Preclearance in Canada and the United States.There are a number of ideas about what’s behind this closing gap, from stiffer law enforcement in rural, predominately white areas, to the scourge of opioids and heroin, which have hit white communities hardest. The Hispanic population was virtually unchanged over the same period. That’s compared to whites, who constitute 64% of American adults but just 30% of those behind bars, according to a Pew Research analysis of Bureau of Justice Statistics data.īut as the overall incarcerated population has slowly retreated from its peak in 2009, a shift is happening in American prisons: the disparity between the number of African-Americans and whites locked up is shrinking.īetween 20, Pew’s analysis shows the African-American prison population fell 17%, exceeding the 10% drop in the number of whites behind bars. Though African-Americans comprise only about 12% of the total US population, they represent 33 percent of the federal and state prison population. (Nonprofit organizations such as The Vera Institute have written extensively about this issue.) It has been a defining characteristic of the criminal justice system for years, and it’s still the case today: compared to the racial makeup of the overall US population, African-Americans continue to make up a disproportionate amount of the prison population. Minorities are still overrepresented in the prison population, but racial and ethnic gaps are shrinking.Īfrican Americans still make up a disproportionate amount of those behind bars. Other studies have found correlations between the length of a person’s rap sheet and the likelihood of recidivism.Ī 2017 USSC study showed that offenders without any previous contact with the criminal justice system had an 11.7 percent lower recidivism rate than those with at least some prior contact with law enforcement. And for about half, it took less than two years for them to run afoul of the law again. Officials reported that nearly half of those monitored were rearrested for a new crime or for a violation of supervision conditions. There have been several studies on recidivism, but one of the most extensive was released in 2016 by the United States Sentencing Commission (USSC), which tracked more than 25,000 federal offenders over an eight-year period. CNNįor some, just one arrest is enough to get caught up in the system. After he was released, he was rearrested for missing one payment. Once you’re in the criminal justice system, it’s often difficult to get out.Ĭorde, who is featured in CNN Films 'American Jail,' spent time in jail for a DUI. In 2016, drug arrests actually increased about 10% from the previous year to more than 1.25 million, according to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report. Though drugs may not be the primary reason most people are in state and local prisons, law enforcement agencies around the country are still making drug arrests in huge numbers. States like Louisiana and Oklahoma, for instance, lock up drug offenders at rates far exceeding most others. In these facilities, where the vast majority of incarcerated people are housed, Prison Policy Initiative says those held for drug offenses are a much smaller proportion of the overall population.īut this still oversimplifies the relationship between drugs and mass incarceration.įor one, there is huge variation from state-to-state in how drug policies are enforced, according to a Pew analysis. Some have said that the “war on drugs” is responsible for America’s massive prison and jail populations.Īnd while this rings true in many federal prisons – where nearly half of all inmates are locked up for drug charges, often serving lengthy sentences – it’s a different story in state prisons and local jails. Nearly half of all inmates in federal prisons are held on drug charges, but drug offenders make up a smaller proportion of the population in state prisons and jails. The ‘war on drugs’ isn’t solely to blame for mass incarceration. The bail bond business, as with others tied to the criminal justice system, is extremely lucrative, bringing in more than $2 billion in profit each year, according to a 2017 report by nonprofit civil rights advocacy group Color of Change and the ACLU’s Campaign for Smart Justice. Stuck in jail because they can’t afford to pay bail, inmates are unable to work or support their families, making them particularly susceptible to the spiral of debt and incarceration. But those who can’t afford it are essentially trapped – they either sit in jail until the court takes action, or work with a bail bond agent to secure their freedom (with the latter option often saddling them with debt).Īdvocates will quickly point out how this system puts the poor at a huge disadvantage. Many who are arrested and go to jail are able to get out quickly by simply posting bail. The BJS reports that in 2016, nearly two-thirds of all inmates in local jails were not convicted.
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