PRISON DISCRIMINATION
The prison system within the American judicial system is tainted and full of discrimination. Various authors describe the value of human life by saying; race does not exist, but rather merely human beings (Gordon 1983; Wilson and Moore 2003). All humans are unique despite their social background, ethnic race as well as the language they speak. Therefore, this raises a question as to why is there is a social divide amongst humans, and why it continues to develop over the years. These questions are some, but a few of the overwhelming thoughts that both academic scholars and politicians have had a difficult time answering. Tragically, though, there has been a developing failure within society both historically and presently in being able to breakdown this social as well as ethnic barrier within the prison system. Such hindrances' have played a vital role in the continuous prison discrimination that is present within the American judicial system and its prisons up until the present day. Even though ‘race' is a challenging issue within the social build, and at the same time has no viable verification of the existence. The idea of racial segregation and difference still play a major role within society whether knowingly or unknowingly within our social world.
Recently there has been a growing curiosity in LFD laws that can be credited partly to the experiences taken from Florida. Due to Florida's deteriorating justice system, in accordance to the way the judicial system operates, has over the past election years managed to mobilize over 600,000 citizens while having convictions accumulating from varied voting experiences. Majority of these convictions consisted of African Americans (Wagner, 2001). An argument by Uggen and Manza (2002) showed that the results of the 2000 elections would have come out differently were it not for the events that occurred during the 2000 American elections. Due to events that took place during the 2000 elections whereby George W. Bush was declared as president, Florida's part in this instance has made it infamous due to the ruling made by the Supreme Court. This propelled campaigns before the elections in Florida by its state officials. Waged an estimated $4.3 million in order to eliminate Florida's felons from their voter rolls managed to assure them of victory (Palm Beach Post, 2001). A private company known as (DBT), hired by Florida's secretary of state -Katherine Harris, had the primary obligation of compiling an annual list of felons to compare voter rolls within the criminal database. This action by the state of Florida made it difficult for those having criminal backgrounds, or still serving their time, to participate in the elections. Consequently, this ensures that the minority did not get the chance to have a say in the elections despite their criminal background at the time.
Therefore, it can be said that criminals of a different race, sex and social, economic background have varying sentences, but his remains unconfirmed. In the past decades, these have been predominant questions in both the academic field and political one. In relation to the way, the judicial system within the American law system chooses to pass sentence towards its criminal felons. There is at least one case study while the early 1920's that show sentencing disparity. Even still further studies over the decades have tried to show the disparity within sentencing. Hence, this led to the introduction of "The Federal Guidelines" its main functions is to ensure credibility within the justice system as well as the elimination of unnecessary sentencing between its judges and the justice system.
The main obligation of this review is to establish the role of the judicial system and the role it should play in ensuring that criminals receive fair treatment. Therefore, with the aim of curbing racism not only within the prison but how it affects the society. Including what such guidelines would mean to the justice system and the society at large. Therefore being aware of the history of racism is a vital component that enables one to come up with a solution to eliminate racism from the prison system until it trickles down to the rest of society. Prison discrimination is not only a growing problem but is also a cause of the breakdown of society and its citizens. Therefore, it is important to understand what creates discrimination and the means to end the vice. This is only possible by showing the importance of sentencing guidelines, which help to ensure the elimination of unnecessary disparities within felony sentences, within the justice system.
Therefore, it would be right to say that racism is the cause of overarching within the social network and at the same time aims to encourage and reinforce racial inequality. Hence, it is vital to note that racism brings about inequality as well as being the basis of unequal opportunity for the young to develop and thrive within the society. This therefore makes it difficult for people having different backgrounds to develop and have a future in a society that is so tainted with discrimination. Taking, for example, individuals coming from historically marginalized groups may be termed unworthy or even uneducated than those from ‘more superior cultures’. Hence, it is evident that children from a specific community, and of the majority culture, may be allowed to maintain their established status within the society. Consequently, it can lead to acquiring privileges including better treatment and opportunities in the educational and social system of things. Hence, it can be said that ethnic injustice manifested as a group attitude about the position of different racial group within a given society.
In conclusion, it can be stated that it is important for society to deal with discrimination, which derived from the different social impacts and how one interacts with people of different social backgrounds and ethnicity. Discrimination does not help build the society but rather destroys it by slowly degrading the principles set out to govern us as well as the nation building processes. Dealing with discrimination, which derives from social amenities such as, racism both ethnic and social; is an example of how discrimination destroys the society. It is, therefore, important to instill principles among the future generations to appreciate each despite their background, race including educational level. The curbing of discrimination will thus contribute to a brighter future for society as well as a growing and developing society that thrives for success, growth, and nation building. The results, of such actions, provide a stable environment for people coming from ethnic, social, and educational background. Hence, creating an environment conducive for all cultures to mature as a society and no longer hindered by ethnic backgrounds.
REFERENCES
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Gorton, J., & Boies, J. L. (1999). “Sentencing guidelines and racial disparity across time: Pennsylvania prison sentences in 1977, 1983, 1992, and 1993”. Social Science Quarterly 80(1), 37-54.(University Of Texas Press).
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Schanzenbach, M., & Yaeger, M. L. (2006). “Prison time, fines, and Federal white-collar criminals: The anatomy of a racial disparity”. Journal of Criminal Law& Criminology, 96(2), 757-793.
Sennott, C., & Galliher, J. F. (2006). “Lifetime Felony disenfranchisement in Florida, Texas, and Iowa: symbolic and instrumental law”. Social Justice, 33(1), 79-94.
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