Disparity and Discrimination

DISPARITY AND DISCRIMINATION

UNIVERSITY OF PHOENIX, COLORADO DIVISION

LONTREE CAMPUS

KIM SETCHFIELD

CJA 420

ROBERT WELTZER

DATE DUE: JUNE 15, 2005

DATE SUBMITTED: JUNE 15, 2005

According to Webster's Dictionary, the proper definition for discrimination is as follows:

1 a : the act of discriminating b : the process by which two stimuli differing in some aspect are responded to differently

2 : the quality or power of finely distinguishing

3 a : the act, practice, or an instance of discriminating categorically rather than individually b : prejudiced or prejudicial outlook, action, or treatment (Webster's dictionary).

Discrimination has been around for centuries and even though there have been improvements in the way society deals with discrimination, we still have a long way to go. One of the biggest problems in America today is racial discrimination. We see it happening all over the world and also we see how it affects our criminal justice system. For example, there have been many problems with police officers using racial profiling with mostly people of African American and Mexican decent. Police officers do pull over minorities more than they would if the person was white. Even though the minority races have a higher criminal rate compared to the white community, we should not be labeled automatically without reason or just cause. And we should not be treated any differently when you are comparing the two.

Another example of discrimination is what can happen in our court systems. For example, minorities may not be able to provide for a good lawyer, which leaves them to a public defender and in most cases, they end up pleading guilty because they do not have any other options. A non-minority would be more likely be able to afford a good lawyer and have the charges be dismissed.

Another example would be is the bail might be set higher compared to a non minority, just because the person is a minority and the judge may assume as though this person is a threat just by the way he or she looks.

In the prison population, you see how discrimination can affect everyday life in the facility. You have different groups within the prison and each one of them discriminating against the other. You may have the skinheads in one corner, the Mexicans in another, the hardcore African Americans, and then the Asians, all in their group and each one of them hating on each other. You can also see this outside of the prison walls, but the majority of Americans do not share those kinds of views.

The United States has made progress in the legal system to try and stop discrimination. For instance, we have laws protecting people against discrimination. For example, you cannot be fired from a job just because of you skin color or your disability, and they have set up hate crime laws especially for crimes dealing with elements of discrimination. Although, the fight we are having now is the discrimination against homosexuals and lesbians. Our society has yet to conform or accept this kind of lifestyle, therefore; discrimination is still very prevalent when it comes to dealing with the homosexual and lesbian community.

According to Webster's Dictionary, the proper definition for disparity