African-American men serve longer sentences than white men for
the same crime, a new study by the U.S Sentencing
Commission shows.
The commission’s analysis of demographic
prison data from 2012 to 2016 found that black men serve sentences
that are on average 19.1 percent longer than those for white men
for similar crimes.
The racial disparity in sentencing can’t be accounted for by
whether an offender has a history of violence, according to the
study by the commission, an independent bipartisan agency that is
part of the U.S. federal judiciary branch.
“Violence in an offender’s criminal history does not appear to
contribute to the sentence imposed” except as it may factor into a
score under sentencing guidelines, the study said.
Black male offenders received longer
sentences than similarly situated white male offenders (on average
19.1 percent longer). https://t.co/0HljB6PD1R pic.twitter.com/KcJEfyGAhc— SentencingCommission (@TheUSSCgov) November 14, 2017
When accounting for violence in an offender’s past, black men
received sentences that were on average 20.4 percent longer than
that of white men, according to the commission’s analysis of fiscal
year 2016 data, the only year for which such data is available.
The new study updates an earlier commission report in 2012,
known as the Booker report, that came after a Supreme Court
decision in 2005, United States vs. Booker, which permitted judges to
enhance an offender’s sentence based on “facts” determined by their
own judgment. Before then, federal judges were only allowed to
sentence an offender based on guidelines provided by the sentencing
commission
According to the non-profit organization, The Sentencing Project, the U.S. is the world’s
leader in incarceration, with 2.2 million people in prison as of
2015, a 500 percent increase over the last 40 years.
The Sentencing Project also found that black men are nearly six
times as likely as white men to be incarcerated, and Hispanic men
are 2.3 times as likely. For black men in their 30s, one in every
10 is in prison or jail on any given day, according to 2015 data
cited by the organization.
Culled: abcnews
African-American men serve longer sentences than white men for
the same crime, a new study
by the U.S Sentencing Commission shows.
The commission’s analysis of demographic
prison data from 2012 to 2016 found that black men serve sentences
that are on average 19.1 percent longer than those for white men
for similar crimes.
The racial disparity in sentencing can’t be accounted for by
whether an offender has a history of violence, according to the
study by the commission, an independent bipartisan agency that is
part of the U.S. federal judiciary branch.
“Violence in an offender’s criminal history does not appear to
contribute to the sentence imposed” except as it may factor into a
score under sentencing guidelines, the study said.
Black male offenders received longer
sentences than similarly situated white male offenders (on average
19.1 percent longer). https://t.co/0HljB6PD1R pic.twitter.com/KcJEfyGAhc— SentencingCommission (@TheUSSCgov) November 14, 2017
When accounting for violence in an offender’s past, black men
received sentences that were on average 20.4 percent longer than
that of white men, according to the commission’s analysis of fiscal
year 2016 data, the only year for which such data is available.
The new study updates an earlier commission report in 2012,
known as the Booker report, that came after a Supreme Court
decision in 2005, United States vs. Booker, which permitted judges to
enhance an offender’s sentence based on “facts” determined by their
own judgment. Before then, federal judges were only allowed to
sentence an offender based on guidelines provided by the sentencing
commission
According to the non-profit organization, The Sentencing Project, the U.S. is the world’s
leader in incarceration, with 2.2 million people in prison as of
2015, a 500 percent increase over the last 40 years.
The Sentencing Project also found that black men are nearly six
times as likely as white men to be incarcerated, and Hispanic men
are 2.3 times as likely. For black men in their 30s, one in every
10 is in prison or jail on any given day, according to 2015 data
cited by the organization.
Culled: abcnews