Race Discrimination in the Criminal Justice System

The U.S. Criminal Justice System “Nowhere are racial disparities greater than in the criminal justice system” (Markus and Moya 2010) – Scholarly studies consistently show that racial minorities are more likely to be stopped, interrogated, arrested, prosecuted, and given harsh sentences (including the death penalty) Closely intertwined with social class issues – The prison population has increased fivefold since 1980, and most of those incarcerated are black and Latino men Black and Latinos make up 28% of U.S. population, but 66% of the prison population Hispanic men are 3x, and black men 8x, as likely as white men to be in prison

Crime and the Criminal Justice System The Criminal Justice System – Prisons Population steadily increasing U.S. has highest incarceration rate in world – Why?

The American Punishment Frenzy Punitive policies Imprisonment of non-violent offenders 1980’s-The drug war – Mandatory minimums – Three strikes laws – Plea bargains In 2007, the United States had the highest incarceration rate in the world Over 7 million people in prison, jail, or under correctional supervision

Race and the cjs The “War on Drugs” has wreaked havoc on poor communities of color – Despite the fact that whites are just as and if not more likely to use drugs as people of color, policing of drug behavior primarily happens in poor-non-white communities- feeds the prison boom – Michelle Alexander-The New Jim Crow

Film: The House I Live In “The War on drugs has never been about drugs” How have ideas, beliefs, and policies concerning crime and deviance related to drug use and abuse been constructed in ways that benefit individuals in positions of power? – Politicians – The elite – Dominant vs. minority groups – Law enforcement agencies – Upper class vs. lower class – White collar criminals vs. street criminals Reframes the discussion. – The drug war is a social problem itself

The American Punishment Frenzy The Prison Industrial Complex – Correctional expansion continues not because it decreases crime and creates a safer public, but because it serves the interest of certain powerful groups that benefit from tough on crime policies and continue to push for punitive policies through lobbying political leaders and running million dollar ad campaigns Private prison corporations Prison guards Union Prison labor benefits government, corporations and a variety of businesses with vested interests in correctional expansion – I.e.: Video

Is it right that corporations make profit on keeping bodies in cells and lobbying congress to maintain “tough on crime” strategies??