## Criminal Justice System Discrimination

#### POC are imprisoned longer and subject to minimum sentencing laws far more than white people: data indicates judge biases and institutional causes.

*   [U.S. Sentencing Commission 17](https://www.ussc.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/research-and-publications/research-publications/2017/20171114_Demographics.pdf)
    *   Black men who commit **the same crimes** as white men receive federal prison sentences that are, on average, **nearly 20 percent longer**
    *   The black/white sentencing disparities are being driven in large part by “non-government sponsored departures and variances”
        *   This means that sentencing choices are **made by judges at their own discretion**.
*   [University of Michigan Law School: Starr and Rehavi 14](https://repository.law.umich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/11/16/black-men-sentenced-to-more-time-for-committing-the-exact-same-crime-as-a-white-person-study-finds/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.2e26662cc5f3&httpsredir=1&article=2413&context=articles)
    *   All other factors being equal, black offenders were **75 percent more likely** to face a charge carrying a **mandatory minimum sentence** than a white offender who committed the **same crime**.

![](https://github.com/NB419/source-library/blob/master/images/CJS%201.png?raw=true)

*   [Justice Policy Institute 07](http://www.justicepolicy.org/uploads/justicepolicy/documents/vortex.pdf)
    *   Whites and African Americans report **using and selling drugs at similar rates**, but African Americans go to prison for drug offenses at **higher rates** than whites
    *   In 2002, African Americans were admitted to prison for drug offenses at **10 times the rate of whites** in the largest population counties in the country.
*   [Mitchell 05](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10940-005-7362-7) ([non-paywall](https://scihub.wikicn.top/https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10940-005-7362-7))
    *   **Meta-analysis of 71 studies**
    *   “_Analyses indicate that **African-Americans generally are sentenced more harshly than whites**; the magnitude of this race effect is statistically significant but small and highly variable_”
        *   High variability is explained by differences in methodology between studies