Racism and the Judicial Process

Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer looks at the argument that the judicial process is to blame for the large percentage of African-American prison inmates in the USA. The writer argues against the idea that the large number of African Americans in jail is due to racism in the judicial system. The writer maintains that it is not the judicial process that is to blame. The writer concludes that it seems likely that more African Americans are arrested and later put in prison simply because more African Americans commit serious crimes.

From the Paper:

"It supports the argument that more African-Americans are arrested and put in jail simply because they commit more serious crimes. It cannot be because of bias at the arrest stage, because the data shows that African-Americans are less likely to be arrested. It is of course possible that African-Americans are discriminated against later in the judicial process - for example, at the sentencing stage. However, we can conclude that their race does not make them more likely to be arrested in the first place, at least in the three crimes of rape, robbery and assault. D'Alessio and Stolzenberg sum it up as follows .. "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Stewart, Ron. (2000). African American males' reported involvement in the criminal justice system: A descriptive analysis. Journal of African American Men.
• D'Alessio, Stewart J. and Lisa Stolzenberg. (June 2003). Race and the probability of arrest. Social Forces.

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