Hispanic Heritage Month

Historically, most studies that have explored the experiences of criminal defendants in the American criminal Justice system, whether it is in the area of policing, courts, or corrections, have focused almost exclusively on race. Hispanics have resided in the United States since 1598 and recently bypassed African Americans in the general population for the first time in history. In this context, this book will examine the Hispanic experience in the criminal justice system by exploring a series of crucial factors. Major topics include: Hispanics and the American police, policing the barrios, immigration lockdown, the dynamics of arresting Hispanics, criminalizing Mexican identity, Latinos and the 4th Amendment, the exclusion of Latinos from Grand and Petit juries, the penal system and the critical issues facing Hispanic prisoners, probation and parole, the legacy of capital punishment, life after prison, and the dynamics of education and globalization in America. This text presents a variety of studies that illustrate alternative ways of interpreting crime, punishment, safety, equality, and justice. The findings from these studies reveal that race, ethnicity, gender, and class continue to play a significant role in the legal decision-making process. Hispanics in the U.S. Criminal Justice System is written for professionals and students of criminal justice and law enforcement in helping to understand the historical legacy of brutality, manipulation, oppression, marginalization, prejudice, discrimination, power and control, and white America’s continued fear about racial and ethnic minorities.

Latinos in the United States encompass a broad range of racial, socioeconomic, and sociopolitical identities. Originating from the Caribbean, Spain, Central and South America, and Mexico, they have unique justice concerns. The ethnic group includes U.S. citizens, authorized resident aliens, and undocumented aliens, a group that has been a constant partner in the Latino legal landscape for over a century. This book addresses the development and rapid growth of the Latino population in the United States and how race-based discrimination, hate crimes, and other prejudicial attitudes, some of which have been codified via public policy, have grown in response. Salinas explores the degrading practice of racial profiling, an approach used by both federal and state law enforcement agents; the abuse in immigration enforcement; and the use of deadly force against immigrants. The author also discusses the barriers Latinos encounter as they wend their way through the court system. While all minorities face the barrier of racially based jury strikes, bilingual Latinos deal with additional concerns, since limited-English-proficient defendants depend on interpreters to understand the trial process. As a nation rich in ethnic and racial backgrounds, the United States, Salinas argues, should better strive to serve its principles of justice.