Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Institution Reform
Institution Reform
Arlene Contreras
Professor Turner
English 114B
15 May 2017
The United States of America has a large growing inmate community. People in prison
are from all different backgrounds but the more incarcerated race in prisons are Hispanics and
African Americans, known as the minority groups. Minorities are known to be given longer and
harsher sentences compared to White Americans, who are given less prison time for the same
crime committed. This is where we need to make a change; courts and judges get away with
racial discrimination based on their views of Americans every day. Every American in this world
deserves a fair trial and court systems are not providing it to minorities. This is one of the many
situations in this country that is an ongoing issue that has never been fixed and needs reform. We
are a country that professes freedom, yet America has the largest incarceration population. The
criminal justice systems supporters state that there is already a lot being done to end
discrimination in justice systems that gives minorities a fair trial, but it has not been noticed.
America is one of the most racially diverse country in the world, but is also a country that
has marginalized American communities. One of the major aspects of marginalization is the
treatment of people of color which occurs not only in our world but in the criminal justice system
where people have the right to be treated equally and fairly. The criminal justice system being
racially discriminatory towards minorities makes it not only hard to trust them but as well as
believing them when promoting public safety. Courts show dissimilar treatment of similar
treatment of similarly situated people based on race stated in The Sentencing Project by Ashley
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Nellis, a Ph.D. Senior Research Analyst. There is an overwhelming bias to people of color in our
criminal justice system that needs to be addressed and fixed, because as time goes on the court
system will continually treat people unfairly. Although the United States does have the 14th
Amendment which states the right to a fair trial, minorities are still unheard.
Minorities voices are not heard or even acknowledged by people of power because they
are viewed to be lower class than them. The people who are in power tend to be White
Americans who believe that they are superior compared to every other race. For example, when a
White American makes a report about an African American about attacking them, Police Officers
are likely to believe them then the African American. People with power judge and make final
decisions based on your background, we live in a world that is filled with racial discrimination
which is a factor that may never change. Therefore, this a leading cause for prisons being
A report by The Sentencing Project states that one in every nine prisoners is serving a
life sentence, and the number of such prisoners has than quadrupled since 1984 (1).
Approximately 10,000 life sentence prisoners have been incarcerated for nonviolent offenses
which include drug and property crime. Crimes that can result in life sentences are assault,
robbery, and sex-related crimes. Among these crimes are those without the opportunity of parole.
People are imprisoned for life once they are convicted of robbery or a sex-related crime but why
was McDuff released on parole after being convicted of burglary and then murder. Court systems
are releasing prisoners who have yet to realize their actions and make a change in their life and
because of that they are putting the lives of the public population in danger. If prisoners are being
released due to prison overcrowding, I believe they should release prisoners who have committed
nonviolent offenses.
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One main reason why incarceration rates are higher for minorities than White Americans
is due to racial profiling by police officers when they are patrolling the streets. Some crimes are
brought to the attention of police officers and in other cases officers conduct undercover
operations in effort to stop crimes without involving witnesses. Police Officers mainly decide
who they want to stop and unfortunately it is based off the routine exercise of prism of race
which is the practice of racial profiling that officers suspect suspicious behavior based of skin
color as stated in the article Race and the Police. Police Officers tend to patrol the areas where
minorities would live because they suspect active gang activity and drug possession in those
areas. Race and Police stated that DEA Agents over the years have stated their belief that most
drug couriers are black females, and that being Hispanic or black was part of the profile they
used to identify drug traffickers. This is one reason why minorities are often caught more than
White Americans because Police Officers are not going to patrol areas where they believe the
higher class would live because to them, they are less likely to commit a crime or have
possession of drugs. According to Crime Reports in the area of Westwood, CA which you would
find less Hispanics and African Americans living in this area, it shows that there have been
incidents in where there was people who were caught with possession of drugs. This is an
example that no matter in what area people live in or what race is mainly living in that specific
area, there will still be people who commit crimes just as bad as those in communities where
minorities reside. Police Officers should put racial profiling to the side and remember that they
The incarceration rates for minorities continue to grow as the incarceration rates for
White Americans are lowered. Minorities will always seem to receive harsher sentences based
off their race. People look at African Americans and a White American and see that it would be
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easier to sentence an African American into prison rather than a White Americans. In the article,
Criminal Justice Fact Sheet by the NAACP it stated that African Americans now constitute
nearly 1 million of the total 2.3 million incarcerated population. African Americans are
incarcerated at nearly six times the rate of whites. Together, African American and Hispanics
comprised 58% of all prisoners. If minorities were being incarcerated at the same rates that
White Americans are, prison populations would be lower by 50%. If the criminal justice system
continues to treat minorities unfairly, how can people trust that court systems, police officers, and
the government are protecting us when theyre not even providing us with our rights? People
depict African Americans to be such bad people, even when White Americans have their fair
share of bad people as well, they are just not put into the spotlight as African American criminals
are.
Minorities are not only being incarcerated more than White Americans based of their race
but it is also due to the fact that White Americans generally have more money than Hispanics or
African Americans. In an article from NY Times Jails Have Become Warehouses for the Poors,
Ill and Addicted by Timothy Williams, he states that jails across the country are being filled
with primarily of people [who are] too poor to post bail. U.S. workers who have obtained a
four-year college degree earn significantly more than those who have not obtained a college
degree. Statistics show that 23% of African Americans and 15% Hispanics have completed
college and earned a degree in comparison to 36% of White Americans who have a degree,
according to an article Racial, gender wage gaps persist in U.S. despite some progress by
Eileen Patten. Obtaining a degree automatically gives you more opportunities in the workforce
and higher pay. For those who either were not capable of going to college or chose not to attend
college are more likely to have a job that pays them minimum wage. Because of the fact that
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White Americans go to college and complete it, they have a higher chance in earning a well-
paying job, meaning that they earn enough money to post bail and pay for lawyers to get them
out of prison. Judges may even see White Americans as having more of a brighter future than
African Americans or Hispanics which results in lowering the sentences or letting White
Americans free.
As of now I have not seen our country fix our incarceration rate, although there are many
corrections on policy reforms that are put in act to correct overly harsh sentences for those
convicted of nonviolent offenses nothing has changed. The Sentencing Project discuss states
have begun to depopulate their prisons and reform sentencing laws that have driven the
expansion of the prison population since the mid-1970s (17). Developments have promised that
there are going to be new criminal justice eras that is going to rely less on incarcerations and
more on other alternatives that can promote public safety, reform offenders, and heal the victims
within their budget. I think addressing the incarceration rates for drug offenses alone is going to
have a significant impact on the overpopulation in prisons. Half of the people in federal prisons
are serving time for drug offenses and if the government were to address those cases, it would
free up space in prisons for people who are committing violent crimes. If the government is
putting more correction reforms into act, I only hope that they follow through with them and do
not allow Judges to continue discriminating individuals when giving them their sentence because
there has been many cases that have been affected by discrimination.
In the case of Brock Turner, a former Stanford University swimmer who was convicted of
sexually assaulting an unconscious woman outside of a party they were attending, was sentenced
to just six months behind bars. Two students had found Turner raping a half-naked woman
behind a dumpster outside a fraternity house, they then chased after him and held him down until
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the police had arrived. He was then arraigned at the Santa Clara County courthouse where he
pleaded not guilty to the five felony charges which were then reduced to three charges. They
included assault with intent to commit rape of an intoxicated or unconscious person, sexual
penetration of an intoxicated person and sexual penetration of an unconscious person. Turner was
found guilty of raping the woman and faced a maximum of 10 years in prison. Later, at his
sentencing trial, Judge Persky sentenced Turner to only six months and jail and three years of
probation because A prison sentences would have a severe impact on him Persky said I think
he will not be a danger to others as stated in an article Outrage over 6-month sentence for
Brock Turner in Stanford rape case by Ashley Fantz. The Judge's statement made not only the
victims family outraged but the public as well. Tuners actions had a severe impact on the victim
and the Judge stating that a full sentence would have a severe impact on Turner is nothing
compared to what the victim had to suffer through. Turners victim stated in her personal letter If
a first-time offender from an underprivileged background was accused of three felonies and
displayed no accountability for his actions other than drinking, what would his sentence be?
(11). This sentencing is an example of the advantages that White Americans have simply
Kenneth McDuff was an American serial killer who was suspected in killing 14 women
and served death row from 1968 to 1972. Before McDuff was convicted of murder charges he
was first convicted of 12 counts of burglary and an attempted burglary. He was than sentenced to
12 to four years in prison, but was let off on parole in December of 1965. Soon after he was let
out, he committed murder with a friend of his who provided a testimony against McDuff for a
lesser sentence in exchange. McDuff was then arrested and sentenced to serve a life sentence for
the murder of Robert Brand. However due to overcrowding in prison, prisoners were not serving
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their full-time sentence, therefore McDuff was given parole in October 1989. Not long after he
was let out, McDuff was suspected in the murder of Sarafia Parker whose body was found just
three days later after his release from prison. McDuff continued murdering women whether they
were prostitutes or people he worked with. McDuff killed 14 women up until he was captured in
Texas after being on Americas Most Wanted and was put to death by lethal injection on
November 18, 1998. This case is an example of how the criminal justice system works, a White
American continues killing after he was let out multiple times due to prison overcrowding, yet
there are African American and Hispanics serving full time sentences of nonviolent offenses.
In comparison with the two cases in 2015 a high school football player by the name of
Cormega Copening faced up to 10 years in prison. This case took place in North Carolina where
there was an ongoing investigation of alleged statutory rape. Copening was a not suspect in this
case, so when Officers asked to confiscate his cellphone Copenings mother allowed them to for
possible evidence. As the Officers began searching through his phone, they read text messages
with his 16-year-old girlfriend that contained nude photos of each other. Copening was then
arrested for possessing child pornography. In the state of North Carolina, you could only send
explicit photos if you are over the age of 18, if you are under the age you can be charged as an
adult. This law was passed to protect children from being exploited by older adults. Copening
was charged with two counts of second-degree sexual exploitation and third-degree
exploitation according to an article High School Student Faces 10 Years in Prison for Sexting
his Teenage Girlfriend by A.R. Shaw. Since the charges have been brought up, his high school
dropped him from his team. Like Brock Turner, Copening had his life ahead of him and could
have furthered his career in football, but because he was African American he was sentenced to
prison.
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In a court case stated in The Sentencing Project states that in 2000 the U.S. Supreme
Court set aside the death penalty in the state of Texas in which the offenders Hispanic origin
had been presented by the state as indicator of likely future dangerousness. People depict
Hispanics and African Americans to be the only people in the world to be dangerous, when in
reality anyone from any background can be dangerous as well. Judges are sentencing people to
prison not based off of the crime they have committed, but based off of their race. White
Americans are known to be more privileged than Hispanics, or African American but that does
not mean that they get to be released earlier than any other prisoner sentence longer for the same
crime. African Americans and Hispanic lives are just as important as a White American and they
deserve to be given the same respect that criminal justice agencies would give to any other
American.
Over several years to currently, the United States has only become more racist towards
minorities. Police Officers, DEA Agents, POTUS, and other government officials continue to
prove to the public that White Americans have an advantage to get themselves out of trouble
compared to minorities who cant afford to have a lawyer present. White Americans will
continue to believe that they are more superior than Hispanics and African Americans. Why, you
may ask? This is due to White Americans having money. They have the ability not only have the
best lawyers but also have the advantage of having a mitigating trial, just like Brock Turner did.
No matter what corrections policy the government will put in act, there will always be
government officials who do not follow the law. Minorities have trouble trusting our own Police
Officers and Judges who are supposed to seek the truth in the cases by investigating and instead
if Judges are brought forth a case where an African American vs. a White American, the African
American has the higher chance in losing the case simply because of this skin color. Racial
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discrimination is a factor that takes up our country and no matter how much the public may be
Works Cited
"Criminal Justice Fact Sheet." NAACP. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.
Fantz, Ashley. "Outraged over 6-month Sentence for Brock Turner in Stanford Rape
"Life Goes On: The Historic Rise in Life Sentences In America." The Sentencing Project.
Shaw, A.R. "High School Student Faces 10 Years in Prison for Sexting His Teenage
"TheBroomstickKiller."CrimeMuseum.N.p.,n.d.Web.4Apr.2017.
Patten,Eileen."Racial,GenderWageGapsPersistinU.S.despiteSome
Progress."PewResearchCenter.N.p.,1July2016.Web.16Apr.2017.