Higher Percentage of Minority Inmates - 1696 Words

Nichelle McClain Prof. Shaner GSW 1110 15 November 2010 Higher Percentage of Minority Inmates There are over millions of people incarcerated but African Americans and Latinos make up most of the prison population. To attempt to stop certain problems, the criminal justice system just put people behind bars and expects that everything will be fine, when in reality it isn’t because now the jails are becoming overcrowded. Dealing with the drug war, racial profiling, and people growing up in low-income neighborhoods and high-poverty rates, minorities have a higher inmate ratio but the drug war is the greatest cause of why the minority inmate ratio is so high. Since the year 1980 the numbers for incarcerated minorities has been staggering but†¦show more content†¦According to the American Civil Liberties Union, â€Å"African Americans make up an estimated 15% of drug users, but they account for 37% of those arrested on drug charges, 59% of those convicted and 74% of all drug offenders sentenced to prison.† These statistic s show that minorities, especially African Americans have to pay the price, using their lives by going to jail or prison. Other races are just as guilty with the drug war but minorities are targeted more than the other races. The main cause to why there is a higher minority inmate ratio in jails and prisons is the war on drugs. But because of the war on drugs the police unfairly target minorities in the low income and high poverty neighborhoods. The police believe that most drugs are sold on the streets of these neighborhoods so they use a proactive policing system to find someone that is selling drugs. Most police racial profiling is done in the high poverty and low-income neighborhoods. Drug Policy also states, â€Å"Racial profiling, street sweeps, buy and bust operations and other police activities have targeted people in street level retail drug transactions in low-income communities of color.† Minorities and white drug offenders seem to get different sentences, and different treatment from the criminal justice system. AccordingShow MoreRelatedGender Issues in Corrections1439 Words   |  6 Pagesmanagers recognized four fundamental challenges: high staff turnover; the growing lack of white a pplicants in the job pool; the lack of treatment-oriented officers; and minority inmate demands that the correctional work force be diversified. The response to these challenges was a concerted effort to increase the number of women and minorities in corrections. 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