Articles
Racial Disparity in U.S. Jails
A significant black-to-white disparity in U.S. imprisonment rates was revealed in a recent study conducted by the Sentencing Project, a criminal policy group based in Washington D.C.
According to the study, blacks and Hispanics are imprisoned at a rate much higher than whites; for blacks, the rate is five times that of whites and for Hispanics, the rate is nearly double.
States with the Greatest Disparity
The study showed that the greatest disparity exists in the Midwest and Northeast, with Iowa having the widest disparity of all the states. In Iowa, blacks are incarcerated at a rate 13 times that of whites—a figure more than double the national average.
Behind Iowa, according to 2005 Justice Department statistics are Vermont, New Jersey and Connecticut. All three states incarcerate blacks at a rate 12 times or higher than whites.
The group said statistics on Hispanics in the criminal justice system is limited, but Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts imprison Hispanics at a rate five times greater than whites.
A Failure of the System
Marc Mauer, executive director of the Sentencing Project, said the figures “reflect a failure of social and economic interventions to address crime effectively.” They also reflect, he noted, a racial bias in the criminal justice system.
Hawaii, Georgia and Mississippi had the lowest black-to-white imprisonment ratios at 1.9, 3.3, and 3.5 respectively—all lower than the national average.
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