Dear Next President:

I am a student at West Albany High School. Criminal justice is not equal amongst races. Not only are race differences a problem in the United States, but so are the way criminals are punished. Black and white treatment must be the same and the criminals themselves must be punished equally. The public must also have input on the current and future criminal laws for them to be improved. We need to pay more attention to criminal justice in the United States and improve how criminal justice is being handled so there are more harsh penalties.

Nationwide, the penalties for criminals must be changed to more harsh ways and must be enforced by police penalties must be made equal throughout all races. Law enforcement needs to be closely monitored to prevent further crimes. Blacks, as you know in this day and age, are not equally treated everywhere you go. In an article by Renee Stepler, she describes how, “About six-in-ten blacks (61%) say race relations are generally bad,” and that, “the public’s views of race relations are more negative now than they have been for much of the 2000s.” Criminals and those who commit felonies are not being treated in the same way when it comes to different races. Racial profiling is present all over the United States, especially in States with a larger population of wide variety of races. Kaitlyn D’Onofrio writes, “In Missouri, Blacks were twice as likely as whites to be pulled over by police, but whites were statistically more likely to be carrying contraband.”

In order for there to be improved penalties,there must be support of the American people. Next, there needs to be public support for racial equality, death penalty, and various other punishments. “America’s Racial Divide, Charted,” describes statistics of black and white inequality: “21 percent of black 30-year-olds had a college degree in 2012, compared with 38 percent of white 30-year-olds.” As you know, in today’s word, there are many diverse people who are treated unfairly. Being judged on their race is racism, and having unequal punishment for crimes is not fair.

On the other hand, some might say that the punishments that Americans already have are harsh enough. Even if the current punishments are good now, there are still things we can improve. Some of the things the United States must change are the way police treat the racial differences, violent crime focus, and access to guns. Most police have been portrayed recently as intentionally paying attention to race based crime cases. This is an unfair disadvantage for people with different ethnicities in comparison to (for example) whites. Also, the gun policy is a big deal to most Americans. Giving access to guns to certain people might help contribute to violent crimes. The police must be focused and paying attention to violent crimes.

Justice for all criminals is important. It is important that all Americans are treated the same including having the same punishments, no matter the race. Black and white inequality will continue to be a subject of conversation until something is changed. The public must have a view on this situation in order to improve the problem. There must be better focus on violent crimes and crimes in general so we can fix the problem. Inequality amongst races is a big deal and it needs to be dealt with so that every criminal is punished the same way and in a harsh enough way.

Sincerely,

Megan S.