Exam 9: Racism and the Criminal Justice System

Is it correct to state that the United States' incarceration rate is higher than it was in the 1970s because the crime rate has increased over the past four decades? Why or why not?

The enormous investment in our prison industrial complex, combined with the perceived political benefits of crime control, have led to policies which ensure that more people are sentenced to prison, thereby creating the need for more prison beds. In this way, the prison industrial complex can be likened to a:

Whites make up a disproportionate amount of the nation's prison population.

W. B. DuBois likened the prison system to:

Social scientists have discovered that states with higher increases in incarceration do not experience significant declines in their crime rates. Identify and discuss two pieces of evidence that crime rates are not reduced by incarcerating more people. Why does the United States continue to use the tactic of mass incarceration, despite evidence that it is ineffective?

Nonviolent offenders are the fastest-growing segment of the prison population.

Although fewer African Americans are convicted of drug felonies than Whites, more African Americans are admitted to prison. Explain this sentencing disparity.

Describe the typical punishment for a first-time drug offense in the United States. How does this punishment compare to that of most other developed countries?

John Lamberth's investigation of police stops on the New Jersey turnpike provided convincing evidence of what discriminatory practice?

Which groups has experienced the greatest financial benefits of mass incarceration in recent years?

How might you argue that the 1984 Crime Control Act, the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, and the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 reveal how racial ideology shapes the War on Drugs?

_______ was a set of economic policies that involved heavy cuts to a wide variety of social programs across the country.

In Florida, illegal possession of the painkiller hydrocodone leads to a twenty-five-year mandatory minimum sentence.

What accounts for much of the disparity between the incarceration rate of the United States and those of other countries?

Identify and discuss two ways in which mass incarceration negatively impacts prisoners' families. How do these negative impacts deepen racial inequality?

Nick does not believe in government social assistance. He believes that the state should not intervene to help the poor, and instead their needs should be left to market devices. Nick's beliefs are representative of which ideology?

Our criminal justice system systematically denies rights and opportunities to African Americans, effectively replacing openly racist policies of the past.

Who tends to be disproportionately racially profiled for traffic stops and stop-and-frisks on street corners?

Marie is a Latina single mother from Florida who was given a minimum sentence of 25 years for illegal possession of hydrocodone. Marie's mother, who is disabled, will have to take care of Marie's children. This scenario demonstrates how: