Title: The Top 10 Most Startling Facts About People of Color and Criminal Justice in the United States - Center for American Progress
Headings: The Top 10 Most Startling Facts About People of Color and Criminal Justice in the United States
The Top 10 Most Startling Facts About People of Color and Criminal Justice in the United States
A Look at the Racial Disparities Inherent in Our Nation’s Criminal-Justice System

Content: The war on drugs has been waged primarily in communities of color where people of color are more likely to receive higher offenses. According to the Human Rights Watch, people of color are no more likely to use or sell illegal drugs than whites, but they have higher rate of arrests. African Americans comprise 14 percent of regular drug users but are 37 percent of those arrested for drug offenses. From 1980 to 2007 about one in three of the 25.4 million adults arrested for drugs was African American. 8. Once convicted, black offenders receive longer sentences compared to white offenders. The U.S. Sentencing Commission stated that in the federal system black offenders receive sentences that are 10 percent longer than white offenders for the same crimes. The Sentencing Project reports that African Americans are 21 percent more likely to receive mandatory-minimum sentences than white defendants and are 20 percent more like to be sentenced to prison. 9. Voter laws that prohibit people with felony convictions to vote disproportionately impact men of color.