Notes

The racial composition of the prison population within the United States is very different from the population at large if people are worried about inequality in America today. I believe this deserves more attention in the discussion. Racial disparity within the criminal justice system gets disregarded because it does not affect a significant number of people. As of 2016, over 2.3 million people were in state and federal prisons within the united states, at a rate of 698 people per 100,000 were in jail. This can be less than 1% of America's population, which does not seem very large. However, once you separate that population by race, you recognize that the personal effects of the criminal justice system are inconsistent and unequally split throughout our society.

The police stop African Americans and Hispanics at rates that are much higher than whites. In new york city, where people of color make up about half the population, 80% of the NYPD stops were of African Americans and Hispanics. When whites were stopped, only 8% were frisked. When African Americans and Hispanics are stopped, 85% were frisked according to information provided by the NYPD. The same is true in most other places as well. In a California study, the ACLU found that African Americans are three times more likely to be stopped than whites. Once detained, African Americans are more likely to remain in jail awaiting trial than whites. In 1995, the new york state division of criminal justice did a review of disparities in handling lawful offense captures and found that in some parts of New York, African Americans are 33% more likely to be detained awaiting felony trials than whites facing felony trials.



Also, discrimination within the jury selection process has been pertinent throughout our long history in the united states. It is explicitly restricted by law, which has been defined through judicial decisions. Be that as it may, juries made exclusively out of one racial group are legal in the united states. While the racial composition of juries is not directed by law, racialism within the selection of jurors is explicitly prohibited. Depending upon the situation, the phrases "all-white jury" or "all-black jury" can raise a large group of expectations. In 1997, David Baldus and statistician George Woodworth examined the death penalty rates among all death-eligible defendants in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania between the years of 1983 and 1993. The results of their study demonstrated the odds of getting capital punishment in Philadelphia increased by 38% when the accused was black.

The best way to combat discrimination in the criminal justice system against minorities I strongly feel may be a "blinding case" which removes the race of the suspect from the data provided to the prosecution team. this could significantly reduce prosecutorial bias from all receiving ends of the parties. this can be accomplished by asking police to exclude race information from reports, or the case management software used for a criminal report to exclude that information. Although this may seem a challenge without receiving full cooperation of prosecutors' offices to blind every case, which will be difficult to achieve without political pressure.
Even with plea bargaining, in many jurisdictions, prosecutors typically work with defense attorneys, rather than being exposed to the defendant. In most cases, the only way prosecutors learn the person's race is through police reports, and these can be blinded.