Racism Of The Justice System - 1985 Words

Racism in the Justice System Abstract: The goal of this archival research study is to identify the deep rooted prejudice and racism that has been perpetuated in our criminal justice system since it was created. Our justice system creates an unfair racial hierarchy that has and continues to criminalize African Americans due to the color of their skin. I will be analyzing the Reagan administration, the War on Drugs, corrupt police practices, media, and sentencing in order to reveal if racism and unfair treatment of African Americans in the criminal justice system is in fact occurring. Introduction: The criminal justice system is defined as the set of agencies and processes established by governments to control crime and impose penalties†¦show more content†¦Reagan Administration Ronald Reagan was president from 1981 to 1989, in which Americans saw a radical change in economic policy in the United States, commonly referred to as Reaganomics. Reaganomics on the surface called for increased military spending, tax cuts, deregulation of markets, and a decrease in social spending. However, Reaganomics was also known during this timeLOOKHERE federal, state, and local funding of the criminal justice system exploded (Miller, 1996, p.2). In less than a decade, the prisons in California doubled (Davis, 2003, p.13). The media created a violent crime panic by over representing and sensationalizing African American crimes to support Reaganomics. However, the National Crime Survey (NCS) showed crime decreasing from 1981-1990 (Miller, 1996, p. 29). Harvard Professor James Wilson advocated for â€Å"†¦the wide expansion of aggressive law enforcement, stricter laws, harsher sentences, and building more prisons† that impacted the nations policies during this period (Miller, 1996, p.139). The Assistant Attorney General, Richard Abell, claimed that locking up an offender for a year saves $405,000 in criminal activity (Miller, 1996, p.147). But the cost of incarcerating one person is between $50,000 and $60,000 per year depending on the state. That costs taxpayers over $63 billion per year (Teichner, 2012). How could so much money be saved by locking people up