Racial Disparity in Sentencing Juvenile Drug Offenders
In this proposal for a literature review, the author will rely on a host of theoretical and empirical research in order to explore the validity of the following hypothesis:
Racial disparity among juvenile drug offenders with respect to sentencing exists within the juvenile justice system in the United States.
The literature review will convey a host of theoretical and empirical research in order to examine the validity of the above hypothesis. The literature review will be culled from a variety of sociology, psychology, criminology, and justice system research and studies. An extended review will encompass more of what follows:
According to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights’ The Sentencing Project, a policy repot on minorities and the Criminal Justice System, one in three African American males who range in age from 20-29 are under criminal justice supervision at any given time (Mauer and Huling, 1995, 1). In other words, 32.2% of young African American males are either incarcerated, on probation or parole (Mauer, et al, 1995, 1).
Yet these numbers appear disproportionate if we look at the numbers of black male drug users in comparison to arrests, convictions, and sentencing. African American males represent only 13% of monthly drug users, but they constitute 35% of arrests for drug possession, 55% of convictions and 74% of prison sentences (Mauer, et al, 1995, 1). These statistics suggest that racial disparity in sentencing drug offenders does exist in the contemporary American criminal justice system.
higher crime rates among the poor, who are disproportionately minorities;
inequitable access to resources for legal assistance;
Legislative initiatives in sentencing policy; and
overt bias among criminal justice decision-makers (such as racial p
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