Thinking About Corrections : Racial disparities

Reducing Racial Disparity

Eileen Conway — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 17:44:00 GMT

The Sentencing Project today announced publication of a new edition of Reducing Racial Disparity in the Criminal Justice System: A Manual for Practitioners and Policymakers. Per the Sentencing Project's announcement, "The publication provides insight into how racial disparities develop in the criminal justice system, and workable solutions to address and reduce disparities. The manual provides strategies for addressing disparities at each stage of the system, as well as 17 'best practices' illustrating practitioner approaches for enhancing fairness."

Focusing on Racial Disparities

Eileen Conway — Tue, 06 May 2008 16:42:00 GMT

Human Rights Watch has posted a press release announcing two new racial disparity studies, one of their own, and one by the Sentencing Project. The release links to the HRW report, "Targeting Blacks: Drug Law Enforcement and Race in the United States," and also to the Sentencing Project's report, "Disparity by Geography."

U.S.Sentencing Commission Revisits Crack Cocaine Sentencing

CC Pro — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 17:50:00 GMT

The U.S. Sentencing Commission, which sets guidelines for federal prison sentences, voted unanimously "to allow some 19,500 federal prison inmates, most of them black, to seek reductions in their crack cocaine sentences." Eligible inmates would receive no more than a two-year reduction. While the commission has made this recommendation, federal judges will have the final word on any sentence reductions. Further information here and here.

Incarceration Rates by Race and Ethnicity

Eileen Conway — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 20:19:00 GMT

In another new release today, the Sentencing Project uses data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics to chart state-by-state rates of prison and jail incarceration by race and ethnicity, drawing conclusions regarding diverse racial disparities.