Differential Treatment Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Differential Treatment - Assignment Example One major way racial profiling prevail is during traffic stops and searches. In an argument by Pickerill, Mosher & Pratt (2009) racial and ethnic minority groups are stopped by traffic police more than other social groups. In instances where they are stopped, a police is likely to insist on searching the vehicle regardless of the safety of the situation (Pickerill, Mosher & Pratt, 2009). In addition, minority groups have the greatest number of traffic offenders. Pickerill, Mosher & Pratt (2009) assert that a person from a minority group is likely to serve a sentence of be fined for a criminal offence more than a person from a majority group. Frieburger, Marcum & Pierce (2010) point out that pretrial decisions in the justice systems are significantly influenced by differential treatment. The authors further point out that an African American is very unlikely to be favored for release by the pretrial judge (Frieburger, Marcum & Pierce, 2010). The setting of the bail for minority groups is significantly high thus minimizing their chances of being released. Most judges seem to conclude that a person from a minority group is guilty even before their trial. For people from majority groups, pretrial is more lenient and they are only considered as convicts after their trial (Frieburger, Marcum & Pierce, 2010). Over the years, guilty sentences have been passed on African Americans and Hispanics than any other social group (Hurwitz & Peffley, 2010). On some occasions, the sentencing may be just, but the trend creates an assumption that the influence of race is still significant in the justice system (Kamalu, Coulson-Clark & Kamalu, 2010). Members of the jury and the judge always have the misconception that a person from a minority group are guilty when presented for a legal process. To justify the argument, Ward, Farrell & Rousseau (2009) point out that increased representation of minority groups in the justice system