What are the factors that contribute to racial disparity in prosecution and punishment?
Discriminatory Profiling. A major factor contributing to racial disparity in prosecution and punishment is the discriminatory profiling of minorities-based on race, ethnicity, and sexual preference-as criminal suspects and, especially, as drug traffickers. Profiling is used to determine whom to stop and search in the absence ...
What is the disparity between crack and powder cocaine?
The disparity in the treatment of users of crack and powder cocaine contributes to the disproportionate incarceration of minorities. In 1988, Congress distinguished crack cocaine from powder cocaine and other drugs by creating a mandatory minimum penalty for the simple possession of crack cocaine, the only such federal penalty for ...
What has the use of force contributed to?
The use of force by police and law enforcement agencies has contributed to a widening rift in police/community relations. The brutalizing of Abner Louima while in police custody in New York and the police shooting of a West African immigrant, Amadou Diallo, in the vestibule of his New York apartment building have raised public awareness of a long-simmering concern. These events, as well as others across the country, sparked massive protests and opened a dialogue among city officials, minority leaders, and law enforcement agents.
What is the purpose of the ABA?
And to minimize the risk that innocent persons may be executed, implementing, among others, ABA policies to ensure competency of counsel in capital cases and striving to eliminate discrimination in capital sentencing on the basis of the race of either the victim or the defendant. There has been little response to the Bar Association's call.
Who developed the labelling theory?
View our services. Labelling theory was developed by Howard Becker in 1963, it is known as the theory of deviance that views deviance as a label given to behaviours or attitudes by figures of influence, and this means that a person or an action is not deviant unless made by society.
Is racism still prevalent in prisons?
From this interview we can see that racism is still common in prisons. Ethnic minority prisoners tend to be treated differently than the white prisoners, they regularly experience a difference in all factors such as black inmates targeted for drugs testing, they often receive racial abuse and they are treated unfairly.
Which country has the highest incarceration rate?
The United States has the world’s highest incarceration rate; 2.3 million Americans are in prison today. Fueled by the “war on drugs” and “tough on crime” mandatory sentencing policies, mass incarceration has a clear racial impact: 70 percent of American prisoners are non-white.
What was the impact of the Black Codes on slavery?
After slavery was abolished in 1865, Southern states, where more than 90 percent of Black Americans lived , embraced criminal justice as a means of racial control. Discriminatory “Black Codes” led to the imprisonment of unprecedented numbers of Black men, women, and children, who were returned to slavery-like conditions through forced labor ...
How is racial discrimination related to bail?
Racial discrimination is also revealed in the way in which bail is given to suspects. Normally, the decision of whether a suspect can be released on bail is left to the discretion of judges and prosecutors. The major factors that are normally applied by most courts include how dangerous a suspect is to the community as well as the possibility that the suspect will run away. The court is also expected to consider once employment, the length of residence at the place, and marital status. Though certain studies have ruled out the influence of race in a process of making decisions related to bail, the two ones are related in a number of other ways. For instance, Banks (2004) reports the study, which has found out that defendants being less educated and having low-income levels were more likely to be given onerous terms of bail. In fact, they were less likely to obtain bail. The study has also found out white defendants having acquired the same level of education and earning the same amount of income with a similar background as the blacks were more likely to obtain the court bail. Equally, the bail application process was harder on the blacks than the whites since their initial criminal records counted more than the case with the white defendants. However, the seriousness of the particular offense as well as the level of danger a suspect poses to the community has counted more in the case of white defendants than for black defendants.
What is discriminatory profiling?
Profiling is a method that has been in use for decades in the determination of individuals to be stopped and searched. It is done in the event that the law enforcers have not been able to identify the real suspects whenever any crime has been carried out. The discriminatory profiling is worsened by the fact that traffic offenses, which can be cited as guiding the stops and searches, are lacking. One of the judges serving in the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals once wrote, “It is clear ] that American Africans are stopped by the police in disproportionate numbers” (Union for Reform Judaism, 2011). The police statistics in Maryland has indicated that of all the cars that were stopped and searched between Delaware and Baltimore within a period of two years, 73% were being driven by African Americans. It was a high level of disparity since only 14% of all those driving on the stretch were Blacks. Of the searches, 70 percent yielded absolutely nothing. The same practice still continues in other states like New Jersey.
What is the meaning of race?
According to Banks (2004), race can be defined as a group of people who are relatively alike when considered on the basis of their biological inheritance. Any race is also distinct from any other group. He emphasizes that people’s race should never be a basis of how certain people are treated in any country. Its origin stems from social construction. It is also developed based on the belief of the existence of a biological basis upon which groups of people could be categorized. Though used as a social category, race has no biological meaning. It has gained popularity during the onset of the slave trade when the whites believed that they were superior to the blacks. Currently, an effect of racism is evidenced in the criminal justice system of many countries especially the United States. It is exhibited in various ways: personal prejudice, institutional racisms, and ideological racism. The country’s criminal system has been marred with law enforcement agencies that are functioning. They are being influenced by the belief that some races are less superior compared to others based on their culture and biological characteristics.
What is the new policy framework for prisons?
210. A new Incentives Policy Framework was published on 11 July 2019. The policy, which replaces PSI 30/2013, Incentives and Earned Privileges required all prisons to introduce Incentive Forums by 27 September, with the whole Policy Framework implemented on 13 January 2020. The Framework focuses on reinforcing positive behaviour as evidence shows that this approach can be effective at achieving positive changes to behaviour, helping people make the right decisions. The new approach provides a common framework whilst giving governors the freedom they need to encourage people to follow the rules, engage with the regime and work towards desistance.
What is the new prisoner complaint policy?
Alongside this, new guidance and forms have been created, to assist staff to investigate prisoners’ issues thoroughly and make sure they are resolved fairly and effectively at an early stage. Key recommendations from the Lammy review have been incorporated: to have a problem-solving approach to investigating complaints and to ensure balance of probabilities is applied as the burden of proof. Prompts have been added to the new forms to support staff with this. The principles of procedural justice run throughout the new guidance and forms to increase prisoners’ understanding and confidence in the fairness of the process.
What is the HMPPS GRT action plan?
57. HMPPS has produced a GRT Action Plan, which embeds specific consideration of GRT needs into implementation of the wider Lammy recommendations. Some of these active actions include ensuring GRT is included in the latest data sets by December 2019, ensuring Prison staff are encouraged to treat GRT prisoners fairly in regard to Incentives and Earned Privileges (IEP), and tailoring HMPPS recruitment drives to target those from BAME backgrounds including GRT, with an end goal of 14% of all staff from BAME backgrounds by 2020.
When was the 177. Insentencing Council published?
In January 2020 the independent Sentencing Council published research that looked at the sentencing of three supply-related drug offences in the Crown Court between 2012 and 2015. The research was carried out in support of the revision of its Drug Offences sentencing guidelines and was published alongside a consultation paper seeking views on revised draft guidelines.
What is YOS in Essex?
Essex Youth Offending Service (YOS) has undertaken a comprehensive forensic analysis of current offending patterns, profiles of children and young people, and their desistance needs, which identified issues of disproportionality within wider aspects of the Youth Justice System. A range of actions has been taken in response, including a presentation of the analysis and challenges to sentencers, and making diversity and disproportionality a development objective in the YOS. Diversity was also the topic of a deep-dive quality assurance exercise. HMI Probation inspectors assessed that enough attention had been given to diversity factors in almost all cases that were inspected.
What is the purpose of the 129 project?
129. The project revealed that family and friends who act as appropriate adults do not always understand the process and can also feel overwhelmed themselves. This suggested a potential need for appropriate adults to be available to all children, even when a parent or other family member or carer is present at the police station.
What is NPCC 134?
134. We are working with the NPCC to identify ways to improve both trust and outcomes by increasing awareness of Black, Asian and minority eth nic children’s experiences. The NPCC and College of Policing are developing a national training programme concentrating on priority and high-risk areas for both custody sergeants and detention officers. Youth has been identified as a priority area of focus and they will be looking to include this as a national module. We are exploring the potential inclusion of a module relating to race, ethnicity and cultural competence.