Racial Inequality in the Usa Judicial System

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much as 84% of juveniles tried as adults were African American. She also claimed that “When people consider crime, thinking about a black juvenile offender makes them imagine that juveniles are closer to adults in their blameworthiness. Remarkably, this was true for both people who were low and high in prejudice and for both liberals and conservatives”. There is clearly a difference between people’s reality and actual reality here. Going back to this main point, the race of an individual and the actions he or she may take do not correlate, therefore they should not be treated like the two do. There is apparently a limited number of members in the judicial system that recognize this as a problem. Kurt Kumli, a supervising deputy district attorney, is one that has witnessed and recognized first-hand the racial inequality seen in juvenile court. In an interview with PBS Frontline, he talked about how “The law is skewed with respect to the social factors that are considered, in terms of making a determination of who gets locked up and who doesn’t. And since it is skewed in such a way as to essentially favor more affluent kids or to punish kids that are less affluent, that has racial and ethnic consequences.” The social factors relate directly back to race, and vary depending on anything from how a child was raised to the level of education they received. Most of these factors are out of the children’s control, and the justice system of all things should be the last thing that would be setting troubled kids up for failure. When it comes to judicial equality, the area of juveniles is anything but. There needs to be better regulations set and a clear line drawn to where juveniles, regardless of their race, can be tried as adults depending on the level of crime committed. This should be concrete, without room for varying opinions.

Conclusion

The goal of Martin Luther King’s work over 50 years ago was to end racial prejudice and inequality in America. Unfortunately, here we are in 2016, and it is still very present. There is no definite connection between a person’s race and a crime they may commit, and obviously should not be in any way a factor in determining a punishment. The system needs to be better about sentencing equality, and making sure that race does not get in the way of this process. Finally, the color of a kid’s skin should not play a role in deciding the sentences of juveniles or whether or not they will be tried as adults. Those wrongfully convicted of crimes and their families are experiencing waste of life and heartache, and much of this can be avoided with the absence of discrimination. I hope this memo will spark some interest or thought in you to do everything in your power as a Chief Justice to attempt to start moving toward change and racial equality in the American Justice System.

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