Crime and Criminals - Stratification Sociology - Lecture Slides, Slides of Sociology

Download Crime and Criminals - Stratification Sociology - Lecture Slides and more Slides Sociology in PDF only on Docsity! Defining crime and criminals • Crime is what is illegal in criminal law – Includes some dangerous and harmful acts – Other bad practices are not included • Criminals are people charged – Includes some harmful people – Other harmful people are not included docsity.com The FBI’s ‘crime rate’ • Violent – murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault • Property – larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, arson • Not... – Work hazard or disease, pollution, health care, cigarettes, food additives, poverty docsity.com How 94,681 Americans are murdered (Reiman) Firearm 9% Other weapon (include medical) 43% Knife, etc., (include scalpel) 15% Occupational hazard, disease 32% Hand, fist, etc. 1% Source: Reiman (2004), p. 84. docsity.com Weeding out the rich For the same crime, the rich are less likely... T o b e a r r e s t e d t o b e c h a r g e d t o b e c o n v i c t e d to go to prison to get long sentences docsity.com State prisoners, by conviction type 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 1980 1983 1986 1989 1992 1995 1998 2001 Public order Drug Property Violent Source: BJS (http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/glance/corrtyp.htm) docsity.com Drug war moves to marijuana Percent change, 1990-2002 113 41 10 -3 Total arrests Non-marijuana drug arrests Total drug arrests Total marijuana arrests Source: Sentencing Project, "War on Marijuana," 2005. docsity.com Violent crime versus arrest 26 39 Source: CVS and UCR in Reiman (1998). % of criminals reported Black % of those arrested who are Black docsity.com Why are the poor charged more? • Definition of crime • Least able to protest police action • Less privacy from state surveillance • Police actions – Judgement as to seriousness, need for action – Profiling, based on training or prejudice docsity.com Disparities in conviction • The rich get bail – Poor are punished while legally innocent – Can’t aid in their defense – Coerced into pleas based on time served – Prejudice of juries and judges • The rich get better lawyers – Private lawyers: 5-times more likely to win through dismissal or acquittal docsity.com Convicting the innocent • The Innocence Project has used DNA to exonerate 174 innocent people • Mistaken identity most common cause – In lineups (photo or live), witnesses are pressured, assume one of them is guilty – Cross-race identification is hardest • Many cases of false confessions – Coercion, duress, intoxication, impairment, threats • Example: Lonnie Erby docsity.com Central Park Jogger, 1989 • White woman raped and beaten • Five Black teenagers arrested nearby, for another mugging • Confessions after 14 to 30 hours – Threatened, coached, offered release • Released after someone else confessed, with DNA evidence • Served sentences of 6, 8, and 11 years Kharey Wise docsity.com Race and execution Percent of executed prisoners who were Black 49 61 52 49 34 1930-39 1940-49 1950-59 1960-67 1968-76 1977-02 docsity.com Warren McCleskey • Key witness struck a deal on sentencing – When asked at trial, prosecutor lied – Two jurors say they wouldn’t have convicted – Judge: waited too long to appeal • Death penalty – 11-times more common when victim is white – 4.3 considering severity and circumstances • Supreme Court agreed docsity.com Race and the death penalty 70 32 15 19 22 8 1 3 Black defendant, white victim White defendant, white victims Black defendant, black victims White defendant, black victims Imposed Sought Source: Baldus study of the Georgia dealth penalty, cited in McCleskey v. Kemp. docsity.com