Black Males and the Criminal Justice System

Jason M. Williams, Steven Kniffley, Jason M. Williams, Steven Kniffley

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2019
• eBook ISBN: 9781315521992
• Topic: Scienze sociali
• Subtopic: Criminologia

Relying on a multidisciplinary framework of inquiry and critical perspective, this edited volume addresses the unique experiences of Black males within various stages of contact in the criminal justice system. It provides a comprehensive overview of the administration of justice, mental and physical health issues faced by Black males, and reintegration into society after system involvement.

Recent events—including but by no means limited to the shootings of unarmed Black men by police in Ferguson, Missouri; Baltimore; Minneapolis; and Chicago—have highlighted the disproportionate likelihood of young Black males to encounter the criminal justice system. Black Males and the Criminal Justice System provides a theoretical and empirical review of the need for an intersectional understanding of Black male experiences and outcomes within the criminal justice system. The intersectional approach, which posits that outcomes of societal experiences are determined by the way the interconnected identities of individuals are perceived and responded to by others, is key to recognizing the various forms of oppression that Black males experience, and the impact these experiences have on them and their families.

This book is intended for students and scholars in criminology, criminal justice, sociology, race/ethnic studies, legal studies, psychology, and African American Studies, and will serve as a reference for researchers who wish to utilize a progressive theoretical approach to study social control, policing, and the criminal justice system.

1

LAYING THE FOUNDATION OF PUNISHMENT AGAINST BLACK MALES

Liza Chowdhury and Rashanna Butler

Introduction

In 2016, the case of Brock Turner made headlines around the country because it furthered the argument about the disparity of punishment that continues to over incarcerate and disenfranchise black men. Brock Turner, a white male, was convicted of three counts of sexual assault and, despite compelling evidence and a heartfelt letter from the victim, sentencing Judge Aaron Persky decided to administer a lenient sentence. According to the Atlantic, in Judge Persky’s dissent, he mentioned that a prison sentence would have “a severe impact” and “adverse collateral consequences” on Turner. Judge Persky accurately acknowledged the consequences of incarceration and the difficulties a person faces once they fall within the web of the criminal justice system. However, historically, this country has not afforded black men the same form of empathy.

Black men continue to be overrepresented in the prison system (Kilgore, 2015). The punitive nature of the criminal justice system has had an extremely negative impact on the economic and political growth of African American men since the abolition of slavery. The collateral damage of mass incarceration often found in the lives of African American men has included loss of voting power, lack of economic stability, and estrangement from their families. In addition, individual damage involves a depreciation of earning potential (Roberts, 2004), health issues (Morehart, 2014), homelessness (Smith & Hattery, 2010)b being stamped with stigmatizing labels (Besemer, Farrington, & Bijleveld, 2017). Black men have suffered the demoralization and extreme punishment inflicted by the never-ending surveillance of the criminal justice system. At every stage of the criminal justice system, they are more likely to face different outcomes from those of their White male counterparts. This chapter will highlight the history of punishment towards black men that has led to our current mass incarceration system. It will also explain disparate punishment outcomes black men face at various stages of the criminal justice system.

The Foundation of Mass Incarceration: The Racist Legacy of Slavery

The carceral state of African American men is deeply rooted in American history. The United States has a racist legacy in the treatment of black men that has continued to punish them since the beginning of this country (Wacquant, 2001). Even the writers of the constitution were slave owners. While they were writing about the importance of equality and freedom for all, their disregard for the humanity of African American men allowed the institution of slavery to continue.

The Transatlantic Slave Trade forced the relocation of millions of Africans to Great Britain, the United States, and the Caribbean. Freedoms sought by the early European settlers who had fled to America were denied to enslaved, disenfranchised Black men. According to Eltis (2001), approximately 12 million or more Africans endured the process of the slave trade over a 300-year period. They endured treatments that were cruel and dehumanizing, and included physical, sexual, and psychological torture. They were reduced to property, which allowed the continued persecution of black men. From 1619 to 1865 plantations served as the core of the economy due to free fixed labor (Tonry, 2011). In 1865, the 13th Amendment abolished slavery. The abolition of slavery may have served as a legal victory, but the culture of racial discrimination allowed the criminal justice system to continue the disproportionate punishment of Black men.

The punitive attitude towards Black men did not end after the institution of slavery was dismantled. Several racially motivated legal policies were enacted during the Jim Crow era. From 1865 to 1965 the Southern economy suffered from the abolition of slavery (Alexander, 2012). Following the Civil War, the South needed a labor force to continue to man plantations. Simultaneously, laws were enforced for petty crimes such as vagrancy and loitering. Punishment towards black men was memorialized by the implementation of Black Codes. The codes stated that Blacks and biracial people had to have written proof of their employment; anyone without this proof was arrested and charged with vagrancy (Blackman, 2008). The newly freed slaves were greatly impacted by these laws.

Throughout this time, convict leasing began. Private organizations and people could lease convict labor, which in turn helped to rebuild the Southern economy (Blackman, 2008). The black men who were free from slavery were now forced into a punishment system that was designed to continue to disenfranchise them. Several states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, utilized inmate labor to build railroads and perform other labor-intensive tasks. The plantations that were once farmed by slaves were farmed by the penal system. In some instances, due to the label of ‘criminal’, black male prisoners were more exploited than the slaves were, because they were no longer viewed as property; their new label allowed the criminal justice system to punish them because they were convicts. Documented accounts of their conditions during this period note that many black men were killed by diseases such as pneumonia and they were regularly buried near their work sites (Blackman, 2008).

Subsequently, Jim Crow Laws also went into effect. These laws governed how African American men conducted their everyday lives. Each of the Jim Crow Laws was based on race. Black men were forced to have separate schools, hospitals, bathrooms, fountains, trains, and a host of other things (Tonry, 2011). Some years later the Black Codes and Jim Crow Laws were abolished, and civil rights legislation worked to enhance the freedom and protections of black men. However, the disparity in punishment outcomes continued for these men. Even today, the racist legacy of slavery permeates prison populations throughout the country. However, the most telling images are found in the South, where large populations of black men are still farming for prison plantations such as Angola prison in Louisiana (Browne, 2007).

Civil Rights Era

The civil rights movement marked several historical achievements towards policies for African American men (Andrews & Gaby, 2015; Alexander, 2012). The movement emerged during the 1960s, and lasted throughout the 1970s. Notable triumphs of the movement were the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Affirmative Action, and Brown vs. Board of Education. During this historical era there were several victories, but incarceration continued to affect Black men. From 1961 to 1963 thousands of black men were still being taken into custody (Alexander, 2012). Civil rights activists had to take action to force Southern states to integrate schools, have equal access to housing and employment, and exercise the right to vote. Protesting was a common method of civil disobedience. Southern officials utilized the criminal justice system to suppress protests and criminalize the civil rights movement (Alexander, 2012). Despite the social movements demanding equality and justice for all, Black men were still being over policed and over punished while fighting for dignity. The Black male leaders of the time such as Martin Luther King Jr. were also victims of the punishment imposed by the criminal justice system.

The War on Drugs, Mass Incarceration, and Black Men

Despite the reforms made during the civil rights movement, the politicization of crime created new obstacles for black men (Kilgore, 2015). During the 1970s, the prison population began to increase due to a heightened concern about crime. Three movements contributed to the increased imprisonment of black men. The first was the War on Crime, which was originated in the 1970s by President Richard Nixon. Part of his political campaign was to get tough on crime and he did so by naming drug abuse “public enemy number one” (Niesen, 2011). He also claimed that, despite expert-medical evidence to the contrary, marijuana was a gateway drug on a mission to invade white, middle-class America (Cummings, 2012). Nixon and his administration sought to prove there was a causal relationship between drugs and violent crimes. However, this theory lacked the proof to substantiate it. There was a stronger link between drugs and theft, and the numbers for this crime were over reported to the media (Niesen, 2011). Richard Nixon implemented this “war” to address drugs, violence, and political dissent in America (Rivers, 2014). The War on Crime birthed the Rockefeller Laws in 1973. The Rockefeller Laws of New York State reduced plea bargaining and implemented mandatory lengthy prison sentences for certain drug crimes. An additional example of a drug law enacted during the 1970s was the most severe marijuana law in US history: those guilty of selling or trafficking marijuana could be imprisoned for a decade and the homes of smokers or their parents’ homes could be confiscated. These policies seemed race neutral, but black men continued to be overrepresented within the prison system because of these practices.

Although President Nixon initiated the heightened concern about crime, in 1980 the war on drugs became America’s number one problem. The 1980 presidential election of Ronald Regan intensified the War on Drugs. Regan promised that the government would get tougher and take offensive measures, and that the police would attack the problem ferociously (Donziger, 1996). Regan’s administration began The War on Drugs in earnest in the 1980s, in response to a perceived crack epidemic. The policies and enforcement practices of this new ‘war’ gravely impacted black communities. This was due to a combination of high unemployment rates (resulting from neoliberal economic policies) and the introduction of a booming underground drug economy, which forced many young African American men to live in conditions of dire poverty and participate in drug distribution (Rios, 2011). Black men were targeted by law enforcement as a result. The war on drugs had racial implications and, by playing to the fears of America, black men became synonymous with crack, gangs, and violence (Alexander, 2012). Congress passed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act I of 1986, which took the sentencing practices of the Rockefeller Laws and applied them to the entire country (Rivers, 2014). The act created the Office of National Drug Control Policy, whose goal was to establish policies, priorities, and objectives to eradicate illicit drug use, manufacturing, and trafficking; drug-related crime and violence; and drug-related health consequences in the US (Lafare, 2009).

The Persistent Offender Accountability Act was passed in 1993 in Washington State. Washington was the first state to pass the three strikes laws; after being convicted of three offenses, the offender receives a life sentence (Washington’s Three Strikes Law: Public Safety and Cost Implications of Life Without Parole, 2011). Over 20 states had implemented similar directives by 1996. The prison population grew immensely. Texas, California, and Florida combined had over 400,000 people incarcerated (Rivers, 2014). These laws fueled the overcrowding of prisons. The Anti-Drug Abuse Act created the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP).

Conservatives such as President Nixon and President Regan increased expenditures on crime control; however, liberals also added to the growth in the prison population. President Bill Clinton endorsed the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act in 1994. The laws called for sentences that ranged from 20 years to life for certain drug offenses and the death penalty for those who committed murder while purchasing drugs (2009). Several agencies received budget increases to aide in controlling drugs, and to treat or punish drug offenders. The agencies include the departments of State, Defense, Justice, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Veterans Affairs, and Education.

During Clinton’s presidency, Republicans controlled the house and senate. They were not in favor of crime prevention initiatives and instead wanted harsher prison sentences and more prisons (Palmiotto, 1998). The Republicans supported the Crime Control model, which requires that police arrest more, that criminals are tried and convicted quickly, and that criminals are imprisoned for longer terms (Palmiotto, 1998). Subsequently, the 1994 Crime Law aimed to increase the number of police, and thus Title I of the act provided federal incentives for those hiring more officers. Title II provided money for states to build and expand correctional facilities. Also, states were required to use truth in sentencing laws to receive federal funding. These sentencing laws stated that all violent offenders, including juveniles, would serve a majority of their sentences (Palmiotto, 1998). The triumphs of the civil rights movement to expand the rights of Black men were trumped by the several harsh and rigid policies enacted for the next 30 years after the movement. Race neutral language did nothing to prevent the over policing, over incarceration, and further punishment of Black men (Alexander, 2012). Instead of the empathetic dialogue that currently occurs in our country when discussing the opioid crisis, the crack epidemic was governed by law and order, and created chaos in the lives of Black men who needed social services and economic growth.

The Collateral Consequences of Punishment for Black Men

From the abolition of slavery to present times there has been a strong interaction between the criminal justice system and black men. This has led to several collateral consequences for African American men in the US. The consequences of punishment for black men do not end with incarceration. The punishments extend into all facets of their lives, even after their immediate interaction with a criminal justice system that continues to inhibit their social mobility.

Disenfranchisement

Punishment by mass incarceration is a business that profits politically and financially (Wagner & Rabuy, 2017). Politically, the states who house prisons have more political power because they appear to have more residents due to their prison population, thus creating the term “prison-based gerrymandering” (Rivers, 2014). Disenfranchisement selectively affects African American men due to the high rates of criminal justice interaction with this demographic. Rivers (2014) notes that, once convicted, over 30 states prohibit parolees or probationers to vote and four states permanently disenfranchise voting for felons. In 2004 alone, over 5 million felons were disfranchised; it can be concluded from preceding trends that this number has only increased (Smith, 2012). Millions of black men have lost their right to vote as a direct result of their interaction with the criminal justice system. Prison-based gerrymandering is the practice of counting inmates as residents in the prisons in which they are located. This practice occurs on both a state and local level. There are two major dilemmas posed by gerrymandering. First, most prisons boost population numbers in primarily white areas. Second, the community from which the incarcerated originates is being cheated politically by a reduction in its population. This inflation does not benefit the ex-offender in any way (Rivers, 2014). The offender has inadvertently taken political power away from their own community and added it to a community from which they will not profit. The politicians in the “prison states” are not concerned with the wants or needs of the prison population constituents, even though their appointment may be directly related to inmates. The disenfranchisement of black men is utilized as a mechanism to suppress their social mobility and mute their political power (Schaefer B...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• List of Contributors
• Introduction
• Acknowledgments
• 1. Laying the Foundation of Punishment Against Black Males
• 2. Black Males and their Experiences with Policing Under the “Iconic Ghetto” in Ferguson, Missouri
• 3. From Savages to Super-Predators: Race, Lynching, and the Persistence of Colonial Violence
• 4. Perceptions of Black Male Disproportionality in the Criminal Justice System
• 5. Black Males and Courts
• 6. Prison Health and Black Males
• 7. Black Male Mental Health and Prison
• 8. Failures of Reintegration and the Return to Prison
• 9. Racial Politics and Policies of Reentry
• 10. Institutionalized Mental Trauma and Generational Transmission
• Index