1. RACIAL DISCRIMINATION IN THE CRIMINAL
JUSTICE SYSTEM
By: Taylor A. Character

2. Being Black In The Criminal Justice SystemEver since Trayvon Martin was killed and his murderer was found not guilty, Americans have now
become more in tuned with how African Americans are treated in our criminal justice system. These
group of people along with the hispanic and latino community, are the main targets that the system treats
unfairly and shoots to kill in the United States. The deaths of Tamir Rice and Michael Brown are prime
examples of how harsh the treatments are, just by being in the presence of the police, whose jobs are to
protect and serve the American people. Even though these are not the only cases, thousands more have
suffered some type of racial discrimination while being in the hands of the law enforcement, for example
Sandra Bland. Research by social scientist have shown vast amounts of discrimination from arrest rates,
to bail amounts, to sentence lengths, and probation hearing outcomes amongst minority races versus the
majority. (Kahn and Kirk 2015)

3. Tamir Rice StoryHello,
I am Tamir Rice, I was shot and killed by the Cleveland Police department on November 23,
2016 while playing with my bebe gun. I was just 12 years old, playing at our neighborhood
recreation center on the swing not harming a soul. I guess someone was worried and thought
I had a real gun and called the police and told them it maybe fake and I maybe a juvenile. I
guess the dispatcher forgot to tell the two officers that, and just said told them I was a black
man with a gun and pointing it at people. The two officers then arrive to where I was at and
didn't say a word to me to see what was going on. I didn't threaten those officers lives but
they immediately shot me in my chest. I died the next day; those officers took my life from
me, for no reason. I’m no longer able to see my family and friends. Those officers were not
punished and they get the pleasure of living out their lives and being able to see their friends
and family. (Associated Press 2015)

4. Hard Cold Facts
• Black Americans are more likely to get there cars searched
• Black Americans are more likely to get arrested for drug use
• Black Americans are more likely to get jailed while awaiting trial
• Black Americans are more likely to be offered plea deals that
offer jail time
• Black Americans are more likely to be excluded from jury duty
because of their race
• Black Americans are more likely to get longer jail sentences than
white Americans that committed the same crime
According to Quigley, Kahn and Kirk (2016, 2015) there has
been extensive research to prove that Black Americans are
given the shorter end of the stick while in the hands of the CJS.
The results that were accumulated are as followed:

5. Research Results
Quigley 2016
Quigley 2016

6. Sandra Bland Story
Hello,
My name is Sandra Bland, I was aggressively arrested in Prairie View, Texas in July 2015. The officer
pulled me over because I failed to use a turn signal to change lanes. Yes, I was little frustrated that he
pulled me over for something so minor. But, when he asked me what was wrong, I told him how I felt
without threatening him nor making suspicious gestures. He felt some type of way about my response
but he kept asking me if I was okay. He then yanks me aggressively out my car cause I didn't want to
put out my cigarette, I must of made him mad with my response. From there, he threatens to “light me
up” with a taser. I was thrown to the ground, which my head hit pretty hard. I let the officer know I had
epilepsy and his response was “Good”. Yes, I called him names and called him out on his actions
because I was frustrated and it was absurd to witness what he was doing to me. Eventually, I was
booked into jail and I told them I had some mental issues going on and they failed to send me to the

7. Problems
• Police are more likely to use tasers, dogs, pepper spray and physical force on people of color than whites during arrest
• Black youth are twice as likely to be arrested for crimes in school and over 2.5 times for curfew violations than white youth
• Blacks are arrested more than twice their percentage in the population; 29% of drug arrest are African Americans, according to FBI statistics when
blacks and whites use and abuse drugs at the same rate
• Blacks are 3.73 times as likely to be arrested for possession of marijuana
• According to National Academy of Science, blacks are more likely than whites to receive prison time rather than community service
• Federal prosecutors are more likely to file charges carrying mandatory minimum sentences for African Americans than whites accused of the same
crime
• After conviction African Americans are more likely to get longer sentences
• 65% of inmates serving life without parole for nonviolent offenses are black
• White men with a criminal record are more likely to get a positive response in a job search than a black man with a criminal record
• 1 out of every 13 African Americans have lost their right to vote due felony disfranchisement versus 1 in every 56 non black voters

8. Solutions
The solution to this problem is an easy one yet hard to make everyone get on board to practice. Starting with hiring police, we need to not only

9. How Racial Discrimination has impacted the CJS
With racial discrimination being at the height that is, its caused a great impact on our criminal justice syste

10. Why I picked this topic?
I picked this topic because I am very big on equality. I also feel a lot of people don't see that this issue is
important as for it doesn't pertain to them. I want to use this platform that I have to make those aware that
this is an issue greater than any foreign war because its a war right here in our own communities. I also
picked this topic because, I have witnessed first hand racial discrimination in our criminal justice system
and it honestly changed the way I viewed the world. To see certain situations, that in some ways are the
same, handled in different ways because of the color of that persons skin ,just goes to show that our
criminal justice systems works against those of color. I also was more motivated recently to do this topic
because of our discussion board about War on Drugs. A lot of people don't know that the war was meant
to target African Americans and Hispanics in lower class areas and to incarcerate them, causing a
massive increase in the prison systems. Overall, I picked this topic to educate people on an issue that I
failed see reflected in out required readings. We read about pros and cons of laws, the benefits of the
system, why we have the system and ways to improve the system but nothing about how corrupted the

11. Sources
Kahn, A., & Kirk, C. (2015, August 09). Eight Charts That Show How the Justice System Is Stacked Against Black Americans.
Retrieved May 08, 2017, from
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/crime/2015/08/racial_disparities_in_the_criminal_justice_system_eight_charts_illust
rating.html
Nathan, D. (2016, April 26). What Happened to Sandra Bland? Retrieved May 08, 2017, from
https://www.thenation.com/article/what-happened-to-sandra-bland/
Press, T. A. (2017, March 15). Tamir Rice Case: 911 Dispatcher Suspended for Eight Days. Retrieved May 08, 2017, from
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/tamir-rice-case-911-dispatcher-suspended-eight-days-n733721
Quigley, B. (2016, October 04). 18 Examples Of Racism In The Criminal Legal System. Retrieved May 08, 2017, from
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/18-examples-of-racism-in-criminal-legal-system_us_57f26bf0e4b095bd896a1476
T. (2013, August 28). Ten Ways Criminal Justice Is One Of The Great Civil Rights Crises Of Our Time. Retrieved May 08, 2017, from htt