(Map: Prison Policy Initiative, 2008)

This map originally appeared in The Geography of Punishment: How Huge Sentencing Enhancement Zones Harm Communities, Fail to Protect Children.

We calculated the zones that would exist if the law specified a 100-foot distance and did not apply to Head Start facilities added in the 1998 amendments. As the map below reflects, sizable areas in Hampden County would still be eligible for the zone enhancement, but our research suggests that the racial disparity in sentencing would drop. Under such a statute, 6% of the county would be living in a zone. That population would be 6% White, 8% Black, and 9% Latino, a significantly smaller disparity.