Should the severity of sentences by determined by ones ethnicity?
No, but it happens all the time. The severity of a sentence should be determined by a specific set of criteria. As it stands now, certain judges will sentence certain types of people more harshly than others to make a point. For example, white cops are punished more harshly when the media is involved, so as to avoid the appearance of racism or favoritism. Makes no sense if you ask me, but no one does! Well unless you count Yahoo! Answers. xD Too often it is left up to the judge or jury to decide whether a defendant is worthy of mercy, so two people who commit the same crime for the same reasons will be punished differently, sometimes to the extreme. I’ve seen people get community service for a crime that land others 5-10 years in prison.
