[Peace-discuss] new study racial disparity in US prisons

[Morton K. Brussel]

There may be nothing surprising in these "racial disparity" numbers.  
In the east, for example Connecticut, there was a  very large  
migration of blacks from the south for industrial jobs after WWII,  
which never much materialized, because the industries evaporated,  
leaving a population without jobs or resources to live adequately.  
This promoted delinquency and crime. The south didn't have such an  
predicament as far as I know.

--mkb

On Jul 20, 2007, at 12:57 PM, Ricky Baldwin wrote:

> [I don't know much about this group, but some of the
> results are surprising - compare Wisconsin to
> Mississippi, for example!  Bears thinking about,
> anyway.  -Ricky]
>
> Study shows racial disparities in prison
>
> By DAVID PITT, Associated Press Writer Wed Jul 18,
> 2007
>
> Blacks in the United States are imprisoned at more
> than five times the rate of whites, and Hispanics are
> locked up at nearly double the white rate, according
> to a study released Wednesday by a criminal justice
> policy group.
>
> The report by the Sentencing Project, a
> Washington-based think tank, found that states in the
> Midwest and Northeast have the greatest black-to-white
> disparity in incarceration. Iowa had the widest
> disparity in the nation, imprisoning blacks at more
> than 13 times the rate of whites.
>
> Such figures "reflect a failure of social and economic
> interventions to address crime effectively," as well
> as racial bias in the justice system, said Marc Mauer,
> the group's executive director.
>
> Vermont, New Jersey, Connecticut and Wisconsin
> incarcerated blacks at more than 10 times the rate of
> whites, the group said, citing Justice Department
> statistics from 2005. Vermont had a ratio of 12.5,
> followed by New Jersey with 12.4 and Connecticut with
> 12.
>
> States with the lowest black-to-white ratio were
> Hawaii, with 1.9, Georgia with 3.3 and Mississippi
> with 3.5.
>
> In Iowa, blacks are imprisoned at a rate more than
> double the national average. For every 100,000 people,
> Iowa incarcerates 309 whites and 4,200 blacks, the
> study said.
>
> Paul Stageberg, administrator of the Iowa Division of
> Criminal and Juvenile Justice Planning, said the
> results are not surprising, but the causes are subject
> to interpretation.
>
> He said the state's disproportionately high black
> arrest rates are likely linked to high poverty rates
> among blacks and lower educational achievement.
> In 2001, a governor's task force released a report
> that said 24 percent of Iowa prison beds were occupied
> by black inmates even though blacks comprised just
> over 2 percent of the state's population.
>
> The group that compiled Wednesday's report made
> several recommendations such as reviewing federal drug
> laws and giving judges more discretion to decide
> sentences rather than imposing mandatory minimum
> prison terms.
> ___
> On the Net:
> The Sentencing Project:
> http://www.sentencingproject.org
> Iowa Division of Criminal and Juvenile Justice
> Planning: http://www.state.ia.us/government/dhr/cjjp
> Copyright © 2007 The Associated Press. All rights
> reserved. The information contained in the AP News
> report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
> redistributed without the prior written authority of
> The Associated Press.
>
>
>
>
>
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