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FORMAT
RESEARCH PAPER IN POLITICAL SCIENCE:
Title of Paper
INTRODUCTION--placed first, but written last after you have finished paper
LITERATURE REVIEW--based on your annotated bibliography, put here your arguments
relevant to your hypothesis (distinguishing supportive from
negating arguments to your hypothesis)
MODEL & HYPOTHESIS
Model--an equation stating relation between indep. and dependent variables
Hypothesis--a one-sentence narrative statement of your model
RESEARCH DESIGN :describe the plan of your study, by addressing the following:
Data---describe the data you have studied/obtained;
--tell how you obtained the data (discuss issues of access and consent);
--discuss "representativeness" of data
Methods--(methods used to gather data)
For a case study approach: \
--discuss whether sampling is: random; purposive; theoretical?
--tell why you have chosen these methods; and not others?
--tell how you have analyzed the data;
--briefly indicate the advantages/limitations of your chosen method
for data analysis.
ANALYSIS AND ASSESSMENT
--What are the findings from your data?
--What are the major trends as related to your hypothesis?
--Does your data support/negate your hypothesis? EXPLAIN
CONCLUSIONS
--Remind reader of effect found in your data relative to your hypothesis;
--Tell how your findings/conclusions on the subject (both narrowly and broadly
of your study.
--Remind audience of (what) questions you have not answered and
of what more research/inquiry remains to be done.
(pg. 1 of 1)
Tiesheia Young
March 25, 2018
Prof. Bowmen
POL-409
Literature Review
The purpose of this literature review is to discuss racial disparity in the criminal
justice system. I will focus on the correlation between race and socioeconomic status
and how it plays apart in the criminal justice process.
Race and the Criminal Justice System
The overall history of the criminal justice system has shown us that crime policy
and mass incarceration have worked together to continue the suppression of black
Americans. “The New Jim Crow”, or the new system is used by the government to up
hold and control racial status, is currently a tool used to hinder black men and women
from successfully utilizing their civil liberties in the modern age (Alexander, 2010). This
is imperative because it correlates how race and the criminal justice system is
oppressed with disparities and racial bias. We can see this in other fields with
disenfranchisement and Title VII violations of the Civil Rights Act. Ultimately, this will aid
scholars in regards to how race is implemented in the criminal justice system in an
explicit and implicit manner. The poor and the minorities can not have respect for a
criminal justice system that does not provide equal justice. Thus it is more likely than not
that tensions arise between those meant to protect the community and those claiming
that the institution is specifically targeting them. Race, class and inequality effects
police investigations, right to counsel, jury composition, sentencing, and the
prosecutorial. A prime example of this comes from the O.J Simpson trial in which a
wealthy black man was given a proper trial with high end legal counsel (David 1999). As
much as this case breaks the stereotype, it is far from representative of the black
experience within the criminal justice system, as most african american men are not
given the same and equal opportunity to go to trial and use an adequate legal team to
go to trial.
History and Socio-Economic Implications in the Criminal Justice System
The relationship between socioeconomic status and the criminal justice system in
general shows that the lower class versus the white collar & white elite class, are more
likely to be incarcerated, charged, convicted, sentenced to prison, and punished with
longer prison terms (Perez, J.S. & Smith, R.A. 2010). According to the American
Psychological Association, “Research has shown that race and ethnicity in terms of
stratification often determine a person’s socioeconomic status.” With about 40% of
African Americans and 32% of Latinos living below the poverty line as defined by the
National Poverty Center, lower socioeconomic status—at least in the context of criminal
justice—is associated with this minority demographic. (Durvasula et. al 2016). A 400
percent increase between the 1980s and the 1990s in the chances that a drug arrest
would ultimately result in a prison sentence. Of critical importance is that while federal,
state, and local mandates pursued a “War on Drugs,” local police departments were
under pressure to show progress. The quickest way to show results to be calculated is
to enhance policing and arrest in already disadvantaged neighborhoods, which are
disproportionately poor and black. (Boho & Thompson 2006) When an African American
person who gets arrested on drug charges is automatically seen as a drug abuser and
sent to jail; whereas if this type of behavior happens with a white person from a
suburban area it is more likely to be seen as a result of their situation, therefore allowing
them other alternatives like rehabilitation and probation. ( Perez, J.S. & Smith, R.A.
2010). This is important factor to look at because it is inherently unfair and defeats the
purpose of the prison system that was advertised to rehabilitate it’s inmates. You have
two groups of people who use commit the same crime, but one is incarcerated without
proper justification while the other is given opportunity to seek and obtain rehabilitation.
There are many public policies willing to lock up poor black men, but give middle class
white men funding for clinics to recieve help. After the arrest takes place then its
bookings, and the courts take over. Since the poor and people of color already make
up the disproportionately arrested they also make up a large portion of courthouse
clients. This also ties into the unfairness in the court process. This breaks down the
difference between a private versus public defender. This is not a fair outcome since it
is determined not by seriousness of crime but by social class and access to monetary
resources. These kinds of findings are evidence of unfairness in court processes. For
being able to afford an attorney has much more flexibility than the state assigning you a
public defender whos caseload is already ridiculous.
Public Defender Impact
According to American Constitution for Law and Policy, “About three out of every
four county-funded public defender offices have attorney caseloads which exceed
nationally recognized maximum caseload standards. Caseloads are so excessive that in
many jurisdictions, defense counsel are unable to perform core functions such as
conducting an adequate factual investigation into guilt or innocence.” This goes against
the 6th amendment right to counsel when considering a defendant is receiving
ineffective assistance with a case. Excessive dockets and clients for a public defender
makes it practically impossible for the defense to conduct a thorough investigation, as
there isn't any time that goes into analyzing evidence, testimony, and examinations that
would attest to a defendant’s innocence. According to ABA Standards, Defense and
Prosecution (1993), it was noted that “Defense counsel should not carry a workload
that, by reason of its excessive size, interferes with the rendering of quality
representation, endangers the client's interest in the speedy disposition of charges, or
may lead to the breach of professional obligations.”
Given all of this it is inherently unfair that your life is determined by your race and
status, the justice system needs to take inconsideration the severity of the crime and not
just the color behind the person.
Bibliography
● ABA STANDARDS FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE, DEFENSE FUNCTION AND PROSECUTION
FUNCTION 126, Defense Function Standards 4-1.3(e) (3d ed. 1993)
● Alexander, M. (2010). The new Jim crow: Mass incarceration in the age of
colorblindness. New York
● David Cole. (1999). No Equal Justice: Race and Class in the American Criminal Justice
System. New York
● Durvasula, Ramani. (2017). APA Congressional Briefing on the Psychology of Poverty.
American Psychological Association.
● Jose Stephen, Perez. (2010) Issue Brief: Social Economic Status/ Class Criminal Justice in
the U.S.
Tiesheia Young
March 8, 2018
Prof. Bowmen
POL- 409
Annotated Bibliography
Alexander, M. (2010). The new Jim crow: Mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness. New
York: The New Press. Alexander gives history of the criminal justice system, crime policy
and race in the U.S. Alexander gives details the ways in how U.S. crime policy and mass
incarceration have worked together to continue the suppression of black Americans.
The main thesis is that mass incarceration is “The New Jim Crow,” or the new system
used by the government to uphold and control racial status in the U.S. Alexander offers
history along with solid facts to back up the argument, on how the criminal justice
system is used to enslave people of color. This book will be helpful to my research
because it directly discusses the topic of race and the criminal justice system and
highlights many ways that the system is oppressed with disparities and racial bias, this
book answers my questions regarding how the role race is implemented in the criminal
justice system.
Amnesty International. (2003). United States of America: Death by discrimination - The
continuing role of race in capital cases. Retrieved March 1, 2018, from Amnesty
International website http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AMR51/046. Amnesty
International examines the death penalty and how race plays a role in who is sentenced
to death and which cases found worthy of capital punishment. The report argues that
white victimization is more likely to result in a death sentence than black victimization.
This report will be helpful to my research because it highlights the influence race has in
the death penalty and that it is not a racially neutral process.
Bobo, L. D., & Thompson, V. (2006). Unfair by design: The war on drugs, race, and the
legitimacy of the criminal justice system. Social Research, 73(2), 445-472. Retrieved
from the Sociological Abstracts database. Bobo and Thompson give insight on how
criminal justice policies within the past have a correlation between race and crime.
Evidence is highlighted that the continuing disparities found within the criminal justice
system and give specific focus to how the War on Drugs has contributed to these
disparities. This work will be useful to my research because of its specific focus on the
War on Drugs which I will address in my paper as well. The authors cite undeniable
evidence that the War on Drugs disproportionately affects African Americans, especially
those living in poor communities. This ties into how race and social class effect the
criminal justice system and policies.
David Cole. (1999). No Equal Justice: Race and Class in the American Criminal Justice System.
New York: The News Press. The author reveals that the poor and minorities cannot
respect a criminal justice system that does not appeal to them and doesn’t provide
equal justice. Cole helps understand how race and class inequality effects police
investigation, right to counsel, jury composition, sentencing, and the prosecutorial.
There is also an example I will use which is the O.J. Simpson case to show how social
class played apart in how one can be sentenced due to social class.
Jankovic, I. (1978). SOCIAL CLASS AND CRIMINAL SENTENCING. Crime and Social Justice, (10), 916. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/29766044. Jankovic discusses how to
have claimed evidence for racial and socioeconomic bias lies within the criminal justice
system. He ties the findings in accordance with the notion that those least in power
(racial minorities and the poor.) Bear the burden of state’s apparatus of social control &
severity of criminal sanctions. I shall be able to tie some of the information into my
paper with regards to how the lower-class person is …if found guilty, likely to receive
harsh punishment than his middle, or upper-class counterpart.
Mauer, M. (2004). Race, class, and the development of criminal justice policy. Review of Policy
Research, 21(1), 79-92. Retrieved from
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1541-1338 Mauer enlightens us
on the vast racial disparities found within the criminal justice system as well as the ways
that race and class influence criminal justice policy. He also discusses that many
components of the criminal justice system are “racially determined.” Mauer gives a
brief history of early punitive crime policy indicates that race has long served as a
determinant for crime response. This work will be helpful to my paper because it
highlights the pervasiveness of the race issue within the criminal justice system.
Reiman, J., & Leighton, P. (2015). The rich get richer and the poor get prison: Ideology, class,
and criminal justice. Reiman illustrates the issues od economic inequality within the
American justice system. He contends that the criminal justice system has been biased
to begin with against the poor from start to finish. It also brings into question as to why
the criminal justice system isn’t used against predatory business practices and punish
those well of people who cause the most harm. This goes directly with point I will be
making with regards to how people of power often receive lienee in sentencing.
Robinson, M., & Williams, M. (2009). The myth of a fair criminal justice system. Justice Policy
Journal, 6(1), 1-52. This Journal finding examines whether the belief of the US criminal
justice system is fair or it myth of being fair. It also discusses the possible sources of
unfairness in the criminal justice system, including the law, definitions of crime, policing,
courts, and correction. The authors explore the possibility that the criminal justice
system is unfair in what it does and what it does not. I will use this journal to tie into my
research also who the criminal justice system benefits more.
The Sentencing Project. (2012, May 18). Trends in U.S. corrections. Retrieved November 1,
2012, from http://www.sentencingproject.org/detail/news.cfm?news_id=1304. In this
document, The Sentencing Project highlights many statistics and graphs which underline
the racial disparities that exist in the criminal justice system. The data offered in this
document will be helpful to my project because it makes it clear that punishment for
crime is not doled out evenly, which supports my thesis that the criminal justice system
is not racially neutral.