The Sanctions to Criminals Research Paper
Incarceration refers to the process of detaining a person or group of persons in jail as punishment for crimes committed. Simply, crimes refer to the breaching and or breaking of the laws (in both state, local, and international level) stipulated within a legal system. People could be suspected for committing crime, or are convicted for the crime because of the jurisdiction from the laws of the land. It serves the purpose of isolating the criminals from other citizens, punishment for crimes committed, rehabilitation of wrong doers, and preventing other people from committing crimes (Hinton, 2009).
Race describes and categorizes people into distinct groups in terms of their phenotypical (appearance), geographical (ancestral origin), culture (integration of human beliefs and behavior), ethnicity (having common heritage and identification with each other), and . Within the community, groups of people are privileged while the majorities are marginalized on grounds related to race. There have been so much disparities and inequalities that have faced the marginalized groups in the global society when it comes to crime, and the justice system. Some of the individuals, due to their status in society and racial inclinations, have ended up enjoying the favors of the justice system at the expense of other in the societies (Fluehr-Lobban, 2006).
The criminal justice systems are the government bodies that help to mitigate and check occurrence of crimes, by enforcing laws, performing sanctions to criminals through penalties and . Such systems have flaws in their judgment procedures due to unfair treatment of the marginalized minorities. In America, there have been extensive of racial disparities that define the two groups of the whites and the blacks. Racial discrimination has been experienced in almost all the spheres of life and society. Both social (matters related to the family and society) and economic factors (unemployment, and poverty) influence crimes, arrests, and jurisdiction. The policies and practices of the criminal justice system contribute to racial disparities (Oliver and Yocom, 2002).
Race disparities
There is inequality in the treatment of different individuals by virtue of race due to the following factors.
Poverty Majority of individuals from the black race are mostly afflicted by poverty due to low income and hence . Because of such condition, the justice system has had prejudice over such people and subjected them to unjust treatment from the justice system.
Racial discrimination There has been continued discrimination of the black and the in terms of housing, education, employment, social services, and representation within the legal system. This discrimination has been deeply infiltrated within the justice systems, whereby, even the panel of the jury consists of a handful from the black community, like in the United States, which had no black juror until the 1860. These results into unfair treatment, representation, and judgment delivered from the justice system.
Legislation policies There exists biasness in policies that govern punishment and judgment provided through the justice systems. The blacks are subject to harsh conditions as compared to the white population, for example, the blacks faced harsh sentences on crimes relating to possession and use of hard drugs such as crack cocaine (Primm, Osher, and Gomez, 2005). The courts consistently have adopted and promoted biased and weak law enforcement mechanisms that have promoted inequality within the justice systems (Cole, 2000).
