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: 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. An estimated 5.3 million Americans are denied the right to vote based on a past felony conviction. Felony disenfranchisement is exaggerated by racial disparities in the criminal-justice system, ultimately denying 13 percent of African American men the right to vote. Felony-disenfranchisement policies have led to 11 states denying the right to vote to more than 10 percent of their African American population. 10. Studies have shown that people of color face disparities in wage trajectory following release from prison.