Racial Issues in Criminal Justice: The Case of African Americans

by Marvin D. Free

Overview

Almost a third of all African American men in their twenties in the United States are in jail or prison, or on probation or parole. African Americans, who comprise approximately 13% of the general population, make up about half of the prison population. Between 1980 and 2000, 38 states added more African American men to their prison systems than were added to their respective systems of higher education. However, these statistics fail to tell the entire story. To understand how the dynamics of disproportionate minority confinement came to exist, one must examine the historical and cultural antecedents that affected (and continue to affect) this group. Examining proposed solutions and providing alternative perspectives, this volume addresses the overrepresentation of African Americans in the criminal justice system by critically examining the significance of race in American society and criminal justice responses to crime and African Americans.

Offering a critical examination of the issues, this collection begins with a discussion of the marginalization of African Americans in the academic discipline of criminal justice and in the larger society, an assessment of the impact of the legacy of slavery on private prisons and mass imprisonment, and an empirical examination of the depiction of African Americans in prime-time television crime programs. Part II looks at racial profiling, the underrepresentation of African Americans in hate crime victimization research, the impact of race on presentencing, the trend toward trying juveniles in adult court, and the discriminatory treatment of African Americans in capital-eligible cases. Finally, Part III discusses the impact of African American police officers on the profession, analyzes black juror nullification, proposes an increase in the presence of African American jurors, and assesses the potential ameliorative impact of restorative justice on the current racial imbalance in the criminal justice system.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780275975623
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	09/30/2003
Series:	Criminal Justice, Delinquency, and Corrections
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.69(d)

About the Author

Marvin D. Free Jr. is associate professor of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin, Whitewater. He has published extensively in jourbanals such as Critical Criminology, Jourbanal of Black Studies, Deviant Behavior, Youth & Society, Contemporary Justice Review, and the Encyclopedia of Violence, Peace, and Conflict. He is also the author of African Americans and the Criminal Justice System, and the coauthor of Crime, Justice, and Society: Criminology and the Sociological Imagination.

Table of Contents

Series Foreword
Preface
Race and Criminal Justice in the United States: Some Introductory Remarks by Marvin D. Free, Jr.
The Significance of Race in American Society: Past and Present
Marginalization and Racial Stratification in the Academic Discipline of Criminal Justice by Robert Engvall
Slavery's Legacy? Private Prisons and Mass Imprisonment by Michael A Hallett
The Color of Prime-Time Justice: Racial Characteristics of Television Offenders and Victims by Sarah Eschholz
Criminal Justice Responses to Crime and African Americans
Picasso as a Criminologist: The Abstract Art of Racial Profiling by Michael J. Lynch and Amie M. Schuck
"Driving While Black": Corollary Phenomena and Collateral Consequences by Katheryn K. Russell
A Critical Examination of Hate Crime Scholarship and the Underrepresentation of African Americans in Victimization Research by Bryan D. Byers, Paul J. Becker, and Kelly J. Opiola
Race and Presentencing Decisions: The Cost of Being African American by Marvin D. Free, Jr.
Trying Juveniles as Adults: A Case of Racial and Ethnic Bias? by Becky Tatum
The Racist Application of Capital Ppunishment to African Americans by David V. Baker
Seeking Solutions
Do African American Police Make a Difference by Helen Taylor Greene
The Myth of Black Juror Nullification: Racism Dressed Up in Jurisprudential Clothing by Elissa Krauss and Martha Schulman
Embracing Affirmative Jury Selection for Racial Fairness by Hiroshi Fukurai
How "Restorataive" is Restorative Justice? An Oppression Theory Critique by Robert Conners
Index

What People are Saying About This

Dr. Shaun L. Gabbidon

"This volume is a noteworthy addition to the race and crime literature. While many of the chosen topics have been discussed elsewhere, several of the chapters break new ground. Particularly illuminating are the chapters that cover: racial characteristics of television offenders and victims, racial profiling, race and presentencing decisions, the myth of black juror nullification, and the underrepresentation of African Americans in hate crime victimization research. Any serious student of race and crime should take the time to read this important collection."

Editorial Reviews

Early in the 21st century, race continues to be a disturbingly significant criminal justice variable. Free has brought together 14 articles by criminologists exploring the race variable as illustrated by the case of African Americans . . . this volume offers valuable information and insights bearing on one of the principal enduring challenges confronting the U.S. criminal justice system—addressing more successfully the long, pernicious legacy of racism. Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above.” —Choice

“It is important that the author does not just point out that race plays a pivotal part in the American criminal justice system, but he offers possible solutions toward making the criminal justice system live up to ideas of a race value-neutral system that guarantees fundamental fairness and justice for all Americans, specifically African Americans. . . . This book should give undergraduate students an overall understanding of racial issues in the criminal justice system that negatively affect African Americans.” —Criminal Justice Review

From the Publisher