The Criminal Justice System An Analysis Of Income And...

Ryan Williams English 102 Professor 6 May 2015 The Criminal Justice System: an Analysis of Income and Racial Inequality In the history of civilized communities, one finds that different structures and practices are relevant and necessary to uphold and maintain order within society—hence, the establishment of the criminal justice system. The criminal justice system, according to the Oxford Dictionaries (2010), is defined as â€Å"the system of law enforcement that is directly involved in apprehending, prosecuting, defending, sentencing, and punishing those who are suspected or convicted of criminal offenses.† Although established to preserve order in the nation, the criminal justice system has detrimentally affected the lives of those it was created to protect. A plethora of studies have highlighted the pitfalls and bias of the system with regards to classism and racism. Essentially, the criminal justice system harasses the poor and the African- American male, but favors the wealthy and affluent. Throughout this essay, one will be enlightened on how income and racial inequality affects the American criminal justice system as well as the high recidivism rate of African-American males. The criminal justice system is made for two groups of people: the poor and the wealthy. However, both parties do not benefit from the system. In actuality, the focal point of unequal justice is inequality in income distribution (Reiman, 1979). According to author onShow MoreRelatedThe s Discipline And Punish898 Words   |  4 Pagesable to keep them from jail in addition to keeping the information away from the media. The poor do not have the luxury of retaining adequate representation. Inequalities do not end with once a guilty verdict is delivered. They continue on through the penalty phase as lower class citizens are processed through the penal system. 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