ASCA's Racial Disparity Self-assessment checklist was created by the Committee to facilitate agencies to identify racial disparity regarding:

• hiring, promoting, and retaining institution staff;
• hiring, promoting, and retaining community corrections staff; and
• managing offender populations, e.g., custody distributions, disciplinary process, job assignments, services, treatment, etc.

Agencies are encouraged to use the checklist to self-assess their agencies overall, by facility, and/or by gender.  At this time, the Committee is not asking the agencies to submit any data to ASCA.  Click here to download the assessment.

The Sentencing Project has published a new article, “Tinkering with Life: A Look at the Inappropriateness of Life Without Parole as an Alternative to the Death Penalty,” by senior research analyst Ashley Nellis, that appears in the University of Miami Law Review.  Dr. Nellis explores the use of life without parole, now standing at more than 41,000 sentences nationwide and representing a 300% increase over the past two decades. She argues that the abolition of the death penalty in several states in recent years allows deliberations about punishment to expand and to consider the appropriateness of other sanctions. The article describes commonalities between death sentences and parole-ineligible life sentences, including:

• The terminal nature of both sentences that necessitates death in prison.
• The extreme racial disparities among those who receive either of these sentences.

The article also discusses critical problems posed by life without parole sentences, including:

• The mandatory nature with which they can be imposed;
• The lack of heightened legal review required for life without parole cases in comparison to death sentences.

Finally, Dr. Nellis encourages careful consideration in promoting life without parole as an alternative to the death penalty, arguing that neither of these sentences allows for the possibility of reform or redemption.

The IDI is the diagnostic tool that was utilized to measure levels of intercultural sensitivity at the Nebraska Department of Corrections in 2011-2012. In addition to qualitative surveys via conversations and interviews, the IDI was administered to assess the underlying orientation of staff toward cultural differences and similarities.1 From there, in-depth diversity and cultural competency training to all levels of staff were designed and delivered.

Click here for more information about IDI

This report describes the Commission’s efforts to “determine whether discrimination is built into the criminal justice system” and “recommend strategies and solutions to reduce racial disparity in the Wisconsin criminal justice system” (p. 1). The strategies given may be useful in your efforts to address the problems inherent in racial disparity. Sections of this report are: prologue; recommendations; public hearings; Commission meeting summary; and Commission presenters. Fifty-seven recommendations are explained and organized into 25 areas.

Click here for a link to the publication on the National Institute of Corrections library.

The need for and use of racial impact statements to reduce disproportionate rates of incarceration are explained. This article contains these sections: reports that offer hard numbers; scope of racial impact statements; preparation; policy implementation; the growing movement to address disparity; and conclusion. “Racial impact statements offer one means by which policy makers can begin to engage in a proactive assessment of how to address these challenging issues in a constructive way.”  Click here for a link to this publication on the National Institute of Corrections web site.

A Keynote address at the 2012 NIJ Conference was delivered by Lawrence Bobo, W.E.B. DuBois Professor of the Social Sciences, Harvard University on the Importance of Research on Race, Crime and Punishment. 

Click here for the video of the address.  Click here for the transcript of the address.

In the second of a three part series on racial disparities in the justice system in Madison, Wisconsin's Dane County, the Wisconsin State Journal quotes a taskforce as finding that at any given time, nearly half of the county's black men between 24 and 29 are in prison, jail, or under some form of state supervision. By comparison, about 3 percent of white men in that same age group are under some type of state correctional control.

Click here for Part One of the Madison.com Series on Dane County, WI Racial Disparity.
Click here for Part Two of the Madison.com Series on Dane County, WI Racial Disparity.
Click here for Part Three of the Madison.com Series on Dane County, WI Racial Disparity.

The Illinois Disproportionate Justice Impact Study Commission was established in October 2008 through state statute (Public Act 095-0995, which passed unanimously through the General Assembly before being signed by the Governor) in response to alarming evidence of disproportionately high rates of drug-related arrests, sentences, and incarceration among minority communities—and especially African-American populations—in Illinois.

The Commission was charged to study the nature and extent of the harm caused to minority communities through the practical application of state drug laws and offer recommendations to address the disproportionate impact that even seemingly neutral laws can have on minority communities. 

The Commission conducted original research with data from the Illinois State Police and the Office of the Clerk of Cook County, reviewed state drug laws, reviewed the literature on the consequences of high rates of incarceration, and received public testimony of facts and experiences from a variety of stakeholders during hearings held around the state in the spring of 2010 . Based on the findings of this work, which are presented in this report, the Commission has articulated recommendations intended to increase fairness and equality in the dispensation of justice relative to drug-related offenses and to mitigate the impact of disproportionate involvement in the criminal justice system among minority communities.

Click here for the December 2010 Final Report fromthe Commission to the Illinois General Assembly.

The State of Washington Research Working Group of the Task Force on Race and the Criminal Justice System presents the Preliminary Report on Race and Washington's Criminal Justice System.  The Research Working Group‘s mandate was to investigate disproportionalities in the criminal justice system and, where disproportionalities existed, to investigate possible causes. This fact-based inquiry was designed to serve as a basis for making recommendations for changes to promote fairness, reduce disparity, ensure legitimate public safety objectives, and instill public confidence in our criminal justice system.  Click here to download the report.

The Sentencing Project today joined with more than 40 of the nation’s leading criminal justice reform organizations to release a comprehensive report examining the nation’s criminal justice system.

The new report, Smart on Crime: Recommendations for the Administration and Congress, reviews federal policy and offers recommendations for reform in 16 key criminal justice areas. These include sentencing policy, juvenile justice, reentry, and overall systems change.

The Smart on Crime document will be used in our advocacy work with members of Congress and the Administration as we try to advance our agenda for reform.

This report, published by the Twenty-First Century Foundation, identifies concrete policy solutions to close educational achievement gaps, ensure workforce success, reduce health disparities, improve conditions for low-income fathers, and improve the overall well-being of black men, their families, and communities. To download the report, please click here.

While the criminal justice system as a whole provides some deterrent effect, a key question for policy development regards whether enhanced sanctions or an enhanced possibility of being apprehended provide any additional deterrent benefits. Research to date generally indicates that increases in the certainty of punishment, as opposed to the severity of punishment, are more likely to produce deterrent benefits. Valerie Wright, Ph.D., Research Analyst at The Sentencing Project authors this briefing paper provides an overview of criminological research on these relative impacts as a guide to inform future policy consideration.

Click here to download the report.

The Delaware Criminal Justice Council is an independent body “dedicated to striving for an effective criminal justice system that is fair, efficient, and accountable.” In line with these goals, the Criminal Justice Council recently issued a Declaration to protect civil rights and to promote racial and ethnic fairness.  
The declaration includes the following:

• Leaders of agencies and courts must demonstrate a commitment to racial and ethnic fairness in the criminal justice system;
• Agencies and courts should include stakeholders in the planning of early intervention systems
• Law enforcement policies should address options regarding deadly and non-deadly uses of force
• Enactment of policies that prohibit racial profiling;
• Personnel management should hire and promote personnel that reflect the communities they serve; and
• Agencies and courts should collect data to measure compliance with practices that protect civil rights and promote racial and ethnic equity.

As of January 1, 2011 applicants that are in compliance with the Declaration will be given preference in the award of grants over applicants that do not comply.

Tim Giago, founder of the Native American Journalists Association, contends that many “Native Americans believe there are dual systems of justice” in which they receive harsher sentences than whites for similar offenses.

Part of the problem is that there is a complex legal system operating on Native American reservations that relies largely on race to determine jurisdiction. Thus, when a crime is committed on a reservation, officials must determine the suspect’s and victim’s race before they can decide which agency should handle the case, and which law applies.  
Federal legislation signed into law in July aims to “increase the powers of those tribal police who are unable to arrest non-Indians on their reservations.”  Click here to read the article.

The American Correctional Association DMC Task Force sponsored a Disproportionate Minority Contact/Confinement (DMC) Symposium on August 1, 2010 at the 140th Congress of Correction in Chicago, IL.  Click here to download Conference information.

Work force analysis completed by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections Research Department in which the racial composition of the ODRC’s staff  was compared with US Census “Civilian Labor Force” data for Ohio.   Click here for the full ODRC report.

Click here for more information.

Click here to download more information.

Click here to download more information.

This chapter is adapted from a report the authors prepared for the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and the Leadership Conference Education Fund entitled Justice on Trial: Racial Disparities in the American Criminal Justice System (2000). Ronald Weich is a partner in the Washington, D.C., law firm of Zuckerman Spaeder LLP. He previously served as an Assistant District Attorney in New York County, Special Counsel to the U.S. Sentencing Commission, and Chief Counsel to Senator Edward M. Kennedy on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. Carlos Angulo is an associate at Zuckerman Spaeder LLP. He previously served in the Department of Justice and as Counsel to Senators Paul Simon and Paul Sarbanes.  Click here to download more information.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-07-18-prison-study_N.htm

The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) and the Justice Research and Statistics Association (JRSA) held a joint seminar on Sentencing and Corrections in the States on Tuesday, June 8, 2010. We have attached the PDF of the Powerpoint presentation, which is available on the JRSA website: http://www.jrsa.org/pubs/journal/index.html.  Information about the special issue of the Justice Research and Policy journal is also available on that site.

The speakers were:  Joan C. Weiss, Executive Director, Justice Research and Statistics Association (JRSA); Richard Kern, Executive Director of the Virginia Criminal Sentencing Commission; William Bales, Associate Professor in the College of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Florida State University; James Austin, President, JFA Institute; and William Sabol, Chief of Corrections Statistics, BJS.

This joint seminar presentation was based on a special issue of the JRSA's Justice Research and Policy journal, which examines sentencing and incarceration practices in five states and nationwide.   Audience included OJP staff and external researchers, policy makers, and the media, with interest in corrections and sentencing. Click here to download more information.

The Sentencing Project April 30, 2013 Race and Justice News newsletter features an article on Oregon legislators passing a Racial Impact Study bill to require the Criminal Justice Commission to issue a racial impact statement when requested by a legislator.  Click here for the April 30 Race and Justice News.

The Sentencing Project presents a new report, Ending Mass Incarceration: Charting a New Justice Reinvestment, that traces the history and examines the impact of the Justice Reinvestment Initiative (JRI).  Justice Reinvestment was conceived as part of the solution to mass incarceration.  The intent was to reduce corrections populations and budgets, thereby generating savings for reinvestment in high incarceration communities to make them safer, stronger, more prosperous, and equitable.

The report that Nicole Porter and Marc Mauer have co-authored with colleagues in the field concludes that while JRI has played a significant role in opening space for criminal justice reform, it has not produced significant reductions in the correctional populations of most of the states in which it has worked.  The report provides an assessment of why we believe this has been the case, and how the original mission of Justice Reinvestment can be achieved moving forward. In order to achieve the goals of reducing corrections populations and investing in local communities, the authors recommend Justice Reinvestment approaches that would:

• Reduce all forms of incarceration and correctional supervision (probation/parole),
• Reinvest in high incarceration communities,
• Involve stakeholders and non-governmental entities at the state and local levels throughout the planning, legislative, implementation and reinvestment process, and
• Create a multi-year plan and course for implementation and evaluation beyond short-term legislative or policy fixes

Marc Mauer’s Race to Incarcerate, first published in 1999, has become an essential text for understanding the exponential growth of the U.S. prison system and a canonical work for those active in the U.S. criminal justice reform movement. Jonathan Kozol, the writer and education activist, called it: “A tremendously disturbing and important book about the devastating increase in our prison population…the questions that it poses call for answers that too few of those in power have been brave enough to give.”   "Do not underestimate the power of the book you are holding in your hands." - Michelle Alexander Now, graphic artist Sabrina Jones has collaborated with Mauer to adapt and update the original text to produce Race to Incarcerate: A Graphic Retelling, a vivid and engaging comics narrative. Jones’s dramatic artwork adds passion and compassion to the complex story of four decades of prison expansion and its corrosive effect on generations of Americans and the implications for American democracy. In the foreword, Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow, calls the book “utterly indispensable” to the understanding of the human rights nightmare that mass incarceration is today. If current trends continue, one of every three black males and one of every six Latino males born today can expect to find themselves in prison at some point of their lives. Race to Incarcerate: A Graphic Retelling, in this highly accessible format, chronicles the lives of those imprisoned and the fallout from a failed social policy. With more than two million people now imprisoned, Race to Incarcerate: A Graphic Retelling is more essential than ever. Sabrina Jones is the author of Isadora Duncan: A Graphic Biography and a contributor to World War 3 Illustrated, Wobblies!, The Real Cost of Prisons, Studs Terkel’s Working (The New Press), FDR and the New Deal for Beginners, Yiddishkeit, and Radical Jesus. Marc Mauer is the executive director of The Sentencing Project in Washington, D.C. He is the author of Race to Incarcerate, a semifinalist for the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award, and the co-editor, with Meda Chesney-Lind, of Invisible Punishment (both available from The New Press). Michelle Alexander is the author of the New York Times bestseller The New Jim Crow.

The Sentencing Project Executive Director Marc Mauer was interviewed by Truthout with a wide ranging interview covering how people who are incarcerated have become “commodities,” the connection between the drug war and race, the role of the rapidly emerging for-profit prison industry in "filling beds," and how substantial funds spent on incarceration could be redirected to the communities most heavily affected by mass incarceration. Other issues addressed include the role of the fiscal crisis in shifting corrections policy, the politics of “tough on crime,” and how we can begin to shift the political climate toward a more rational and compassionate approach to public safety.  Click here for the interview with Marc Mauer from Truthout

The Sentencing Project April 2, 2013 issue of Race and Justice News features pending legislation in Oregon and Arkansas that would require a racial impact statement for legislation that creates a new criminal offense; changes an existing offense; or changes existing sentencing, parole or probation procedures, similar to the racial impact legislation passed in Iowa in 2008.  Other articles include Evidence of Racial Bias in Texas Death Penalty Cases, Another Effort to Repeal North Carolina's Racial Justice Act, and Race and Pre- and Post- Adjudication of Youth.  Click here for the April 2, 2013 Race and Justice News.

The March 29, 2013 Disenfranchisement Newsletter from The Sentencing Project highlights news from states considering changes to voting rights for felons.  Click here for Disenfranchisement News

The Sentencing Project has published a new article, “Tinkering with Life: A Look at the Inappropriateness of Life Without Parole as an Alternative to the Death Penalty,” by senior research analyst Ashley Nellis, that appears in the University of Miami Law Review.  Dr. Nellis explores the use of life without parole, now standing at more than 41,000 sentences nationwide and representing a 300% increase over the past two decades. She argues that the abolition of the death penalty in several states in recent years allows deliberations about punishment to expand and to consider the appropriateness of other sanctions. The article describes commonalities between death sentences and parole-ineligible life sentences, including:

• The terminal nature of both sentences that necessitates death in prison.
• The extreme racial disparities among those who receive either of these sentences.

The article also discusses critical problems posed by life without parole sentences, including:

• The mandatory nature with which they can be imposed;
• The lack of heightened legal review required for life without parole cases in comparison to death sentences.

Finally, Dr. Nellis encourages careful consideration in promoting life without parole as an alternative to the death penalty, arguing that neither of these sentences allows for the possibility of reform or redemption.

The Sentencing Project February 28, 2013 Race and Justice News features a Sentencing Project report on the Changing Racial Dynamics of Women's Incarceration.  Other information in the newsletter includes a legislative effort in Illinois to require the Department of Corrections to issue a report to the legislature about persons committed to the Department for drug-related offenses and a report from the Kirwan Institute report that reviews research on implicit bias in the criminal justice system.  Click here for the February 28, 2013 Race and Justice News.

The Sentencing Project has published a new report that finds a dramatic shift in the racial composition of U.S. prison populations for the period 2000 – 2009, particularly among women. In The Changing Racial Dynamics of Women’s Incarceration they analyze data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics and find that whereas in the year 2000 African American women were incarcerated at six times the rate of white women, by 2009 that disparity had dropped by half, to less than three times the white rate.

Overall, during this period the black women’s rate of incarceration declined by 30.7%, while the rate for white women increased by 47.1% and for Latinas by 23.3%. These figures represent national trends, and are likely to vary considerably by state, depending on such factors as crime rates, sentencing policy, and socioeconomics.

Several factors appear to be contributing to the racial changes in imprisonment among women:

• Declining arrest rates for African American women, along with sharp reductions in incarceration for drug offenses in certain states.
• Rising rates of imprisonment for white women for property crimes in particular, as well as for violent and drug offenses.
• The cumulative social disadvantages that correlate with greater involvement in substance abuse and crime are increasingly affecting less educated white women.

In order to better understand these trends, The Sentencing Project is encouraging state officials to conduct state-based analyses of incarceration disparities, to establish task forces to recommend changes in policy and practice, and to engage practitioners in collaborative efforts to address disparities.

Click here for an article from The Crime Report about the study.

The Sentencing Project released a new report The State of Sentencing 2012: Developments in Policy and Practice.  The report highlights reforms in 24 states that demonstrate a continued trend to reform sentencing policies and scale back the use of imprisonment without compromising public safety.  The report provides a overview of recent policy reforms in the areas of sentencing, probation and parole, collateral consequences, and juvenile justice.  Highlights include:

• Mandatory minimums - Seven states – Alabama, California, Missouri, Massachusetts, Kansas, Louisiana, and Pennsylvania – revised mandatory penalties for certain offenses,  including crack cocaine offenses and drug offense enhancements.
• Death penalty - Connecticut abolished the death penalty, becoming the 17th state to do so.
• Parole and probation reforms - Seven states – Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Missouri, and Pennsylvania -- expanded the use of earned time for eligible prisoners and limited the use of incarceration for probation and parole violations.
• Juvenile life without parole - Three states – California, Louisiana, and Pennsylvania – authorized sentencing relief for certain individuals sentenced to juvenile life without parole.

Click here for the report.

The January 16, 2013 edition of The Sentencing Project's newsletter, Race and Justice News, features a report on the North Carolina Racial Justice Act of 2009 that allowed a death sentence to be commuted to a sentence of life without parole based on statistical evidence of racial bias.  Other articles include research on possible racial and ethnic bias in the sentencing of individuals in U.S. District Courts who fit the stereotype of "a dangerous drug offender"'; research on whether presumptive sentencing reduces unwarranted disparity related to race and ethnicity.  Click here for the January 16, 2013 Race and Justice News.

The United States Commission on Civil Rights (USCCR) held a briefing on December 7 in Washington regarding the impact of criminal background checks on employment, and its particular effects for black and Latino workers. Specifically, USCCR sought to determine "whether the new EEOC [Equal Employment Opportunity Commission] Guidance policy or other prohibitions or limitations on the use of criminal background checks results in lower job opportunities and reduced employment overall among minorities, including nonoffenders."

EEOC has long provided guidance to job seekers, employees, employers, and others regarding the use of arrest and conviction records in employment. The revised guidance calls for employers to assess applicants on an individual basis rather than excluding with a blanket policy all of those with a criminal record. It directs employers to weigh the nature of the job, the seriousness of the offense, and the length of time since the offense occurred in hiring. Moreover the revised guidance notes that job seekers should not be rejected on the basis of an arrest alone, since arrest is not proof of criminal behavior.

Appearing at the December 7 briefing were a number of experts, including government officials, academics, advocates, and business leaders. USCCR is now accepting public comments, which it will consider in developing a report and recommendations on the need to address employment barriers based on criminal history. It is thus essential that criminal justice, civil rights, and workers advocates submit comments for the Commission’s consideration. Comments can be any length, but interested parties are advised to be concise. In relating your concerns, you may want to consider the following:

• Nearly one in three American adults is arrested by age 23.
• Many of those who have been arrested (and thus have a “criminal record” that could appear on a criminal background check) have never been convicted of a crime.
• Black workers are disproportionately impacted by criminal background checks, reflecting disparities in the criminal justice system and racial bias among employers. Research has documented that African Americans with no felony convictions are no more likely to receive a callback or job offer as whites with a felony record.
• Employment is essential for people who have broken the law and are trying to reenter society. Barring such people from getting a job increases the odds that they will commit another crime.
• The bottom line is that people should have the opportunity for employment in jobs for which they are qualified and for which their criminal record is irrelevant. The overly broad use of criminal background checks by employers has a disproportionate impact on people of color.

If you are interested in submitting comments, the deadline is January 21. Comments should be emailed to:  lostrowsky@usccr.gov or publiccomments@usccr.gov

The December 11, 2012 issue of The Sentencing Project Race and Justice News features articles including findings from an Illinois Disproportionate Justice Impact Study Commission; results from a study of racial disparity in the Seattle, WA Police Department drug enforcement practices; and a study reviewing how federal prosecutorial decisions contribute to racial disparity in federal sentencing. 
Click here for the December 11, 2012 Race and Justice News.

The Sentencing Project’s annual newsletter will tell you, and we hope you enjoy seeing criminal justice reform in action.

Some highlights:

• Their report on the 5.85 million people with felony convictions who have been disenfranchised highlighted the lack of access to democracy by millions of our fellow citizens, and resulted in strong media coverage.
• They produced the first-ever national survey of juveniles serving life without parole and joined an amicus brief of national advocates in support of the petitioners whose case led to the landmark ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court barring mandatory sentencing of juveniles to life without parole.
• Marc Mauer, a graphic novelist? Yes, in 2013, be among the first to read his seminal book on race, class and the criminal justice system, Race to Incarcerate, in graphic form.
• Potential benefits in Obamacare: a report on how expanded Medicaid coverage could contribute to diverting people from prison and reducing recidivism.
• Missouri’s bipartisan crack sentencing reform, the continued growing consensus to reduce U.S. incarceration and much more.

Click here for The Sentening Project annual newsletter.

The October 25, 2012 issue of The Sentencing Project Race and Justice News features information about the Racial Justice Improvement Project, a collaboration between the American Bar Association Criminal Justice Section and BJA.  Other articles include a story about local jurisdiction challenge Federal immigration enforcement efforts and an article on North Carolina's Racial Justice Act that was revised in June.  Click here for the October 25, 2012 Race and Justice News.

The September 25, 2012 issue of The Sentencing Project Race and Justice News includes articles featuring two research studies that find race plays a role in judicial decisions; and another research study that examined the how the size of African American population in states influences incarceration rates.  Click here for the September 25, 2012 Race and Justice News.

The August 17, 2012 issue of the Race and Justice News Newsletter features an article detailing a report from The Sentencing Project showing that people detained for violating immigration laws are a major growth sector for for-profit prison companies.  Other features include Members of Minority Groups are Less Likely to be Diverted to Intermediate Sanctions and Racialized Attitudes and Public Support for Harsher Juvenile Justice Policies.  Click here for the August 17, 2012 issue of Race and Justice News.

The Sentencing Project Racial Disparity news page features news stories from news outlets around the United States that highlight the issue of racial disparity in the justice system and effots to alleviate the problem through the courts and legislation.  Click here to link to The Sentencing Project Racial Disparity news page.

The Sentencing Project June 20, 2012 Race and Justice News newsletter features a report on two studies showing racial bias in pre-trial release and prison sentences.  Also included is news of new legislation passed in North Carolina to amend the Racial Justice Act passed in 2009 to limit the statistical sampling that can be used to prove racial bias.  Click here to read the June 20, 2012 Race and Justice News.

The Sentencing Project May 29, 2012 Race and Justice News newsletter features an article following up on the North Carolina Racial Justice Act that allows defendant's and death-row inmates to use statistics and other evidence to prove that race played a significant role in their cases and the training of prosecutors to fight the motions filed under the law.  Other articles include Connecticut Racial Profiling Bill May Also Uncover Misuse of Federal immigration Policy and Missouri Bill Reducing Crack Disparity on Way to Governor.  Click here for the May 29 Race and Justice News.

The Sentencing Project May 4, 2012 Race and Justice News newsletter features a report on the EEOC decision that employers may not deny employment based on a conviction except when the offense is job-related.  Other articles include information about the first test of North Carolina's 2009 Racial Justine Act that allows inmates to challenge sentences or prosecution decisions based on race, and a debate over racial disparity in the Memphis Juvenile Justice system.  Click here for the May 4, 2012 Race and Justice News.

The Sentencing Project April 12, 2012 Race and Justice News Newsletter features Edwin H. Southerland Award winner Ruth Peterson who appeals to criminology to put race at the center of the study of crime and justice.  Other articles include information about poll that found only half of all Americans think blacks and other minorities receive the same treatment as whites in the criminal justice system; and a report on a study that shows minorities limited access to mental health care may prevent them from being referred for care in some jails.  Click here for the April 12, 2012 Race and Justice News.

The Sentencing Project March 19, 2012 Race and Justice News newsletter includes feature article on black youth detained in Cook County, IL at a disproportionate rate and an article outlining how the racial composition of schools relates to the use of harsh, exclusionary disciplinary practices such as expulsion and suspension.  Click here for the March 19 Race and Justice News newsletter

The Sentencing Project March 2, 2012 Race and Justice News newsletter features an article about how Prosecutor decisions play a role in sentencing disparity.  Click here for the March 2, 2012 Race and Justice News.

The Sentencing Project Executive Director Marc Mauer will be testifying today at a hearing of the U.S. Sentencing Commission on federal sentencing options following the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2005 decision in Booker v. United States. The Booker decision changed the federal sentencing guidelines from a mandatory system to an advisory one, thus granting greater discretion to federal judges. Today’s hearing has been called to assess changes in sentencing since that decision and implications for policy development.

The testimony focuses on issues of racial disparity in federal sentencing, and raises the following issues:

• There is no single cause of racial disparity in sentencing outcomes, and we need to examine how decision making at each stage of the court process affects ultimate outcomes.
• Enhanced guidelines discretion for judges now makes disparities in the imposition of mandatory penalties even more significant, a development which adversely affects black males.
• Responses to disparity in sentencing can best be addressed by expanding use of the “safety valve” in many drug cases and by creating a broader array of non-prison sentencing options.

The Sentencing Project February 14, 2012 Race and Justice News features an article on new legislation in North Carolina that allows people on death row and defendants facing the death penalty to use statistics and other evidence to show that race was a factor in he decision to seek the death penalty or selecting jurors or that a victim's race was a  factor in issuing a death sentence.  Research updates include studies that show blacks are less likely to be released on their own recognizance and race and incarceration have a compounded effect on wage growth.  Click here for the Feb 14, 2012 Race and Justice News.

The Sentencing Project January 31, 2012 Race and Justice News  features a review of The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, that argues the punitiveness manifest in the war on drugs and the get tough on crime movement has infiltrated school culture.  Click here for the January 31, 2012 Race and Justice News.

The January 4, 2012 issue of the Sentencing Project Race and Justice News includes research on Studies of Racial Disparities in Federal Sentencing; and an essay by David Cole discussing the role of economic and racial injustice arguments in criminal justice reform efforts. Click here for the January 4, 2012 Race and Justice News.

The Sentencing Project newsletter Race and Justice News December 9 Issue features an article entitled Whites Favored in Presidential Pardons During Past Decade and a research study, UK Study Shows Racial Disparity in Sentencing.  Click here for the December 9, 2011 Race and Justice News.

The Sentencing Project's November 15, 2011 Race and Justice News feature article is a report entitled United States Sentencing Commission Assesses Impact of Mandatory Minimums and the research update includes information about a study by Christian Breunig and Rose Ernst that finds a correlation between race and corrections spending.  Click here for the November 15, 2011 Race and Justice News.

The Sentencing Project’s 25th anniversary forum, Criminal Justice 2036: A 25-Year Vision for Reform, and “Unlocking Justice,” a video on problem-solving approaches to justice, are now available in streaming video.

The October 11th forum featured Jeremy Travis, President, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, outlining the reasons why the United States can no longer continue its broken policy of incarceration, and how both justice and equality can be served through criminal justice reform. Other highlights of the
program include a panel discussion, "Strategies for Moving Forward,” as well as comments from Representative Bobby Scott; Laurie Robinson, Assistant Attorney General, Office of Justice Programs; and Malcolm Young, founder of The Sentencing Project.

Click here for the forum videos.

A special issue of The Prison Journal which is devoted to “Reforming the Criminal Justice System in the United States.” The journal features contributions from leading scholars in the field, and was produced to inform the work of the National Criminal Justice Commission proposed by Sen. Jim Webb.

The Sentencing Project's Marc Mauer contributed Addressing Racial Disparities in Incarceration to the collection. In the article he assess both crime rates and decisionmaking within the criminal justice system in the areas of law enforcement, prosecution, and sentencing that have contributed to disparities. He then examine the implications of these disparities for the broader community and offer recommendations for change in policy and practice.

The full table of contents of articles in The Prison Journal can be viewed here.  They include:

•    Bringing Down the U.S. Prison Population
•    Evidence-Based Policies and Practices for Drug-Involved Offenders
•    Prisons Do Not Reduce Recidivism
•    People with Serious Mental Illness in the Criminal Justice System
•    Life on the Outside: Returning Home after Incarceration
•    The Benefits and Costs of Early Prevention
•    Strategies for Reducing Prison Populations

The Sentencing Project and a group of national and state organizations sent a letter to Capitol Hill urging lawmakers to enact a comprehensive plan to reduce the federal prison population. A number of states have already reduced corrections populations with no threat to public safety and the federal prison system should do the same.

The Sentencing Project’s 2010 report, Downscaling Prisons: Lessons from Four States, found that Kansas, Michigan, New Jersey and New York had all experienced significant declines, ranging from 5% to 20%, in their prison populations. The state reductions came about by limiting mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses, diverting defendants with low-level convictions from incarceration, enhancing release programs and reducing parole revocations.  

The federal prison system needs to make the same progress. Its system has increased at more than double  the rate of state prisons since 2000, contributing to an overcrowded system that is dangerous for staff and prisoners.  Since 1980, there has been a 700% increase in the prison population and a 1712% increase in expenditures. See The Sentencing Project’s latest fact sheet.

Please email Kara Gotsch at kgotsch@sentencingproject.org to add your organization’s name to  the group sign on letter.  Click here to send your own  letter to your Congressional representative.

The Sentencing Project has published a new report entitled Cracked Justice that addresses disparities in cocaine sentencing in 13 states and documents efforts at the federal and state level to correct these injustices.

State cocaine sentencing disparities include:

•    In Missouri, where a defendant convicted of selling six grams of crack cocaine faces the same prison term –a ten-year mandatory minimum – as someone who sells 450 grams of powder cocaine, or 75 times that amount.
•    In Oklahoma, which maintains a 6-to-1 quantity-based sentencing disparity, a ten-year mandatory minimum sentence is triggered for five grams of crack cocaine and 28 grams of powder cocaine.
•    In Ohio, sentencing disparities vary across felony categories based on quantity amounts.  The state uses a 10-to-1 ratio of 1,000 grams of powder cocaine and 100 grams of crack cocaine for major drug offenses and imposes a ten-year mandatory minimum.  

Written Testimony of The Sentencing Project Executive Director Marc Mauer to the United States Sentencing Commission on the impact of mandatory minimum penalties in federal sentencing on public safety and racial disparity. Click here to download the document.

The Sentencing Project's Executive Director Marc Mauer testified before the U.S. Sentencing Commission March 17, 2011 on implementing last year’s historic reform of federal crack cocaine sentencing policy.  Click here for a copy of his prepared testimony.

Following adoption of the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010, which reduced the drug quantity differential between powder cocaine and crack cocaine from 100:1 to 18:1, the Sentencing Commission is now charged with incorporating the change into the federal sentencing guidelines. Mr. Mauer's testimony made three arguments:

•  The crack cocaine guidelines should be set at a level that is not excessive, and is  consistent with the spirit of the legislative change.
•  The guidelines change should be made retroactive in order to benefit offenders currently in prison.
•  The Commission should revise guidelines for other drug offenses as well in order to reduce excessively lengthy imprisonment.

Developments in Policy and Practice

During 2010, state legislatures in at least 23 states and the District of Columbia adopted 35 criminal justice policies that may contribute to reductions in the prison population and eliminate barriers to reentry while promoting effective approaches to public safety. This report, authored by Nicole D. Porter, State Advocacy Coordinator for The Sentencing Project,  provides an overview of recent policy reforms in the areas of sentencing, probation and parole, drug policy, the prison census count, collateral consequences, and juvenile justice.  Click here to download the report

The Sentencing Project today joined with more than 40 of the nation’s leading criminal justice reform organizations to release a comprehensive report examining the nation’s criminal justice system.

The new report, Smart on Crime: Recommendations for the Administration and Congress, reviews federal policy and offers recommendations for reform in 16 key criminal justice areas. These include sentencing policy, juvenile justice, reentry, and overall systems change.

The Smart on Crime document will be used in our advocacy work with members of Congress and the Administration as we try to advance our agenda for reform.

October 11, 2010

The Sentencing Project, and nine allied civil rights and social justice organizations, have just submitted comments to the U.S. Sentencing Commission regarding changes to federal sentences for crack cocaine offenses. Following on the historic reforms in sentencing produced by passage of the Fair Sentencing Act in August, the Sentencing Commission is now considering adoption of a temporary emergency amendment to the federal sentencing guidelines to implement the Act.

Our comments make three critical recommendations:

• appropriately place crack cocaine offenses within the sentencing guidelines in order to  produce lower levels of incarceration and racial disparity;
• interpret the law’s enhancements provision in a way that would limit overly punitive outcomes; and
• apply sentencing guideline changes retroactively in order to impact persons currently serving prison terms for crack cocaine offenses.

Passage of the Fair Sentencing Act was a major milestone, but there is still much more to do. We hope that our recommendations to the Sentencing Commission will help to continue momentum for a more fair and just federal sentencing structure.  

Marc Mauer
Executive Director
The Sentencing Project

Click here to link to this message on The Sentencing Project web site.

Click here for the comments submitted to the U.S. Sentencing Commission.

Changes in sentencing law and policy, not increases in crime rates, explain most of the six-fold increase in the national prison population. These changes have significantly impacted racial disparities in sentencing, as well as increased the use of “one size fits all" mandatory minimum sentences that allow little consideration for individual characteristics.

Working for a fair and effective criminal justice system by promoting reforms in sentencing law and practice, and alternatives to incarceration.

Link to The Sentencing Project Web Site: TheSentencingProject

The ASCA Racial Disparity Committee met at 2:30 PM on Saturday, July 21, 2012 at the Hyatt Regency Denver in Denver, CO. The following documents were used for the meeting:

Click here for the roster of Racial Disparity Committee members.
Click here for the Racial Disparity Committee mission statement.
Click here for the meeting agenda.
Attachment A - Minutes from the August 6, 2011 Racial Disparity meeting.
Attachment B - The Sentencing Project Interactive Map.
Click here for a link to The Sentencing Project Race and Justice News Rate of Incarceration by Gender and Race.
Click here for a link to The Sentencing Project May 29, 2012 Race and Justice News Newsletter.

The latest issue of the Federal Sentencing Reporter (FSR) focuses on the ethical and legal ramifications of America’s overburdened, underfunded public defense system. It also features commentary on Lafler v. Cooper and Missouri v. Frye, two recent Supreme Court cases that restate the importance of access to effective counsel in the plea bargaining process.

By special arrangement with the University of California Press, the Editors’ Observations and Professor Erica Hashimoto’s article, Abandoning Misdemeanor Defendants, can be read for free on Vera’s website.

With support from the National Institute of Justice, the Vera Institute of Justice undertook research to better understand how prosecutors make decisions throughout the processing of a case. Vera’s study, conducted by Senior Research Associate Bruce Frederick and Don Stemen, assistant professor in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Loyola University Chicago, sought to go beyond previous studies of prosecutorial decision making and conduct a study that would yield a more nuanced, comprehensive understanding of the process.

The resulting multimedia resource, titled The Anatomy of Discretion: An Analysis of Prosecutorial Decision Making, is now available online. It includes a technical report, a summary report, and four podcasts featuring scholars and practitioners in the justice system discussing the study’s ramifications for understanding how prosecutorial practice affects justice outcomes.

Click here for links to the Technical Report, Summary Report, Fact Sheet and Podcasts of study interviews.

The Racial Disparity Committee met on August 6, 2011 in Kissimmee, FL.
Click here for photos from the Racial Disparity Committee meeting.
Click here for the minutes from the August 6, 2011 Racal Disparity Meeting.

A Keynote address at the 2012 NIJ Conference was delivered by Lawrence Bobo, W.E.B. DuBois Professor of the Social Sciences, Harvard University on the Importance of Research on Race, Crime and Punishment. 

Click here for the video of the address.  Click here for the transcript of the address.

Click here to view photos from the Winter 2011 ASCA Racial Disparity Committee held on January 29, 2011 in San Antonio, TX.

The U.S. Sentencing Commission voted on June 30, 2011 to retroactively apply the amended guidelines resulting from The Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 to prisoners who were incarcerated under the earlier, harsher 100 to 1 crack cocaine sentencing law.  Today’s decision means that some prisoners sentenced before the law went into affect –12,000 people –could have their guideline sentences reduced by 3 years, on average

The Sentencing Commission’s vote confirms that fairness and equal treatment under law are fundamental principles of our criminal justice system. The Commission came to its decision after receiving public comments from over 40,000 citizens who supported retroactivity of the guidelines and heard testimony from a broad spectrum of witnesses at a June 1, 2011 hearing.

Click here to download article.

Terry Sallis, MSW,LMSW, CADC, from Integrated Treatment Services, presented this PowerPoint presentation on Disproportionate Minority Contact with the Criminal Justice System during an Iowa Reentry event on Thursday August 4, 2011.

On Tuesday, July 26, 2011, the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) held a public hearing to investigate employment barriers faced by individuals with arrest and conviction records. The Commission received testimony from the Federal Reentry Council, as well as policy and advocacy groups and members of the general public. Witnesses discussed their experiences regarding best practices of hiring individuals with criminal records, collateral consequences of incarceration/imprisonment, and the confusing and oftentimes contradictory pressures on companies and corporations when using arrest and criminal conviction records to make employment and hiring decisions. 

Public comments may be emailed to Commissionmeetingcomments@eeoc.gov or sent via postal mail to Commission Meeting, EEOC Executive Officer, 131 M Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20507. All comments received will be made available to members of the Commission and will be placed in the EEOC library for public review.  The hearing record will be held open and comments and or testimony will be accepted for 15 days post hearing, through Wednesday, August 10, 2011.

Click here for the Safer Foundation e-mail alert about the EEOC public hearings.

In the second of a three part series on racial disparities in the justice system in Madison, Wisconsin's Dane County, the Wisconsin State Journal quotes a taskforce as finding that at any given time, nearly half of the county's black men between 24 and 29 are in prison, jail, or under some form of state supervision. By comparison, about 3 percent of white men in that same age group are under some type of state correctional control.

Click here for Part One of the Madison.com Series on Dane County, WI Racial Disparity.
Click here for Part Two of the Madison.com Series on Dane County, WI Racial Disparity.
Click here for Part Three of the Madison.com Series on Dane County, WI Racial Disparity.

The ASCA Racial Disparity Committee met on Saturday, January 29, 2011 at the Grand Hyatt San Antonio in San Antonio, TX. The following documents were used as part of the meeting.

Click here for the Racial Disparity Committee Mission Statement.
Click here for the Racial Disparity Committee Meeting Agenda.
Click here for the 2010 Summer Meeting Minutes.

The U.S. Sentencing Commission held hearings on June 1, 2011 on the issue of crack cocaine sentencing.  The Commission scheduled a full day of testimony to consider whether the recent changes made to the federal sentencing guidelines for crack cocaine offenses should be made retroactive.

Mark Mauer of The Sentencing Project testified at the Commission’s hearing, and you can read his testimony here. I argue that: retroactivity would be consistent with the goals of the Fair Sentencing Act passed by Congress last year; it would make a significant contribution toward reducing racial disparities in the federal prison system; and, it could provide a significant population reduction in overcrowded federal prisons.

The Commission is expected to vote on this issue later this month. If the guidelines are applied retroactively to persons currently serving a prison term for crack, an estimated 12,000 people will receive an average sentence reduction of about three years

The full agenda for the hearing can be found at the Commission’s website.
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder's tesimony can be found here.

The Racial Disparity Committee met on January 29, 2011 in San Antonio, TX.  Among the items discussed during the meeting was measures that are being implemented in States to address racial disparity in the criminal justice system.  Other issues were identifying a focus issue for the Committee; project funding and potential partnerships to be pursued.  Click here for the Winter 2011 Racial Disparity Committee minutes.

The ASCA Racial Disparity Committee met on July 31, 2010 in Chicago, IL.  Topics for the meeting included how ASCA can influence change in corrections, criminal justice partners, and the public, and racial disparity legislative initiatives such as Iowa's racial impact statements.
Click here to view photos from the Racial Disparity Committee meeting.
Click here to view the minutes from the Racial Disparity meeting.

Click this link to view photos from the Racial Disparity Committee meeting in Tampa, FL on January 2010

Click here to download minutes.

BJA has partnered with the Simon Wiesenthal Center for over a decade to develop and offer Tools for Tolerance training sessions. Over 90,000 law enforcement and other criminal justice professionals have participated in the training. The training is highly experiential and interactive, and includes National Institute Against Hate Crimes and Terrorism, Leadership Initiatives for Command Staff, Perspectives on Profiling, and the 1-day Tools for Tolerance® for Law Enforcement components. More recently, some of these sessions have been designed for probation, parole, and other corrections professionals. BJA's grant funds have helped defray costs for participants attending the sessions at the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles.

For more information, visit the Museum's web site http://www.museumoftolerance.com/site/c.tmL6KfNVLtH/b.5052723/k.89D5/Tools_for_Tolerance174_for_Law_Enforcement_and_Criminal_Justice.htm

A new study by Jill Doerner at the University of Rhode Island and Stephen Demuth at Bowling Green State University use United States Sentencing Commission data to examine the effects of race/ethnicity, gender, and age on sentencing decisions in U.S. federal courts.  The authors find that Hispanics and Blacks, males, and younger defendants receive harsher sentences than whites, females, and older defendants after controlling for important factors that impact sentences.  

The results also show that the youngest Hispanic and Black male defendants receive particularly harsh punishments when race/ethnicity, gender and age are examined together.  Young Hispanic males have the highest odds of incarceration and young black males receive the longest sentences.

Doerner, Jill, K. and Stephen Demuth.  2010.  “The Independent and Joint Effects of Race/Ethnicity, Gender, and Age on Sentencing Outcomes in U.S. Federal Courts."  Justice Quarterly 27(1):1-27.

Click here to download minutes.