Crime - Minorities In Prisons And Jails

In June 2004 there were more African-American males in state and federal prisons and local jails than

FIGURE 7.5 Young males as a proportion of the population, homicide victims, and homicide offenders, by race, 1976–2002 James Alan Fox and Marianne W. Zawitz, "Young Males as a Proportion of the Population, Homicide Victims, and Homicide Offenders, 1976–2002," in Homicide Trends in the United States, U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2004, http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/homicide/homtrnd.htm (accessed January 24, 2006)there were non-Hispanic white or Hispanic males. Of a total of 1.9 million incarcerated males, 842,500 were African-Americans, 695,800 were non-Hispanic whites, and 366,800 were Hispanics. Young men between the ages of twenty and twenty-four made up the largest proportion of African-American males in the prison population. (See Table 7.8.)

The rate of incarceration for African-American males greatly exceeds the rates for non-Hispanic whites and Hispanic males. Out of every one hundred thousand African-American males in the United States in June 2004, 4,919 were incarcerated. This proportion was much higher than that among non-Hispanic whites, with 717 inmates for every one hundred thousand residents in the same period. Among Hispanic men there were 1,717 inmates for every one hundred thousand residents. (See Table 7.9.)

While non-Hispanic white women outnumbered African-American women in federal and state prisons and local jails in June 2004, African-American women were incarcerated at more than four times the rate of non-Hispanic white women (359 per one hundred thousand residents and eighty-one per one hundred thousand residents, respectively). Hispanic women were incarcerated at a rate of 143 per one hundred thousand residents. (See Table 7.9.)

In "Policy: Minorities and the Criminal Justice System" (adopted July 18, 1999, and revised July 22, 2003, http://www.ncja.org/policies/minorities.html), the National Criminal Justice Association discusses the overrepresentation of minorities among the ranks of offenders in the criminal justice system, noting social factors that play a role in that overrepresentation, including lack of employment and educational opportunities, poor economic conditions, lack of minority role models, and the negative portrayal of minorities in the media. Observing that an estimated 4.4% of white males will enter prison during their lifetime, compared with 16% of Hispanic males and 28% of black males, the National Criminal Justice Association resolves that state and local criminal justice policymakers must continually address minority-related criminal justice issues. Among these issues are the overrepresentation of minorities in both the juvenile and adult criminal justice populations and yet the underrepresentation of minorities in law enforcement, corrections, and legal professions; conscious and unconscious tensions between members of minority groups and law enforcement personnel; accurate reporting of hate crimes; racial profiling by law enforcement and its effects on community relations and prison crowding; racially biased effects of drug laws and enforcement strategies; minorities' equal access to the court system; racially biased sentencing patterns; and unequal socioeconomic conditions.

Probation and Parole

Because African-Americans account for the largest proportion of prison and jail inmates, it is no surprise that African-Americans outnumber other racial and ethnic groups in the nation's parole system. The parole system grants inmates early release from prison with fewer rights than the general population and under monitored conditions.

TABLE 7.8 Number of inmates in state or federal prisons and local jails, by gender, race, Hispanic origin, and age, June 30, 2004 Paige M. Harrison and Allen J. Beck, "Table 13. Number of Inmates in State or Federal Prisons and Local Jails, by Gender, Race, Hispanic Origin, and Age, June 30, 2004," in Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear 2004, U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, April 2005, http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/pjim04.pdf (accessed January 25, 2006)

TABLE 7.8
Number of inmates in state or federal prisons and local jails, by gender, race, Hispanic origin, and age, June 30, 2004
Age	Male				Female
Age	Total^a	White^b	Black^b	Hispanic	Total^a	White^b	Black^b	Hispanic
Note: Estimates were rounded to the nearest 100.
^aIncludes American Indians, Alaska Natives, Asians, Native Hawaiians, and other Pacific Islanders. The total also includes ages not shown.
^bExcludes Hispanics.
SOURCE: Paige M. Harrison and Allen J. Beck, "Table 13. Number of Inmates in State or Federal Prisons and Local Jails, by Gender, Race, Hispanic Origin, and Age, June 30, 2004," in Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear 2004, U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, April 2005, http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/pjim04.pdf (accessed January 25, 2006)
Total	1,947,800	695,800	842,500	366,800	183,400	81,700	67,700	28,600
18-19	73,200	24,300	33,000	13,600	4,500	1,800	1,500	1,000
20-24	352,000	107,300	161,900	74,500	26,900	12,000	9,100	5,200
25-29	339,600	97,700	155,600	78,700	27,100	11,700	9,900	4,700
30-34	316,400	106,900	134,500	68,600	33,500	14,800	12,300	5,400
35-39	291,600	110,700	124,600	49,900	36,300	16,300	13,800	5,100
40-44	250,200	104,500	104,500	36,100	28,600	12,900	11,300	3,800
45-54	237,800	100,500	99,000	33,500	21,500	9,700	8,300	2,700
55 or older	71,900	39,900	21,400	9,300	4,000	2,300	1,000	600

TABLE 7.9 Number of inmates in state or federal prisons and local jails per 100,000 residents, by gender, race, Hispanic origin, and age, June 30, 2004 Paige M. Harrison and Allen J. Beck, "Table 14. Number of Inmates in State or Federal Prisons and Local Jails per 100,000 Residents, by Gender, Race, Hispanic Origin, and Age, June 30, 2004," in Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear 2004, U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, April 2005, http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/pjim04.pdf (accessed January 25, 2006)

TABLE 7.9
Number of inmates in state or federal prisons and local jails per 100,000 residents, by gender, race, Hispanic origin, and age, June 30, 2004
Age	Number of inmates per 100,000 residents of each group
	Male				Female
	Total^a	White^b	Black^b	Hispanic	Total^a	White^b	Black^b	Hispanic
Note: Based on the U.S. resident population for July 1, 2004, by gender, race and Hispanic origin. Detailed categories exclude persons identifying with two or more races.
^aIncludes American Indians, Alaska Natives, Asians, Native Hawaiians, and other Pacific Islanders. The total also includes ages not shown.
^bExcludes Hispanics.
SOURCE: Paige M. Harrison and Allen J. Beck, "Table 14. Number of Inmates in State or Federal Prisons and Local Jails per 100,000 Residents, by Gender, Race, Hispanic Origin, and Age, June 30, 2004," in Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear 2004, U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, April 2005, http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/pjim04.pdf (accessed January 25, 2006)
Total	1,348	717	4,919	1,717	123	81	359	143
18-19	1,727	911	5,473	1,957	112	71	262	162
20-24	3,255	1,641	11,054	3,577	264	191	625	304
25-29	3,390	1,666	12,603	3,606	283	203	746	268
30-34	3,060	1,691	10,979	3,438	330	237	905	313
35-39	2,755	1,607	10,036	2,866	346	238	993	331
40-44	2,187	1,314	7,993	2,403	247	162	764	271
45-54	1,162	664	4,546	1,652	101	63	327	136
55 or older	247	170	898	473	11	8	29	25

In 2004, 41% of inmates paroled from state prisons were African-American, 40% were non-Hispanic white, and 18% were Hispanic. (See Table 7.10.) These numbers were about proportional to these groups' representation in the prison and jail population in June 2004. (See Table 7.8.)

However, the proportion of non-Hispanic whites on probation, a system where people convicted of a crime are under supervision by a probation officer rather than incarcerated, is much higher than their representation in the criminal justice system. Table 7.11 shows that 56% of probationers in 2004 were non-Hispanic whites, compared with the 36.5% of inmates of prisons and jails who were non-Hispanic whites in June 2004. (See Table 7.8.) Conversely, only 30% of probationers were African-American, while 42.7% of inmates were African-American; 12% of probationers were Hispanic, while 18.6% of inmates were Hispanic. These numbers show that non-Hispanic white offenders were more likely than minority offenders to receive the more lenient sentence of probation.

Hispanics in the Criminal Justice System

While much attention has been given to the fact that African-Americans are disproportionately represented in TABLE 7.10 Characteristics of adults on parole, 1995, 2000, and 2004 Lauren E. Glaze and Seri Palla, "Table 6. Characteristics of Adults on Parole, 1995, 2000, and 2004," in Probation and Parole in the United States, 2004, U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, November 2005, http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/ppus04.pdf (accessed January 25, 2006)the criminal justice system, a report released in 2002 by Michigan State University's Institute for Children, Youth, and Families points to a growing number of Hispanic youths being targeted by law enforcement. The study, ¿Dónde Está la Justicia? A Call to Action on Behalf of the Latino and Latina Youth in the U.S Justice System, finds that Hispanic youths are often treated more harshly than their white counterparts and suggests that the problem will only intensify because Hispanics are the fastest-growing minority group in the country.

TABLE 7.10
Characteristics of adults on parole, 1995, 2000, and 2004
Characteristic	1995	2000	2004
Note: For every characteristic there were persons of unknown status or type. Detail may not sum to total because of rounding.
^aExcludes persons of Hispanic origin.
^bIn 1995 "absconder" and "other unsuccessful" statuses were reported among "other."
^cNot available.
^dLess than 0.5%.
SOURCE: Lauren E. Glaze and Seri Palla, "Table 6. Characteristics of Adults on Parole, 1995, 2000, and 2004," in Probation and Parole in the United States, 2004, U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, November 2005, http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/ppus04.pdf (accessed January 25, 2006)
Total	100%	100%	100%
Gender
Male	90%	88%	88%
Female	10	12	12
Race/Hispanic origin
White^a	34%	38%	40%
Black^a	45	40	41
Hispanic	21	21	18
American Indian/Alaska Native^a	1	1	1
Asian/Native Hawaiian/other Pacific Islander^a	^d	^d	1
Status of supervision
Active	78%	83%	85%
Inactive	11	4	3
Absconder	6	7	7
Supervised out of state	4	5	4
Other	^d	1	1
Sentence length
Less than 1 year	6%	3%	5%
1 year or more	94	97	95
Type of offense
Violent	^c	^c	24%
Property	^c	^c	26
Drug	^c	^c	38
Other	^c	^c	12
Adults entering parole
Discretionary parole	50%	37%	31%
Mandatory parole	45	54	52
Reinstatement	4	6	8
Other	2	2	9
Adults leaving parole
Successful completion	45%	43%	46%
Returned to incarceration	41	42	39
With new sentence	12	11	12
With revocation pending	18	30	26
Other	11	1	1
Absconder^b	^c	9	10
Other unsuccessful^b	^c	2	2
Transferred	2	1	1
Death	1	1	1
Other	10	2	1

TABLE 7.11 Characteristics of adults on parole, 1995, 2000, and 2004 Lauren E. Glaze and Seri Palla, "Table 3. Characteristics of Adults on Probation, 1995, 2000, and 2004," in Probation and Parole in the United States, 2004, U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, November 2005, http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/ppus04.pdf (accessed January 25, 2006)

TABLE 7.11
Characteristics of adults on parole, 1995, 2000, and 2004
Characteristic	1995	2000	2004
Note: For every characteristic there were persons of unknown type. Detail may not sum to total because of rounding.
^aExcludes persons of Hispanic origin.
^bIn 1995 "absconder" and "other unsuccessful" statuses were reported among "other."
^cNot available.
^dLess than 0.5%.
SOURCE: Lauren E. Glaze and Seri Palla, "Table 3. Characteristics of Adults on Probation, 1995, 2000, and 2004," in Probation and Parole in the United States, 2004, U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, November 2005, http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/ppus04.pdf (accessed January 25, 2006)
Total	100%	100%	100%
Gender
Male	79%	78%	77%
Female	21	22	23
Race/Hispanic origin
White^a	53%	54%	56%
Black^a	31	31	30
Hispanic	14	13	12
American Indian/Alaska Native^a	1	1	1
Asian/Native Hawaiian/other Pacific Islander^a	^d	1	1
Status of probation
Direct imposition	48%	56%	56%
Split sentence	15	11	8
Sentence suspended	26	25	24
Imposition suspended	6	7	10
Other	4	1	1
Status of supervision
Active	79%	76%	74%
Residential/other treatment program	^c	^c	1
Inactive	8	9	9
Absconder	9	9	9
Warrant status	^c	^c	5
Supervised out of state	2	3	2
Other	2	3	^d
Type of offense
Felony	54%	52%	49%
Misdemeanor	44	46	50
Other infractions	2	2	1
Most serious offense
Sexual assault	^c	^c	3%
Domestic violence	^c	^c	6
Other assault	^c	^c	10
Burglary	^c	^c	5
Larceny/theft	^c	^c	12
Fraud	^c	^c	5
Drug law violations	^c	24	26
Driving while intoxicated	16	18	15
Minor traffic offenses	^c	6	7
Other	84	52	10
Adults entering probation
Without incarceration	72%	79%	76%
With incarceration	13	16	14
Other types	15	5	10
Adults leaving probation
Successful completions	62%	60%	60%
Incarceration	21	15	15
With new sentence	5	3	8
With the same sentence	13	8	6
Unknown	3	4	1
Absconder^b	^c	3	4
Discharge to custody, detainer, or warrant	^c	1	1
Other unsuccessful^b	^c	11	10
Death	1	1	1
Other	16	9	9

In addition, Hispanics face harsher treatment in the federal court system. In "Hispanic Prisoners in the United States" (August 2003, http://www.sentencingpro-ject.org/pdfs/1051.pdf), the Sentencing Project points out that Hispanic defendants are about one-third as likely as non-Hispanic defendants (22.7% versus 63.1%) to be released before their cases come to trial.

Minorities on Death Row

Thomas P. Bonczar and Tracy L. Snell report in Capital Punishment 2004 (November 2005, http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/cp04.htm) that 3,314 state and federal prisoners were incarcerated under sentence of death as of December 2004. Whites made up 55.8% and African-Americans made up 41.9% of all death-row prisoners. Only 2.2% were of other races, including twenty-nine Native Americans and thirty-five Asian-Americans. Of those whose ethnicity was known, 12.7% were Hispanic. (See Table 7.12.)

Of those sentenced to death row in 2004, 60% were white and 40% were African-American. Hispanics made up 15.2% of those sentenced to death row in 2004. (See Table 7.12.)

Racial Disparities in Sentencing

In 1984 the U.S. Sentencing Commission (USSC) set forth sentencing guidelines in the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 designed to implement uniform sentencing practices that would eliminate disparities based on race. In November 2004 the USSC released Fifteen Years of Guidelines Sentencing: An Assessment of How Well the Federal Criminal Justice System Is Achieving the Goals of Sentencing Reform (http://www.ussc.gov/research.htm), which evaluated the effectiveness of those practices. The report concluded that remaining disparity in sentencing was the result of sentencing rules and charging practices that had "institutionalized" disparity. In fact, variables such as mandatory minimums and plea bargaining had had "a greater adverse impact on Black offenders than did the factors taken into account by judges in the discretionary system … prior to guidelines implementation."

In Racial Disparity in Sentencing (January 2005, http://www.sentencingproject.org/pdfs/disparity.pdf), Tushar Kansal of the Sentencing Project reviews the literature about the nature of this ongoing racial disparity. Kansal finds that in noncapital cases racially discriminatory sentencing outcomes do exist, but that they are not uniform or extensive. Key findings include that the following groups suffer harsher sentencing: young, African-American and Hispanic males, especially if unemployed; African-Americans convicted of harming white victims; and African-American and Hispanic defendants convicted of less serious (nonviolent) crimes. An examination of death-penalty cases finds that in most cases, if the TABLE 7.12 Demographic characteristics of prisoners under sentence of death, 2004 Thomas P. Bonczar and Tracy L. Snell, "Table 5. Demographic Characteristics of Prisoners under Sentence of Death, 2004," in Capital Punishment, 2004, U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, November 2005, http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/cp04.pdf (accessed February 25, 2006)murder victim was white, the defendant was more likely to receive the death sentence, and in the federal system, minority defendants, especially African-Americans, were more likely to receive a death sentence than were white defendants.

TABLE 7.12
Demographic characteristics of prisoners under sentence of death, 2004
Characteristic	Prisoners under sentence of death, 2004
Characteristic	Yearend	Admissions	Removals
Note: Calculations are based on those cases for which data were reported. Detail may not add to total due to rounding. Missing data by category were as follows:
	Yearend	Admissions	Removals
Hispanic origin	413	20	24
Education	480	32	19
Marital status	334	25	8
*At yearend 2003, other races consisted of 29 American Indians, 35 Asians, and 14 self-identified Hispanics. During 2004, 2 Asians and 1 American Indian were removed; and 1 Asian was executed.
SOURCE: Thomas P. Bonczar and Tracy L. Snell, "Table 5. Demographic Characteristics of Prisoners under Sentence of Death, 2004," in Capital Punishment, 2004, U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, November 2005, http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/cp04.pdf (accessed February 25, 2006)
Total number under sentence of death	3,314	125	188
Gender
Male	98.40%	96.00%	100%
Female	1.6	4.0	0
Race
White	55.80%	60.00%	56.90%
Black	41.9	40.0	41.0
All other races*	2.2	0	2.1
Hispanic origin
Hispanic	12.70%	15.20%	8.50%
Non-Hispanic	87.3	84.8	91.5
Education
8th grade or less	15.1%	14.00%	16.60%
9th-11th grade	37.2	44.1	37.3
High school graduate/GED	38.5	33.3	37.3
Any college	9.2	8.6	8.9
Median	11th	11th	11th
Marital status
Married	22.1%	15.00%	23.90%
Divorced/separated	20.6	22	22.8
Widowed	2.9	6.0	3.9
Never married	54.4	57.0	49.4

GANGS

Testifying before the U.S. Senate, Steven R. Wiley (April 23, 1997, http://www.hi-ho.ne.jp/taku77/refer/gang.htm) explained that law enforcement agencies define a street gang as a "group of people that form an allegiance based on various social needs and engage in acts injurious to public health and safety." Although gangs have been involved with the drug trade for many years, gang-related deadly violence is more likely to come from territorial conflicts.

Gangs are often (but not always) racially or ethnically based. As a rule, ethnic gangs require that all members belong to a particular race or ethnic group. According to the National Criminal Justice Reference Service, criminal activity by ethnic gangs has been increasing since the 1990s.

The most frightening crime committed by gangs is murder. More than half of all gang-related homicides between 1976 and 2002 involved whites. Approximately 57.9% of gang-related homicide victims during that period were white, while 54.3% of offenders were also white. African-Americans were the victims of gang-related homicides 38.7% of the time; 41.5% of offenders were African-Americans. (See Table 7.4.)

Wiley said that in June 1996 the National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC) released a National Street Gang Report (the most recent report of its kind) based on data from 301 participating municipal and county law enforcement agencies throughout the United States. The study revealed the level at which nationally recognized street gangs have particularly established themselves in new communities. According to Wiley, the NDIC noted the following trends:

Gang activity was reported in 88% of the 301 jurisdictions responding to the survey and in 98% of the 120 jurisdictions with populations over one hundred thousand.
Gang activity was not confined to major metropolitan areas and was reported in 68% of the fifty-nine responding jurisdictions with populations under twenty-five thousand and in 78% of the 120 responding jurisdictions with populations under fifty thousand.
More than seventy-four hundred individual gang sets were identified.
Hispanic gangs were reported in 167 jurisdictions in forty-one states and made up 20% of all gangs reported.
White gangs were reported in 157 jurisdictions in forty-four states.
Asian-American gangs were reported in 104 jurisdictions in forty-one states.
Gangs claiming affiliation with the Blood and/or Crip sets were reported in 180 responding jurisdictions in forty-two states.
Chicago-based gangs, such as the Black Gangster Disciples, Vice Lords, and Almighty Latin Kings, were reported in 110 of the responding jurisdictions in thirty-five states.

During the 1990s violent street gangs emerged as a problem among Native Americans as well. Wiley reported that "on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona alone there are approximately 55 street gangs, many of which have some affiliation with gangs in California, Phoenix, Albuquerque, and Chicago. These gangs have been responsible for a dramatic increase in violent crimes in the Navajo Nation."