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Young African Americans and the Criminal Justice System in California: Five Years Later

NCJ Number
162971
Author(s)
V Schiraldi; S Kuyper; S Hewitt
Date Published
1996
Length
12 pages
Annotation
Between 1990 when the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice conducted an analysis of young black men involved in California's criminal justice system and 1995, the use of imprisonment increased substantially while the general plight of young black males deteriorated.
Abstract
In 1990, 94,000 inmates were imprisoned in the California Department of Corrections (CDC). By 1995, the CDC's population grew to 135,000, a 44-percent increase in only 5 years. Meanwhile, California's 26.2 percent juvenile employment rate was the highest in the United States in 1995. Nearly 4 in 10 black men in their 20's were under some form of criminal justice control. While black Americans made up 7 percent of the total population, they represented 18 percent of those arrested and 32 percent of the prison population. Further, the number of black women imprisoned for drug offenses in 1994 was 18 times higher than in 1984. Racism, poverty, lack of job opportunities, and an inadequate educational system have contributed to heightened levels of criminality in the black community. Data on rates at which black Americans are progressively overrepresented at deeper stages of the criminal justice process indicate that black men are not treated fairly. The following suggestions are offered to address crime problems in California and their implications for race relations: impose a moratorium on prison construction; pass sentencing enhancement bills; establish a sentencing commission; reserve scarce prison space for those who truly need to be incarcerated; enact a Community Corrections Act; provide treatment on demand; and establish a statewide commission to study causes of and solutions to violence. 18 footnotes, 2 tables, and 1 figure