Deck 9: Racism and the Criminal Justice System

Question 1

Our criminal justice system systematically denies rights and opportunities to African Americans, effectively replacing openly racist policies of the past.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Following emancipation, the number of Black convicts increased so much that a convict-lease system was born, whereby convicts could be leased to the highest bidder to work as slaves.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Whites make up a disproportionate amount of the nation's prison population.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

In Florida, illegal possession of the painkiller hydrocodone leads to a twenty-five-year mandatory minimum sentence.

Question 5

Evidence shows that mass incarceration has proven to be an effective strategy in reducing crime rates.

Question 6

Crime rates have been steadily increasing for decades, explaining the increase in incarcerations.

Question 7

Blacks and Latinxs are more likely to use and sell drugs, therefore, they are incarcerated at higher rates than Whites.

Question 8

Over the course of a Black man's life, he is more likely to go to prison than to get a bachelor's degree or join the military.

Question 9

Parental imprisonment deepens racial inequality insofar as Native American children are disproportionately the victims.

Question 10

Mass incarceration is raced, classed, and gendered.

Question 11

The 13^th amendment prohibits forced labor as a punishment for crime; therefore, prisons must pay their prisoners the minimum wage for their labor.

Question 12

Mass incarceration is a relatively new phenomenon in the United States-during the mid-twentieth century, prisons were seen as a last resort.

Question 13

Incarceration rates have been decreasing among women in recent decades.

Question 14

Nonviolent offenders are the fastest-growing segment of the prison population.

Question 15

At the time Reagan prioritized the "War on Drugs," crack cocaine was a major epidemic and viewed as the most important problem facing the nation.

Question 16

W. B. DuBois likened the prison system to:

A) the eugenics movement
B) the Tuskegee syphilis experiment
C) slavery in private hands
D) racial genocide

Question 17

The United States has _______ people in prison than any other country, yet mass incarceration has been _______ at reducing crime and illicit drug use.

A) less; effective
B) more; ineffective
C) more; effective
D) less; ineffective

Question 18

How are current views of incarceration in the United States different from those in the mid-twentieth century?

A) Today, incarceration is viewed as an effective means of controlling crime, whereas historically it was viewed as an ineffective strategy.
B) Today, incarceration is only used as a last resort, whereas historically it was used even for petty crimes.
C) Today, incarceration in not viewed as a punishment but as a means for rehabilitation; whereas historically incarceration was a stepping stone to the death penalty.
D) Views on incarceration have stayed relatively the same, but as the population grew, so did the number of incarcerations.

Question 19

What accounts for much of the disparity between the incarceration rate of the United States and those of other countries?

A) The Patriot Act
B) The "War of Terror"
C) The "War on Drugs"
D) The economic recession of 2007

Question 20

Blacks and Latinxs make up over 50 percent of the U.S. prison population. Their overrepresentation in prisons is largely due to:

A) the fact that they commit more crimes than Whites
B) their higher rates of drug use
C) their higher rate of imprisonment for drug crimes
D) the fact that they are more likely to get caught for White collar crimes

Question 21

Incarceration is just one of many factors that influence crime rates, and while incarcerating repeat violent offenders takes them off the streets, incarcerating nonviolent offenders has a minimal effect on crime rates. What conclusions can we then draw about the effectiveness of incarceration on reducing overall crime rates?

A) In order for incarceration to be effective at reducing crime rates, the sentences must be longer.
B) Incarceration has had a limited impact on crime rates.
C) Incarceration should only be used for nonviolent crimes in order to be effective at reducing crime rates.
D) Incarceration at one point was quite successful at lowering crime rates, but it is losing its efficacy.

Question 22

In the United States, incarceration rates have ________ as crime rates have _________.

A) decreased; decreased
B) increased; increased
C) decreased; increased
D) increased; decreased

Question 23

Why is the incarceration of drug offenders a highly ineffective way to reduce the amount of illegal drugs sold in the United States?

A) Because demand for drugs drives the drug market, so incarcerated drug sellers are simply replaced
B) Because sentences for drug offences are so short that they do not act as a deterrent
C) Because most drug offenders are illegal immigrants, so they are deported instead of incarcerated
D) Because with the legalization of medical marijuana, there will be less of a need to police drug sales

Question 24

Black men are sent to prison on drug charges at thirteen times the rate of White men, yet five times as many Whites as Blacks use illegal drugs. This demonstrates how:

A) the "War on Drugs" is has only been effective in reducing drug use by Whites
B) Black men are more likely to plead guilty to drug charges
C) Black men are more likely to sell drugs than Whites, but Whites are more likely to use drugs
D) enforcement of drug laws disproportionately affects people of color

Question 25

Incarceration can be likened to ________ in that it is legal to discriminate against felons, thus denying rights and opportunities to African Americans who are disproportionately incarcerated.

A) the eugenics movement
B) race-based channeling
C) the "New Jim Crow"
D) social service reform

Question 26

Mass incarceration has directly affected women in three distinct ways from men. Which of the following is NOT one of those ways?

A) White women are incarcerated at equal rates as women of color, due to gender biases in drug enforcement.
B) Nearly 80 percent of women prisoners had experienced some form of abuse in their lives, with a number in jail for retaliating against their abuser
C) Women are more likely than men to have been the primary caregivers prior to being incarcerated, meaning that their children are more directly affected.
D) Incarceration is a relatively new phenomenon for women, with rates rising dramatically in the context of the War on Drugs.

Question 27

John Lamberth's investigation of police stops on the New Jersey turnpike provided convincing evidence of what discriminatory practice?

A) racial profiling
B) steering
C) racially restrictive covenants
D) police brutality

Question 28

What could explain why, in Seattle, Blacks represent nearly two-thirds of all those arrested for drugs even though the majority of those who sell and use drugs in Seattle are White?

A) Drug cartels hire Blacks to act as scapegoats for White drug dealers who are caught by the police
B) Whites are more cautious about where they sell drugs and who they sell drugs to
C) Police officers tend to target predominantly Black neighborhoods in criminal law enforcement operations
D) Black drug users are less likely to resist arrest during police raids

Question 29

When taking into account the severity of the charge, Blacks receive ________ prison sentences when compared to Whites and receive the death penalty _________ than Whites.

A) equal; more often
B) longer; more often
C) shorter; as often
D) longer; as often

Question 30

Besides the incarceration of offenders, what other purpose do prisons serve?

A) Profits from prisons are used to support local schools
B) They effectively reduce overall crime rates through deterrence
C) They provide free college educations to all inmates
D) They provide employment to thousands of workers

Question 31

_______ was a set of economic policies that involved heavy cuts to a wide variety of social programs across the country.

A) Outsourcing
B) Deindustrialization
C) Reaganomics
D) The New Deal

Question 32

Nick does not believe in government social assistance. He believes that the state should not intervene to help the poor, and instead their needs should be left to market devices. Nick's beliefs are representative of which ideology?

A) neoliberalism
B) social anarchy
C) communism
D) social fascism

Question 33

The enormous investment in our prison industrial complex, combined with the perceived political benefits of crime control, have led to policies which ensure that more people are sentenced to prison, thereby creating the need for more prison beds. In this way, the prison industrial complex can be likened to a:

A) scavenger
B) self-perpetuating machine
C) dependent child
D) the "New Jim Crow"

Question 34

Marie is a Latina single mother from Florida who was given a minimum sentence of 25 years for illegal possession of hydrocodone. Marie's mother, who is disabled, will have to take care of Marie's children. This scenario demonstrates how:

A) Latinas are more likely to engage in drug use than Black women
B) incarceration has done little to reduce drug offenses within the Latinx community
C) inequality in the criminal justice system works to negatively affect families
D) All of the above

Question 35

What was the primary inspiration for the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act signed by President Johnson in 1968?

A) Drug use became viewed as a public health epidemic
B) Crime spiraled out of control in American communities
C) Republican and Democratic politicians realized that anticrime rhetoric could help win elections
D) The growing belief that prisons were barbaric

Question 36

In the United States, what is the typical mandatory minimum sentence in federal court for a first-time drug offense?

A) No more than six months in jail
B) Rehabilitation
C) Five to ten years in prison
D) A warning

Question 37

Which type of convictions represent the fastest growing source of incarceration?

A) Non-violent drug offenses
B) White-collar crimes
C) Violent offenses like murder and rape
D) Traffic violations

Question 38

What was the primary focus of major laws passed in the 1980s, including the 1984 Crime Control Act, Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, and Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988?

A) Rehabilitation as a mechanism for combatting drug abuse
B) The implementation of mandatory minimum sentences for drug convictions
C) Increasing racial equity in drug sentencing
D) All of the above

Question 39

Who tends to be disproportionately racially profiled for traffic stops and stop-and-frisks on street corners?

A) Whites
B) Blacks and Latinxs
C) Blacks only
D) Blacks and Asians

Question 40

Which groups has experienced the greatest financial benefits of mass incarceration in recent years?

A) Taxpayers
B) Schools
C) Private, corporate-run prisons
D) All of the above

Question 41

John's father was the primary breadwinner in his family. When John's father was incarcerated, his family could no longer afford the rent in their neighborhood and now live in a poorer neighborhood with worse quality schools. This is an example of:

A) Collateral consequences
B) The Prison Industrial Complex
C) Neoliberalism
D) Mandatory minimums

Question 42

Formerly incarcerated people with felony records can be denied which of the following?

A) Employment
B) Housing
C) The right to vote
D) All of the above

Question 43

Which event has led to some reductions in incarceration?

A) The election of Donald Trump
B) The Great Recession/global economic crisis
C) The rise of neoliberalism
D) The War on Drugs

Question 44

Which of the following does NOT have a strong deterrent effect on crime rates?

A) Economic changes
B) Fluctuations in the drug market
C) Community-level responses
D) Incarceration

Question 45

Explain W. B. DuBois's argument that the prison system can be likened to "slavery in private hands." To what extent does this argument still apply to the contemporary prison system?

Question 46

What parallels are there between today's prison system and the convict-lease system of the past?

Question 47

Is it correct to state that the United States' incarceration rate is higher than it was in the 1970s because the crime rate has increased over the past four decades? Why or why not?

Question 48

How is the U.S. prison system distinct from that of similar countries?

Question 49

Explain how mass incarceration in the United States reflects a divergence from the attitude toward imprisonment in the mid-twentieth century.

Question 50

Describe the typical punishment for a first-time drug offense in the United States. How does this punishment compare to that of most other developed countries?

Question 51

Social scientists have discovered that states with higher increases in incarceration do not experience significant declines in their crime rates. Identify and discuss two pieces of evidence that crime rates are not reduced by incarcerating more people. Why does the United States continue to use the tactic of mass incarceration, despite evidence that it is ineffective?

Question 52

Identify and discuss three reasons that Black men are seven times more likely to be imprisoned than their White counterparts.

Question 53

How might you argue that the 1984 Crime Control Act, the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, and the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 reveal how racial ideology shapes the War on Drugs?

Question 54

Describe two ways in which an intersectional analysis reveals how the effects of mass incarceration vary by people's social location.

Question 55

Use the concept of institutional racism to explain why police target low-income, Black neighborhoods rather than higher income, White neighborhoods. What are the cumulative effects of this policing practice?

Question 56

What is racial profiling? Is this practice better explained by individual racism or institutional racism? Explain.

Question 57

Although fewer African Americans are convicted of drug felonies than Whites, more African Americans are admitted to prison. Explain this sentencing disparity.

Question 58

Identify and discuss two ways in which mass incarceration negatively impacts prisoners' families. How do these negative impacts deepen racial inequality?

Question 59

Discuss two parallels between Jim Crow segregation and mass incarceration practices.