Position Essay

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rates for African Americans, for examples, is 800 people per 100,000, while the rate for white Americans is 166 per 100,000 (Curry 1-2). This is a huge difference in the numbers and can greatly impact someone’s life because of these numbers and reasons of why they were convicted. An estimated 12% of U.S. black males in their late twenties were incarcerated in 2005, as opposed to 1.7% of white males (Curry 1-2). Think of how many people are in the United States, and take 12% out of that. That may seem very little, but it is impacting many people’s lives. One possible explanation is that blacks commit more crimes than whites, and may tend to because many blacks are in gangs, and believe in their gang rules. Criminal participation tends to be correlated with economic characteristics such as income, education, or area of residence, and these characteristics differ across racial groups. Another possibility is that the criminal justice system is somehow “biased” in that blacks are more easily convicted than white are (Curry 1-2). This is the biggest reason that stands out. Many are like this because they do not like blacks and think that they should be punished for their wrongdoing, even if they did not do anything. The jury much decide whether a given amount of evidence is sufficient to convict a defendant. Suppose that the defendant is sent to prison if convicted. Because the effect of incarceration increases in the defendant’s wealth, richer individuals are less likely to commit crimes than poorer ones. Economic values such as the defendants income or social status may enter the jury’s prior belief and the guilt of the defendant (Curry 1-2). Framework than exposes a new mechanism by which economic differences across individuals can cause difference not only in criminal behavior, but also in how defendants are treated in the courts (Curry 1-2). Consider the possibility that income differences not only generate prejudice, but are also the result of such prejudice. For example, persons believed to be more prone to criminal behavior may have a harder time finding well-paying employment opportunities (Curry 1-2). Such persons are poorer and less likely to be deterred by the threat of losing their income, justifying the initial prejudice. In which an individual’s income is consistent with the judicial bias against the individual, a social norm may develop that associates different ethnicity serves as a coordination device through which individual roles and commonly expected behaviors are developed (Curry 1-2). Other forms of punishment can eliminate such outcomes. The adoption of a new schedule of monetary fines, which may depend on the defendants wealth, as a means of punishment may reduce unfavorable prejudice. For certain felonies such as monetary penalties may indeed be considered an alternative to incarceration (Curry 1-2). Figure one illustrates that more black and hispanics are incarcerated than whites. As said before, criminal justice systems use racial discrimination towards these people because they believe that the white person is innocent and the african americans are guilty.

Figure one

Americans and African Americans are accused of crimes that they never committed everyday. DNA in evidence is a big help to the criminal justice system because it helps them when they positively need it throughout the investigation and also helps solve crimes that people cannot do on their own. DNA in evidence should not be used because the criminal justice system uses it in the wrong way and racial profiles people. African Americans and blacks are targeted more because the criminal justice automatically believes that they do the crime and white people are innocent. Its the same with women. Women are said to be accessories to crimes and they do not matter as much as men do. They throw it on the back burner and do not take consideration for the women and what they are doing in our society, and how much a difference they are all making.