The review employed a combined quantitative and qualitative methodology to evaluate 13 criminal justice overview texts printed between 1990 and 1994; the textbooks professed to provide a comprehensive treatment of the administration of criminal justice. The subject of race and ethnicity was defined in terms of all references to Black Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, and Asian Americans, and to the topics of race, ethnicity, minorities, discrimination, and bias. The results indicate that none of the textbooks adequately cover core issues related to race and ethnicity, i.e., arrest, charging and plea bargaining, sentencing, police use of physical force, police use of deadly force, and the death penalty. Even texts which mention these issues tend to ignore the bulk of scholarly research. Patterns of evasion which characterize the inadequacy of race and ethnic coverage include a mechanistic approach to the administration of justice, neglect of minority groups other than Black Americans, sanitizing of racial and ethnic issues, and reliance on celebrated cases. 2 tables, 4 notes, 3 appendixes, and 47 references