Injustice in America Summary

1
Injustice in AmericaSummary

• Dr. Matt Robinson
• CJ 3532
• Injustice in America
• Appalachian State University

2
Which of the following has been demonstrated?

• The law is made by a group who are not
  representative of the general public
• Lawmakers are voted for by a group who are not
  representative of the general public
• Most people do not regularly vote
• Lawmaking is influenced by special interests
• Whomever spends the most money in political
  campaigns is virtually guaranteed to win
• Money for political candidates and political
  parties does not come from normal, every day
  citizens but instead from wealthy donors,
  lobbyists, and Political Action Committees (PACs)

3
Which of the following has been demonstrated?

•  Crime is not a label used to identify the most
  serious threats to our lives and property
• Serious crimes are those crimes committed on
  the streets of America far more dangerous acts
  of elite deviance are not generally considered or
  pursued by criminal justice agencies as serious
  crimes
• Media coverage of crime is focused
  disproportionately on street crime, especially
  violent crimes committed by poor people and
  people of color
• The police, because they are predominantly
  located in the inner cities of America, and
  focused on street crime almost exclusively, are
  disproportionately likely to stop, question,
  arrest, and use force against the poor and
  minorities

4
Which of the following has been demonstrated?

• The power among courtroom workgroups is
  imbalanced in favor of prosecutors, and both
  pretrial (bail and plea bargaining) and trial
  processes are inherently biased in favor of the
  wealthy and against the poor and members of
  minority groups
• The poor and minorities are disproportionately
  likely to be sentenced to probation, jail,
  prison, and other criminal sanctions through
  mandatory sentences, and make up the majority of
  people under correctional supervision in the
  United States
• The administration of capital punishment is
  biased in favor of the wealthy and against
  killers of Caucasians and against the poor
• The war on drugs disproportionately affects the
  poor and minorities

5
Is this a fair conclusion?

• a safe conclusion is that the criminal justice
  network fails to achieve its goals of reducing
  crime and doing justice.
• it is reasonable to assume that the criminal
  justice network as a whole is biased against
  certain groups in society.

6
The war on the poor?

• arent the poor undeserving? (p. 414)
• doesnt the war on crime serve vital functions?
  (pp. 416-417)

7
The war on people of color?
Risk of criminal justice involvement

• dont blacks commit more crime? (pp. 422-425)
• yes and no, differences cannot account for
  differences in criminal justice processing

8
Which matters more, race or class?

• There is an intimate relationship between race
  and class in America
• P. 425 -- Relative to whites, blacks
• have lower incomes
• have less wealth
• are more likely to be poor
• are more likely to be unemployed
• have children with major disadvantages (p. 428)

9
Which matters more, race or class?

• Why?
• cultural v. structural perspectives (p. 426)

10
Forms of Institutional Discrimination
11
Bias in criminal justice

• Much of the bias in criminal justice is
  structural in nature.
• Evidence suggests most important forms of
  discrimination are institutional and contextual
  in nature.

12
Forms of discrimination