The disparity in race in Texas prisons

Introduction

Any discussion about the impact of incarceration in this country must acknowledge that the policies that have led the United States to have the world's largest jail and prison population (2.1 million) and highest incarceration rate (714 per 100,000) have had a disproportionate impact on African Americans, Latinos and other communities defined as non-White . According to the Justice Department report Prisoners in 2003, in 2003 African American, men across the nation were incarcerated seven times the rate of Whites while Latinos were incarcerated at 2.6 times the rate of Whites. African Americans and Latinos comprised 68% of all people in prison and jail in 2003, even though African Americans and Latinos make up 25% of the US population. In August 2003, the Bureau of Justice Statistics reported that if incarceration rates continue at these levels, one in 17 White men (5.9%), one in six Latino men (17%), and one in three African American men (32%) born in 2001 will serve time in prison at some point in their lifetime.

Basic Statistics

That same study found that 5.6 million Americans are current or former prisoners; 39% of those are African Americans (2,203,000), even though African Americans comprise only 12% of the national population. Also, the Justice Policy Institute reported that one out of eight White male dropouts, and half of all African American male dropouts had prison records by their early thirties, and that nearly twice as many African American men in their early 30s have prison records (22 %) as Bachelors degrees (12 %). Unfortunately, these racial and ethnic disparities hold true for Texas as well. Controversy has periodically flared up around the racial impact of law enforcement practices in Texas. In 1999, a drug sting operation in the small town of Tulia, Texas resulted in the arrest of 46 people, 40 of whom were black.

The remaining six individuals were either Latinos or whites dating blacks. The arrests incarcerated almost 15% of the black population, and was denounced as a form of "racial profiling" by the NAACP and the ACLU. These controversies have spurred on policy reforms which have been debated locally and in Austin on how to make the justice system fairer and more just: While cases were dismissed against many of those arrested in Tulia, in June, 2003, Republican Governor Rick Perry signed a (bill unanimously approved by the Texas House of Representatives) allowing the 13 remaining inmates to be freed on bond. Since then, the Tulia defendants settled a civil suit against the officials they say were responsible for their wrongful convictions. African Americans are incarcerated at 5 times the rate of Whites in Texas (3,734 per 100,000, compared to 694 per 100,000 Whites).

Critical Analysis

US imprisonment rates are much higher than the rest of the world, and within the US, African Americans are imprisoned at least eight times as often as European Americans, while American Indians and Hispanics are imprisoned at two to three times the European American rate. (Asian American ...