Unequal Sentencing
Unequal sentencing has been a problem in America because the verdict that is placed on the suspect is based on what the judge feels appropriate and it can range from a severe sentence to a lesser punishment. Unequal sentencing is also a major problem in America because Blacks and Hispanics have the tendency to be convicted with longer sentences than people who are white. Race and ethnicity is very important when trying to understand unequal sentencing because most of the cases of sentence disparities are between races or ethnic groups. Many studies have looked into why there has been differences in the years and imprisonments rates of some individuals and not others. In many cases, when a crime is committed the people who actually receive time are people of color. Many researchers concluded that the majority of whites who do similar crimes to those who are not white face less or no punishment for the crimes they have committed. Since the beginning of time, police were established to reinforce the laws and help to protect private property. As time has progressed the judicial system has gained a discriminative angel due to the judges who are assigning certain sentences to certain people or groups. Unequal sentencing comes in many different forms and can create discrimination against class or race. http://www.nytimes.com/1996/04/15/opinion/unequal-sentencing.html?module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3As In the article, Crack- Powder Sentencing Disparity, the author explains the sentencing disparity between crack cocaine and regular powdered cocaine. The author of the article makes a big claim that says blacks are normally caught with crack and whites are normally caught with cocaine. The problem with the disparity is that crack is a smokable form of cocaine but those who are usually caught with crack normally serve a longer time in jail. Crack is also a cheaper form of cocaine and really thrived in the urban communities. The urban communities have a majorities of minorities who have low income and do not have enough to spend on cocaine so buy the cheaper form. In actuality, whites have been known to use crack more than minorities but the people who actually serve time for having the crack are black and Hispanics, which makes it seems as though blacks and other minorities use crack more than whites. Cocaine is used by people who have more money because it is more expensive and it tends to be associated with whites. Recently, Obama has been working to create a smaller disparity between crack and cocaine. The elimination of the crack and cocaine disparity is very important because it has unintentionally led to the incarceration of blacks with crack and unknowingly allowed whites with cocaine to get away with ultimately using the same drug. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/02/crack-powder-sentencing-d_n_667317.html,
Another case of unequal sentencing occurred in the 1980s when the supreme court was visited when the question was raised if it was alright for judges in Georgia to exercise discriminatory sentences when it came to the death penalty. During this period, there had been multiple cases where blacks were given the death penalty for murdering whites when if a white committed this crime against a black person or a black against a black they would receive a lesser crime and in some cases maybe not even charged with the crime. Another problem that arise during the case was the number of crimes. The number of blacks as victims was significantly larger than those of the victims that were white, yet the amount of blacks killed by the death penalty was larger than crimes committed. The case also looked at the number of black males killed for raping a white women as opposed to the immense numbers of black women raped by white men who go free. http://www.civilrights.org/monitor/march1988/art3p1.html
Race and ethnicity is very important when exploring unequal sentencing because many of the cases of sentence disparity occur when a longer sentence is given to one specific race or ethnicity over another.
This post was a great parallel to The New Jim Crow because in the book Alexander puts a large emphasis on how whites and people of color do possess drugs at closely equal rates yet the War on Drugs perpetuates this notion that drug possession of Blacks is enormously higher.
ReplyDeleteA few weeks ago I found an article titled, "Governor Jerry Brown Signs California Fair Sentencing Act to Eliminate Disparities in Crack and Powder Cocaine Sentencing" (link is below).This is a big feat in fighting the sentence disparity and I am interested to see its effects. From 2005-2010, Blacks made up 77.4% of "state prison commitments for crack possession for sale," Latinos, 18.1% and Whites around 2%. It'll be interesting to see if this bill can remodel those statistics-while I know that it is not just this law that'll have to change to do this, I think California is heading in the right direction!
http://www.drugpolicy.org/news/2014/09/governor-jerry-brown-signs-california-fair-sentencing-act-eliminate-disparities-crack-a
This post follows up well with our class discussions about The New Jim Crow and how racism is prevalent within the justice system. It was very interesting with what you said about the difference of sentencing between those caught with crack versus those with cocaine based on the person's race. This makes me feel like these disparities are an institutional discrimination case against minorities because while it seems like a neutral decision to sentence crack users with a longer term, it does not take into account the unequal amounts of sentencing between white and minorities caught with the drug. Looking at the last diagram, one can easily see the imbalances in imprisonment like hood. With the highest incarceration rates in the world, I wonder how the US will be dealing with the inequality happening now.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everything that was posted because it reiterated but with more detail what the New Jim Crow has stated. The post along with the book mentioned was an eye opener for those who could not understand how mass incarceration was really effecting African American men. This makes me believe that the unequal sentencing and laws to push for unequal incarceration isn't so secretive once learning about the inequality. However, those who do not know of the inequality, definitely will have a hard time with seeing the mass incarceration of black men because of the colourblindness. I think your post was a nice beginner post for those who want to learn about unequal sentences and how it is affecting different race.
ReplyDeleteI like the charts that showed the difference in amounts of incarceration of each race as well as in different genders because it hints toward a unequal gender sentencing as well thus showing the problems within the laws and the government. The images also give you a visual to show you the huge difference between black men and white men giving the reader a powerful thought provoking questions such as: Why haven't I noticed this before?? Is this unequal sentence dominant in my town/city?? etc. Where is it more dominant at: city or town?? Thus pushing them to become educated on the topic.