{"id":4478,"date":"2016-08-15T11:02:02","date_gmt":"2016-08-15T15:02:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.prisonpolicy.org\/blog\/?p=4478"},"modified":"2024-11-07T10:56:57","modified_gmt":"2024-11-07T15:56:57","slug":"cjrace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.prisonpolicy.org\/blog\/2016\/08\/15\/cjrace\/","title":{"rendered":"The criminal justice system is riddled with racial disparities"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Race is a defining characteristic of the criminal justice system. <\/p>\n<p>It is common knowledge that <a href=\"\/graphs\/raceinc.html\">Blacks are disproportionately represented in prison<\/a>. Looking at different types of incarceration sentences shows us how pervasive these disparities really are. This slideshow scrolls through the various incarceration sentences one may receive compared to the U.S. population, broken down by race. <\/p>\n<p>Once a person is sentenced to jail, we see that Blacks are overrepresented and Whites are underrepresented, compared to the U.S. population as a whole. This disparity endures in state and federal prison sentences, life sentences, life without parole sentences, and in the death row population. <link href=\"\/\/static.prisonpolicy.org\/css\/slideshow_2022.min.css\" rel=\"stylesheet\"><script type=\"module\" src=\"\/\/static.prisonpolicy.org\/js\/slideshow_2022.min.mjs?v=rcipux\"><\/script>\n<script type=\"module\" src=\"\/\/static.prisonpolicy.org\/js\/slideshow_2022_lib.min.mjs\"><\/script>\n<\/p>\n<div class=\"slideshow-container width1024widescreen slideshow-2022\" id=\"slideshow1\">\n<div class=\"slide-wrapper\">\n<ul class=\"slide\">\n<li><picture><source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"\/\/static.prisonpolicy.org\/images\/cjrace_intro1.webp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/\/static.prisonpolicy.org\/images\/cjrace_intro1.png\" alt=\"Our criminal justice system is defined by stark racial disparities\" width=\"1024\" height=\"512\">\n<\/picture><\/li>\n<li><picture><source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"\/\/static.prisonpolicy.org\/images\/cjrace_intro2.webp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/\/static.prisonpolicy.org\/images\/cjrace_intro2.png\" alt=\"At every stage.\" width=\"1024\" height=\"512\">\n<\/picture><\/li>\n<li><picture><source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"\/\/static.prisonpolicy.org\/images\/cjrace_jail.webp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/\/static.prisonpolicy.org\/images\/cjrace_jail.png\" alt=\"Graph comparing the racial composition of the U.S. with the racial composition of those in jail.\" width=\"1024\" height=\"512\">\n<\/picture><\/li>\n<li><picture><source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"\/\/static.prisonpolicy.org\/images\/cjrace_prison.webp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/\/static.prisonpolicy.org\/images\/cjrace_prison.png\" alt=\"Graph comparing the racial composition of the U.S. with the racial composition of those in state and federal prison.\" width=\"1024\" height=\"512\">\n<\/picture><\/li>\n<li><picture><source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"\/\/static.prisonpolicy.org\/images\/cjrace_life.webp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/\/static.prisonpolicy.org\/images\/cjrace_life.png\" alt=\"Graph comparing the racial composition of the U.S. with the racial composition of those sentenced to life in prison.\" width=\"1024\" height=\"512\">\n<\/picture><\/li>\n<li><picture><source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"\/\/static.prisonpolicy.org\/images\/cjrace_lwop.webp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/\/static.prisonpolicy.org\/images\/cjrace_lwop.png\" alt=\"Graph comparing the racial composition of the U.S. with the racial composition of those sentenced to life without parole.\" width=\"1024\" height=\"512\">\n<\/picture><\/li>\n<li><picture><source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"\/\/static.prisonpolicy.org\/images\/cjrace_death.webp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/\/static.prisonpolicy.org\/images\/cjrace_death.png\" alt=\"Graph comparing the racial composition of the U.S. with the racial composition of those on death row.\" width=\"1024\" height=\"512\">\n<\/picture><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"caption width1024widescreen\">Compared to the U.S. population, Blacks are overrepresented in jails, state and federal prisons, life and life without parole sentences, and death penalty sentences. Conversely, Whites are underrepresented in those same categories. <\/p>\n<div class=\"wrap-controls\">\n<div class=\"arrow-nav\">\n\t\t<button class=\"prev\"><\/button>\n\t<\/div>\n<ul class=\"custom-controls\">\n<li><picture><source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"\/\/static.prisonpolicy.org\/images\/cjrace_intro1.webp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/\/static.prisonpolicy.org\/images\/cjrace_intro1.png\" alt=\"Our criminal justice system is defined by stark racial disparities\" width=\"50\" height=\"38\">\n<\/picture><\/li>\n<li><picture><source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"\/\/static.prisonpolicy.org\/images\/cjrace_intro2.webp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/\/static.prisonpolicy.org\/images\/cjrace_intro2.png\" alt=\"At every stage.\" width=\"50\" height=\"38\">\n<\/picture><\/li>\n<li><picture><source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"\/\/static.prisonpolicy.org\/images\/cjrace_jail.webp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/\/static.prisonpolicy.org\/images\/cjrace_jail.png\" alt=\"Graph comparing the racial composition of the U.S. with the racial composition of those in jail.\" width=\"50\" height=\"38\">\n<\/picture><\/li>\n<li><picture><source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"\/\/static.prisonpolicy.org\/images\/cjrace_prison.webp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/\/static.prisonpolicy.org\/images\/cjrace_prison.png\" alt=\"Graph comparing the racial composition of the U.S. with the racial composition of those in state and federal prison.\" width=\"50\" height=\"38\">\n<\/picture><\/li>\n<li><picture><source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"\/\/static.prisonpolicy.org\/images\/cjrace_life.webp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/\/static.prisonpolicy.org\/images\/cjrace_life.png\" alt=\"Graph comparing the racial composition of the U.S. with the racial composition of those sentenced to life in prison.\" width=\"50\" height=\"38\">\n<\/picture><\/li>\n<li><picture><source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"\/\/static.prisonpolicy.org\/images\/cjrace_lwop.webp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/\/static.prisonpolicy.org\/images\/cjrace_lwop.png\" alt=\"Graph comparing the racial composition of the U.S. with the racial composition of those sentenced to life without parole.\" width=\"50\" height=\"38\">\n<\/picture><\/li>\n<li><picture><source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"\/\/static.prisonpolicy.org\/images\/cjrace_death.webp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/\/static.prisonpolicy.org\/images\/cjrace_death.png\" alt=\"Graph comparing the racial composition of the U.S. with the racial composition of those on death row.\" width=\"50\" height=\"38\">\n<\/picture><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"arrow-nav\">\n\t\t<button class=\"next\"><\/button>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"slideshow-spacer width1024widescreen\"><\/div>\n<p>Data sources:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"list\">\n<li>U.S. Census Bureau, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.census.gov\/quickfacts\/table\/PST045215\/00\">QuickFacts<\/a> (Using July 1, 2014 estimates)<\/li>\n<li>Bureau of Justice Statistics, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bjs.gov\/content\/pub\/pdf\/jim14.pdf\"><i>Jail Inmates at Midyear 2014<\/i><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Bureau of Justice Statistics, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bjs.gov\/content\/pub\/pdf\/p14.pdf\"><i>Prisoners in 2014<\/i><\/a><\/li>\n<li>The Sentencing Project, <a href=\"https:\/\/static.prisonpolicy.org\/scans\/No-Exit-The-Expanding-Use-of-Life-Sentences-in-America.pdf\"><i>No Exit: The Expanding Use of Life Sentences in America (2008)<\/i><\/a><\/li>\n<li>NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc., <a href=\"http:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20160417182356\/http:\/\/www.naacpldf.org\/files\/publications\/DRUSA_Winter_2016.pdf\"><i>Death Row U.S.A. (2016)<\/i><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> The data:<\/p>\n<style type=\"text\/css\">#cjrace td:first-child{text-align:left;}<\/style>\n<table id=\"cjrace\" class=\"nohover\" align=\"center\" style=\"text-align:center\";      margin-left:auto;     margin-right:auto;     width:450px;>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th class=\"empty\"><\/th>\n<th style= \"text-align:center\">White<\/th>\n<th style= \"text-align:center\">Black<\/th>\n<th style= \"text-align:center\">Hispanic<\/th>\n<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>U.S. population<\/td>\n<td>62.1%<\/td>\n<td>13.2%<\/td>\n<td>17.4%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Jail incarceration<\/td>\n<td>47.4%<\/td>\n<td>35.4%<\/td>\n<td>14.9%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>State &#038; federal incarceration<\/td>\n<td>33.6%<\/td>\n<td>35.4%<\/td>\n<td>21.6%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Life sentence<\/td>\n<td>33.4%<\/td>\n<td>48.3%<\/td>\n<td>14.4%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Life without parole sentence<\/td>\n<td>33.5%<\/td>\n<td>56.4%<\/td>\n<td>7.4%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Death row population<\/td>\n<td>42.5%<\/td>\n<td>41.7%<\/td>\n<td>13.0%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>These 5 graphs break down just how riddled the U.S. criminal justice system is with racial disparities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52,3,1],"tags":[61],"coauthors":[32],"class_list":["post-4478","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-briefings","category-shorts","category-uncategorized","tag-racial-justice"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prisonpolicy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4478","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prisonpolicy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prisonpolicy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prisonpolicy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prisonpolicy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4478"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.prisonpolicy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4478\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16634,"href":"https:\/\/www.prisonpolicy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4478\/revisions\/16634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prisonpolicy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prisonpolicy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prisonpolicy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4478"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prisonpolicy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=4478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}