Punishing the "Model Minority": Asian-American criminal sentencing outcomes in federal district courts

In this article by Brain Johnson he investigates how Asian-Americans are treated in the justice system. In many states there is a racial bias towards white offenders meaning that they get off a little easier than black offenders and Hispanic offenders. Johnson wanted to see if Asian-American were treated the same as the other minority groups. What Johnson found was that Asian-Americans are punished more similarly to whites. Johnson believes that Hispanics and blacks get harsher punishments because or traditional racial conflicts.

Article: Punishing the "Model Minority": Asian-American criminal sentencing outcomes in federal district courts

Author: Brian Johnson

Source: Criminology. Nov2009, Vol. 47 Issue 4, p1045-1090. 46p. 7 Charts.

This was really different than others that i had read on the topic of racial bias in the justice system. Most article just mention harsher sentencings for hispanics and african american but this one shed some light on another large minority group. Im a firm believer that there shouldnt be racial bias in the courtroom but i was really surprised to find that asian-americans are almost treated equal to whites while hispanics and african americans are far from it.

The Failure of Race Neutral Policies: How Mandatory Terms and Sentencing Enhancements Contribute to Mass Racialized Incarceration

In this Article by Traci Schlesinger she talks about a study that looked at the effects of mandatory terms and sentencing enhancements on Black and White men’s state-level prison admission rates. Schlesinger found four major findings. First is that madatory terms and sentencing enhancements increased admissions amoung both white and black men. Secand is that this increased admissions of black men a lot more that in did white men. Third is that these policies effect those who cimitted violent crimes more than others that cimmited kesser crimes. and finally that mandatory terms increase admissions among black men that commit violent crimes. Schlesinger shows how racism still plays a part in todays society.

Article: The Failure of Race Neutral Policies: How Mandatory Terms and Sentencing Enhancements Contribute to Mass Racialized Incarceration
Author: Traci Schlesinger
Source: Crime & Delinquency. Jan2011, Vol. 57 Issue 1, p56-81. 26p.

Supreme Court Set to Hear Appeals on Life in Prison for Youths Who Never Killed

In this article by Adam Liptak he talks about how two cases in which the juveniles whom were sentenced to life in prison never killed anyone appealed to the Supreme Court. They claim that the Eighth Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment applies to them because the amendment says they shouldn't have to die in prison because they are juveniles. This is huge because at the time the article was written there were 100 people in the US that were sentenced to life in prison as juveniles and they could get their cases appealed.

Author: Adam Liptak
Article: Supreme Court Set to Hear Appeals on Life in Prison for Youths Who Never Killed
Source:New York Times 11/8/2009, p24, 0p

Sentencing disparities for juvenile offenders sentenced to adult prisons: An individual and contextual analysis

In this article the author, Jason Carmichael, discussed the differences between states that have laws that can sentence juveniles to criminal facilities. The main thing Carmichael looked at was the sentence length and what he found was very interesting. Even though there are certain factors that go into certain offenses the main thing Carmichael found was that in states where people are more conservative and republican controlled the sentencing were typically longer. Carmichael also found that in states where judges have to run in an election to get their seat usually give harsher sentences to minors where they typically end up in adult prisons. Carmichael concluded that the social and political climate of each state will help determine sentencing.

Article: Sentencing disparities for juvenile offenders sentenced to adult prisons: An individual and contextual analysis
Author: Jason Carmichael
source: Journal of Criminal Justice. Jul2010, Vol. 38 Issue 4, p747-757. 11p. 

I found this article extremely interesting. I personally believe that that nature of the crime should determine the sentencing and what Carmichael found out about the political climate and social climate playing a role in the decision in pretty interesting. My question is has anyone else noticed this trend?

Juvenile Transfer Laws

I was curious of what juvenile transfer really meant so I went to a government website where the laws are explained. If a juvenile commits a serious crime like murder then they will have a juvenile transfer into criminal court to be tried as an adult. That was just an example though, juveniles can be transferred for any crime, a capital crime(murder), ant violent crime, or certain crimes committed by juveniles with prior records. There are also three types of transfer laws which are legislative (automatic transfer), judicial transfer, and prosecutorial-discretionary. These laws make it so that not all juveniles who have a run in with the law go to criminal court, only those with special cases.

Source: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/220595.pdf

Applying Roper v. Simmons in Juvenile Transfer and Waiver Proceedings: A Legal and Neuroscientific Inquiry.

In this article by John Fabion he discusses the Roper vs Simmons supreme court case where the supreme court ruled the death penalty unconstitutional for juveniles. The courts reason for this is that juveniles lack maturity and therefore can be influenced easily by peers and cannot reason like an adult. The author, Fabion, then goes on to explain how the death penalty clashes with the original objective of juvenile court which is rehabilitation, so such punishments like the death penalty shouldn't apply to juvenile court because it contradicts its original function.
I had asked a couple questions about Juvenile sentencing earlier and this article directly applies. Juveniles whom get the death sentence usually get it for committing murders, just like adults. The alternative sentence would be juvenile transfer. 

Article:  Applying Roper v. Simmons in Juvenile Transfer and Waiver Proceedings: A Legal and Neuroscientific Inquiry. 
Author: John Fabion 
Source: International Journal of Offender Therapy & Comparative Criminology. Aug2011, Vol. 55 Issue 5, p732-755. 24p

Sentencing juveniles to life in prison without parol

In this article, the author Jeffrey Shook discusses how the tough laws on juveniles in the 80's and 90's increased the number in juveniles in adult prisons with harsh sentences like life without parole. Shook discusses how these new laws made it so juveniles will attend adult court and be sentenced like adults which takes the power out of the judges hands to decide the minors sentence. The prosecutors get to decide instead and most juveniles are sentenced to adult prison because of this.

Author: Jeffery Cook
Article: sentencing juveniles to life in prison without parole
Source: Handbook of Juvenile Forensic Psychology and Psychiatry
Publisher: springer
2012 pg 93-104

Sentencing of teen girl fuels debate of youths in prison

In this article the author Ashley Broughton discussed how during the 1990's there was a nation wide increase of gang activity with the youth of America. Many states passed laws to get more tough with the youth by sending them to adult court. Utah passed its serious youth offender act in 1995. From 1985 to 1998 the juveniles in adult prison had doubled because of this act. Broughton then goes onto discuss how two 15 year old girl Melinda Chasteen and Jessica Grundie were accused of trying to kill a female gourd at the juvenile detention facility in Utah. The girls are also charged for planning on killing several other guards and stealing items to escape and help other juveniles escape. Chasteen was sentenced to prison while at the time the article was written, 2003, Grundie had not been sentenced yet. This started a huge debate about whether these girls should still be in a juvenile detention facility or prison. Many believe that it is wrong to sentence minors like adults but there are also those whom believe that sentencing juveniles like adults or serious crimes are justified.

Article: Sentencing of Teen Girl Debate of Youths in Prison
Author: Ashley Broughton
Source: Salt Lake Tribune Oct 14, 2003

An Examination of the Interactions of Race and Gender on Sentencing Decisions Using a Trichotomous Dependent Variable

In this article the author Tina Freiburger discusses how many different men and women don't "have the experiences in the court room"(Freisburger63). What does she mean by this? As her article goes on she reveals the answer and this is in many court rooms there are race and gender biases.Based on already done research  Freisburger came to find the young minorities (Black and Hispanic men) are more likely to be incarcerated into the prison system while young white men are more likely to get probation. She then found that women in general get lesser sentencing than men men so they would get probation over jail time but the minority effect still applied to women so minority women still got more serious sentences. Freisburger then did a study of her own where she looked at over 2000 cases from a county in Michigan. Hispanics were taken out of the study because there wasn't a large enough sample. She still found similar results that had to do with race and gender. She found that African American men were way more likely to get jail time while white men were more likely to receive probation. She also found that women were still more likely to receive probation as well. Toward the end of the article Freiburger looked at how incarceration terms to prison and jail sentences impacted prisin sentences more. She concluded that jail and prison sentences need to be decided separately.

Title: An Examination of the Interactions of Race and Gender on Sentencing Decisions Using a Trichotomous Dependent Variable. 
Author: Tina Freiburger
Source:  Crime & Delinquency. Feb2013, Vol. 59 Issue 1, p59-86. 28p.

Equal justice initiative

The equal justice initiative is a company dedicated to making sure people are sentenced fairly. They deal with many controversial topics like child sentencing, the death sentence, and sentencing reform. I thought this would be a good source to help show that there are people out there dedicated to these issues and it really shows the main problems with prison sentencings.

Source: eji.org

Questions to consider on gender sentencing

In the article I read by Fernando Rodriguez it discussed how females received lesser sentences than men. This study was conducted in Texas and my question is how many other states are the same as Texas. Is this trend in many other states? And what specific reasons give girls more of an advantage at getting lesser prison sentences than men?

Gender differences in criminal sentencing

In the article I read by Fernando Rodriguez, he discusses that females have an advantage with gender when it comes to sentencing. He talked about a study where they found that females will either get less or no prison time for smaller crimes compared to males who most likely do receive prison time. For larger crimes like murder females still receiciebed less prison time than men.

Author: Fernando Rodriguez
Source: social science quarterly vol 2 issue 6 pg 318-391

Questions to consider for youth sentencing

I just had a few questions about youth sentencing that i have and I might be able to find answered to. The first is in what cases have the courts actually sentenced youth to life in prison. The second is for those who aren't sentenced life what are the alternative sentencing. And my final question is for the states that all the death penalty is it possible for a minor to be sentenced to death?

Sentencing and prison overcrowding

In this article it discussed how in many European countries there was overcrowding in many prisons. The problem is that the criminal population is increasing and the solution as put by author Sonja Snacken is simple. The prisons need to increase capacity. Snacken gives four factors of why the prison population is increasing. First is demographic and economic evolution. The. Second is criminality is influenced by both societal changes and criminal policy changes. Attitudes, decisions, and policies at the different levels of decision making within the criminal justice system. And finally the political context of the period considered and the way in which politicians interpret and react to contradictory tendencies in public opinion.

Title: Sentencing and Prison over crowding
Author. Sonja Snacken
Source: European journal in criminal policy and research vol 2 issue 1 of 84-99

Why a jail or prison sentence is increasingly like a death sentence

In this article by Jeffery Ross he discusses why prison sentences are more like death sentences. Ross explains that there are four things that can make a prison sentence poor health care, unsanitary living, high levels of violence, and an increased number of people with chronic diseases living within a close proximity together. The author argues that in most cases this is how prison is and he strongly believes that if a prisoner doesn't get a death penalty, they will probably still die behind bars.

Article: Why a Jail or Prison Sentence is Increasingly Like a Death Sentence
Author: Jeffery Ross
Source: Contemporary Justice Review. Sep2012, Vol. 15 Issue 3, p309-321. 13p.
Contemporary Justice Review. Sep2012, Vol. 15 Issue 3, p309-321. 13p.

Sentencing youth to life in prison

In the article i read it discussed the supreme courts ruling that it is unconstitutional to sentence juveniles to death because it is considered cruel and unusual punishment. The court determined this because they believe the appropriateness of the sentencing is right since the juveniles are charged as adults. The author, Simon Singer, started noticing after the bill was passed that many juveniles received lesser juvenile punishment and Singer called this the reproduction of juvenile justice.

 Article: Sentencing Juveniles to Life in Prison: The Reproduction of Juvenile Justice for Young Adolescents Charged With Murder
Author: Simon Singer
Source: Crime & Delinquency. Nov2011, Vol. 57 Issue 6, p969-986. 18p
Peer Reviewed: yes

Prior knowledge about prison sentencings

So I can think of three big issues involving prison sentencing, they are the death sentence, sentencing children, and minor drug offenses. The death penalty is obviously controversial because it is killing another person. Many people think that if the person crimes are bad enough then they should lose their life. Others believe that it is wrong to kill others and that life in prison is just as harsh. With child sentencing many argue that children's brains are still developing and that I'd that some aren't old enough to understand their crime then they shouldn't be sentenced to prison but instead a more passive approaches like therapy. Finally with most sentencing's the person being incarcerated had a minor offense which many thing is unfair but others believe if they broke the law then it is a fair punishment. All three of these are potential final paper ideas.

Chosen research topic

I decided to do my research on prison sentencing. Some controversial topics concerning prison sentencing is the death sentence, juvenile sentencing, and minimum sentencing. I don't have a definite category picked out but my research will be done in prison sentencing

Qreasercher help for topics

Prison sentencing
Music
Gun control
Abortion
Death penalty
Euthanasia
Marijuana
China

Potential research ideas

History of music theory
How war times affect patriotism
The affect music and musicians have had on society
Unfair practices in the music industry
How legalization of cannibis can affect the economy
How religion developed in different regions