Politics & Moral Panics: A Top-Quality Critical Thinking For Your Inspiration

The issue of moral panic is absolutely something that plagues the culture surrounding the contemporary criminal justice system. Judging from the ‘Superpredator’ scare of the 1990s, in which the media and criminal justice systems combined to create a moral panic over violent youth (often black) in the inner city, moral panics unfairly agitate the populace into making harsh decisions to address epidemics that may or may not truly exist to the extent they are being portrayed. While the video points out that the height of the super-predator scare has long past, its effects are still seen in things like the Trayvon Martin case (killed because he was a young black man in suspicious clothing) and others, where young men are presumed to be guilty of something, and those who take unfair action against them have this fear as a defense.
Moral panic can be seen in many contemporary examples surrounding this election cycle alone. The rising tide of coverage of mass shootings and terror attacks from ISIS members or sympathizers (the Orlando Pulse club shooting, the San Bernadino shooters, etc.) has led to an overall moral panic over issues of emigration, refugees and religion that this current election cycle has mined for tremendous fear in the American people. Media and public perception can have tremendous effects on the actions of the criminal justice system, from punishing Syrian refugees for perceived terrorist ties to possibly profiling Mexicans for rape and murder charges (given remarks made by presidential candidates this election cycle). It is extremely important for prosecutors and law enforcement agencies to educate the populace on the real state of a crisis, real or perceived, before letting it sweep into a moral panic. Furthermore, it is necessary to exercise caution and care in similar situations, and not allow this kind of fearmongering to inform policy and procedure.