Question

What is a way that the court system reproduces inequality in each of the four categories. The four categories are: rules, lawyers, institutions/courts, and parties.

Answer 1

Social reproduction describes the reproduction of social structures and systems, mainly on the basis of particular preconditions in demographics, education and inheritance of material property or legal titles (as earlier with aristocracy). Reproduction is understood as the maintenance and continuation of existing social relations. Originally proposed by Karl Marx in Das Kapital, this concept is a variety of Marx's notion of economic reproduction.
According to sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, there are four types of capital that contribute to social reproduction in society: economic capital, cultural capital, human capital, and social capital.Social reproduction in this sense is distinct from the term as it is used in Marxist feminism to discuss reproductive labor. In that application, it is used to explain the role of women in wider social and class structures, and their (often unrecognized) contribution to the capitalist economy via their (traditional) role within the household as both child-bearers and family caretakers, and by extension women's role as providers of free labor that is necessary to produce and maintain current and future workers. Social inequality occurs when resources in a given society are distributed unevenly, typically through norms of allocation, that engender specific patterns along lines of socially defined categories of persons. It is the differentiation preference of access of social goods in the society brought about by power, religion, kinship, prestige, race, ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation, and class. Social inequality usually implies to the lack of equality of outcome, but may alternatively be conceptualized in terms of the lack of equality of access to opportunity.[1] The social rights include labor market, the source of income, health care, and freedom of speech, education, political representation, and participation. Social inequality linked to economic inequality, usually described on the basis of the unequal distribution of income or wealth, is a frequently studied type of social inequality. Although the disciplines of economics and sociology generally use different theoretical approaches to examine and explain economic inequality, both fields are actively involved in researching this inequality. However, social and natural resources other than purely economic resources are also unevenly distributed in most societies and may contribute to social status. Norms of allocation can also affect the distribution of rights and privileges, social power, access to public goods such as education or the judicial system, adequate housing, transportation, credit and financial services such as banking and other social goods and services.Kozol’s observations illustrated the disparities between schools. In poor schools, students face overcrowding, unsanitary conditions, and understaffed buildings where even basic tools and textbooks might be missing. These schools tend to be located in areas with large proportions of minorities, high rates of poverty, and high taxation rates. But high taxation rates on low-value property do not generate much revenue, and these schools remain underfunded. Kozol argues that property taxes are an unjust funding basis for schools, one that fails to challenge the status quo of racial-based inequality. Even when state funding is used to partially equalize the funding between districts, inequalities aren’t erased. In Kozol’s words, “Equal funding for unequal needs is not equality. ”
Kozol concludes that these disparities in school quality perpetuate inequality and constitute de facto segregation. He argues that racial segregation is still alive and well in the American educational system; this is due to the gross inequalities that result from unequal distribution of funds collected through both property taxes and funds distributed by the state in an attempt to “equalize” the expenditures of schools.This month saw the release of emerging findings from the Lammy Review, an investigation into the treatment of ethnic minorities in the criminal justice system across England and Wales. The aim of the review is to gather the latest evidence and make recommendations to ensure that everyone in the system – in court, prison, secure youth institution or rehabilitation – is ‘treated equally, whatever their race or ethnicity’.
So far, the review has found that Black men are over three times more likely to be arrested than White men, ethnic minorities are more likely to receive prison sentences, and Black men are more likely than White men to be placed in high security prisons for some categories of offence.This confirms the findings in the Commission’s recent report on race (Healing a divided Britain), published in August. We reported on a range of areas where race discrimination is evident and examined how it has impacted different ethnic groups. For example, across England and Wales, Black men are five times more likely to be stopped and searched than White men, ethnic minorities in police custody are significantly more likely to be physically restrained than White people, and 40% of prisoners under 18 were from Black, Asian, Mixed or ‘Other’ groups during 2014 to 2015.
David Lammy MP points to the danger that the over-representation of ethnic minorities in the criminal justice system can breed a culture of ‘them and us’. Earlier this year, I warned that a ‘failure to tackle deep-rooted race inequality will exacerbate divisions in our society’. We are encouraged to note that the Lammy Review was launched due to growing concerns across political parties about race inequality in the criminal justice system. It is a strategic approach, seeking a long term solution, rather than in reaction to public order or tragic events. The interim findings come soon after Theresa May’s first speech as Prime Minister when she committed to ‘make Britain a country that works for everyone’. She referred to the different experiences of Black and White people in everyday life and in the criminal justice system. She has also launched an audit of how race affects people’s experiences of public services across health, education and employment. We welcome this initiative and look forward to the findings.