Race and Sentencing Guidelines

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses how race has been a consideration in sentencing guidelines for quite some time and how there is a concern that perhaps the sentencing guidelines and the entire criminal justice system are racially biased. It attempts to show that there is disparity between the sentencing guidelines given to Caucasians and non-Caucasians and looks at the extent race plays a part in the prosecution for different crimes. In an effort to be fair, opposing views are discussed, and the problems and proposed solutions are discussed as well. It also shows how it can be seen that individuals who are of minority races often meet with harsher punishments than others who come into the criminal justice system.

Outline
Introduction
Is it Discrimination?
Courts, Judges and the Real World
The Burden of Proof and Suspicion
Minorities and the Law
Drug Laws and Minorities
Minorities, the Death Penalty and the Community

From the Paper:

"There are Caucasian individuals in this country that would argue that minority races have more crime and that they are not as good of individuals as those of Caucasian ancestry. However, this does not necessarily mean that this observation is accurate. One must consider the possibility that those that are of minority race in this country are not committing crimes at a higher rate, but that they are being targeted at a higher rate and therefore the crimes that they do commit are being discovered more than the crimes that are committed by Caucasian individuals . Many of these crimes relate to drugs and so the main focus of this paper will be on the issue of drug crimes. However, other crimes will be considered in order to show that this is something that travels across the entire criminal spectrum and is not limited to one area of crime. This is important to understand because it indicates the racial biases that individuals in this country hold are not related to the particular type of crime and are tied only to the race of the individual in question."

More papers on Race and Sentencing Guidelines:

• Analytical Essay # 118731 : "Race and Justice"
• Persuasive Essay # 114618 : "Racial Disparity in Sentencing"
• Research Proposal # 106462 : "Sentencing of Minorities"

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