Title: 
Headings:  Racial Disparities in Sentencing
Racial
 
Disparities
 
in
 
Sentencing
 

Hearing
 
on
 
Reports
 
of
 
Racism
 
in
 
the
 
Justice
 
System
 
of
 
the
 
United
 
States
 
Submitted
 
to
 
the
  
Inter-American
 
Commission
 
on
 
Human
 
Rights
 

I.
 
 
Racial
 
Disparities
 
in
 
Sentencing
 
in
 
the
 
United
 
States
 

Racial
 
Disparities
 
in
 
Life-without-Parole
 
Sentencing
 
for
 
Nonviolent
 
Offenses
 

Racial
 
Disparities
 
in
 
Juvenile
 
Life-without-Parole
 
Sentencing
 

Racial
 
Disparities
 
in
 
Crack
 
and
 
Powder
 
Cocaine
 
Sentencing
 

Racial
 
Discrimination
 
in
 
the
 
United
 
States
 
Capital
 
Punishment
 
System
 

Persistent
 
Racial
 
Disparities
 
in
 
the
 
Criminal
 
Justice
 
System
 

Racially
 
Disparate
 
Treatment
 
in
 
Life-Without-Parole
 
Sentencing
 
for
 
Nonviolent
 
Offenses
  

Racial
 
Bias
 
in
 
Death
 
Penalty
 
Cases
 

III.
 
Suggested
 
Recommendations
 
to
 
the
 
United
 
States
 
Government
 


Content: and
 
to
 
recommend
 
that
 
the
 
government
 
of
 
the
 
United
 
States
 
amend
 
its
 
sentencing
 
laws
 
to
 
prevent
 
any
 
discriminatory
 
impact. I.
 
 
Racial
 
Disparities
 
in
 
Sentencing
 
in
 
the
 
United
 
States
 
There
  
are
  
significant
  
racial
  
disparities
  
in
  
sentencing
  
decisions
  
in
  
the
  
United
  
States.1
  
Sentences
 
imposed
 
on
 
Black
 
males
 
in
 
the
 
federal
 
system
 
are
 
nearly
 
20
 
percent
 
longer
 
than
 
those
 
imposed
 
on
 
white
 
males
 
convicted
 
of
 
similar
 
crimes.2
  
Black
 
and
 
Latino
 
offenders
 
sentenced
 
in
 
state
  
and
  
federal
  
courts
  
face
  
significantly
  
greater
  
odds
  
of
  
incarceration
  
than
  
similarly
  
situated
 
white
 
offenders
 
and
 
receive
 
longer
 
sentences
 
than
 
their
 
white
 
counterparts
 
in
 
some
 
jurisdictions.3
  
Black
  
male
  
federal
  
defendants
  
receive
  
longer
  
sentences
  
than
  
whites
  
arrested
  
for
  
the
  
same
 
offenses
  
and
  
with
  
comparable
  
criminal
  
histories.4
  
Research
  
has
 
also
  
shown
  
that
  
race
  
plays
  
a
 
significant
 
role
 
in
 
the
 
determination
 
of
 
which
 
homicide
 
cases
 
result
 
in
 
death
 
sentences.5
  
The
  
racial
  
disparities
  
increase
  
with
  
the
  
severity
  
of
  
the
  
sentence
  
imposed. The
  
level
  
of
 
disproportionate
  
representation
  
of
  
Blacks
  
among
  
prisoners
  
who
  
are
  
serving
  
life
  
sentences
 
without
  
the
  
possibility
  
of
  
parole
  
(LWOP)
  
is
  
higher
  
than
  
that
  
among
  
parole-eligible
  
prisoners
 
serving
 
life
 
sentences. The
 
disparity
 
is
 
even
 
higher
 
for
 
juvenile
 
offenders
 
sentenced
 
to
 
LWOP,
 
and
 
higher
 
still
 
among
 
prisoners
 
sentenced
 
to
 
LWOP
 
for
 
nonviolent
 
offenses. Although
 
Blacks
 
constitute
  
only
  
about
  
13
  
percent
  
of
  
the
  
U.S.
  
population,
  
as
  
of
  
2009,
  
Blacks
  
constitute
  
28.3
 
percent
 
of
 
all
 
lifers,
 
56.4
 
percent
 
of
 
those
 
serving
 
LWOP,
 
and
 
56.1
 
percent
 
of
 
those
 
who
 
received
 
LWOP
 
for
 
offenses
 
committed
 
as
 
a
 
juvenile.6
  
As
 
of
 
2012,
 
the
 
ACLU’s
 
research
 
shows
 
that
 
65.4
 
percent
 
of
 
prisoners
 
serving
 
LWOP
 
for
 
nonviolent
 
offenses
 
are
 
Black.7
 
The
 
racial
 
disparities
 
are
 
even
 
worse
 
in
 
some
 
states. In
 
13
 
states
 
and
 
the
 
federal
 
system,
 
the
 
percentage
 
of
 
Blacks
 
serving
 
life
 
sentences
 
is
 
over
 
60
 
percent.8
  
In
 
Georgia
 
and
 
Louisiana,
 
the
  
proportion
  
of
  
Blacks
  
serving
  
LWOP
  
sentences
  
is
  
as
  
high
  
as
  
73.9
  
and
  
73.3
  
percent,
 
respectively.9
  
In
 
the
 
federal
 
system,
 
71.3
 
percent
 
of
 
the
 
1,230
 
LWOP
 
prisoners
 
are
 
Black.10
 
These
  
racial
  
disparities
  
result
  
from
  
disparate
  
treatment
  
of
  
Blacks
  
at
  
every
  
stage
  
of
  
the
 
criminal
 
justice
 
system,
 
including
 
stops
 
and
 
searches,
 
arrests,
 
prosecutions
 
and
 
plea
 
negotiations,
 
trials,
 
and
 
sentencing.11
  
Race
 
matters
 
at
 
all
 
phases
 
and
 
aspects
 
of
 
the
 
criminal
 
process,
 
including
 
the
 
quality
 
of
 
representation,
 
the
 
charging
 
phase,
 
and
 
the
 
availability
 
of
 
plea
 
agreements,
 
each
 
of
 
which
  
impact
  
whether
  
juvenile
  
and
  
adult
  
defendants
 
face
  
a
  
potential
  
LWOP
  
sentence. In
 
addition,
  
racial
  
disparities
  
in
  
sentencing
  
can
  
result
  
from
  
theoretically
  
“race
  
neutral”
  
sentencing
 
policies
 
that
 
have
 
significant
 
disparate
 
racial
 
effects,
 
particularly
 
in
 
the
 
cases
 
of
 
habitual
 
offender
 
laws
 
and
 
many
 
drug
 
policies,
 
including
 
mandatory
 
minimums,
 
school
 
zone
 
drug
 
enhancements,
 
and
 
federal
 
policies
 
adopted
 
by
 
Congress
 
in
 
1986
 
and
 
1996
 
that
 
at
 
the
 
time
 
established
 
a
 
100-to-
one
 
sentencing
 
disparity
 
between
 
crack
 
and
 
powder
 
cocaine
 
offenses.12
 
Racial
  
disparities
  
in
  
sentencing
  
also
  
result
  
in
  
part
  
from
  
prosecutors’
  
decisions
  
at
  
the
 
initial
 
charging
 
stage,
 
suggesting
 
that
 
racial
 
bias
 
affects
 
the
 
exercise
 
of
 
prosecutorial
 
discretion
 
with
  
respect
  
to
  
certain
  
crimes. One
  
study
  
found
  
that
  
Black
  
defendants
  
face
  
significantly
  
more
 
severe
  
charges
  
than
  
whites,
  
even
  
after
 
controlling
  
for
  
characteristics
  
of
  
the
  
offense,
  
criminal
 
history,
 
defense
 
counsel
 
type,
 
age
 
and
 
education
 
of
 
the
 
offender,
 
and
 
crime
 
rates
 
and
 
economic
 
characteristics
 
of
 
the
 
jurisdiction.13
   
Available
  
data
  
also
  
suggests
  
that
  
there
  
are
  
racial
  
disparities
 
in
  
prosecutors’
  
exercise
  
of
 
discretion
  
in
  
seeking
  
sentencing
  
enhancements
  
under
  
three-strikes
  
and
  
other
  
habitual
  
offender
 
laws.14
  
For
  
instance,
  
a
  
1995
  
legal
  
challenge
  
revealed
  
the
  
racially
  
biased
  
role
  
of
  
prosecutorial
 
discretion
 
in
 
the
 
application
 
of
 
Georgia’s
 
two-strikes
 
law. Georgia
 
prosecutors
 
have
 
discretion
 
to
 
decide
  
whether
  
to
  
charge
  
offenders
  
under
  
the
  
state’s
  
two-strikes
  
sentencing
  
scheme,
  
which
 
imposes
  
life
  
imprisonment
  
for
  
a
  
second
  
drug
  
offense. They
 
invoked
  
the
  
law
  
against
  
only
  
1
 
percent
 
of
 
white
 
defendants
 
facing
 
a
 
second
 
drug
 
conviction,
 
compared
 
to
 
16
 
percent
 
of
 
Black
 
defendants.15
  
As
  
a
  
result,
  
98.4
  
percent
  
of
  
prisoners
  
serving
  
life
  
sentences
  
under
  
the
  
law
  
were
 
Black.16
  
In
 
California,
 
studies
 
similarly
 
show
 
that
 
Blacks
 
are
 
sentenced
 
under
 
the
 
state’s
 
three-
strikes
 
law
 
at
 
far
 
higher
 
rates
 
than
 
their
 
white
 
counterparts.17
   
Scholars
  
have
  
also
  
noted
  
that
  
federal
  
§
  
851
  
sentencing
  
enhancements,
  
which
 
at
  
a
 
minimum
 
double
  
a
  
federal
  
drug
  
defendant’s
  
mandatory
  
minimum
  
sentence
  
and
 
may
 
raise
  
the
 
maximum
 
sentence
 
from
 
40
 
years
 
to
 
life
 
without
 
parole
 
if
 
the
 
defendant
 
has
 
two
 
prior
 
qualifying
 
drug
 
convictions
 
in
 
state
 
or
 
federal
 
courts,
 
are
 
applied
 
by
 
federal
 
prosecutors
 
in
 
an
 
arbitrary
 
and
 
racially
 
discriminatory
 
manner
 
and
 
exacerbate
 
racial
 
disparities
 
in
 
the
 
criminal
 
justice
 
system.18
  
While
  
the
 
U.S.
 
Department
  
of
  
Justice
  
and
  
U.S.
  
Sentencing
  
Commission
  
do
  
not
  
develop
  
or
 
publicize
  
data
  
on
  
racial
  
disparities
 
in
  
prosecutors’
 
application
  
of
  
this
 
federal
  
drug
  
sentencing
 
enhancement,
 
the
 
U.S.
 
Sentencing
 
Commission
 
has
 
reported
 
that
 
“[b]lack
 
offenders
 
qualified
 
for
 
the
 
[§
 
851]
 
enhancement
 
at
 
higher
 
rates
 
than
 
any
 
other
 
racial
 
group.