Racial Profiling within America’s Criminal Justice System Essay

The criminal justice system of America is deeply scar with racial solidus. Crimes are beingness committed and, in turn, are resulting with innocent lot doing hard-time. Thankfully, new instal methods of benevolent court rulings are finding justice for these minorities however, the results are as shocking as the crimes being committed. When it was found that the majority of successful appeals were of minorities, the true defects of the system was apparent. The minority community is being critic anyy judged for things theyre non doing.Throughout the demise decade jurisprudencemakers have be aiding the racial profiling scene. Arizona legislature passed a law allowing for an officer to demand papers of any soul that proved their legal citizenship. The law, intending to lower the misbranded immigrants in Arizona, became a symbol for racial profiling within our government. President Obama strongly opposed the exhalation of the law saying that it threatened to undermine basic no tions of fairness that we cherish as Americans, as puff up as the trust between police and our communities that is so crucial to keeping us safe (Archibold).It is a very rare occasion where the President speaks out about state legislature, proving the enormity of the law and its regards to human being rights in America. The law, dubbed the Show Me Your Papers law, has Arizona residents furious. Faulting person of being illegal, purely base on their display is a very subjective issue. Someone with a last name of Garcia or Rodriquez is much to a greater extent likely to be suspected of being in the country illegally rather than someone with the last name of Smith. Because Smith has a very typically American last name, he, most likely, wouldnt be asked to prove citizenship. This is a perfect example of the kind of profiling that Arizonians are concerned about.Not simply have lawmakers been creating laws supporting racial profiling, but laws such as the Stand your Ground law in Fl orida are allowing for racial profiling to occur under a pseudonym. The Stand your Ground law allows for someone to use deadly force, if needed, in order to protect themselves from harms way. The fresh slayings of teenagers Trayvon Martin and Jordan Davis, two African American teenagers, have so far been defended under the law, bringing uproar to the stateespecially among the grim community. Even worse, its considered legal. Families and friends of these children defend them as being upstanding citizens killed due to their race. Although Martin and Davis have not been the only large number shooted under the law, they are the ones bring publicity to it. Due to the media attention, the policys exercise on different racial groups is finally being questioned.John Roman, a senior fellow at the Urban Institutes justice Policy Center, conducted a study intending to measure the racial bias within the policy. Roman focused his study on killings that were considered justified within th e eyes of the court the murder of people that just committed a felony. Roman found that the killings of threatening people by whites were much than likely to be considered justified than the killings of white people by blacks. In non-Stand Your Ground states, whites are 250 part more likely to be found justified in killing a black person than a white person who kills another white person in Stand Your Ground states, that build jumps to 354 percent. (Childress). Romans findings show that even laws that werent aimed to become a racial issue are. The issue, however, is that its not being stopped despite the blatantly obvious ramifications.Some might argue that people of color are being convicted for more crimes than other races because theyre the ones committing more crimes. A valid point, however, with the recent advancement of these races throughout society, it would be thought that these numbers would be heading in opposite directions. In reality, minorities are being served ha rsher consequences than their white counterparts despite their equal standing in society. Michigan State University (MSU) conducted a study revealing that on that point was often racial bias when selecting a juryespecially those involving minority parties. The study conducted by MSU examined jury selection as well as the decisions made by verbalise juries. The MSU study of capital charging and sentencing found that those who kill whites are more likely to get the final stage penalty than those who kill blacks. The MSU study found that a defendant is 2.6 times more likely to get the death penalty if the victim is white. (ACLU).Following the study, North Carolina passed a law entitled the Racial Justice set. This piece of legislature made it possible for inmates to appeal their denounces due to supposed racial profiling. Since the passing of the law last year, there have been 4 successful appeals. The law doesnt guarantee that the whole sentence will be reversed however, it puts in place a system that allows for flaws in the length/ inclementness of the sentence to be readdressed. The passing of the law as well as the MSU study prove that although there are more minorities being charged for crimes, the charges are of ill-willed intentions. In addition to undeserved charges, DNA test has exonerated hundreds of people for crimes in which they were convicted over the past few years. When DNA testing became readily acquirable to the criminal justice system, crucial flaws began to surface.It was realized that people were serving hard-time for felony crimes they didnt commit. University of Virginia Law professor, Brandon Garrett, studied the commencement ceremony 200 people exonerated through said DNA testing. He compared the demographics of the exonerees concluding that Of the innocent group, all male save one71 percent were minorities. The vast majority of exonerated rape convicts (73 percent) were black or Hispanic, while studies show only about 37 percent of rape convicts are minorities. (Wood). These hundreds of people are provide valid evidence supporting that, although people of color are being convicted of more crimes, they are also being cleared of said crimes.Racial ethnicity plays a large factor when it comes to being convicted of a crime. Oftentimes, a person of color is automatically assumed to be more likely of committing a crime than a Caucasian person. People of minority races are being targeted as criminals purely based on their looks rather than their guilt. Laws have been passed both for and against said issue, providing for a government that is facilitating racism. Racial profiling isnt an act that would be thought of as happening in the 21st century, following the Civil Rights reason of the mid 1900s. Despite the advancements in society, Americas criminal justice system hasnt kind of advanced so far.Works CitedArchibold, Randal. Arizona Enacts Stringent Law on ImmigrationNYtimes.com April 23, 2012. Web. New York clockJanuary 30, 2013.Childress, Sarah. Is There Racial Bias in Stand your Ground Law?PBS.org, July 31, 2012. Web. UNC-TVJanuary 30, 2013ACLU. North Carolina Racial Justice ActACLU.org, December 17, 2012. Web. American Civil Liberties UnionJanuary 30, 2013Wood, Mary. Study of First 200 DNA Exonerations Shows damage Criminal System law.virginia.edu, July 23, 2007.Web. University of VirginiaFebruary 2, 2013