Pubdate: Sat, 25 Jun 2005
Source: High Point Enterprise (NC)
Copyright: 2005 High Point Enterprise
Contact:  http://www.hpe.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/576
Author: Emma Mieden
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/racial.htm (Racial Issues)

THE VERDICT OF STATISTICS IS RACIAL INJUSTICE IN JUDICIAL SYSTEM

Kweisi Mfume , past president of the NAACP, said in a statement, "In an era 
when communities of color have become harvest for the prison industry 
rather than pools of future college students, we must challenge any 
deprivation of civil and constitutional rights that leads to the 
incarceration of racial minorities."

Today in our country, the system where racial discrimination is the most 
prevalent is in our judicial system. Although African- Americans make up 
only 13 percent of the U.S. population, more than 40 percent of the prison 
population is African-American. A black male has a one in three chance of 
being imprisoned during his lifetime.

The worst discrimination occurs with drug offenses. African Americans make 
up 63 percent of drug offenders in state prisons across our country even 
though research shows that there are five times more white drug offenders 
than black. Black men are 13 times more likely to be sent to prison than 
white men on drug charges. North Carolina is in the top 10 states with the 
greatest racial disparities. In these top 10 states, black men are 
imprisoned on drug charges 27 to 57 times the rate of white men, according 
to a recent Human Rights Watch Report.

African-American youth in the juvenile justice system also face similar 
disparities. African-American youth were 48 times more likely to be 
sentenced to state juvenile facilities for drug offenses than white youth. 
White youth represented 71 percent of kids arrested for crimes in the U.S., 
but only 37 percent of those incarcerated. Youth of color were also very 
overrepresented among juveniles who were transferred from juvenile to adult 
court.

If you are white or rich in this country you have access to a different 
judicial system than if you are black or poor. Over 40 years ago, the 
Supreme Court guaranteed the right of council to every person facing the 
possibility of incarceration, regardless of their ability to pay. This 
sounds great on paper but is far from a reality. In too many areas, legal 
representation is inadequate. Public defenders, on the whole, have the 
least amount of experience and are the lowest paid and severely overworked.

There are serious ramifications of the disproportionate number of 
African-Americans in the criminal justice system. The most significant 
include disenfranchisement, disqualification from public housing and 
welfare benefits and the break-up of families. Family members lose the 
financial support from a mother or father or other family member that is 
incarcerated.

How can America, the so-called champion of human rights, find fault with 
other countries around the world holding them accountable when we ourselves 
have such a dismal record. We must recognize that discretionary decisions 
are made at various stages of the criminal process and racial profiling 
exists at many levels.

We must demand better. We must demand solutions to eliminate racial 
discrimination and unjustified racial disparities in our justice system. 
Our justice system is a failure unless it is color blind.

Emma Mieden lives in High Point with her husband and two daughters. She 
encourages anyone who does not like the direction the country is headed 
under this administration to speak out and join in the fight for change.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom