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Mandatory minimums and three-strike laws have been proved to be costly (through the increase in the number and age of inmates) (Blomberg, 2016), and unethical as they lead to more harsh punishments that could be administered without them (Schultz, 2013). At the same time, they tend to be described as ineffective, in particular, as a result of their rational choice theory basis (Schultz, 2013). Indeed, both laws are aimed at deterring criminals from choosing to commit a crime, but in reality, a rational choice is not always made. Apart from that, Schultz (2013) insists that “large percentages” of inmates were not aware of the three-strike law (p. 71). To sum up, these laws are unlikely to be influencing crime rates.
The question of what influences crime rates is difficult to answer. This issue is relevant for the drop in crime that the US has been experiencing in the 1990s and 2000s (Burns, 2008, p. 3). For example, economic development could account for the decrease in poverty crime, but not in violence-related ones (Levitt, 2004). The legalization of abortion would be expected to result in a crime rate drop (Levitt, 2004), but according to Burns (2008), the youth homicide rates decreased later than would be reasonable given this argument. More police-related changes like a growing number of incarcerated people or the increased capital punishment rate might have had an impact as well. However, Levitt (2004) insists that the latter remained too unlikely to serve as a deterrent in the 1990s, and the implications of the former have the potential of increasing crime rates, especially in the long run. Other aspects that might have contributed to the drop include expanded police staff, new policing strategies, the development of protection against domestic violence, and receding the “crack epidemic” (Burns, 2008; Levitt, 2004). As a result, I suppose that the combination of all these factors had led to the drop.
Accusations of racial discrimination discredit police, which explains the criticism of the When v. United States (1996) case. The case includes the analysis of an example of a pretextual stop that led to the detection of drug traffickers and the subsequent appeals to the pretextual nature of that stop. It is argued that “the constitutional reasonableness of traffic stops” does not depend “on the actual motivations of the individual officers involved” (When v. the United States, 1996, para. 8). The Supreme Court unanimously agreed that the pretextual stop was reasonable under the Fourth Amendment. The criticism of this decision highlights the fact that “an otherwise legitimate search or arrest would not be invalidated even if an officer’s decision to act was based on race” (Chin & Vernon, 2015, p. 882). In other words, the decision unintentionally authorized racial profiling.
It appears to me that the implication of racial profiling is apparent in the case, and I agree that instead of working to create an environment in which racial profiling is impossible, this decision offers to rely on the personal qualities of the officers (Chin & Vernon, 2015). The problem of racial prejudice might be resolved with the help of training, but the experience of our society shows that they are most persistent. As a result, the elimination of the possibility of racial profiling seems to be on the agenda of modern police. However, I cannot deny that pretextual stops remain a controversial issue rather than a racially prejudiced decision. The fact that they can help to prevent crime remains the reason for their positive assessment, but racial profiling remains their crucial disadvantage.
The news article by Susman and Haller (2015) (see Appendix A) is related to chapters 14 and 15 of the book by Burns (2008). It is devoted to the development of events related to the death of Eric Garner. The black man who had allegedly been involved in the illegal cigarettes trade suffocated to death while the police attempted to restrain him. The white policeman who had been holding him down was not indicted. Eric Garner was unarmed, and his death roused public unrest, partly because the man was trying to inform the policeman that he was suffocating and kept repeating “I can’t breathe.” This phrase became one of the slogans of the rally that took place a year later Garner’s death, which shows that people still consider the accident to be a symbol of policing going wrong. The article also mentions other cases of policemen killing unarmed suspects; the fact that some of them were black tended to cause the accusations of racism. However, Susman and Haller (2015) mention the other aspect of the problem as well; in particular, they discuss the deaths of two New York policemen that happened three weeks after the decision of not indicting the policeman who had been holding Garner down. In other words, the authors of the article recognize the fact that the issue is extremely controversial. On the one hand, the power that is entrusted to the police is necessary to maintain order and protect the lives of people; on the other hand, there is always a possibility of abusing this power, and the deaths that occur are always devastating for everyone involved. Such cases discredit police and are often complicated by racial concerns, which brings along the possibility of conflicts as mentioned by Burns (2008). The incidence of such cases is also not unlikely to reduce the number of people willing to work at a police department. The means of resolving the issue might include monitoring for “problem officers” and training, but it is noteworthy that officers can commit such actions unintentionally.
References
Blomberg, T. (2016). Advancing criminology and criminal justice policy. New York, NY: Routledge.
Burns, R. (2008). Critical issues in criminal justice. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Book.
Chin, G. J., & Vernon, C. (2015). Reasonable but unconstitutional: Racial profiling and the radical objectivity of Whren v. United States. George Washington Law Review, 83(3).
Levitt, S. D. (2004). Understanding why crime fell in the 1990s: Four factors that explain the decline and six that do not. The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 18(1), 163-190.
Susman, T., & Haller, V. (2015). Demonstrators echo Eric Garner’s ‘I can’t breathe’ cry again, a year after his death.Los Angeles Times. Web.
Schultz, D. (2013). American politics in the age of ignorance. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.
Whren v. United States, 517 U.S. 806 (1996).
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