Description
Written Speech (800-1200 words): You are a United States Senator and Chairman of a Subcommittee that examines issues pertaining to Race, Ethnicity and Criminal Justice Reform. You have been invited to speak at a social justice event hosted by FAU. In your speech, provide a summary of the issues covered in this course. Select one of these issues, and clearly identify the criminal justice institution(s) involved along with a detailed description of the problems and challenges related to your selected issue. Present at least two recommendations that your subcommittee will focus on for addressing this issue. Attached are 2 examples of speeches submitted by my past students : Attached are chapter reviews to help select issues to use
Good evening Florida Atlantic University,
As Senator and Chairman of the Reformation for Corrections in America, I am honored to be here to share our initiatives. For the past four months, I’ve had the pleasure of working alongside Dr. Vaughn Crichlow, criminal justice researcher and professor at Florida Atlantic University.
We have analyzed discrepancies involved throughout the history of America’s Criminal Justice system. From the creation of our first correctional facility in Philadelphia the Walnut Street Jail, to the creation of the first privatized detention facility, the Houston Processing Center. The focus for this evening is on our methods of incarceration. There are conflicts of interest that are facilitating the amount of people this nation has managed to put keep behind bars, and that is our first priority of this evening. As our other task at hand, we have questioned and looked at initiatives on how we can diminish the disproportions of populations such as Blacks, Latinos, Native Americans and disadvantaged people in our country. The people we see exposed in our incarceration rates are people who we have come to refer to as the “minority” population. The people portrayed as being a part of an unjust cycle are people living under the Federal Poverty Line, not only that, but as statistics show, the incarcerated population is overwhelmingly representative of those who do not acquire a proficient level of education, and other factors including coming from a single-parent home. For months, my subcommittee and myself have questioned what we can do to keep our communities safe without the continuance of myths, scare tactics, nor with discrimination at the forefront of our policies. Here in the United States we have held an alarming rate of incarceration for the past 40 years, since the era of the “war on drugs.” As a nation who incarcerates an estimated 2.3 million of its people, as the Prison
Policy Initiative exposes in its latest 2017 article, we should reconsider why we are so quick to incarcerate people, and if we are doing so proficiently and with sound judgment.
With the knowledge we have acquired, our subcommittee came to the conclusion that we have misplaced our priorities in this nation.
We have facilitated the school-to-prison pipeline by investing more money on “protecting our streets” than in educating and training our future generations. We have accomplished this by informing our public that incarceration keeps society safe from harm, the redundant but sad truth is that our prisons and jails are overcrowded. We have funded billions of dollars towards building prisons and revamping our law enforcement yet have failed to provide sufficient funds towards crime prevention, per a study done by Mauer & Cole in the year 2011. Are we analyzing our crime-fighting tools without taking into consideration the disproportions seen in the prison-industrial complex? As U.S Senator I invite you to hone in on our 2 strategies for targeting mass incarceration, one at the core, of prevention and the other involving the incentives of incarceration.
Crime fighting initiatives have been at the forefront of nearly every campaign. Tough on crime representatives feel the need to make stricter policies to gain the trust of the people. Conflicts of interests begin here, with the working force of political agendas and its direct effects on the prison industrial complex. The prison industrial complex, does not only refer to prisons, but to jails, probation and parole. We see this phenomenon unleash itself up the chain of command, from local Sherriff officer reelection, to the election of POTUS. Initiatives such as the war on drugs by President Nixon, did not remain isolated during his presidential terms, the nation witnessed repercussions from his state of mind on retributive justice. Throughout the following years tougher policies, such as the three-strikes laws, mandatory minimums and
disparities within convictions in regards to race and certain drugs, have enabled the number of incarcerations to continue to sky-rocket. Coincidentally, during the Reagan era, the first detention center opened its doors, under the funds of Corrections Corporation of America, one of the nation’s private prison systems. I say, coincidentally, because after all of the politically driven drug campaigns, aiming at the use crack cocaine, comes a for profit detention center in 1983. In accordance to The Marshall Project, the Corrections Corporation of America reported to having a $1.6 billion revenue in the year of 2014. The conflict which we are a part of is mass incarceration, the interest, is the profit which privatized prisons are receiving from having their jails occupied. This serves as their incentive to keep their doors open. Not only is there a stagnant profit from recidivism rates, the number of people who return to jail or prison, but another reason why incarceration has continued to rise is because we believe it is in our benefit. We have relied solely on the prison system as our safety net, we have not taken the opportunity to support other areas which are beneficial to our population. Instead of funding social services, such as mental health facilities, substance abuse treatment centers and primarily education and after-school programs, we have been focused to keeping a portion of our society in a confined state. The confinement of people has also been reported to being a downfall. The National Institute of Justice provides an insight by reporting that two-thirds of incarcerated people will be rearrested after 3 years from their release, and three-quarters of incarcerated people will be rearrested after 5 years from their release. Our recidivism rates are influential to the following strategy we look forward to implementing. Our committee has come to an understanding with state policymakers, and we have reached a middle-ground. Since state prisons incarcerate 87% of the total population of incarcerated men and women we plan on working at the state level, not the federal level. Our newest initiative will be achieved by having the funding for corrections
based on each states’ reduction in their recidivism rates. Florida for example, claims to having a 25% recidivism rate after 3 years of release. This average is not enough, and we must continue to work on reducing it. This approach serves as an incentive to law enforcement officials who will maintain a less punitive approach, and instead work as a team to keep men and women out of the prison industrial complex. In your state of Florida, Senators Marco Rubio and Bill Nelson will oversee the allotments necessary for state funded prisons.
Our subcommittee has also aimed at the disheartening truth about the racial disparities exposed in our prisons. As one of the representatives of the National Trust for the Development of African American men has said “In many prisons, one feels as if there is an invisible sign on the front door that reads: Only blacks and Hispanics need apply.” Throughout our work with Dr. Crichlow we have learned that although whites and blacks use and sell nearly the same amount of drugs, “Blacks are 12 times more likely to be sent to prison than whites” according to a 2003 study. Unexplained differences such as these can no longer be swept under the rug. Referring to the war on drugs, the nation felt the repercussions of the strict policies enacted since then, however some parts of the United States were impacted more so than others. With Nixon’s initiatives, more Black men were seen walking through prison cells, causing an exodus of father figures throughout different families. Criminology theories support the relationship between being a child raised in a single parent home, and the increasing probability that will have on placing them in jail at some point in their lives. As The Marshall Project also reports, 1 out 3 black males will be incarcerated at some point in their lifetime. Numbers such as these only support the statement of an invisible sign being posted at the entrance of prisons throughout our nation. We have worked to support families but we have steered away from disadvantaged areas.
Our subcommittee feels the need to start where it matters most. In accordance to one of the reports on behalf of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, we have shifted our priorities as a nation. From the years of 1986 throughout 2013, state general funding has spiked in corrections, by 141% while K-12 education has witnessed a mere 69% increase. We must realize that by doing this we are being counterproductive. Our point of view as the subcommittee of the Reformation for Correction in America has been enlightened. If we supply our future generation with after-school programs, music and arts, science and technology field training, we will witness a decrease in future incarcerations. As I mentioned before, we have facilitated the school-to-prison pipeline by investing more money on “protecting our streets” than in educating and training our future generations. Therefore, this subcommittee’s following objective is by revamping public schools, by re-hiring thousands of faculty members who have been laid off in the years since our latest recession, and enacting a mentoring program. The Center for Economic and Policy Research estimates that about 4,000 teachers were laid off from 2008 through 2009 in Florida alone. The establishment of all those well-qualified teachers who were laid off, due to statewide budget cuts, will be reinstalled into the public-school systems. The focus of these mentors will be on schools with “low-proficiency” rates. We believe that the impact of these initiatives will steer children, especially in disadvantaged areas, clear of the criminal justice system. This mentoring program will be established throughout different school districts; each superintendent will determine the distribution of resources. Each superintendent is to follow guidelines such as keeping a 1:3 ratio. It would be nearly impossible to have an allotted time for one teacher, to mentor only one student. However, a one to three will be possible, with a meeting of at least once a week. You may be asking how will we accomplish such a task and is this
feasible? With the regulation of the previous initiative on corrections, the funds saved from the former corrections spending will go directly to the mentoring programs.
I strongly believe that children belonging to single-parent families, and children living in poverty already deal with racial disparities, why aren’t we focusing on eliminating those very problems through after school activities? Let’s diminish the school to prison funneling system by providing for those who need us most.
The Unites States has often been regarded to as the land of the free, but in the past four months I’ve concluded that there is an unfortunate percentage of or population whom we have given up on. Not everyone has the same opportunities to be “free”. Together we can impact the lives of our future generations, not overnight but in the long run the actions of today will impact the outcomes of our near future.
We thank you for your time and support.
Senator XXXXXXXX
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Name: XXXXXX
Professor: Dr. Vaughn Crichlow
Course: CCJ 4662
Assignment: Final Project/Written Speech
Due: XXXXX
Thank you very much and good evening fellow constituents, ladies and
gentlemen. I am XXXX, United States Senator and Chair of a Subcommittee that
examines issues pertaining to Race, Ethnicity and Criminal Justice Reform. Over the
last six weeks Dr. Vaughn Crichlow and I have been examining, analyzing, and
discussing reform within our criminal justice system.
Ninety-Six. What does this number signify to you? Is it the age of your
beloved grandparent? The average number of points your favorite basketball team
scored this season? Perhaps it’s something different. To me, ninety-six is a number
that I am eager to change.
According to the Death Penalty Information Center, an astounding “96% of
states where there have been reviews of race and the death penalty, [exhibit] a
pattern of either race-of-victim or race-of-defendant discrimination, or both”. (Prof.
Baldus report to the ABA, 1998). This number is distressing considering that 100%
of American Citizens are “ensured domestic tranquility” and protected against acts
that “abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States”, in
accordance with the Declaration of Independence and the United States
Constitution.
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Although we have covered many topics of injustice, such as the Biology of
Race and Ethnicity, Policing, Crime and Victimization, The Court Systems, and the
History of Racism in the United States through the present, tonight’s manifesto will
be Race and the Death Penalty, as well as the ratifications we can make to effectuate
justice. Since it is you, the public, that keeps me in office, I will speak freely and with
transparency; politicians will be in favor of the death penalty as long as the public is
in favor. Reform starts with all of us here today, not just the chairmen sitting beside
us, the senate, or myself. The fact of the matter is this¾ the United States Death
Penalty is indeed racist. The death penalty emerged consequently with the arrival of
the Europeans in colonial times; despite the passing of multiple centuries, the
amount of wrongful convictions is still extremely high. The system has failed us
dismally, despite the innovative, scientific advancement of DNA technology that is
now a cornerstone of criminal cases. According to an interview with Professor and
Lead Public Defender Frank De La Torre, a perpetrator is most likely to receive the
death penalty when the involved victim is white. Race of the offender is the highest
predictor of who receives the death penalty in the United States, aside from the race
of the victim. Here in the South, this disparity occurs more than it does in any other
location in the United States. I will now present poignant facts, which I hope will
resonate with you until my time here is complete:
1. “94.5% of Elected Prosecutors in Death Penalty States Are White.” (Prof. K.
Beckett, Univ. of Washington, 2014) 2. “Jurors in Washington State are three
times more likely to recommend a death sentence for a black defendant than
for a white defendant in a similar case.” (Prof. K. Beckett, Univ. of Washington,
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2014). 3. “In Louisiana, the odds of a death sentence were 97% higher for
those whose victim was white than for those whose victim was black.” (Pierce
& Radelet, Louisiana Law Review, 2011). 4. “A study in California found that
those convicted of killing whites were more than 3 times as likely to be
sentenced to death as those convicted of killing blacks and more than 4 times
more likely as those convicted of killing Latinos.” (Pierce & Radelet, Santa
Clara Law Review, 2005). 5. In many states (yes, Florida is one) there has
never been a death penalty for a white killing a black.
The Declaration of Independence states that we are all created equally; but
the fact that racism within the criminal justice system is occurring in 2017 is
antithetical and appalling. As your state senator, I was sworn to defend the
constitution as well as combat injustice. This malfeasance merits immediate and
permanent intervention. I would like to announce that I am commencing a campaign
to lobby for Anti-Death Penalty statute legislation. I am proposing that the Death
Penalty will be deemed illegal in our federal system. If the Death Penalty is illegal at
federal level¾ the states, which govern themselves, will hopefully follow suit.
I intend to expand upon the extensive benefits of the execution of the Death
Penalty. The financial obligations of a death penalty case are steep. State and federal
tax records indicate connote that cases that involve the death penalty are “$90,000
more [expensive] than a prisoner in general population”. The preserved financial
resources from each case can be applied toward education and after school
programs for those same families that were unfairly subjected to the repercussions
of the Death Penalty¾ the underprivileged. Because “children from low
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socioeconomic backgrounds lag woefully in [reading and writing] abilities” it is
imperative we adjust our principles with preeminence on preparing today’s youth
for tomorrow’s world (Snow et al., 1998).
I am inviting everyone here to ask himself or herself this: ‘What can I DO as a
citizen? What can I DO as a teacher? What can I DO as a salesman? What can I DO as
an American?’ I have a solution. What you can do is eagerly accept your civil duty as
a registered voter to attend jury duty. Instead of trying to escape this civil
obligation, like most of us are guilty of doing in our lives, lets hold ourselves to high
moral standards and participate in the process to make that difference. We need
intervention through more diversified juries. We also need more African-American
jurors. Racism is ubiquitous within the criminal justice system and hails from both
the prosecution and the jury. A captivating study by Frank Baumgartner, who is a
leading professor at the University of North Carolina, states, “gender and geography,
specifically where crimes are committed and actions are sentenced, also play a role
in determining the outcome of a Death Penalty case”. As your state Senator, I need
your support in the evolving standards of decency that the Supreme Court uses as a
guideline for the Death Penalty to be administered.
It would seem our justice system is more focused on finality than justice and
this needs immediate reform. Safeguards, such as a bifurcated trail, have been
implemented¾but we need more. The United States Supreme Court must deliberate
to formulate strategies for a safe, efficient method for the people; it is my honor to
serve as the catalyst for the salient abolishment of the Death Penalty. Currently, race
is influential to who is sentenced to death and who is executed. Because aggrandized
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regulations will never fix these issues of racism in our courtrooms, we must
metamorphose what is accustomed through the law of precedence, and unite. Who
has created the prejudiced Death Penalty? Who has the power to change it?