Is the criminal justice system discriminatory?
The realities of the two groups lead to vastly different perceptions of this topic. African Americans interact with the criminal justice system at a rate far greater than their percentage in the population. Although blacks account for less than 13% of the population, they constitute almost half of all those incarcerated. The Department of Justice has calculated that over a quarter of all adult black males are likely to be in prison at some point in their lives. They are far more likely to be victims of serious violent crime and homicide. Studies have shown that police regularly use a person’s race in detaining individuals who they suspect may be engaging in suspicious activity. This practice is widely known as “racial profiling”. Critics of racial profiling often portray it as a practice under which police stop, question and search persons solely on the basis of their race. Those who justify the practice indicate that in actuality, race is typically not the only indicator of suspicious
