and receive a sentence to life without the possibility of parole, or even the death
sentence. A white person could also kill a black person and they are either found innocent,
referring to the Trayvon Martin case, or they are sentenced to a few years. A racist criminal
justice system has been displayed publicly for many years. Other audiences may disagree that the
criminal justice system is not racist. They may say they are just doing their jobs. The very same
audience whom begs to differ, the racism in the criminal justice system is nine times out of ten
the majority of Caucasian people.
Unfortunately, the criminal justice system is sometimes doing their jobs correctly
imprisoning people, which is the majority of black people. Black people are most of the time
honestly jailed because they are black, but when is it ever heard that a white person is jailed
because they are white. Black people are continuously targeted and pin pointed to be the cause of
chaos, catastrophe, and disturbance, so the criminal justice system seeks to put away the
supposed disturbances. The criminal justice system should be less racist and more focused on
serving justice correctly and fairly.

Criminal Justice System

In conclusion, everyone is equal no matter if they are black, white, Hispanic, or other, so
why are blacks out of all people the ones treated so unfairly. As stated in the Declaration of
Independence, we hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal. If a black
and a white man commit the exact same crime, then they should both be convicted and found
guilty. They should both go to jail or prison with an equal sentence. No man is better than the
next man despite the color of their skin, so justice should be served to all equally. We constantly
say the pledge of allegiance ending it saying with liberty and justice for all. No part of the
nations pledge does it say liberty and justice for the white people and other races from time to
time. The criminal justice system holds white people up so highly when they have done just as
many crimes as African Americans, some even worse. In the times when everyone was separate
but equal due to the Jim Crow laws a racist criminal justice system still occurred. White people
went around killing and beating black people as if it were a sport. A black person wouldnt even
dare to breathe on a white person, because they were just as good as dead. The criminal justice
system only served justice for white people then, and it seems as if they are trying to keep the
legacy going now. In order for the criminal justice system to be equal, it has to be an equal
amount of black and white judges and an equal number of black and white jury members, and
then there will no longer be a constant argument of a racist criminal justice system. Until those
changes are made the system will continue to be racist.