kentwork-crime and justice

Minorities in Crime and Justice

MW 4-5:15 PM Room TBA ©

WEEK XV
ASSIGNMENTS Fall 2006

IF YOU ARE HAVING TROUBLE KEEPING UP WITH THE NOTES - JUST ASK ME TO SLOW DOWN OR REITERATE - NO PROBLEM - THIS IS YOUR CLASS AND YOUR EXPERIENCE - MAKE THE MOST OF IT!
I WILL LISTEN, ASK, THINK, BELIEVE, PERSEVERE AND BECOME THAT WHICH I RESPECT BECAUSE I HAVE CONSTRUCTED MYSELF FROM THE SELF THAT I LIKE.

ALL CLASSES: The university has no POP server; therefore I can not be reached by the stated E-mails on my site from Main Campus (this does not apply to computers at home). Reach me by E-mail from campus by using the internal mail, i.e., jvazzana@mail.eliv.kent.edu Thanx.

ASSIGNMENTS: Week 15 Chapter 9: Release from Prison and its Problems.

FINAL EXAM - Monday, 11 December 2006, 5-7 PM

LECTURE NOTES;
28 August 2006: Although it is contentious, the authors have an interesting comment on p. 1 by suggesting that "nearly every problem, in the criminal justice study involves matters of race and ethnicity." Of course one could say that about ANY social problem and not particularly be stretching a point very far. Criminal justice studies does have areas that indeed are prone to the author's contentions. This holds true for contemporary society as well as those social orders in the past. Each society tends to define crime in certain specific ways toward certain specific peoples. The majority of a culture's population has a way of doing things and those that do not adhere "break the law" . The United States culture was born and still is a racial configuration. This means that those of a particular ethnicity are those that are left out of the main stream more often than others and, in so doing, are placed in situations more prone to being defined as breaking the law moreso than the "preferred" majority group. This being the case, it is always easier for a majority to gang up on a minority member and falsely accuse them of crime! Majorities also see crime as an indicator that things may change. People in cultures do not like uncertainty and unstable conditions - crime is just that and one then begins to see why minorities are so much in jeopardy when it comes to suspicion of breaking the rules and crime itself. Often, real or imagines, minorities represent things that the majority does not desire as a part of their culture.

The authors of your text believe that other texts have not adequately handled this issue by not giving a comprehensive look at all of these issues in dpth, they do not look at race and ethnicity as an important criminal system issue and there is too great a focus on African-American offenders leaving out a vast segment of other ethnic involvees. The authors then propose to take a contextual stance in discussing the criminal justice system or, put another way, crime involves more than just breaking the law. It also includes, for a greater understanding of crime, who did it and under what circumstances. They feel that previous authors have had a bias in discussing the criminal process by focusing on issues that satisfied their agendas giving a distorted picture of the discipline and not really goving a wholistic picture of the relationship between race, ethnicity and crime. I tend to agree with that, not totally, but there are certainly agendas involved. Of particular interest is their elucidation on the terms race, ethnicity, disparities and discrimination. These are terms widely used, but often not clearly defined. Perhaps the real problem is that their definitions are social constructs and have little basis in science.

"Race" refers to biological differences between human animals as groups, but there is no physical evidence to suggests this exists. Remember, however, people do base their actions on superficial and sometimes imagined characteristics. If a person or group believes this, then "Race" DOES exist in their minds and the outcome of this belief in terms of action can be very real and devastating. Ethnicity is a bit clearer in its definition and characteristics, at least one can "put a finger" on generally the pulse of things. Ethnicity refers to customs, language, habits and ways of living that are special to a particular group of people. Ethnicity also refers to a common origin, mostly a country and its unique social patterns although some ethnicities can become worn over time as the original place may change geographic location. For example, "Vazzana" is Italian in origin, but, because my family has lived in this country for three generations, I am about as Italian as an Irish Setter is Irish! Which then brings into question just what is an "American"? There is lots of talk about diversity, but are Afro-Americans really African? Are Mexican-Americans really Mexican? You get the point - make up your own mind on this issue.

Disparity is discrimination without intentionality. As your book suggests, most students in universities are there not because society intentionally excludes others that are older, but more because one is expected to go to school right after high school graduation. Discrimination is when people are intentionally excluded rom social activity as witnessed in the past early century as drinking fountains for "Whites" and "Colored" in certain sections of the country. Often the distinction between disparity and discrimination is not as clear as one would want it to be. Read about Conflict Theory (pp. 19-21) in the text and be able to answer the questions at end of chapter for a pop quiz.

DISTANCE EDUCATION - 30 August 2006: Again, I would suggest the student read pages 9-11 and the difficulty of classifying people to "race". The contention is that if there is no such basis for a biological difference between peoples in terms of "race", then one can not classify in this assumption. Your book has an excellent discussion in association with the text The Bell Curve and the problems associated with their contentions concerning race and intelligence. Sometimes people do label themselves and this becomes a political struggle. In other words, there are peoples that wish themselves to be identified with a certain label, but it will be one of their choosing as that which may identify them chosen by others or what they consider as oppressors. Note the contentions over the terms black and African Americans on pp. 11-12. The upshot of this brings some suspicion on records, especially those related to crime and its statistics. Can we trust data when one does not know or has some confusion as to how to report crimes and what category the victims fall in to? If we can decide as to the specific classifications of peoples, another problem arises in terms of the geographic distribution of ethnicities. There is no consistent pattern of how ethnicities are distributed across the United States. Concentrations of ethnic or racial minorities in certain areas, as the inner city, have important political ramifications. These concentrations tend to be governed by those of the same ethnicity. If this is the case, then is there a fair system of justice across the US or do these concentrations change the interpretation of the law? It should not, but there are those that say it does. Nevertheless, ethnic concentrations do have their political agendas as supporting mayors and police chiefs of similar ethnicity. This does not mean to say it is wrong, it simply means that ethnic concentrations also have their own political power to define and uphold those laws of some importance to the specificity of their geographic location. This leads to the question of if there is discrimination in the interpretation of the law in regard to ethnic concentration or the lack of. Certainly the history of the United States affirms that there has been substantial discrimination in this area as the barring of blacks to vote and even into the 60s southern police departments did not hire officers that were black. Northern neighborhoods id not assign black officers to white areas. There has been a great deal of discrimination here, but recently the notion of diversity has been implemented by indeed assigning black officers to white areas and vice versa. Often to the chagrin of the citizens. Some welcome the change and others believe that they would rather live in areas governed and policed by "their own".

6 September 2006: There are some theories the student should be acquainted with as to minorities and the justice system. Conflict Theory (pp. 19-21 )is attributed to Karl Marx and emphasizes the idea that the law is used by the powerful in society to keep the minorities at bay and at a disadvantage as to their economic chances. In other words racial prejudice is maintained so that there is a distinct gap between those that have power and money and those that do not! It is in the best interests of the powerful to maintain feelings and actual physical ramifications of discrimination in order that the oppressed remain so. This is done so that the powerful always have the economic advantage over minorities and that the minorities have little chance in sharing life's resources. The legal system and the judicial branches are tools of the powerful, according to Marx, to make sure that minorities are punished perhaps harder and longer than other ethnicities.. See ya Wednesday...

11 September 2006: Chapter 2 points out one of the difficulties in law enforcement courses from a sociological point of view. There are too many statistics and not enough reasons. This approach leads law enforcement to areas that are contentious such as profiling and believing the STATISTICS are reasons for criminal behaviour. If one looks at chapter 2, one could say that the sequence of black - white - Hispanic holds true for all crime patterns, but does not get to the real issue of why the patterns exists and the underlying factors responsible. We will discuss this in further detail.

13 September 2006: The rap on the text is that it is OK, but it is really not a text. In point of fact it is more a reference book. In that respect, there needs to be a different attitude and approach to its use. The Wednesday class will be open to discussion and suggestions on how to use this text in a manner that makes the class more dynamic and an improved educational experience.

18 September 2006: Exam 1.

20 September 2006: Merton's Strain Theory relies on the fact that there is a gap between social aspirations and the actual emergence into them. Often this is irrelevant because the cultural theme of the United States is achievement and people believe that if they work hard enough they have the possibility of having a comfortable materialistic existence. This fact takes the blame off the captains of industry and, if a person does not do well in life, they simply say, "He didn't work hard enough!" Sutherland's Differential Association believes that one learns to be a criminal from the environmental influences as family, the streets and jail, for example. One's residential discrimination has a great deal to do with this also.

27 September 2006: Inequality has been persistent in the United States regardless of the social programs to eliminate it. Many believe that the impact of the civil rights movements have had an adverse effect on minorities as well as diversity philosophy. The civil rights movement may have left too many people that did not have the background, education nor money to take adventage of it.

2 October 2006: The relations between the police and minorities is, at best, vague in terms of statistical indications. It is beginning to be seen that statistics in crime have a lot to be desired as far as accuracy. At the least, crime statistics should be looked at very carefully for the problems as stated in the text. One of the difficulties has to do with the specific characteristics of the minority in question from the traditional black suspicions to the complicated ethnic and federal involvement with native Americans. One of the most serious and most discussed areas is the use of lethal force and its application. The fleeing felon rule no longer holds, but the alternatives to it can be just as devastating.

4 October 2006: Again with police arrests in connection with minorities we find the statistical problem. It is difficult to ascertain if there is discrimination here. What is known, however, is that young males are arrested more often than others, but this is not a particular revealing nor unexpected conclusion. The "quality of life" policing does hold some interest. This procedure involves enforcing even the most minor offenses. it is suggested this reduces the incidents of arrest and possibly crime because major offenders are afraid they will be arrested for a minor violation and then found out to be in league with a more serious offense or that they are carrying or there is an outstanding warrant for their arrest.

9 October 2006: Many, many contentious areas when it comes to community relations between police and minorities. It was interesting to discuss how verbal abuse may be used as a form of control. Of course, minorities are not going to like this and will bring complaints to the department. On the other hand, many police departments are trying to bolster their community relations by setting up dialogues and hot lines for the public. This, however, often turns into a "he said, she said" argument and the question still remains on what to do with these problems. Even the issue of profiling has two sides with creditable arguments and is difficult to resolve.

11 October 2006: Employment of minority officers in the law enforcement community has improved, but this does not reflect the percentage to that of minorities in the community. Then too, even though a department may be meeting the national index, they may still have racist issue. Discrimination in empolyment is illegal but Affirmative Action is contentious. Often minority officers are assigned to minority areas and some do not get the preferred jobs in the department.

18 October 2006: Bail and legal representation follows the expected path of minorities being discriminated against or the least favored when it comes to courtroom procedures. However, the question remains a s to how judges set bail. We know it is at their discretion, but there must be some guidelines as to a generic approach.
23 October 2006: An Alford Plea is where the defendant pleads gulty, but offers no proof of their guilt nor admit that they have committed an offense. In such instances, it is up to the prosecutor to conclusively show that they did what they were charged with. Often this results in dropping the case because they can not prove that the defendant is in fact guilty. One can also plead not guilty with the same process and results. Many do not like the Alford Plea because it shakes the public's trust in the judicial system for being unfair and less than accurate and, more importantly, the defendant does not state repentance which is a part of the trial pageantry.

DISTANCE LEARNING - THE COURTS 10.26.06

Charging and Plea Bargaining Decisions
	Many argue that the prosecutor has the most powerful position in court. They make the final decision if or if not a person is going to trial. If so, what will be the nature of the charges. Often prosecutors will not take a case because it is trivial or they may wish not to prosecute in favor of information from the defendant leading to another case with a bigger and more substantial outcome. Charges can be reduced or increased according to the direction of the prosecutor prior to a trial. Their power is not capricious however, and the Supreme Court has decided that prosecutors have to have sound reasons for not trying or for moving on - it can not be a decision based on race, but the facts. Few studies have proved that race is a factor as opposed to the strength of evidence presented in a case. Yet prosecutors want to "win" and there is no doubt that race has been a factor especially in "marginal" cases when they wanted to get an all-white jury in their favor. Just as the race/ethnicity of the offender appears to influence charging decisions of the prosecutor, the relationship between the offender and victim is also significant. Blacks are charged more if they commit an offense against whites as opposed to offenses against blacks or other minorities. Apparently there is selective prosecution in charging and whites tend to be charged often more so than blacks, especially in sex related cases, because the evidence is stronger and there is a hint that the authorities are less fastidious in collecting evidence when minorities are involved or they just do not consider crimes against minorities as important. Again, in drug busts, it is possible that blacks are more frequently arrested for these violations because it is felt that where the blacks are is the area of concentration even though it has been shown, in your text, that whites may be using more! Another problem is that blacks often are referred to more than whites to federal courts where there are longer sentences of the same offense - especially where crack is concerned. As suggested, "...court judges stated that they began with the presumption that people of all races commit all types of crimes - not with the premise that any type of crime is the exclusive province of any particular race or ethnic group." So if more crack cases are referred to federal courts and the defendants are black - what is the reason? Plea bargaining and race relations have contradictory evidence. Generally prosecutors are more apt to bargain for less if the seriousness of the offense is less and the nature of the evidence may be weak or inconclusive. Some studies do reveal that whites do get more of a bargaining break than do others. In sum, there is no strong evidence but suspicions that blacks and Hispanics are less favored in charging, sentencing and plea bargaining, but still this is an issue that must be carefully scrutinized during the justice process until such time that more conclusive studies are available. 30 October 2006: JURY SELECTION - The jury is supposed to enforce the credence of the law. In other words, it is a sort of uber judge. In this country, however, for many years there was a concerted effort to keep the juries all-white. After 1880, courts could not ban blacks from jury duty, but there are other ways to exclude them as taking juror selection from tax roles. Even today, jury pools are still overrepresented by whites. Some of the things to correct this are higher pay for jurors, providing day care and selected summoning in minority areas 8 November 2006: 3rd Exam Due. 15 November 2006: It becomes apparent that race and sentencing is a very complex area of study and that there ae few if any corroborating studies that point a finger specifically on one aspect that is predictable. About the best one gleans from this chapter is that if one is black, young and poor the worst things will happen in terms of sentencing, but that in and of itself is too generic a position to apply specifically to individual offenders.
DISTANCE LEARNING - Monday 20 November 2006: The young, unemployed and black are apparently the most discriminated against in the justice system. On the other hand, there is a kind of self-fulfilling prophesy here. The stereotype of "black, unemployed" is one frequently discriminated against and thrown in jail whereby the offender gets bitter and, even if they are not a stereotype, jail makes them so. They then are released with this attitude which again gets them into trouble and back into jail. The differential treatment in sentencing generally follows these trends: when blacks offend other blacks the sentence is not as great as when blacks offend against whites. This trend is more severe if sexual assault is involved. (see p. 219 - 221.) The difficulty here is, again, the research is not accurate and it is hard to tell if it is discrimination or disparity. Judges do tend to sentence more harshly when the relationship is between the defendant and offended is black- white. Sentencing and drugs brings another fascinating question. Often the war on drugs is conducted in inner city communities where there are more blacks than whites so there is more more sentencing of blacks whose origins may be prejudicial. On the other hand one does have to admit that, although there are drugs in the all-white communities, there is a great deal of drugs in the black areas!!! So there is an uneasy feeling that we really do not know just what the story is concerning drugs, minorities and sentencing. Sentencing reform began in the 70s because of Indeterminant Sentencing. Indeterminate sentencing is based on the idea that prison will reform inmates and that their5 release would be determined by the Parole Board who judges their behaviour as rehabilitated. This system, however, is highly arbitrary and capricious which can lead to a great deal of discrimination and possible racism. It is also felt that the rights of the prisoner are not protected as well as violating due process. In general, correctional programs do not work because often the prisoner becomes a more hardened crook in jail and this is a major difficulty with Indeterminate Sentencing. The reform to this came about, or at least attempts at reform, with the advent of determinate sentencing. This was implemented with minimum sentencing terms, the "three strikes and you are out" system and prisoners may have to serve a large part of their Indeterminate system before parole. Actually, sentencing polices vary widely today and the student gets into another of those vague areas of justice leaving them with a conundrum of questions. 27 November 2006: The arguments over the death penalty are perplexing, to say the least. Apparently there are no convincing studies linking the DP with racism, but there are many to side it with disparity. In the 21st century the thinking is that most will accept the DP, but they want greater assurances, such as DNA testing, that the convicted is indeed the one who did the crime. 4/7 December 2006: Review.