NCJ Number
174078
Date Published
1997
Length
26 pages
Annotation
Because considerable variations can be found among the 50 States in the extent to which they use incarceration and in the degree of racial disparity, this report analyzes variations in the use of incarceration by race and examines projections of the impact of current sentencing proposals on racial disparity and quality of life for black Americans.
Abstract
From 1988 to 1994, 38 States and the District of Columbia experienced an increase in racially disparate incarceration rates. Nationally, the black rate of incarceration in State prisons during this period increased from 6.88 times the rate of whites to 7.66. In comparison to a similar increase in the number of imprisoned violent offenders for blacks and whites between 1986 and 1991 (31,000 and 33,000, respectively), the increase in the number of black drug offenders far outpaced that for whites by 66,000 to 15,000. The black increase represented a 465 percent change between 1986 and 1991. Twelve States and the District of Columbia incarcerate blacks at a rate more than 10 times that of whites. Although the overall rate of incarceration in the United States is 5 to 10 times that of most European nations, the white rate of incarceration in 10 States and the District of Columbia is less than 120 per 100,000, comparable to other industrialized countries. At the national level, however, the rate of white incarceration is 1.5 to 2 times that of most developed nations. Current proposals for prison expansion may result in 1 in 7 adult black males being incarcerated on any given day and 1 in 4 for the group between 20 and 29 years of age. Further, ongoing consequences of high incarceration rates have impacts that may seriously erode the black community's participation in civic life. Nationally, an estimated 1.4 million black males are currently or permanently disenfranchised from voting as a result of a felony conviction. This represents 14 percent, or 1 in 7, of the adult black male population of 10.4 million. In total, about 4.2 million persons of all races are currently disenfranchised as a result of a felony conviction. While racial disproportions in imprisonment do not necessarily indicate discriminatory treatment, the degree to which the criminal justice system affects the black community suggests there is a need to consider approaches to fighting crime that are more cost-effective and that carry fewer unintended consequences than the current reliance on incarceration. 32 footnotes and 8 tables