Krista Williams November 7,2012 4th period Racial Profiling vs. Criminal Profiling Justice is said to be blind, at least that is what the Supreme Court says. But in many instances, it has caused others to think differently. The scale on which justice is weighed has been corrupted from the inside and has caused this great controversial issue to rise. That issue is racial profiling and its implementation in police investigations and court systems. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, racial profiling is defined as the discriminatory practice by law enforcement officials of targeting individuals for suspicion of crime based on the individual’s race alone. It is something that has been used and is continuously used as a crutch for people to get their “so-called” justice they think they deserve. But many of these same people fail to understand that racial profiling is different from criminal profiling. Criminal profiling is defined as a reliance on a group of characteristics that they believe to be associated with a specific crime. Yes race is involved, but it is not the only factor contributed.…
Introduction In America, police targeting black people for excessive and unwarranted search and seizure is a practice older than the Republic itself. Ethnicity and stop and frisk laws have called for the attention of the courts to determine whether it is an abuse of power and whether minorities are the majority when pertaining to stop and frisk laws. This research will focus on the effects ethnicity has on stop and frisks laws.…
Racial Profiling: A Modern Day Epidemic Did you know that an appalling, unconstitutional and pernicious attack happens continuously in today’s society against innocent citizens and nobody does anything about it? This practice is called racial profiling. Mr. Bob Herbert, a journalist for the New York Times, discusses this in his article, “Hounding the Innocent”. This article is an insightful and informative. He informs his readers about many actual situations of innocent citizens becoming victims of this cruel practice. Mr. Herbert is correct, racial profiling is unnecessary and hurtful or is sickening and should not even exist. Racial profiling is the practice of using one’s skin color as evidence for grounds of suspicion. How can one say that this practice is fair? Racial profiling should be eliminated; it is insensitive, unconstitutional and has a detrimental effect on society.…
The first stage of the judicial system is the arrest made by an officer. Police are given an incredible amount of discretion to use that leads to bias and racial profiling. According to Paul Bou-Habib in his article “Racial Profiling and Background Injustice”, he states, “The main reason in favor of using racial profiling in the context of criminal investigation is that I can increase the chance of catching criminals” (para. 2). A key factor in the imbalance of the arrests on minorities in comparison to whites is that they commit more crimes at higher rates. In the article, “The Correlates of Law Enforcement Officers’ Automatic and Controlled-Race Based Responses to Criminal Suspects” by B. Michelle Peruche & E. Ashby Plant (2006) suggests that:…
Dylan White Professor Kerley Govt. 2305 23 November 2013 Racial Profiling In the United States, ‘The land of the Free’, racial profiling of minority groups seems all too common. Many Americans believe that law enforcement as well as many other people often discriminates on minority groups simply because of their color of their skin. Civil rights activist and many leaders of minority groups are pressuring Enforcement agencies to eliminate racial and ethnic profiling during traffic stops and supposed random pedestrian stops. However, many law enforcement representatives claim that the complaints about these activities are overstated and are simply in the heads of the accusers. As a nation with a history of racial slavery and racial segregation, particularly towards any group that is not Anglo-American or fair skinned, African-Americans have long complained of racial profiling. Although racial slavery has been over for over one hundred years, and segregation that ended over fifty years ago, there is still tension between many people over race. Hispanics and Muslims are two other ethnic groups that feel the racial profiling, often being suspected of being terrorists or being illegal immigrants.…
Carla Watts Professor Huttner- Eng 101 Research Paper 03/27/2012 Racial Profiling Racial Profiling exists in today’s society. It has become a serious issue within communities. Racial Profiling can be defined as the practice of subjecting citizens to increased surveillance or scrutiny based on racial or ethnic factors rather than “reasonable suspicion”. Over the years, police and other law enforcement officials have come under fire for using this practice. The issue of racial profiling is determining whether it helps with preventing crime or does it just violate citizens and their rights. Despite what officials may think racial profiling doesn’t help fight crime it only contributes to the racial tension among police and citizens. It creates inequality for certain citizens.…
An incident in Oklahoma also proves that racial profiling is indeed active in the United States. Herbert’s story of Sergeant Gerald and his son’s encounter with racial profiling shows how degrading this act can be. Sergeant Gerald was ordered out of his car and handcuffed before the police started dismantling parts of his car. This implies that racial profiling is displayed all over the country. Law enforcement now has a terrifying image from the views of Hispanics and blacks. These actions must be reported to restore order to the country’s police force.…
Knowles, John, Nicola Persico, and Petra Todd Pickerill, J. Mitchell, Clayton Moshur, and Travis Pratt. "Search and Seizure, Racial Profiling, and Traffic Stops: A Disparate Impact Framework." Law & Policy 31.1 (2009): 6-12. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 28 Mar. 2011.…
The majority of society believes that racial profiling does not exist, yet it does. Racial profiling creates the psychological assumption that all minorities will most likely engage in criminal activity, whether it is intentional or unintentional. This form of criminal action is illegal and is a transparent form of racism. Racial profiling is a severe problem in today’s society, whether it is in the U.S or in other countries. This sort of action is not based on one category. It can be based on race, gender, appearance, religion, etc. Racial profiling and the inability to protect to the minority society has prevented the minorities from trusting the law enforcement. According to Ramirez (2000), racial profiling is defined as any police action…
Racial Profiling, we see it, hear it, and experience it, all because of our skin color, ethnicity or simply because of our names. All throughout the country, millions experience racial profiling whether it’s in a school, a restaurant, their neighborhood, or in jail. Racial Profiling has destroyed the public trust in not only police officers but from everyone around them as well. Listening to movements based on the killings due to being a certain race and learning from the death of Eric Garner and the series of deaths of others, concludes that two issues need to be solved: racial profiling and police…
A police officer’s decision to stop and interrogate a person of a racial or ethnic group is the key factor of racial profiling. However, why are African Americans males the number one target of this ever-escalating issue? Do African American males hold the most criminal record among police statistics and/or the United States Census Bureau or does it have to do with the vehicle they drive, the color of their skin, the amount of occupants in their vehicle, or the traffic violation committed? To determine why there are many controversial issues concerning African American males and racial profiling, we are going to look at racial profiling by police officers; examine the study, research, and statistics behind racial profiling; and how racial profiling affects male African Americans.…
Racial profiling is a very widespread topic. Racial profiling is beginning to spread across the United States and many other countries as if a fire spread in a forest. It is important for us to understand that racial profiling is impractical and hurtful to the persons targeted. It is also important for people to recognize that racial profiling puts fear into people’s hearts and that can have an emotional impact on the way people think, act and even their character. Racial Profiling should be a exercise that should be ended in all places including the court system and law enforcement. One can come up with several illustrations declaring its advantages and disadvantages. Although racial profiling can be useful in certain cases it is incorrect…
When officers investigate crimes being committed, they try to lessen their suspect pool by using racial profiling. The controversy over whether if that should be allowed is based on the more broad or narrow definitions, the narrow definition of racial profiling is any police action such as an arrest, search, contact, or detention which was solely based on the person’s ethnicity/ race rather than on the individual’s behavior. But the broader definition of racial profiling states that race/ ethnicity are just two of many elements used when determining who to detain, question, arrest or…
Weatherspoon, Floyd . "Racial Profiling of African-American Males: Stopped, Searched, and Stripped of Constitutional Protection." Race, Racism, and Law. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar 2013. <http://racism.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1472:constitutional-protection&catid=130&Itemid=241&showall=1&limitstart=…
As Dr. Brian Williams began his speech I didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t even plan on going until 15 minutes before a group of us left for the BSC. As I sat in the rows of chairs I wondered to myself how a man who became a doctor had experienced racial injustice. Most doctors stem from wealthy families who have the luxury of good schools to attend. But, as Dr. Williams discussed all his stories of racist comment, or actions I was astounded. I’m sure he could have continued with these types of stories for quite some time too. One story stood out to me though. He was going to play baseball one day on an old field with other kids after school. As soon as he got there one of the kids told him to leave because “they weren’t letting any niggers…