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