Verified Document

Criminal Justice War On Drugs Reaction Paper

America's enforcement of its corrective drug strategy has resulted in a scheme of apartheid justice. Approximately half the yearly marijuana arrests are of Latinos. This result is no accident; imbalanced handling of minority groups permeates every phase of the criminal justice system. Black and Latino-Americans are wronged by unequal marking and unjust conduct by police and other law enforcement officers; by racially slanted charging and plea-bargaining choices by prosecutors; by prejudiced sentencing performance; and by the failure of judges, elected bureaucrats, and other criminal justice policymakers to restore the unfairness that have come to pervade the structure (Small, 2001).

It appears from reading this article that there is indeed some bias that takes place in the war on drugs. One cannot dispute the fact that the war on drugs is a necessary operation that must be undertaken. The drug crime rate in this country is high and something needs to be done to decrease this problem. I don't feel that the article proved the idea that the laws are necessarily biased, but it did do a good job on showing that the enforcement of the laws can at times be prejudiced.

At the start of the war on drugs it was enacted in order to deal with the drug and crime problems that were taking place in urban, mainly minority neighborhoods. It was generally thought that this campaign was supposed to help black neighborhoods, but there have been several signs that have indicated that there is in fact evidence of racial bias in...

When looking at history it can be seen that U.S. drug control policies have been most punitive when the drug of concern is linked with threatening racial minorities.
It seems that the original idea of launching a war on drugs was a good idea. The drug issues and the crimes that are associated to them need to be addressed in all neighborhoods in this country, not just those made up of racial minorities. The laws that have been established are generally good, but the policies that are in place to carry them out need to be revisited. It has been shown that there is not difference in the amount of whites and blacks who take and/or deal drugs, but there is a difference in the amount of blacks and whites who are locked up for such things. So it is not necessarily that the war on drugs is racially biased but the policies of carrying out the war are.

References

Mitchell, Ojmarrh. (2009). Is the War on Drugs Racially Biased? Journal of Crime & Justice.

32(2), p. 49-71.

Race, the War on Drugs and the United States Criminal Justice System. (2011). Retrieved

March 2, 2011, from Web site:

http://www.drugpolicy.org/about/position/race_paper_crim.cfm

Small, Deborah. (2001). The War on Drugs Is a War on Racial Justice. Social Research, 68(3),

p.896-903.

The Effective National Drug Control Strategy 1999. (n.d.). Retrieved March 2, 2011, from Web

site: http://www.csdp.org/edcs/page30.htm

Sources used in this document:
References

Mitchell, Ojmarrh. (2009). Is the War on Drugs Racially Biased? Journal of Crime & Justice.

32(2), p. 49-71.

Race, the War on Drugs and the United States Criminal Justice System. (2011). Retrieved

March 2, 2011, from Web site:
http://www.drugpolicy.org/about/position/race_paper_crim.cfm
site: http://www.csdp.org/edcs/page30.htm
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Criminal Justice Process Considerable Attention
Words: 5190 Length: 14 Document Type: Essay

Does the criminal justice system discriminate? Provide support your position with reference to the various components of the process, and give an explanation for either why the system discriminates, or why it appears to discriminate. Yes, the criminal justice system discriminates. African-American males are overrepresented in every part of the criminal process, though there has been no good evidence to show that they actually engage in criminal behavior at rates

Criminal Justice Administration
Words: 2381 Length: 8 Document Type: Term Paper

Criminal Justice: Challenges and Developments The criminal justice system in the United States, and indeed anywhere in the world, is a governmental tool to ensure the safety and security of the citizens of the country. Certain areas have however been considered in research to steer away from this goal. The public has for example lost a considerable amount of trust in the system as a result of apparent oppressive practices in

Criminal Justice: The Death Penalty Reasons for
Words: 6266 Length: 20 Document Type: Capstone Project

Criminal Justice: The Death Penalty Reasons for topic selection Causes of racial prejudice and discrimination Juvenile in delinquent society theory Culture and values Official and unofficial values The effectiveness of the death penalty The death penalty is irreversible The death penalty is barbaric Changes to the death sentence Implemented changes Sentencing guidelines Bifurcated trials Automatic appellate conviction review Proportionality review The importance of proposed changes Anticipated outcome Life imprisonment; alternative to death sentences The costs Decency standards Overall efficiency Policies in support of incarceration Conclusion References Background Despite the controversy over how effective it is

Criminal Justice - Corrections Criminal
Words: 1119 Length: 4 Document Type: Essay

In that regard, sentences imposed for crack cocaine are so much harsher that approximately 100 times as much powdered cocaine is required to approach the sentences imposed in connection with crack cocaine offenses. This issue is particularly relevant to the disparity inherent in mandatory sentencing and arbitrariness in sentencing, especially since dealers in powdered cocaine are much more likely higher up on the supply chain than distributors of crack cocaine

Criminal Justice African-Americans and American
Words: 1486 Length: 5 Document Type: Term Paper

The stigmatization of African-Americans has caused terrible harm in many areas, and only exacerbates the perceived "problem." T]hirty years of forced removal to prison of 150,000 young males from particular communities of New York represents collective losses similar in scale to the losses due to epidemics, wars, and terrorist attacks -- with the potential for comparable effects on the survivors and the social structure of their families and communities. (Roberts,

Criminal Justice Scare Tactics and
Words: 2376 Length: 8 Document Type: Essay

S.A., there is bound to be more problems relating to criminality as well as social problems. For instance legalization of drugs will lead to even more violence across the U.S. Mexico border with each cartel trying to control as much of the market as possible. It will be a magnification of what is currently experienced in the drug deals. Factually, criminals will not stop being criminals because a drug has been

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now