Title: Black men sentenced to more time for committing the exact same crime as a white person, study finds - The Washington Post
Headings: Black men sentenced to more time for committing the exact same crime as a white person, study finds
Black men sentenced to more time for committing the exact same crime as a white person, study finds
Content: Black men sentenced to more time for committing the exact same crime as a white person, study finds - The Washington Post
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Black men sentenced to more time for committing the exact same crime as a white person, study finds
Recent research shows that black men who commit the same crimes as white men receive sentences nearly 20 percent longer. ( Victoria Walker/The Washington Post)
By
Christopher Ingraham
November 16, 2017 at 6:33 p.m. UTC
Black men who commit the same crimes as white men receive federal prison sentences that are, on average, nearly 20 percent longer, according to a new report on sentencing disparities from the United States Sentencing Commission (USSC). Support our journalism. Subscribe today. arrow-right
These disparities were observed “after controlling for a wide variety of sentencing factors,” including age, education, citizenship, weapon possession and prior criminal history. The black/white sentencing disparities have been increasing in recent years, the report found, particularly following the Supreme Court's decision in United States v. Booker in 2005. Booker gave federal judges significantly more discretion on sentencing by making it easier to impose harsher or more lenient sentences than the USSC's sentencing guidelines called for. Story continues below advertisement
Before that decision, federal judges were generally required to abide by those sentencing guidelines. Advertisement
According to the Sentencing Commission's report, the black/white sentencing disparities are being driven in large part by “non-government sponsored departures and variances” — in plain English, sentencing choices made by judges at their own discretion. Judges are less likely to voluntarily revise sentences downward for black offenders than for white ones, in other words.