Title: The Color of Justice: Racial and Ethnic Disparity in State Prisons | The Sentencing Project
Headings: The Color of Justice: Racial and Ethnic Disparity in State Prisons
The Color of Justice: Racial and Ethnic Disparity in State Prisons
Ashley Nellis, Ph.D.
African Americans are incarcerated in state prisons across the country at more than five times the rate of whites, and at least ten times the rate in five states. This report documents the rates of incarceration for whites, African Americans, and Hispanics in each state, identifies three contributors to racial and ethnic disparities in imprisonment, and provides recommendations for reform.
Table of Contents:
Overview
Key Findings
Overall Findings
Figure 1. Average rate of incarceration by race and ethnicity, per 100,000 population
Table 1. Incarceration rates per 100,000 by race, by black (male and female) incarceration rate
Table 2. Rate of adult black male incarceration
Figure 2. Black/white incarceration ratios
Figure 3. Hispanic/white incarceration ratios
The Scale of Disparity
Drivers of Disparity
Causes of Disparity
Policies and Practices
Implicit Bias
Structural Disadvantage
Recommendations for Reform
Table 4. Change in prison population and composition, New Jersey 2000-2014
Conclusion
Methodology
Appendix
Table A. State imprisonment 2014, by percent black in prison
Table B. State imprisonment 2014, by percent Hispanic in prison
Table C. Black/white incarceration ratios, by racial disparity
Table D. Hispanic/white incarceration ratios, by ethnic disparity
Table E. Incarceration rates, by Hispanic incarceration rate

Content: This report documents the rates of incarceration for whites, African Americans, and Hispanics, providing racial and ethnic composition as well as rates of disparity for each state. 6)
This report limits the presentation of data to these three categories because white, blacks, and Hispanics combined the vast majority of prisoners. This systematic look reveals the following: Key Findings
African Americans are incarcerated in state prisons at a rate that is 5.1 times the imprisonment of whites. In five states (Iowa, Minnesota, New Jersey, Vermont, and Wisconsin), the disparity is more than 10 to 1. In twelve states, more than half of the prison population is black: Alabama, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. Maryland, whose prison population is 72% African American, tops the nation. In eleven states, at least 1 in 20 adult black males is in prison. In Oklahoma, the state with the highest overall black incarceration rate, 1 in 15 black males ages 18 and older is in prison.