Title: Presumption of Guilt
Headings: Presumption of Guilt
Presumption of Guilt
A presumption of guilt and dangerousness makes people of color vulnerable to racial violence, wrongful convictions, and unfair treatment.
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Content: New language has emerged for the non-crimes that have replaced the Black Codes—driving while Black, napping while Black, jogging while Black. All reflect incidents in which African Americans were mistreated, assaulted, or arrested for conduct that would be ignored if they were white. Race and Mass Incarceration
The presumption of guilt assigned to people of color targets them for unfair treatment in the criminal justice system. Related Video
Anthony Ray Hinton: Wrongfully Condemned to Die
“I spent 30 years on death row for a crime I didn’t commit.” Black men are nearly six times more likely to be incarcerated than white men; Latino men are nearly three times as likely. Native Americans are incarcerated at more than twice the rate of white Americans. 1
Jennifer Bronson, Ph.D., and E. Ann Carson, Ph.D., “ Prisoners in 2017 ,” Bureau of Justice Statistics (April 2019). In 2001, the Bureau of Justice Statistics projected that one of every three Black boys and one of six Latino boys born in 2001 will go to jail or prison under current trends.