Racial Profiling within America’s Criminal Justice System Essay

The criminal umpire dodge of the States is deeply scarred with racial bias. Crimes argon universe committed and, in turn, atomic number 18 resulting with innocent people doing hard-time. Thankfully, new appoint methods of appealing hail rulings ar finding justice for these minorities however, the results are as shocking as the crimes be committed. When it was found that the majority of successful appeals were of minorities, the true defects of the system was apparent. The minority conjunction is being critically judged for things theyre not doing.Throughout the last decennary justicemakers confuse be aiding the racial profiling scene. genus Arizona legislature passed a uprightness allowing for an officer to demand papers of any person that provoken their legal citizenship. The honor, intending to lower the illegal immigrants in Arizona, became a symbol for racial profiling within our government. President Obama strongly opposed the passing of the virtue saying that it threatened to undermine basic notions of fairness that we cherish as Americans, as well as the trust between police and our communities that is so crucial to keeping us safe (Archibold).It is a very(prenominal) obsolete occasion where the President speaks out about state legislature, proving the enormity of the law and its regards to human rights in America. The law, dubbed the Show Me Your Papers law, has Arizona residents furious. Faulting some ane of being illegal, purely based on their appearance is a very congenital issue. Someone with a last name of Garcia or Rodriquez is much more(prenominal) 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 concern about.Not only have lawmakers been creating laws supporting racial profiling, but la ws such(prenominal) as the Stand your Ground law in Florida 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 recent 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 minatory community. Even worse, its considered legal. Families and friends of these children defend them as being upstanding citizens killed collectible to their race. Although Martin and Davis have not been the only people murdered under the law, they are the ones bring publicity to it. Due to the media attention, the policys effect on different racial groups is finally being questioned.John papistical, a senior(a) fellow at the Urban Institutes justice polity Center, conducted a reckon intending to measure the racial bias within the policy. popis h focused his study on cleanup spots that were considered warrant within the eyes of the court the murder of people that just committed a felony. Roman found that the killings of pitch-dark people by snow-covereds were more likely to be considered justified than the killings of white people by blacks. In non-Stand Your Ground states, whites are 250 share more likely to be found justified in killing a black person than a white person who kills other white person in Stand Your Ground states, that number 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 reasonable point, however, with the recent advancement of these races throughout society, it would be thought that these number s would be heading in opposite directions. In reality, minorities are being served harsher consequences than their white counterparts despite their equal standing in society. Michigan State University (MSU) conducted a study revealing that there was often racial bias when selecting a juryespecially those involving minority parties. The study conducted by MSU examined jury picking as well as the decisions made by said juries. The MSU study of capital charging and sentencing found that those who kill whites are more likely to survive the death 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, newton Carolina passed a law entitled the Racial Justice Act. This piece of legislature made it possible for inmates to appeal their destines receivable to supposed racial profiling. Since the passing of the law last year, there have been 4 successful appeals. The la w doesnt guarantee that the whole sentence will be reversed however, it puts in place a system that allows for flaws in the length/severity 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, desoxyribonucleic acid testing has exonerated hundreds of people for crimes in which they were convicted over the ult few years. When DNA testing became readily available 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, analyze the first 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 p ercent) were black or Hispanic, while studies show only about 37 percent of rape convicts are minorities. (Wood). These hundreds of people are provide valid read supporting that, although people of color are being convicted of more crimes, they are also being cleared of said crimes.Racial ethnicity plays a ample factor when it comes to being convicted of a crime. Oftentimes, a person of color is mechanically 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 causal agent of the mid 1900s. Despite the advancements in society, Americas criminal justice system hasnt quite advanced so far.Works CitedArchibold, Randal. Arizona Enacts Stringent Law on ImmigrationNYtimes.com April 23, 2012. Web. New York TimesJanuary 30, 2013.Childress, Sarah. Is thither 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 brotherhoodJanuary 30, 2013Wood, Mary. Study of First 200 DNA Exonerations Shows Flawed Criminal placement law.virginia.edu, July 23, 2007.Web. University of VirginiaFebruary 2, 2013