![]() ![]() Eliminate mandatory sentences for all crimes.Ethnic disparities are highest in Massachusetts, which reports an ethnic differential of 4.1:1. Latinx individuals are incarcerated in state prisons at a rate that is 1.3 times the incarceration rate of whites.Seven states maintain a Black/white disparity larger than 9 to 1: California, Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Wisconsin.In 12 states, more than half the prison population is Black: Alabama, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia.Wisconsin leads the nation in Black imprisonment rates one of every 36 Black Wisconsinites is in prison. Nationally, one in 81 Black adults in the U.S.Black Americans are incarcerated in state prisons at nearly 5 times the rate of white Americans.7 The Sentencing Project has produced state-level estimates twice before 8 and once again finds staggering disproportionalities. This report documents the rates of incarceration for whites, African Americans, and Latinx individuals, providing racial and ethnic composition as well as rates of disparity for each state. True progress towards a racially just system requires an understanding of the variation in racial and ethnic inequities in imprisonment across states and the policies and day-to-day practices that drive these inequities. Immediate and focused attention on the causes and consequences of racial disparities is required in order to eliminate them. Truly meaningful reforms to the criminal justice system cannot be accomplished without acknowledgement of its racist underpinnings. Still, America maintains its distinction as the world leader 4 in its use of incarceration, including more than 1.2 million people held in state prisons around the country. 3 This decline has been accomplished through a mix of reforms to policy and practice that reduce prison admissions as well as lengths of stay in prison. Nine states have lowered their prison population by 30% or more in recent years: Alaska, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Alabama, Rhode Island, Vermont, Hawaii, and California. It is clear that the outcome of mass incarceration today has not occurred by happenstance but has been designed through policies created by a dominant white culture that insists on suppression of others.Īt the same time, states have begun to chip away at mass incarceration. 2 This cycle both individually and societally is felt disproportionately by people who are Black. 1 These are individual-level consequences of imprisonment but there are societal level consequences as well: high levels of imprisonment in communities cause high crime rates and neighborhood deterioration, thus fueling greater disparities. Imprisonment also reduces lifetime earnings and negatively affects life outcomes among children of incarcerated parents. Going to prison is a major life-altering event that creates obstacles to building stable lives in the community, such as gaining employment and finding stable and safe housing after release. During the present era of criminal justice reform, not enough emphasis has been focused on ending racial and ethnic disparities systemwide. The latest available data regarding people sentenced to state prison reveal that Black Americans are imprisoned at a rate that is roughly five times the rate of white Americans. This report details our observations of staggering disparities among Black and Latinx people imprisoned in the United States given their overall representation in the general population. The data findings featured in this report epitomize the enormity of the task. The fight for racial justice within the criminal legal system continues, however. ![]() Almost one year later, Chauvin was convicted for Floyd’s death, a rare outcome among law enforcement officers who kill unarmed citizens. The uprisings that followed Floyd’s death articulated a vision for transforming public safety practices and investments. When former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin killed George Floyd by kneeling on his neck in 2020, the world witnessed the most racist elements of the U.S. ![]()
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