NCJ Number
165527
Date Published
1996
Length
312 pages
Annotation
This analysis of criminal justice policies and the criminal justice system concludes that the severely disproportionate number of black male inmates results from racial bias in the war on drugs and its exacerbation of existing prejudice throughout the criminal justice system.
Abstract
The text analyzes racial bias among police officers, probation officers, and courts and argues that social scientists and social workers have uncritically accepted the questionable assumptions of criminal justice processing. The author contends that the racial bias of the drug war make it much more likely not only that young black males will encounter the criminal justice system but also that their minor offenses that are more easily plea bargained than contested result in their beginning to develop criminal records that result in mandatory prison sentences for any subsequent encounters. The result of the greater likelihood of blacks' initial encounters is an increased probability of incarceration for longer and longer periods. Recommended changes include reporting crime on the basis of convictions rather than arrests, ending all sting operations in the inner city, cessation of the recruitment of informants as the central tactic of the drug war in the inner city, appointing rather than electing local prosecutors, revising adult criminal justice procedures to resemble the juvenile court in its original conception, and eliminating just-deserts models. The author is the president of the National Center on Institutions and Alternatives. Additional recommendations, figures, tables, chapter reference notes, and index