Racism: The Crime in Criminal Justice

This article examines the question of whether racial disparities in the U.S. criminal justice system are merely the bad implementation of what would otherwise be a good system, or are an inherent part, and even possibly the intended result, of our state and federal criminal justice policies. After an examination of numerous statistics that show significant racial disparities in the workings of the U.S. criminal justice system, the author surveys the writings of other academic commentators who have concluded that, yes, such disparities are an intended result.