American Criminal Justice System And Mass Incarceration

From discrimination to prejudice, from explicit bias to implicit bias, from Jim Crow laws to the current American criminal justice system, there have been many changes, but the outcome has essentially remained the same: racial discrimination. Racial discrimination is treating someone differently only due to one’s race. Although it is said to be illegal in current times,it is still implemented through new techniques such as the modern criminal justice systems. Michelle Alexander discusses in her book, The New Jim Crow, how the current criminal justice system and mass incarceration are a viable analogy to â€Å"Jim Crow.† The analogy is apparent through the laws, historical examples, and current affairs as well. By comparing the current American criminal justice system and mass incarceration to â€Å"Jim Crow†, one notices the many similarities in the laws. The current system appears to be creating the same outcomes as the Jim Crow by a new approach. The Jim Crow laws appealed to the Whites as they began in the 1880’s in the effort to maintain racial discrimination in society by degrading Blacks. These laws aimed to keep Blacks out of the white neighborhoods and separated education as well. Laws likely affected Blacks psychologically as they would always be seen as the inferior â€Å"caste†. Blacks were expected to address Whites in a respectful manner by saying â€Å"sir† or â€Å"ma’am†, but they were always referred to as a â€Å"boy† or â€Å"girl† regardless of their age. These differences continued asShow MoreRelatedMass Incarceration Nation : The Failing Of The American Criminal Justice System2691 Words   |  11 Pages Mass Incarceration Nation The Failing of the American Criminal Justice System Sophia Scales Ashford University Criminal Justice 201 Professor Ted Ellis November 17, 2014 American prison systems encompass all three spheres of criminal justice: law enforcement, judiciary, corrections. Within this system, a massive problem exists. America is known as the â€Å"mass incarceration nation† (Hamilton, 2014, p. 1271). Comparatively, the United States encompasses the majority of global prisonersRead MoreThe New Jim Crow : Mass Incarceration1199 Words   |  5 Pagesperceptions on the American criminal justice system? Michelle Alexander was able to accomplish that by altering some people s entire perception on the American criminal justice system by focusing on our most pressing civil right issues of our time for some of those who did read her book The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration In The Age of Colorblindness. Michelle Alexander stated that The most despised in America is not gays, transgenders, nor even illegal immigrants - it is criminals. That was anRead MoreMass Incarceration In Michelle Alexanders The New Jim Crow Laws1083 W ords   |  5 Pagesargued that today’s mass incarceration is the new Jim Crow. Michelle Alexander, an associate professor of law at Ohio State University, outlines her argument for how she came to see the United States legal system as a system of racialized social control in her book The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. She argues that mass incarceration is a type of racial caste system similar to Jim Crow, the â€Å"war on drugs† is the greatest contribution to mass incarceration, and much of theRead MoreIs The Mass Incarceration Of Blacks The New Jim Crow?1540 Words   |  7 PagesIs the Mass Incarceration of Blacks the new Jim Crow? American has a legacy of the mistreatment and disenfranchisement of African Americans. The same bad treatment that many think only took place in the past is in fact still intact, it’s just presented in a new way. The mass incarceration of blacks in the Unites States can be attributed to the â€Å"racial hierarchy† that has always existed. The U.S contributes to about 5% of the worlds overall population, and about 25% of the worlds prison populationRead MoreThe New Jim Crow Law1014 Words   |  5 PagesMass incarceration is known as a net of laws, policies, and rules that equates to the American criminal justice system. This series of principles of our legal system works as an entrance to a lifelong position of lower status, with no hope of advancement. Mass incarceration follows those who are released from prison through exclusion and legalized discrimination, hidden within America. The New Jim Crow is a modernized version of the original Jim Crow Laws. It is a moder n racial caste system designedRead MoreMass Incarceration : The Color Of Justice Essay1352 Words   |  6 PagesMass Incarceration: The Color of Justice (DRAFT) Racial discrimination in the United States has been a radical issue plaguing African Americans from as early as slavery to the more liberal society we see today. Slavery is one of the oldest forms of oppression against African Americans. Slaves were brought in from Africa at increasingly high numbers to do the so-called dirty work or manual labor of their white owners. Many years later, after the abolishment of slavery came the Jim Crow era. In theRead MoreMass Incarceration During The United States1322 Words   |  6 Pages3 Honors 30 March 2017 Mass Incarceration in the United States There are too many people in prison in our country and any people in prison today are non-violent drug offenders. The American war on drugs has targeted people in poverty and minorities, who are more likely to be involved in drug use. This has created a pattern of crime and incarceration and â€Å"...[a] connection between increased prison rates and lower crime is tenuous and small.† (Wyler). The prison system in our country today focusesRead MoreThe Division Of Our Society : Exploring Mass Imprisonment1737 Words   |  7 Pages Mass Incarceration The Division of Our Society: Exploring Mass Imprisonment Pamela D. Jackson WRIT 130: Research Paper Professor Jane Campanizzi-Mook September 11th 2015 ABSTRACT Prison is unfortunately big business in the United States and our society is paying the ultimate cost and there is only one system being rewarded. More than often we do not put much emphasis on the prison system in its entirety. It is a fairly simple concept to most Americans that if you commit a crime or ifRead More The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, by Michelle Alexander1182 Words   |  5 PagesThe New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness is a book by Michelle Alexander, a civil rights litigator and legal scholar. The book discusses race-related issues specific to African-American males and mass incarceration in the United States. Michelle Alexander (2010) argues that despite the old Jim Crow is death, does not necessarily means the end of racial caste (p.21). In her book â€Å"The New Jim Crow†, Alexander describes a set of practices and social discourses that serve toRead MoreResponse Paper to Michelle Alexanders The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness743 Words   |  3 PagesThe New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness was written by Michelle Alexander to expose the truth of racial injustice in the system of mass incarceration through the comparison of the racial control during the Jim Crow Era. She reveals how race plays an important role in the American Justice System. Alexander argues about the racial bias, particularly towards African-Americans, immanent in the war on drugs as a result of their lack of political power and how the Supreme Court