Disparity and Discrimination

DISPARITY AND DISCRIMINATION Disparity and Discrimination CJA/344 June 6, 2013

Disparity and [pic] is thought to be all throughout the criminal justice system. So much so, that it was brought up as a speaking point at a UN Sub-Commission on Human Rights at a recent session held [pic]in Geneva. It transpired that discrimination within the criminal justice systems is not only[pic] behavioral [pic]but also institutional. Direct discrimination is easy to[pic] recognize; [pic]it is difficult to discern indirect discrimination, which seriously affects exercise of fundamental rights by vulnerable groups. It is tragic that the poor and the[pic] marginalized [pic]segments are under- represented in the administration of justice but are ‘over-represented’ in prisons and on death rows. The[pic] problem that exists with these two terms within the criminal justice system is that one can and will inevitably lead to the other. If disparity is thought to exist because the criminal justice system has set in motion an act that does not show ample equality based on those within the system then those people who are not being treated equal could be being discriminated against based on the group or orientation to which they belong. There is a fine line between these two terms and the criminal justice system should be trained to be able to recognize when it could appear that either of them will have a possible potential to rear their proverbial heads. They are similar in the sense that they both represent treatment that is unfair to the person within the system. Disparity would be where a person is not being treated equal; discrimination would be where a person is being treated specifically based on what group they would fall into. Each of these would result in treatment that is unfair to them or to the process to which they are involved. They are different in the sense that not all disparity is based on negative terms. If a person has a particular job and they make more of a wage per...