Politics and Policy

Politics, Policy, and the Disparities in the Criminal Justice System Name Institution Instructor Course Date Politics, Policy, and the Disparities in the Criminal Justice System The link between policy and politics has molded the framework of criminal justice in the United States for decades. The week's readings demonstrate how policies are usually formulated for society's protection and as a mechanism for political gain, primarily through racialized approaches. The political gain from these policies is apparent in how conservative Republicans have been playing the race card in national elections, employing racial anxieties to rally voters. Additionally, minority groups have been significantly affected by the fight against drugs and crime, leading to skyrocketed racial inequalities in the correctional system. Therefore, reflecting these concerns via a lens of Gene Bonham’s context in “Flawed Policy Concepts and Issue in Criminal Justice Policy Making,” it is apparent that numerous policies do not meet the standards for effective and fair governance. The idea of politicians playing the race card involves the deliberate employment of racial fears and biases to acquire votes and back policies that are not beneficial to the public. For decades, the conservative Republicans in national elections have capitalized on this approach by associating drug abuse and crime with racially marginalized groups, especially African Americans and Latinos. These efforts have contributed to policies that unequally target these minority groups, reinforcing racial prejudices and justifying strict sentencing laws. Flawed policies fail to yield the intended effects that work against the anticipated objectives of the policy (Bonham Jr., 2019). These approaches are undesirable since they contribute to...