Greene County Democrat

Tag: Sentencing Project

  • Newswire: The Sentencing Project unveils final report in ‘One in Five’ series reveals mass incarceration’s negative role: deepening inequality and harming public safety

    By Stacy M. Brown
    NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

    The collateral consequences of a criminal conviction often amount to a lifelong disadvantage, particularly for African Americans. According to the Sentencing Project, in 2010, one in three (33%) African American adult men had a felony conviction on their record, compared to 13% of all adult men. 

    Researchers found that employers discriminate against job candidates who have criminal histories, especially against those who are Black. Further, application questions about criminal histories deter some people from applying to certain jobs and colleges, with a 2017 study finding that nearly half of unemployed men had a criminal conviction. Additionally, almost one-third of all U.S. jobs require an occupational license, and many licensing boards bar or impose cumbersome obstacles for people with criminal records.
    Fee-based programs to seal criminal records also exacerbate racial disparities., and the Sentencing Project noted that these policies stand in stark contrast to a growing evidence base showing that post-incarceration employment prevents recidivism and that tackling heightened labor market discrimination against Black people with criminal records would reduce recidivism rates.
    The Sentencing Project has again highlighted a critical element causing inequalities in incarceration with “One in Five: How Mass Incarceration Deepens Inequality and Harms Public Safety.” The report highlights laws and policies that worsen inequality and unfairly burden communities of color. Initiated to provide an in-depth analysis of racial inequities within America’s criminal legal system, the series of reports covers a spectrum of topics. 

    From the progress made in the 21st century in reducing the U.S. prison population to disparities in crime and policing, the series also explores the key causes of racial and ethnic disparities in imprisonment. Additionally, it highlights reforms that have played a pivotal role in mitigating these sources of disparity.
    “A primary driver of disparity within the U.S. criminal legal system is the multitude of laws and policies that intensify economic and social inequalities, diverting public spending from effective public safety investments,” stated Nazgol Ghandnoosh, Co-Director of Research with The Sentencing Project and lead author of the report.

    Ghandnoosh emphasized the importance of protecting and expanding promising reforms initiated by states and local jurisdictions nationwide.
    The report delves into various criminal legal laws and policies, including fines, fees, predatory pricing, exploitative wages, collateral consequences, and the diversion of adequate investments in public safety.  The report proposes two key strategies to eliminate racial disparities in incarceration, including addressing sources of inequality by limiting socioeconomic disadvantage resulting from a criminal conviction and significantly increasing investments in effective public safety programs.

    The “One in Five” series concludes with a call to action, emphasizing the need for durable investments in communities of color, a reduction in policing footprint, and ongoing efforts to tackle critical drivers of racial disparity.
    “Certain regulations intensify the marginalization of justice-involved people – who are disproportionately people of color – by wearing down economic and social buffers against crime and increasing the likelihood of police contact,” added Ghandnoosh

  • Newswire: Report reveals that racial disparities in incarceration persist, despite progress

    By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

    A recent report from the Sentencing Project has revealed significant strides have been made in reducing racial inequities in incarceration over the past two decades. However, the study also warns that ongoing push back from policymakers threatens to impede further progress.
    
The report, titled “One in Five: Ending Racial Inequity in Incarceration,” highlights a notable decline in the lifetime likelihood of imprisonment for Black men born in 2001 compared to those born in 1981. While one in three Black men born in 1981 faced the prospect of imprisonment, the figure has now dropped to one in five for those born in 2001.
    
The authors attribute the decline to reforms, particularly in drug law enforcement and sentencing for drug and property offenses. Urban areas, predominantly home to communities of color, have significantly reduced imprisonment rates.
    
Despite these positive trends, the report underscores that imprisonment levels remain alarmingly high nationwide, particularly for Black Americans. The authors caution that the U.S. remains entrenched in the era of mass incarceration, with a 25% reduction in the total prison population since 2009, following a nearly 700% surge in imprisonment since 1972.
    
The report further notes that the prison population in 2021 was nearly six times larger than it was half a century ago, before the mass incarceration era, and continued to expand in 2022. The U.S. also maintains a five to eight times higher prison and jail incarceration rate than France, Canada, and Germany. Notably, states such as Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Oklahoma have incarceration rates nearly 50% above the national average.
    
“The reluctance to fully correct sentencing excesses, particularly for violent crimes as supported by criminological evidence, prolongs the harm and futility of mass incarceration,” the authors concluded, emphasizing that racial equity in incarceration remains an elusive goal.
    
The report also highlights persistent disparities among different racial and ethnic groups. The lifetime likelihood of imprisonment for Black men born in 2001, while reduced, remains four times that of their white counterparts. Black women face an imprisonment rate 1.6 times higher than white women in 2021.
    
The Sentencing Project stressed that addressing these disparities necessitates a dual approach, targeting the criminal legal system and the underlying socioeconomic conditions contributing to higher crime rates among people of color.
    
However, the momentum for continued progress remains precarious. Recent increases in specific crime categories, particularly homicides, during the COVID-19 pandemic and the opioid overdose crisis have prompted lawmakers to reevaluate criminal justice reforms. This has resulted in a bipartisan backlash, including proposals to expand mandatory minimum sentences for federal drug offenses.
    
The Sentencing Project said it’s taking proactive measures to safeguard and build on the progress achieved thus far. They are producing four reports that delve into the persistence of racial injustice in the criminal legal system while highlighting promising reforms. The first installment provides an overview of prison and jail incarceration trends and community supervision, with subsequent reports focusing on police interactions, crime rates, and critical drivers of disparity within the criminal legal system. “These reports aim to contribute to ongoing efforts to achieve a more equitable and just criminal justice system for all Americans,” the authors wrote.
    
Despite recent changes that have decreased the number of people involved in the criminal justice system and have addressed racial and ethnic disparities, “we are still in a time where mass incarceration is a major issue,” the authors continued.

    They affirmed that excessive control and punishment, especially targeting people of color, do not help achieve community safety goals and harm families and communities. While people of color face higher crime rates than whites, they tend to be less supportive of stringent crime control measures when compared to whites, the authors asserted.
    
To address the injustices outlined in this report, the authors said there remains a need for policies and practices changes that unfairly affect communities of color, and authorities should seek to reduce excessive punishment for all individuals. “The United States would still have an incarceration crisis,” University of Pennsylvania professor Marie Gottschalk wrote in the report, “even if it were locking up African Americans at ‘only’ the rate at which whites in the United States are currently incarcerated—or if it were not locking up any African Americans at all.”