Posts Tagged ‘race’
Race and Criminal Justice
In 2007, the Plain Dealer Cleveland Newspaper published its analysis of hundreds of low-level felony drug cases from 2004 to 2007. Their findings revealed that harsher sentences had been given to black defendants than white defendants whose charges were the same. Furthermore, alternative drug rehabilitation was more frequently offered to white defendants. This study prompted Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Bill Mason to commission a study of racial inequalities in the criminal justice system and more than a year later the plans to begin are almost complete. Out of five proposals, The University of Cincinnati and the College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University were chosen to conduct the analysis of every aspect of case procedures from arrest to sentencing and the impact of race on these cases.
Read more about the study here.
Posted by hcdmedia
3 Convicted of Idaho Hate Crime
Three men have been convicted and sentenced for the beating of Raylen Smith, then a 24 year-old black man outside of a Walmart in July of 2008. The beating was determined to be a hate crime and the men will each serve time in prison for it.
Read more here.
Posted by hcdmedia
Prison System’s Implications for Black Men
This week’s issue of the New York Review of Books features three new books written about the implications of incarceration on black men. Each of these books confronts the racial disparities that are present in the United States’ criminal justice system.
Race, Incarceration, and American Values by Glenn C. Loury suggests that mass incarceration has become the “principal vehicle for the reproduction of racial hierarchy in our society” and the system that perpetuates this must be examined closely. Buy on Amazon.
Let’s Get Free: A Hip-Hop Theory of Justice by Paul Butler offers some ideas about how to amend this broken system. One such idea is to create a way for jury members to resist incarceration and acquit even when criminal behavior has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt. The New York Review of Books reviewer sees this tactic as flawed, but acknowledges that it is powerful in its symbolic qualities. Buy on Amazon.
Releasing Prisoners, Redeeming Communities: Reentry, Race, and Politics by Anthony C. Thompson focuses on the reforms that are needed for giving released prisoners the opportunities to exit the system successfully. Buy on Amazon.
Read the full review of these three books here.
Posted by hcdmedia
Death Row Inmates Get Reprieve with Racial Justice Act
Behind the Obama controversy over his nationality, North Carolina is also getting attention for a law trying to “combat racial disparity in sentencing.” The racial judicial act will allow many minorities to try for an appeal on a base of bias. Several other states have policies to prevent racial bias in the trial process, such as in jury selection.
Though many feel that this law would further increase equality in the courtroom, some worry that the law would make prosecuting offenders much more difficult.
Read more here.
Posted by hcdmedia