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Racial Politics, Racial Disparities, and the War on Crime

NCJ Number
158549
Journal
Crime and Delinquency Volume: 40 Issue: 4 Dated: (October 1994) Pages: 475-494
Author(s)
M Tonry
Date Published
1994
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This article contends that racial disparities in the criminal justice system have steadily worsened since 1980, primarily because of politically motivated decisions by the Reagan and Bush administrations to promote harsh drug and sanctioning policies that existing research and broad agreement among practitioners indicate cannot significantly reduce drug use and crime rates.
Abstract
Republican policies toward drug offenders represent a primary cause of recent increases in jail and prison admissions, and racial disparities among drug offenders are worse than among other offenders. Data are provided on racial trends in arrests, jailing, and imprisonment that illustrate disparate adverse effects of Republican policies on blacks, although not because blacks are committing more serious offenses. Evidence concerning the effectiveness of recent drug and crime control policies that have exacerbated racial disparities are examined. Crime reduction effects of crime control policies are discussed, and the efficacy of the War on Drugs is questioned. 55 references, 2 tables, and 5 figures