The Impact of the Civil Rights Movement on Crime and Criminal Justice Essay

The Impact of the Civil Rights Movement on Crime and Criminal Justice - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that the workforce behind criminal justice is getting diverse in the American society. The social structure of the American society has a major impact on the relationships that exist between ethnicity, crime and race. The human rights movements and criminal justice system has portrayed the American society as one full of inequalities between economics, ethnicities and race. The main reasons for civil rights movements in America have been consistent poverty and minority myth associated with the poor. The criminal justice system has associated the crime rates with the poor societies in America. Mostly, the civil rights movement has been the root of issues on crime war. Civil rights movement in America has had an impact about the judgment of actions and magnitude of crimes. There has been the issue of crime war in the American society. Inequality is often associated with criminal activities. The differential association, social strains, cultur al conflict, routine activities and social disorganization are often associated with crime. The criminal justice system has often associated ethnic minorities and race to the poor with the highest rates of crime. In the 1880s the African –American community was associated with almost all crimes. If an African-American man was found committing a crime, he was sentenced to jail with out a jury present. No African –American could sit in the jury because they had no voting rights. Seats in the juries were for only those Americans who had voting rights. This meant that only the whites could seat on the jury because they were the only Americans with the voting rights. When an African-American was convicted of crime in the nineteenth and twentieth century, he could spend longer jail periods and do more work than the whites. In prisons, the African –American convicts could be leased to employers who would in turn pay the state for their labor. Many of the whites in the nineteenth century were never convicted for extrajudicial killings and lynching they performed on the African-Americans. However, during the uprising of civil movements in the nineteenth century, the criminal justice system changed significantly. The black community formed the American Civil Rights Movement of 1955-1964 that fought for equality and end to racism. The civil rights Act of 1964 saw the seating of African –Americans in the jury. Also the whites who committed crime were sentenced to jail depending on the magnitude of the crime. The civil rights movement in the American society was characterized by riots and disobedience. The civil rights movement used boycotts such as the bus boycott of Montgomery of 1956. The movement was also characterized by sit-ins aimed at ensuring the equality of all Americans in eyes of Justice. The civil rights movement had both positive and negative impact on the American society regarding crime. The civil rights movement has seen the improvement of American jails. The Congress, in response to the civil rights crusade enacted legislations that would eventually bring reforms within the American prisons. As a result, living standards within the American prisons have been improved and the prison system does not favor any citizen imprisoned. Stojkovic et al (363)notes that reforms in the prison department during the twentieth century was attributed to the civil rights movement .the changes were as a result of the civil society asking about the prison living conditions and the processes of jailing civilians. The civil rights movement has brought about major changes in criminal justice process and systems. The civil rights activists have often questioned whether the criminal justice system in is capable of restoring social order, maintain law and order and rehabilitate and control offenders with out discrimination. Innovations have been integrated in the criminal justice in the twentieth century due to challenges from the civil society. In 1967, the National