Sentencing-Guideline Study Finds Continuing Disparities -NYT

[Rose Siding]

WASHINGTON, Nov. 26 (AP) - The number of minority inmates in federal penitentiaries, as a percentage of all federal prisoners, has increased sharply since sentencing guidelines took effect in 1987 and now accounts for a majority of the prison population, a study reviewing 15 years of data has concluded.

The study was conducted by the United States Sentencing Commission, which sets the guidelines for federal judges. The panel examined how well the guidelines had brought uniformity to punishments, and found that while sentencing had become "more certain and predictable," disparities still existed among races and regions of the country, with blacks generally receiving harsher punishment than whites.
.........
Whites made up 35 percent of the prison population in 2002, a sharp decline from nearly 60 percent in 1984, according to the report. It attributed the decrease to a striking growth in Hispanics imprisoned on immigration charges - to 40 percent of federal prisoners, from about 15 percent.

In addition, the gap in punishment between blacks and whites widened. While blacks and whites received an average sentence of slightly more than two years in 1984, blacks now stay in prison for about six years, compared with about four years for whites. The report attributed this disparity in part to harsher mandatory minimum sentences that Congress imposed for drug-related crimes like cocaine possession. In 2002, 81 percent of offenders in such cases were black.

The study found harsher punishments generally in the South than in the Northeast and the West, though it concluded that legal differences in individual cases "explain the vast majority of variation among judges and regions."

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/27/national/27sentencing.html?oref=login

[bemildred]

1. The freedom loving USA has the highest incarceration rate in the World.

There is really nothing else you need to know about our legal institutions
and penal system.

[Rose Siding]

2. Nothing else you need to know

about our political system, or the American public's interest either. This wasn't even an issue in the campaign, even though it directly effects a number of important constituencies.

[goodboy]

3. I'm volunteering for the ohio recount, and giving to BBV!!! (eom)

[Evening Star]

4. Racial differences aside

Parts of the court system are a racket bent on sucking revenue from the commons. God forbid there are no witnesses as the average citizen can be railroaded into their system as trumped up charges are an opportunity for the state. Once you are in "the system" they hammer you into the dirt even further. Innocent family's have been destroyed both financially AND psychologically.

Many end up in much worse psychological shape and even more untrusting of government then they were before the adjudicative process.

It may get worse now as we need more troops and this may be part of a "mandate"

First clue: the decrease in funding for pell grants

Mama's...they want your babies

[Evening Star]

5. Another problem

in this scenario is that many can fall through the cracks in being provided legal support.

The financial guidelines for obtaining a P.D.are set whereas it can be out of reach for many and affording a P.A. can bankrupt.

Catch22 .....we have you right where we want you