The Effect Of Low Socioeconomic Status On Conviction Rates

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, for every 1000 people, 350 are convicted of crimes. The purpose behind these convictions varies, some including race and socioeconomic status. In the article “When does Fairness become an Issue,” Lawrence D. Bobo and Victor Thompson, Ph. D. in social sciences, state that 43. 3% of blacks convicted are in a federal or state prison although they only make up 13% of the overall US population. In the article “Race, Socioeconomic Status and Sentencing in the Juvenile Justice System,” Terrence C. Thornberry, Professor of Criminal Justice, claims that race and socioeconomic status contribute to juvenile sentencing. David Cole, Ph. D. in law, claims unequal justice is served based on race and social status within the United States. Therefore, there have been other factors contributing to conviction rates. With these claims, the question of to what extent do extralegal factors impact conviction rates arose.

Disparities among races have contributed to a vast amount of convictions. An example of such racial disparities is white flight, which impacted the economy as well as the crime rates – decreasing economic development and increasing crime. As stated by Thomas C. Henthorn, historical author, the arrival of blacks in 1948 to Flint created economic discrimination between the races. The neighborhood continued to provide for the black communities as whites migrated to the suburbs, but they lacked the financial resources to continue to fund the community altogether. Thus, the migration of whites led to a lack of funding for black communities leaving blacks living in areas with low economic growth and increasing the crime rates due to low monetary circulation.

Racial disparities also led to blacks being convicted more severely than whites for similar crimes. According to Tina Freiburger and Carly Hilinski, professors in criminal justice, 44. 3 % unemployed blacks are more likely to be more severely convicted for crimes such as theft than whites. When blacks were convicted for crimes such as theft, burglary, and possession of stolen goods they weren’t given the option of probation and had longer sentences whereas whites that were convicted for similar crimes were given probation. Although blacks may seem to have harsher sentences due to race and socioeconomic status Jawjeong Wu, professor in criminal justice, states that judges base their decisions solely on relevant factors such as crime severity. However, Wu also states that while decisions are based on relevant factors many decisions can stem from offender characteristics such as race and socioeconomic status. Therefore, race can impact the type of conviction and how long the sentence will last.

Education of people in the community also impacts the number of conviction rates in that area. Areas of low economic development have low funding for schools and educational programs. Areas that have low funding aren't able to teach those in need of education. Low funding in schools may decrease the chance of having certified teachers meaning those who have gone through high school and college to better their education and educate others (Freiburger and Hilinski 69). Thus, low funding in schools increases the number of conviction rates due to the low rate of education in the area. The lack of educational funding in areas of low socioeconomic status in many areas have led to a 4 in 5 dropout rate in black adolescents from ages 14-17. Due to the lack of funding the community doesn’t have substantial education to educate residents thoroughly. Many students go to then look for work, since they no longer go to school which, in an area with low economic growth, which may be difficult and may decrease the likelihood of finding a job and increasing the chance of committing felonies. The low amount of jobs may increase their chance of getting into trouble. Although educational funding is low, students have others to tell them whether something is right or wrong. However, about 13. 4% of those who drop out leave their family to live with friends. Convictions of juveniles under 18 have increased when there has been very little education in an area with low economic growth. Therefore, a person’s education may impact conviction rates especially if they have low socioeconomic status.

Socioeconomic status (SES) impacts the representation of cases and therefore correlates with conviction rates. People of low socioeconomic status have only the representation that they are given while people of high socioeconomic status may choose. According to Paul D. Butler, Ph. D. in law, those of low socioeconomic status tend to be convicted more due to their lack of resources. People of low socioeconomic status tend to have less money than those of high socioeconomic status allowing them to have the representation they would like to help decrease their chance of being convicted. Therefore, those of low socioeconomic status are given attorneys that are paid only by the state which decreased their chance of not being convicted. Although people of low socioeconomic status are given attorneys people of high socioeconomic status have the money for better attorneys and may hide their crimes. The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) states that people of high socioeconomic status are more likely to pay off judges and attorneys to hide their crimes. Thus, the amount of money that a person has determines the outcome of their sentence. Although it is stated by the BJS that people of high socioeconomic status pay off judges Erik Cornwell, Ph. D. in law argues that judges will not accept the money due to the fact that they take an oath to administer justice. However, Cornell Law School states that 7. 2% of judges who take that oath break it due to the fact that they want money. Therefore, it is shown that socioeconomic status plays a role in conviction rates.

All in all, low socioeconomic status plays a role in whether or not those of low socioeconomic status are convicted. Socioeconomic status, race, and education have shown the impacts of these factors on conviction rates. A solution that may decrease conviction rates based on these factors is to increase judge and attorney screening. Judges and attorneys would have to go through multiple sets of tests to determine whether they are biased or not towards certain groups or aspects of a person. If implemented, the solution may reduce bias of judges, therefore, decreasing convictions based on outside factors. If not implemented, conviction rates will continue to be impacted by other factors. To conclude, factors such as socioeconomic status, race as well as education impacts conviction rates and may be decreased by a solution to implement better judge and attorney screening.