Lately, there has been discussion that the American judicial system is comprised of double standards applied based on political ideology. The theory that the American judicial system has a double standard applied based on political ideology has been fueled by several high-profile cases over the years that have highlighted disparities in how the justice system treats different groups of people. Some people believe that the legal system is biased against conservatives or those who hold right-wing political views, while others believe that it is biased against progressives or those who hold left-wing political views. One factor that has contributed to this theory is the way in which cases are prosecuted and investigated, with some arguing that law enforcement and prosecutors are more likely to go after individuals who hold certain political beliefs or affiliations.
A 2018 study conducted by the Sentencing Project found that there were no differences in the incarceration rates of Democrats and Republicans.
Conservative commentators point to cases like the prosecution of Michael Flynn, Roger Stone, and Dinesh D’Souza as proof of the federal government’s efforts to silence high level members of the Republican party.
Michael Flynn, a former national security advisor to President Trump, was charged with lying to the FBI as part of the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election. He pleaded guilty to the charges in 2017, but later withdrew his guilty plea and accused the FBI of misconduct. In 2020, the Department of Justice announced that it would drop the charges against Flynn, citing misconduct by the FBI. Interestingly, the move by the DoJ to drop his charges occurred under then President Donald Trump, igniting speculation that the move was politically motivated and directed by the Trump Administration.
Roger Stone is a longtime Republican strategist and associate of President Trump who was charged with lying to Congress and witness tampering as part of the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election. He was convicted in 2019 and sentenced to 40 months in prison but was later granted clemency by President Trump in July 2020. The decision to grant clemency to Stone was controversial and sparked a debate over the independence of the Justice Department and the politicization of the legal system by former president Trump.
Dinesh D'Souza is a conservative author and filmmaker who was charged with violating campaign finance laws during the 2012 US presidential election. He pleaded guilty to the charges in 2014 and was sentenced to eight months in a halfway house and five years of probation. Some conservatives argued that D'Souza was unfairly targeted by the Obama administration and that the charges against him were politically motivated. D'Souza himself has stated that he believes he was targeted for his political views. It is important to note that D’Souza pleaded guilty of his own accord and that there is no substantial evidence to support his claims that he was unfairly targeted.
While there are many additional cases that conservatives use, the reality of these three cases underpins the fact that any evidence of the targeting of conservatives by the justice department is circumstantial at best and in most cases, evidence exists that it was conservative actors that reduced or eliminated any consequences associated with the violations alleged in each case.
The true, and well documented double standard is the one in which defendants of different races or different economic back grounds receive vastly different verdicts for vastly similar cases. Examples of these cases include the Central Park Five, Brock Turner, Ethan Couch, and Kalief Browder.
As of 2022, the incarceration rates in America are 1.4% for African Americans, .75% For Latinx Americans, and .45% for Caucasian Americans.
In 1989, five Black and Latino teenagers, known as the “Central Park Five” were falsely accused and convicted of raping a White woman in Central Park, New York City. They were exonerated in 2002 after DNA evidence proved their innocence but had already served several years in prison.
In 2015, Brock Turner, a White student-athlete at Stanford University, was found guilty of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman behind a dumpster but received a lenient sentence of only six months in jail, sparking national outrage.
Kalief Browder was a 16-year-old Black teenager from the Bronx who was accused of stealing a backpack in 2010. He was held at Rikers Island for three years, two of which were spent in solitary confinement, while awaiting trial. Despite never being convicted of a crime, he suffered abuse and neglect in prison, and ultimately committed suicide after being released. His case brought attention to the issue of pretrial detention and the harsh conditions faced by inmates in the US criminal justice system.
In 2013, Ethan Couch, a 16-year-old from a wealthy family, caused a car accident that killed four people and injured nine others while driving drunk. His defense argued that he suffered from "affluenza," a condition where his wealthy upbringing left him unable to understand the consequences of his actions. He received a sentence of 10 years probation and no jail time, which was widely criticized as being too lenient.
Four cases, two extremely clear examples illustrating how the judicial system has been proven to be biased against minority and poor defendants. As of 2022, the incarceration rates in America are 1.4% for African Americans, .75% For Latinx Americans, and .45% for Caucasian Americans. Broken down by economic status: the bottom twentieth percentile of America’s income level face an incarceration rate of 1.54%, with the mid twentieth percentile seeing a rate of .47% and the top twentieth percentile seeing a rate of a mere .15%.
The United States holds the top spot when it comes to its incarcerated population compared to other developed nations, with a whopping 1.2 million Americans behind bars. That number is even more abysmal when broken down by socio-economic status with a whopping 68% recidivism rate for those living at or below the poverty line and 41% for those living above the poverty line. Broken down by race: 48% of African Americans find their way back behind bars compared to 41% of White Americans. The primary driver for the high numbers is that even after someone serves their sentence fully and are released from prison, they continue to be punished. Recent studies have found that the average unemployment rate for convicted criminals ranges between 12 and 27 percent, far higher than the current national unemployment rate of 3.9%.
In short, there is a double standard in the American Judicial system, it just isn’t what some conservative commentators want you to believe. The double standard exists within race and socio-economic status, rather than political ideology. In fact, a 2018 study conducted by the Sentencing Project found that there were no differences in the incarceration rates of Democrats and Republicans. Cries of political persecution may make it easier for politicians to gain support and funding for their campaigns, the numbers simply do not support the claims.
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