Television shows such as Dateline, 60 Minutes and 20/20 have often aired segments on discrimination within the justice system through hidden cameras recording police behavior towards minorities, interviews with minorities falsely accused or mistreated, and by referring to capital punishment statistics seemingly biased especially towards blacks. The Justice Files has produced several biographies on minorities who were subjected to some atrocity by the American justice system. General interpretation of nationwide statistics seem to give the public the feeling that minorities are more likely to be incarcerated or subjected to capital punishment and more frequently experience racism by police officers, juries or other officials. Rodney King, O.J. Simpson, Mark Fuhrman and other recent figures have demonstrated that an individual’s race may in fact be critical to how they are perceived by the criminal justice system. Through this research paper, I decided to pursue the "evidence" of discrimination to find where it stemmed from, the causes for it, and how it affects the application of justice. After reviewing the theories and statistics regarding minorities within the justice system, there is an easily apparent disparity between the percentage of minorities per population incarcerated versus whites. Minorities have a far greater risk of being a participant in the judicial system through arrest or other circumstances and often receive harsher sentences. And minorities, blacks especially, are at greater risk of being subjected to capital punishment. There are several reasons for this: 1) Minorities tend to be undereducated when compared with whites. 2) Minorities have lower average income levels with a high percentage at the poor or poverty level. 3) Racism and prejudice has existed in this country since its inception, and although difficult to establish statistically, this tangible characteristic has adversely affected the ab...
