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Trick or Treat: Scary Criminal Justice Statistics

By Brian Tannebaum, Esq.

From on of the various fact sheets on the website of Families Against Mandatory Minimums:Race and mandatory sentencesPrison populations ?One in 20 African American men over the age of 18 is in state or federal prison, compared to one in 180 white men. ?Two-thirds of the 2 million Americans in jail or prison are African American or Hispanic. ?In 2001 the lifetime chances of going to prison were highest among black males (32.2 percent) and Hispanic males (17.2 percent) and lowest among white males (5.9 percent). ?At the end of 2003, black prisoners made up an estimated 44 percent of all federal and state prisoners with sentences of more than one year. White prisoners accounted for 35 percent, and Hispanic prisoners 19 percent. (Prisoners in 2003, Bureau of Justice Statistics) Drug offenses ?African Americans make up approximately 12 percent of the population and are 13 percent of the drug users, yet they constitute 38 percent of all drug arrests and 59 percent of those convicted of drug offenses...continue to full post

Full post as published by Criminal Defense on October 30, 2009 (boomark / email).