Research Log #6

Date: 17 November 2017

Name: Bo Phelps
EQ: What flaws are in the criminal justice system?

Three Points to Prove: #1: There is a disproportionate number of minorities who are
incarcerated.
#2: There are flaws in evidence to put suspect in prison (eye witnesses,
fingerprints, illegally tampering with evidence ect.)
#3: Drug violations can get harsher/longer punishments than violent
crimes.
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Point that this Source/Information Proves: #1: There is a disproportionate number of
minorities who are incarcerated or even targeted by police.
Excerpts (These should provide insight into the designated Point to Prove):

“In typical violent cases, unfortunately, the perpetrators were more likely to be Black and
Hispanic”- Sherry Lipsky

“Qualitative data revealed that greater proportions of Black and Hispanic men perpetrated severe
physical, but not sexual violence, compared with White men”- Sherry Lipsky

“Significant differences by race/ethnicity were found only for simple assault charges, which
were coded as severe physical as opposed to minor physical IPV more often among Black (69%
and 31%) compared with White (62% and 38%) men”-Sherry Lipsky

“The disparities revealed in this study highlight the need to enhance primary and secondary
prevention efforts within Black and Hispanic communities and to increase linkages
between police, community, and public health organizations”-Sherry Lipsky

Analysis (How does this source support the Point to Prove?):

In domestic violence cases, African Americans and Hispanics are typically targeted by
police, but 31% of the time, they are found innocent. On the other hand, white people are only
targeted about 38% of the time but make up about 68% of the domestic abuse cases. This is
because people of color are typically initially targeted; however, after more thorough research,
white people are found guilty more frequently. Due to minorities making up about 69% of all
assault cases in the US, they are unfortunately stereotyped for all abuse cases including domestic
abuse. However, the majority of the time, white people are truly the ones who commit domestic
abuse. These statistics may be true, however, it is only a statistic and isn’t always accurate.
Although looking at the statistics of what race, nationality, or color of the people who typically
commit domestic abuse, the criminal justice system should avoid looking at the previous
numbers and begin to do more intensive research to understand the case instead of automatically
assuming it must be a white or black person.
Even though people typically tend to try and ignore the fact that there are racial and
stereotypical issues in the United States’ Criminal Justice System, there truly is. However, it is
the people’s job to try and step in to try to fix it. With the help and efforts from US citizens,
people can send in letters to try and influence the Criminal Justice System’s decision to alter
their decision making with legal cases. Stereotyping is never okay and the criminal justice
system should look at each case based on evidence and reference that person’s background.
However, the criminal justice system should still look into the case the same as usual no matter
who the person it is.
Work Cited (correct MLA format):

Lipsky, Sherry, et al. "Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Police-Reported Intimate Partner
Violence Perpetration: A
Mixed Methods Approach." Journal of Interpersonal Violence, vol. 27, no. 11, 01 July
2012, pp. 2144-2162. EBSCOhost,
search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ991899&site=eds-live.

I am assuming that this is a reputable and reliable article because it was published in USA
Today