Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Report: Racial Disparity in Prisons Narrows Across US
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 5 years ago on
December 3, 2019

Share

SACRAMENTO — Racial disparities have narrowed across the U.S. criminal justice system over 16 years, though black people are still significantly more likely to be behind bars than white people, new federal figures show.
Racial gaps broadly declined in local jails, state prisons, and among people on probation and parole, according to the study released Tuesday by the nonpartisan Council on Criminal Justice.

“Most people think this is a bad problem that’s getting worse. It turns out it’s a bad problem that’s getting a little better, and for very complex reasons that we need to understand at a much deeper level.” Adam Gelb, president and chief executive of the politically diverse council that launched in July to seek solutions to problems in the criminal justice system
The divide in state imprisonment rates dropped for all major crimes but was most pronounced for drug offenses — a key driving factor for the racial shift. Black people were 15 times more likely than white people to be in state prisons for drug crimes in 2000, but that dropped to five times as likely by 2016, the most recent year available.
Many don’t realize how much the racial gap has narrowed, not only in incarceration but in parole and probation, said Adam Gelb, president and chief executive of the politically diverse council that launched in July to seek solutions to problems in the criminal justice system.
“Most people think this is a bad problem that’s getting worse,” said Gelb, whose group has brought together governors of both parties, police officials and Black Lives Matter organizers. “It turns out it’s a bad problem that’s getting a little better, and for very complex reasons that we need to understand at a much deeper level.”
Critics contend minorities’ disproportionate involvement in the U.S. criminal justice system reflects systemic racial bias. Researchers have blamed prejudice by police, prosecutors, judges and juries; racial differences in crimes; and get-tough sentencing laws during the high crime era of the 1980s and ’90s.
FILE – In this Monday, April 23, 2018, file photo, a woman high on methamphetamines and the opioid pain medication Opana, sits in a holding cell after being booked for drug possession at the Campbell County Jail in Jacksboro, Tenn. Six black women were imprisoned for every white inmate in 2000, which fell to two-to-one by 2016. Fewer black women were being incarcerated for drug crimes, while more white women were imprisoned for violent, property and drug crimes. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)

Other National Statistics

While racial inequity in arrests and incarcerations narrowed, the length of prison sentences increased across all crime types for black people and partially offset the benefits, according to the report co-authored by Georgia State University professor William Sabol, former director of the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Among the other findings of the report, which is based on numbers from the bureau, the FBI and other national statistics:
— Nine African American men were in state prisons for every white inmate in 2000, which dropped to a still disparate six black men for every white man by 2016. The change mostly stemmed from a 30% decline in the black male imprisonment rate, largely driven by falling drug crimes.
— Six black women were imprisoned for every white inmate in 2000, which fell to two-to-one by 2016. Fewer black women were being incarcerated for drug crimes, while more white women were imprisoned for violent, property and drug crimes.
— The disparities between Hispanics and white people also shrank across all categories since 2000.

‘Such Stark and Eye-Catching and Disturbing Disparity’

While falling drug crimes had a big impact on racial disparity the shift raises questions the study’s authors couldn’t answer.

“Something was going on here well before (marijuana) legalization started to happen in states and also before the opioid epidemic, which is much more recent. Drug enforcement patterns started to change before both of those things. It’s clear that somewhere along the way, societal attitudes toward drugs and drug enforcement started to change.” — Adam Gelb
For instance, the start of the study period comes after the crack cocaine epidemic waned and after crime rates dropped from their peak in the early 1990s.
“Something was going on here well before (marijuana) legalization started to happen in states and also before the opioid epidemic, which is much more recent,” Gelb said. “Drug enforcement patterns started to change before both of those things. It’s clear that somewhere along the way, societal attitudes toward drugs and drug enforcement started to change.”
The nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California reported a similar marked drop in the racial divide in arrest trends since the 1980s in the nation’s most populous state but also found that black people are still far more likely to be arrested than white people.
That’s partly because “there was such stark and eye-catching and disturbing disparity” in the first place, said institute researcher Magnus Lofstrom, who was not involved in the national study.
He said the disparity could be influenced by bias, economic factors or police concentrating on high crime areas that also have high minority populations. There has been a marked decrease in crime rates and a recent reduction in the severity of penalties, particularly for drug and property crimes, in states like California.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Trump Is Dismantling the Education Dept. How That Might Harm Special Ed

DON'T MISS

Special Interests Pour More Than Half a Billion Into CA Lobbying

DON'T MISS

Texas Walmart Shooter Who Killed 23 Avoids Death Penalty by Pleading Guilty

DON'T MISS

Chevron Announces First Oil at Ballymore Project in US Gulf

DON'T MISS

Fresno Barbershop Shooting Leaves Man Dead, Two Others Injured

DON'T MISS

Vance, Modi Welcome Significant Progress on India-US Trade Deal

DON'T MISS

White House Denies Report It Is Searching for New Defense Secretary

DON'T MISS

Israeli Spy Chief Hands Court Scathing Rebuke of Netanyahu Bid to Sack Him

DON'T MISS

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Satbir Singh

DON'T MISS

Steeply Discounted OD-Reversal Medicine Now Available to Any Californian

UP NEXT

Special Interests Pour More Than Half a Billion Into CA Lobbying

UP NEXT

Steeply Discounted OD-Reversal Medicine Now Available to Any Californian

UP NEXT

Chargers in Need of Help at Wide Receiver and Tight End in the NFL Draft

UP NEXT

Magic Happens When Kids and Adults Learn to Swim. Tragedy Can Strike if They Don’t.

UP NEXT

AI ‘Friend’ for Public School Students Falls Flat

UP NEXT

Progressive Icon and Ex-US Rep. Barbara Lee Wins Race for Mayor of Oakland

UP NEXT

Humanoid Robots Run a Chinese Half-Marathon Alongside Human Competitors

UP NEXT

Bakersfield Push to Restore Kern River Seeks to Revitalize City

UP NEXT

Anti-Trump Protesters Turn Out to Rallies Across Country

UP NEXT

250 Years After America Went to War for Independence, a Divided Nation Battles Over Its Legacy

Chevron Announces First Oil at Ballymore Project in US Gulf

2 hours ago

Fresno Barbershop Shooting Leaves Man Dead, Two Others Injured

3 hours ago

Vance, Modi Welcome Significant Progress on India-US Trade Deal

3 hours ago

White House Denies Report It Is Searching for New Defense Secretary

3 hours ago

Israeli Spy Chief Hands Court Scathing Rebuke of Netanyahu Bid to Sack Him

3 hours ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Satbir Singh

4 hours ago

Steeply Discounted OD-Reversal Medicine Now Available to Any Californian

4 hours ago

Merced College Breaks Ground on $21 Million Center Geared for Tomorrow’s Ag Jobs

4 hours ago

Delta Plane Suffers Engine Fire in Orlando, Forcing Evacuation

4 hours ago

Fresno Police Arrest 11 for DUI During Weekend Enforcement

4 hours ago

Trump Is Dismantling the Education Dept. How That Might Harm Special Ed

By Carolyn Jones, CalMatters This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. President Donald Trump has p...

6 minutes ago

6 minutes ago

Trump Is Dismantling the Education Dept. How That Might Harm Special Ed

California Lobbyists and Special Interests
38 minutes ago

Special Interests Pour More Than Half a Billion Into CA Lobbying

El Paso Walmart mass shooter Patrick Crusius, a 21-year-old male from Allen, Texas, accused of killing 22 and injuring 25, is arraigned, in El Paso, Texas, U.S. October 10, 2019. (Mark Lambie/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo)
1 hour ago

Texas Walmart Shooter Who Killed 23 Avoids Death Penalty by Pleading Guilty

A Chevron gas station sign is seen in Austin, Texas, U.S., October 23, 2023. (REUTERS/Brian Snyder)
2 hours ago

Chevron Announces First Oil at Ballymore Project in US Gulf

Jampier Quintero, 44, was killed and two others were injured in a shooting Saturday at a Fresno barbershop, with police still searching for suspects. (Fresno PD)
3 hours ago

Fresno Barbershop Shooting Leaves Man Dead, Two Others Injured

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets U.S. Vice President JD Vance at his residence in New Delhi, India, April 21, 2025. India's Press Information (Bureau/Handout via REUTERS)
3 hours ago

Vance, Modi Welcome Significant Progress on India-US Trade Deal

A view of the White House in Washington, U.S., July 20, 2024. (REUTERS/Kevin Mohatt/File Photo)
3 hours ago

White House Denies Report It Is Searching for New Defense Secretary

Israeli Security Agency director Ronen Bar attends a memorial ceremony of the Hamas attack on October 7 last year that sparked the ongoing war in Gaza, at the Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem on October 27, 2024. (GIL COHEN-MAGEN/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo)
3 hours ago

Israeli Spy Chief Hands Court Scathing Rebuke of Netanyahu Bid to Sack Him

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend