Study shows racial disparities in prison: blacks imprisoned 5 times rate of whites

[superconnected]

Source: Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa - Blacks in the United States are imprisoned at more than five times the rate of whites, and Hispanics are locked up at nearly double the white rate, according to a study released Wednesday by a criminal justice policy group.

The report by the Sentencing Project, a Washington-based think tank, found that states in the Midwest and Northeast have the greatest black-to-white disparity in incarceration. Iowa had the widest disparity in the nation, imprisoning blacks at more than 13 times the rate of whites.

Such figures "reflect a failure of social and economic interventions to address crime effectively," as well as racial bias in the justice system, said Marc Mauer, the group's executive director.

Vermont, New Jersey, Connecticut and Wisconsin incarcerated blacks at more than 10 times the rate of whites, the group said, citing Justice Department statistics from 2005. Vermont had a ratio of 12.5, followed by New Jersey with 12.4 and Connecticut with 12.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070718/ap_on_re_us/prisons_racial_disparity

[superconnected]

1. Now think hard, which race do you think steals the most money from the US population?

This can be in assets including car stereos, corporate welfare, etc.

[ninkasi]

3. Exactly right

Of course, the worst offenders are rewarded with executive pay, huge bonuses, etc. Serial killers are almost always white, too.There is still an enormous amount of prejudice in the country, and far too many bigots who raise their children to be the same way.

[conspirator]

28. white collar crime pays. Only blue collar criminals go to jail n/t

[shanti]

2. what a shock!

:eyes:

[Socal31]

4. Instead of figuring out the root causes...

(poverty, poor inner-city schools, gangs, stacked legal system) these threads usually turn into a big "Lets shit on white people" fest. (Wait, are white people allowed to be offended by generalizations, or does that make me somehow racist?)

[youngdem]

6. You got it.

[Laughing Mirror]

9. The root causes are poverty & injustice

Aided and abetted by the voracious privatized Prison Industrial Complex which needs more and more warm bodies to turn outrageous profits and make those shareholders happy. There'll be about 2.5 million of those warm bodies in just a few short years, and about half of those warm bodies will be black, although blacks only comprise about 12.5% of the nation's population. Isn't that just grand?

[slackmaster]

10. Thanks for saying it

:toast:

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

11. What causes poverty, poor innercity schools, gangs, stacked legal systems?

I say institutional racism.

[ProudDad]

13. Most crimes in the U.S. are committed by white people

:shrug:

But you wouldn't be able to tell that from the MSM or the contents of the jails and prisons in the Criminal-Injustice System...


On edit: It's institutionalized racism and institutionalized laziness.

[ThomCat]

14. The root cause of crime might be poverty, etc.

But the root cause of the difference in rate of incarceration is pure racism. Once you're in the criminal justice system, racism is free to run rampant.

[EFerrari]

25. Because you are the victim of institutional racism?

Poor,poor thing.

[fishwax]

29. poor white people. they suffer so much in threads like these.

:eyes:

[silverojo]

33. You're absolutely right

Crime is always more prevalent among people with lower education and fewer opportunities. I'm getting tired of the white-bashing that's going on these days. Reverse racism is as ugly as racism--actually, both are one and the same.

[happyslug]

5. Is this a product to Race or Economics (IT seems ot be the alter.

The same program gave the following three states as the "Fairest" to Blacks: Hawaii, Georgia and Mississippi. Hawaii is ti 1.9 blacks to 1 while, which may reflect that fact how many Blacks are in the Navy (i.e. in the Navy means they have a job and housing). The worse rates are in states with high Suburban population, which again implies Whites have jobs and housing, while blacks do not (and thus end up in criminal activities).

Race is a factor, but given the low rates in Georgia and Mississippi (Blacks are only three times more likely to go to Jail in those states, the lowest in the Country) it seems to be more a factor of economics (and local Politics) than race.

[Miss Chybil]

7. I think you've hit the nail on the head.

Now, how to fix it...

[happyslug]

19. If I knew I be advocating it.

One of the good points about this difference is racial in outlook is that under law (As the present Supreme Court applies it) Race can be a factor (Through this court is downplaying Race) but economics can NOT be (The old joke, it is a constitutional to make a law making it illegal for both the Rich and Poor to sleep under Bridges). Thus I can not sleep under a Bridge (and have a home to live in and sleep in) but a poor Homeless person ALSO can not sleep under that Bridge even if it is the only dry place for him to sleep when it is raining or Snowing. My Solution is complex ut here is a start:

1. Guarantee monthly income equal to the standard of Need to everyone over age 18 (Roughly $623 per month). This is the present SSI amount (Social Security pays more, if you worked full time for 20 years before you became disable). I would even eliminate Unemployment if this exists (More people would quit unreasonable employers if they had enough to live off if they quit). Paid by an increase in the SS Tax to 15% AND eliminate the cap, i.e. EVERYONE pays $15 of ALL OF THEIR INCOME TO PAY FOR THIS. This will also replace Welfare.

2. Increase spending on Mental Health, including proving various levels of Housing for people who should NOT be on they own. People may have to be given a Choice, Move into mental Health Housing or go to jail for sleeping on Park Benches. I know this sounds like I want to force people to live, but some people need to be forced. The Housing should permit people free access and exit, but supervision to make sure the tenants are doing the minimal they need to do to keep up the house (take out Garbage, Clean the outside and Inside etc). The person doing this supervision has to be careful, he or she can NOT seem to the Tenant to be bossing them around, but they need to remind people to do what is needed. A careful balance is needed. Easy access to Mental Health professional is also required as while as being need jobs people with mental limitations can do.

3. Regular Public Housing near suburban Malls so that low income people can live near where they work. Most today are NOT, for jobs are heading out to the Suburbs but the Suburbs do NOT want Public Housing.

4. Increase legal assistance to make sure the above is occurring but also legal problems are resolved, divorces done, Custody and Visitation sit up, Bankruptcies and debt management handled etc. A lot of poor people have a lot of NON-CRIMINAL legal problems that need to be addressed

5. Broaden the level of Medical Coverage so that a person of Welfare when he or she starts work does NOT lose their Medical COverage.

6. Provide Cars for those that need them to get start work. This should be done even if the person is NOT working today. The Car would free up a lot of poor people to get jobs in suburbia (An alternative would be free Public Transportation if that is the better way for the poor person to get around, you may actually need both).

7. Increase spending on Public Defenders so that the poor are treated as fairly as possible in the Criminal System.

8. If someone is left out of Prison, he is provided Housing in an environment that encourages him to rejoin the non-criminal work force. This means providing not only half-way homes where you live with the supervisor, but a separate home where someone comes by and checks up on the ex-prisoner. The Probation officer should NOT only be a "Check-in" Officer but somewhere who is helping the ex-prisoner adjust to living outside of prison, find a job and keep that job.

9. Increase activities for Teenagers to interact with older people. Night-Time Basketball league in the inner-city, Girl and boy scouts (Even if these groups have to have extra funding do to the fact they membership is poorer than most such groups). Get inner-city youths interested in something other than drugs and crime (and this includes requiring Schools to be open AFTER hours so that the children can use the Library in the School if they want to).

10. Increase educational funding and opportunities so that disadvantage children know they can go to school and get education. This includes keeping the Schools open at night so that the Kids can go to the School and use the Gym, the Poll, the Indoor basketball ring in addition to the Library.

That are ten points to start with, most will help ALL people but especially the poor.

[killbotfactory]

8. It also doesn't help that black people are more likely to have harsher sentences

Harsher sentences for the same crimes, which means more incarceration.

http://www.soros.org/initiatives/justice/articles_publications/publications/racial_disparity_20050128

[happyslug]

18. But is that a Factor of Race or that blacks tend to be poorer than Whites?

As I mentioned below, Race seems to NOT be a big a Factor in the South as it is in the Mid-West and East Coast. These areas have the HIGHEST black to white ratios and tend to isolate poor people into ghettos (Which tend to be all blacks, for blacks tend to be MUCH poorer than Whites in this section of the Country).

Please note it is rare for Juries to sentence people, it is up to a Judge in most Jurisdiction, thus harsher sentences may reflect that Blacks have a poorer back ground and come from a Poor home area (with higher crime rates) then Whites and that may be the reason Blacks get higher sentences than whites for the same offense. Thus it may be economics than race is why blacks get longer sentence than whites (Factor in the ability of richer people to seek "Treatment" while blacks can not afford such "treatment" gives richer whites the ability to give the Judge an excuse to give them shorter sentences). Note all are the product of Economics NOT race. Thus race is a factor, but economics seems to be a bigger Factor.

[ProgressiveEconomist]

12. Get real. Google "racial profiling", and think about unequal "justice" by legislative

design.

Police forces, invariably with disproportionately small proportions of minority commanders, tend to search hugely disproportionate numbers of minority-driven cars, and thus find drugs in hugely disproportionate numbers of minority-driven cars.

And legislators discriminate by design without mentioning race explicitly in the law. They double mandatory minimum sentences for crack cocaine of the same weight as powder cocaine, and for small drug sales in "drug-free school zones" that blanket entire neighborhoods where minorities live. If the "drug-free zone" does not pinpoint areas of potential sales to children, then it won't discourage sales to children.

See the overlapping 1500-foot circles blanketing most of a city on the map on page 1 of http://www.drugpolicy.org/docUploads/SchoolZonesReport06.pdf :

"Connecticut�s drug-free zone law holds that drug offenses occurring within 1,500 feet of a school,a licensed child day care center,or a public housing property is subject to an enhanced penalty.As this map developed by the Office of Legislative Services shows,virtually the entire city of New Haven is covered by drug-free zones."

And, from page 4 of the same source:

"... the Commission found that in urban areas where schools,parks,and public housing developments are numerous and closely spaced,overlapping zones turn entire communities into prohibited zones-- erasing the very distinction between school and non-school areas that the law was intended to create.

Second,the Commission found that,by blanketing densely populated black and Hispanic neighborhoods,the laws were creating unwarranted racial disparity in the use of incarceration for people convicted of drug offenses.The Commission termed the result "a devastatingly disproportionate impact on New Jersey �s minority community."

Third,the Commission determined that the laws had failed entirely to accomplish their primary objective of driving drug activity away from schools and schoolchildren. The Commission found that the law had no measurable deterrent effect and was not being used to sanction individuals that sell drugs to children. The results of the New Jersey Sentencing Commission �s research should alarm policymakers in other states where drug-free zone statutes are similarly structured...."

[happyslug]

17. I mentioned Race as a Factor, but economics seems to be a larger Factor

Remember more blacks are in the lowest part of the US Economy, but we also have whites in that group. Prior to the "Welfare Reforms" of the mid-1990s they were more Whites in Welfare then Blacks (Welfare Reform reversed that, given that it was easier for whites to be hired than blacks).

My point is while Race was a Factor, given the FACT that blacks, as a groups, are POORER than whites, the reason more blacks are in jail is economics than just mere race. I watch a documentary once about East St Louis and its Suburbs and how if a car with blacks went into those suburbs it was pulled over, but Whites were rarely pulled over. Was this race or economics? East St Louis was MUCH poorer than its suburbs and the Police in those suburbs justified they stopping the cars on Criminal Grounds (Through Racial profile were the key). Were the Blacks being pulled over do to Race, or the fact if you are black you are most likely to be poor? Georgia and Mississippi having the LOWEST black to white race in the 48 Continental states, sounds to me those two states may be arresting a lot of POOR WHITES in addition to Poor Blacks. Thus in the South it may be economics NOT race (i.e. The Suburban Police just do not like poor people in their neighborhood and arrest them). A further factor is that it is harder
for poor people to hire an attorney, and thus more likely to cop a plea, and this is true as to whites and it is Blacks and Hispanics (The the lower Black to White Ratio in Georgia and Mississippi).

Thus racism may be the bigger factor in the East Coast and Mid-West, it seems to be less of a Factor in the South where I suspect Economics is the bigger factor.

[ProgressiveEconomist]

21. "In the South it may be economics not race"??? You must have a good eye to notice

outliers in the racial incarceration rate ratio, but your "explanation" IMO just is not plausible.

See especially the link the link I provided in post #12. It points out that 96 PERCENT of those sentenced to extra mandatory minimum prison time for "drug free school zone" offenses in NJ are nonwhite. I suspect Mississippi, Hawaii, and Georgia may not have "drug free school zone" mandatory minimums, that their DFSZs may be much smaller, or that a much larger proportion of minorities in those states live in rural areas where the typical 1000 foot DFSZ does not blanket school and nonschool areas alike.

Also, residential segregation in the rural South may tend not to be as complete as it is in the Northeast and Midwest, and there are fewer major highways where police racial profiling can rack up huge numbers of pretextual drug searches of disproportionately minority-driven cars. Pursuant to legal action by the ACLU and others, there have been careful surveys of the race of all drivers and the race of those stopped, searched, and arrested on some major highways. On the NJ Turnpike for example, it was found a few years ago that while 13 percent of drivers were African-American, 53 percent of those stopped and searched were African-American.

Another factor may be police leadership differences between North and South. Surely there are proportionately more African-American sherriffs and other powerful police policy-setters in small towns in Mississippi than in New Jersey or Maryland State Police highway patrols.

IMO economic factors might justify a 50 percent or 100 percent difference in racial incarceration rates, but not the 600 percent difference seen nationwide among young men in their 20s. It's as if slavery had been partially re-established for six percent of young African-American men (7 percent incarceration on annual prison survey day versus 1 percent for caucasians).

[David__77]

24. The statistics paint a picture of a profoundly racist country.

People like to postulate this vision of a basically fair country, but that's far from reality. It's just soothing talk.

[sutz12]

15. Hasn't this been true.......for about 200 years?

:shrug:

[happyslug]

20. No, Modern Prison Idea is only from the 1829.

All started with Eastern State Penitentiary in Pennsylvania:
http://www.easternstate.org/

For the History:
http://www.easternstate.org/history/sixpage.php

"In 1787, a group of well-known and powerful Philadelphians convened in the home of Benjamin Franklin. The members of The Philadelphia Society for Alleviating the Miseries of Public Prisons expressed growing concern with the conditions in American and European prisons. Dr. Benjamin Rush spoke on the Society's goal, to see the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania set the international standard in prison design. He proposed a radical idea: to build a true penitentiary, a prison designed to create genuine regret and penitence in the criminal's heart. The concept grew from Enlightenment thinking, but no government had successfully carried out such a program."

"Virtually all prisons designed in the nineteenth century, world wide, were based on one of two systems: New York State's Auburn System, and the Pennsylvania System embodied in the Eastern State Penitentiary. During the century following Eastern's construction, more than 300 prisons in South America, Europe, Russia, China, Japan, and across the British Empire were based on its plan."

Prior to the 1830s, Felons were either executed or used a force labor (Slaves for practical purposes).

[ProgressiveEconomist]

22. From the early 1600s, weren't virtually ALL African-Americans slave laborers? 400 years

of slavery, post-Reconstruction "black codes", USSC abrogation of the 1875 Civil Rights Act in 1883, and police profiling to date make sutz12's 200 years a 50 percent underestimate, IMO.

Is being a slave laborer your whole life better or worse than being a prisoner for a fixed sentence? A Hobson's choice, but I'd say worse.

[happyslug]

31. But we are talking about PRISON and Blacks, not slavery

The history of Slavery is brutal, with US Slavery running against historical norms. Historically, the longer a society has slavery, the more rights and the better treated are the slaves (Thus, for example, the Roman Slaves, gained rights throughout the period of the Roman Empire, so much so that by the Dark Ages the Roman word for Slave, Servus, had become the dark age term, Serf, which meant a person who was free EXCEPT for duties he owned the owner of the property that the was on). In fact Roman Slave law so changed that Europe had to adopt a new name for Slaves, Servus implied a person with to much rights, thus the term "Slave" was adopted for the main source of Slaves during the Dark Ages where the Slavic Countries.

Anyway, while the norm was for SLAVES to be better treated over time, THE OPPOSITE OCCURRED IN THE US BETWEEN 1800 and 1865, Slaves LOST rights AND punishment of Slaves become worse over time. My point was NOT slavery, but that the modern concept of PRISON was NOT over 200 years old (Penitentiaries only date from 1829). Slaves came under Various Codes in the Pre Civil War period. Free Blacks in the South came under Black codes, before the Civil War and After the Civil War. Violators of these codes suffered extreme Punishment, but it was rare for that punishment to be Prison be ore the Civil War. Blacks were subject to imprisonment AFTER the Civil War, but not before. Even Mark Twain in his Book "PUDDIN'HEAD WILSON" shows the "Slave" who had committed a Crime being sold down the river. i.e to the Sugar Plantation of Louisiana where Slaves DIED in droves. Being sold "Down the River" was a death Sentence (and Blacks could be killed by whites with almost impunity before and during the Civil War, and the South resented the North calling their killing of Blacks after the Civil War Murder NOT justified Killing).

Again the original Article pointed out imprisonment rates of Black to Whites and said it was the result of Racism. My point was the numbers cited seems to indicate it was ECONOMICS more than racism (Racism was a factor, but economics a larger factor). Blacks make up almost 50% of the population of Mississippi, and while smaller percentage in Georgia, it is still high yet both states are cited among the LOWEST rates of Blacks to Whites in Prison. These are also two of the poorest states in the Union. With Blacks more likely to be poor than Whites, Economics seems to be a big Factor, given the higher Black to whites rates in East Coast and Midwest states.

[ProgressiveEconomist]

32. How to test a sensible "economic" explanation of state racial incarceration rate ratios

In posts numbers 12 and 27, I've already cited overwhelming empirical evidence that racial prejudices and institutionalized racism in the justice system are mainly responsible for higher incarceration rates for African-Americans than for whites. How can "economics" explain a 48 TIMES HIGHER incarceration rate for African-American youth charged with drug crimes than for white youth charged with the same crime? Are African-American youth in trouble over drugs 48 times more likely than white youth in drug trouble to be poor?

Nonetheless, if you were serious about investigating your thesis, here is what would convince me I'm wrong (though I'm sure I'm not wrong): Find state-by-state poverty rates for African-Americans and for whites separately. Post a state-by-state table with the following columns:

(1) State
(2) African-American incarceration rate
(3) White incarceration rate
(4) African-American poverty rate
(5) White poverty rate
(6) Ratio of (1) to (2)
(7) Ratio of (4) to (5)

Include sources for all data. For yes-no poverty data by state and African-American versus white race, you might have to do some work to replace the variables in the custom table generator example at http://www.thedataweb.org/cps_poverty.html , unless you can find a ready-made table in a report somewhere.

Then we could both "eyeball" and run statistical tests of the explanatory power of (7) in accounting for state variation in (6).

My guess is that the data would force you to admit your thesis is WAY off base.

[flashl]

37. From the Sentencing Project: state-state info

Uneven Justice: State Rates of Incarceration By Race and Ethnicity; from The Sentencing Project, July 2007, p 8

http://sentencingproject.org/Admin/Documents/publications/rd_stateratesofincbyraceandethnicity.pdf

[angstlessk]

36. Watch ANY film footage from the 20's-the 50's..and most prisoners are white

blacks seemed to be targeted as soon as they got rights...in the 60's...see the complexion of prisons change then!

[Seabiscuit]

16. Jails, for the most part, are for non-white/collar criminals.

And as long as that's the case, poor people will be over-represented in the jail population. And until we see the day when blacks and hispanics are fully integrated economically into our society (OK, we can dream, can't we?) their population will continue to dominate jails because their population will continue to commit the most crimes for which people are jailed because they continue to be economically deprived.

Hardly any surprise, and hardly news.

[David__77]

23. People who think this is JUST economics are missing the point.

Oppression of Black people is a special form of oppression that has an economic form, but it's built into the culture, the state, all the main institutions in society. You cannot just say "we're colorblind now, let's help the poor regardless of race." That's fine and good, but doesn't go far enough. Black people as a group in this country are entitled morally to restitution. White people who don't acknowledge and fight white chauvinism - which is the only form of racial bigotry in this country that is backed up by institutional power - don't deserve respect by Black people, or anyone else for that matter.

[flashl]

34. Economic oppression has always been the elephant in the room

"Oppression of Black people is a special form of oppression that has an economic form, but it's built into the culture, the state, all the main institutions in society."

I believe ignoring economic oppression always cloud the issue when the subject of racial disparity is being discussed. Blacks' yoke of economical oppression in this country NEVER ended. And, remember that it�s been a short 42+ years since the Civil Rights movement. Exactly how much wealth building are blacks suppose to amass in 42 years after hundreds of years of overt oppression?

A good example might be the plight of black farmers. Here you have a group of productive people trying to make a living who have fought for years with the Dept. of Agriculture about disparities. Although these complainants of a recent lawsuit technically succeeded in their class action claims against the Dept. of Agriculture they are no better off today. Stubbornly, the Dept. of Agriculture is still telling Black farmers who are losing their farms at alarming rates �Go eat cake�.

Catherine Austin Fitts repeats the profoundness of an old New Jersey street saying "Make a law, make a business". I think it is best understood in the context of this country's historical ties of economical enterprises and prisons. Catherine Austin Fitts have already done a great job of explaining its modern version in "Aristocracy of Stock Profits" and the prison industrial complex. If you read what she has to say you will learn that prisons are an essential component of the U.S. economy.

Another factor absent from the discussion of imprisonment disparities today is the 50-60% unemployment rates of black males in parts of this country. It seems that this country�s answer to unemployment in the black community have always been mass incarceration.

I like this as well, "There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws." Ayn Rand -- Atlas Shrugged, 1957

[noamnety]

26. It begins in public schools

From the US Department of Education's statistics, blacks make up 17% of the students in this country, but they make up 38% of the students who have corporal punishment inflicted upon them.

http://www.stophitting.com/disatschool/statesBanning.php

[ProgressiveEconomist]

27. And worsens as kids age; Of youths accused of drug crimes, 48 TIMES

the proportion of nonwhites are incarcerated., compared to the incarceration rate for whites of the same ages accused of the same crimes.

From http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/juvi26.shtml :

'Justice for teens often white-only; Minority youths victims of racism, report says

By CANDY HATCHER, SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER; Wednesday, April 26, 2000

What happens to a youth accused of a crime in America depends on his color. If he's black or Hispanic, a national report released yesterday showed, he's far more likely to be arrested, held in detention and convicted than if he's white.

The report, "And Justice for Some," details a double standard that exists in nearly every state's juvenile justice system. ... Those charged with drug offenses are 48 times more likely than whites to be sentenced to juvenile institutions. ... At each stage of the process, from the time police interview a child until he is sentenced, "it gets more racist," said Michael Jones, researcher for the National Council on Crime and Delinquency. "America has to confront its very ugly problem."'

[NoodleyAppendage]

30. And...what are the BASERATE of violent crimes between white and black?

"Five times the rate of whites..." means NOTHING unless you know the percentage of crimes perpetrated by each group. This apparent disparity could simply reflect the baserate of crime x race.

[Yavin4]

35. Your Drug War At Work

African Americans and Hispanics who are involved in the illegal drug trade are more likely to be caught, prosecuted, and imprisoned far more often than their White counterparts involved in the illegal drug trade. Police resources and special investigation units are going to target the poor Black and Hispanic communities far more aggressively than they will suburban White communities.

Take it from someone who has lived in both predominantly White and Black communities. Illegal drug use is far more prevalent in the predominantly White community. Far more.

[toopers]

38. The South did surprisingly well in this survey . . .

I guess there is racism in all parts of the country!

[Exultant Democracy]

39. Surprise!