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Corrections Law Developments - Racial Discrimination and Prison Confinement - A Follow-Up

NCJ Number
73787
Journal
Criminal Law Bulletin Volume: 16 Issue: 6 Dated: (November-December 1980) Pages: 616-621
Author(s)
S Christianson
Date Published
1980
Length
6 pages
Annotation
Construction of a prima facie case of invidious discrimination in the use of imprisonment is discussed in light of analysis of recent correctional institution statistical data.
Abstract
Based on data collected by the National Institute of Corrections in 1979, it appears that the problem of racially disproportionate incarceration rates has become more acute. The institute mailed questionnaires to each State's corrections department, requesting absolute numbers of prisoners by race. Upon receipt of this data incarceration rates were computed by dividing the number of prisoners in each State by the population of the same race and multiplying by 100,000. In 1979 the median incarceration rate for blacks jumped to 600.0, compared to 70.8 for whites. States with the highest black imprisonment rates were Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Iowa, Arizona, Idaho, and South Dakota. For black males, at least 3 States showed imprisonment rates of more than 2,200 per 100,000 in 1979, and 33 jurisdictions were above the 1,000 mark. However, because analysis of racial disproportion in imprisonment rates is still in its initial stages, such analysis by itself would not be sufficient to make a prima facie case of invidious discrimination. Since defendants are convicted and sentenced in county courts it might be necessary and advisable to frame the proposed case around county-based statistics. The research effort that would be involved in such a task has already been started in Florida in order to obtain potential evidence for death penalty cases. In addition to shortcomings of available statistics, two other issues would arise in any constitutional challenge to the black incarceration rate. The first argument is that more minorities are sentenced because more minorities commit crimes. The second argument, that racial bias has diminished over time, is not supported by official imprisonment statistics. It is suggested that building a successful case against invidious discrimination must begin at the local level. Footnotes are included in the article.