The Jena 6 judgment shows that inequity still occurs within the country’s criminal justice system even after equality was established by law. “The law may be conceived of as a neutral, but it doesn’t operate neutrally,” writes Camille A. Nelson, assistant professor of law at St. Louis University. “It has disparate impact depending upon where you’re situated in society.”

Racial disparity is obvious in the Criminal Justice System according to groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).

“Racism is rampant in the criminal justice system,” said ACLU of New Jersey Executive Director Deborah Jacobs. “This is reflected by [the] disproportionate number of minorities in the prison system.”

Although the minority groups constituted only 25 percent of the national population in 2000, according to Human Rights Watch, out of a total population of more than 1.9 million jailed adults, more than 1.2 million (63 percent) are black or Latino.

The “War on Drugs” is another case where racism strikes. According to Human Rights Watch, in at least fifteen states, black men were sent to prison on drug charges at rates ranging from twenty to fifty-seven times those of white men. Blacks are prosecuted in federal courts more frequently than whites for crack cocaine offenses. They have felt the effects of longer mandatory sentences for crack possession versus possession of powder cocaine, the group said.

According to the U.S. sentencing commission, possession of five grams of crack will trigger a 5-year mandatory minimum sentence. “Simple possession of any quantity of any other substance by a first-time offender-including powder cocaine-is a misdemeanor offense punishable by a maximum of one year in prison,” the guidelines say.

In addition, in sentencing of cocaine and marijuana offenses, critics say blacks are arrested more than whites.

“I think drug-use statistics show that whites use drugs more and are less disciplined because cops are more likely to bust blacks,” said Booth Gunter, public affairs director of the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Department of Justice reports on racial profiling shows alarming racial disparities in the rate at which motorists are searched by local law enforcement.

“These findings demonstrate clear and significant racial disparities in the way in which motorists are treated once they have been stopped by law enforcement,” writes Dennis Parker, Director of the ACLU’s Racial Justice Project. “The report found that blacks and Hispanics were roughly three times as likely to be searched during a traffic stop, blacks were twice as likely to be arrested and blacks were nearly four times as likely to experience the threat or use of force during interactions with the police.”

Richard Cohen, president of the Southern Poverty Law Center, writes that race has an impact on how aggressively prosecutors pursue cases.

“Justice should be blind, but prosecutors are not,” writes Cohen. “They see color and unfortunately, it often has an impact on how they exercise their prosecutorial discretion.”