Racial Stratification and the Criminal Justice System

Bryan Stevenson starts the lecture with statistics that demonstrate the problem with mass
incarceration. He mentions that today, there are 2.3 million people in jails and prisons, an
increase from 300,000 people in jails and prisons in 1972. Today, 70 million Americans have
criminal arrests, affecting their rates of getting employed and chances of acquiring loans. He
reveals some shocking facts about the incarceration rates for men and women. According to
Stevenson, incarceration rates for women have increased by 640% in the last two decades. These
statistics show a worrying trend, and this, according to Stevenson, is the negative impact of mass
incarceration, and there are collateral consequences of the same as children of incarcerated
parents are more likely to end up in jails and prisons than those whose parents have no such
history. Over-incarceration and the collateral consequences of incarceration are real problems in
today’s society that can be changed through implementing concerted efforts to achieve justice.
Steenson discusses the ignored effects of mass incarceration and the racial differences
related to the same. For instance, in the state of Alabama, 31% of the black male population does
not have the privilege of enjoying their civil right to vote due to a criminal conviction. It gets
worse when Stevenson notes that statistics show that one in every three black male babies in the
country is expected to go to prison or jail.

Stevenson discusses solutions to these problems. First, he states that lawyers must initiate
change by being proximate, by getting closer to the people affected by the problems,
understanding their problems, and solving them from a close range. Proximity is necessary when
solving justice problems. Second, he suggests that society must change the narratives that sustain
inequality and injustice. Third, changemakers must be hopeful and brave because it takes a lot of
hope and courage to achieve change. Lastly, Stevenson states that society does not need to create
justice but rather be willing to do uncomfortable things to ensure that justice is served fairly to
everyone. Further, a society’s commitment to justice cannot be judged by how it treats the
privileged but rather by how it treats the incarcerated, the poor, and the condemned.
After Stevenson’s lecture, a discussion follows that explores the problem of over-
incarceration as well as the collateral consequences of this problem. The statistics show that 85
percent of all incarcerated people are housed in state-controlled prisons. The panel agrees that
any reform or policies implemented must be aimed at solving the problem at the state level
because that is where it actually matters. The issue is that re-integration into to community after
incarceration is a complicated process. When people are released from jails and prisons and are
not provided with re-entry services, then the chances are that they are likely to end up in prisons
again. The panel discusses the impact of implicit bias and how it impacts the interactions
between law enforcers and Black and Latino suspects. Society is racially stratified, and that is
affecting people in a deep way because interactions are defined by race and differences or
similarities associated with it as opposed to humanity.
Overall, from the lecture and the discussions, it is evident that America today is still
racially stratified. Many criminal justice problems are associated with race. Black people are at a
higher risk of being incarcerated than White people. Even when history showed that crime rates

when down, statistics still revealed that incarceration rates went up. Such worrying facts reveal a
deep underlying problem. Justice will prevail when change agents become proximate, change the
narrative around inequality and injustice, get hopeful and be willing o do that which is
uncomfortable.