Title: Socioeconomic Status - African Americans and Prison Rates
Headings: African Americans and Prison Rates
Socioeconomic Status
What is Socioeconomic Status
Effect

Content: Black defendants receive harsher sentences than white defendants due to a variety of reasons
Prior criminal history: Most blacks become involved with the criminal justice systems as juveniles, this therefore means that they already have a history and this in turn affects the way they are sentenced. The "three strikes and and you're out" legislation is an example of this
Pretrial releases: Most Blacks are unable to come up with the bail needed to keep them out of jail before their trials, therefore they are not able to go home and prepare for a good trial, which may eventually affect their sentencing
Plea bargaining: A good majority of Black people do not plea bargain because that do not trust the criminal justice system which affects there numbers in prison
Jury selection: Most jury members are white and this can affect how they decide a case; blacks are usually disqualified from acting as jurors due to their social and economic status
"War on drugs" is also a factor that affected harsher sentences on blacks