The Color of Justice: Racial and Ethnic Disparity in State Prisons

Abstract

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. We find the following: in 11 states, 1 in 20 adult black men are in prison; in 5 states, racial disparity is greater than 10-1 black/white; and in 12 states, more than half of prisoners are black.

Full text

THE COLOR OF JUSTICE:
RACIAL AND ETHNIC DISPARITY
IN STATE PRISONS

This report was written by Ashley Nellis, Ph.D., Senior Research Analyst
at The Sentencing Project.
The Sentencing Project is a national non-prot organization engaged
in research and advocacy on criminal justice issues. Our work is
supported by many individual donors and contributions from the
following:
Atlantic Philanthropies
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craigslist Charitable Fund
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Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund
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Mott Philanthropy
Open Society Foundations
Petschek Foundation
Public Welfare Foundation
Rail Down Charitable Trust
David Rockefeller Fund
Elizabeth B. and Arthur E. Roswell Foundation
San Francisco Foundation
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Elsie P. van Buren Foundation
Wallace Global Fund
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The Color of Justice: Racial and Ethnic Disparity in State Prisons 1
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Overview 3
Overall Findings 4
The Scale of Disparity 8
Drivers of Disparity 9
Recommendations for Reform 12
Conclusion 14
Appendix 16

2 The Sentencing Project

The Color of Justice: Racial and Ethnic Disparity in State Prisons 3
Growing awareness of America’s failed experiment with mass
incarceration has prompted changes at the state and federal level
that aim to reduce the scale of imprisonment. Lawmakers and
practitioners are proposing “smart on crime” approaches to
public safety that favor alternatives to incarceration and reduce
odds of recidivism. As a result of strategic reforms across the
criminal justice spectrum, combined with steadily declining
crime rates since the mid-1990s, prison populations have begun
to stabilize and even decline slightly after decades of
unprecedented growth. In states such as New Jersey, New York,
Rhode Island, and California, prison depopulation has been
substantial, declining by 20-30%.1 Still, America maintains its
distinction as the world leader
2
in its use of incarceration,
including more than 1.3 million people held in state prisons
around the country.3
At the same time of productive bipartisan discussions about
improving criminal justice policies and reducing prison
populations, the U.S. continues to grapple with troubling racial
tensions. The focus of most recent concern lies in regular reports
of police brutality against people of color, some of which have
resulted in deaths of black men by law enforcement ofcers
after little or no apparent provocation.
Truly meaningful reforms to the criminal justice system cannot
be accomplished without acknowledgement of racial and ethnic
disparities in the prison system, and focused attention on
reduction of disparities. Since the majority of people in prison
are sentenced at the state level rather than the federal level, it is
critical to understand the variation in racial and ethnic composition
across states, and the policies and the day-to-day practices that
contribute to this variance.
4
Incarceration creates a host of
collateral consequences that include restricted employment
prospects, housing instability, family disruption, stigma, and
disenfranchisement. These consequences set individuals back
by imposing new punishments after prison. Collateral
consequences are felt disproportionately by people of color,
and because of concentrations of poverty and imprisonment
in certain jurisdictions, it is now the case that entire communities
experience these negative effects.
5
Evidence suggests that some
OVERVIEW
individuals are incarcerated not solely because of their crime,
but because of racially disparate policies, beliefs, and practices,
rendering these collateral consequences all the more troubling.
An unwarranted level of incarceration that worsens racial
disparities is problematic not only for the impacted group, but
for society as whole, weakening the justice system’s potential
and undermining perceptions of justice.
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
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 ve 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.
•
States exhibit substantial variation in the range of racial
disparity, from a black/white ratio of 12.2:1 in New Jersey
to 2.4:1 in Hawaii.
• Latinos are imprisoned at a rate that is 1.4 times the rate of
whites. Hispanic/white ethnic disparities are particularly
high in states such as Massachusetts (4.3:1), Connecticut
(3.9:1), Pennsylvania (3.3:1), and New York (3.1:1).

4 The Sentencing Project
The Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that 35% of state
prisoners are white, 38% are black, and 21% are Hispanic.7 In
twelve states more than half of the prison population is African
American. Though the reliability of data on ethnicity is not as
strong as it is for race estimates, the Hispanic population in state
prisons is as high as 61% in New Mexico and 42% in both
Arizona and California. In an additional seven states, at least
one in ve inmates is Hispanic.
8
While viewing percentages
reveals a degree of disproportion for people of color when
compared to the overall general population (where 62% are
white, 13% are black, and 17% are Hispanic),
9
viewing the
composition of prison populations from this perspective only
tells some of the story. In this report we present the rates of
racial and ethnic disparity, which allow a portrayal of the
overrepresentation of people of color in the prison system
accounting for population in the general community.
10
This
shows odds of imprisonment for individuals in various racial
and ethnic categories.
It is important to note at the outset that, given the absence or
unreliability of ethnicity data in some states, the racial/ethnic
disparities in those states may be understated. Since most
Hispanics in those instances would be counted in the white
prison population, the white rate of incarceration would therefore
appear higher than is the case, and consequently the black/white
and Hispanic/white ratios of disparity would be lower as well.
In four states, data on ethnicity is not reported to the Bureau
of Justice Statistics, nor is it provided in the state department
of corrections’ individual annual reports. These states are
Alabama, Maryland, Montana, and Vermont. There are most
assuredly people in prison in these states who are Hispanic, but
since the state does not record this information, the exact number
is unknown.
Figure 1 provides a national view of the concentration of
prisoners by race and ethnicity as a proportion of their
representation in the state’s overall general population, or the
rate per 100,000 residents. Looking at the average state rates of
incarceration, we see that overall blacks are incarcerated at a rate
of 1,408 per 100,000 while whites are incarcerated at a rate of
275 per 100,000. This means that blacks are incarcerated at a
rate that is 5.1 times that of whites. This national look also
shows that Hispanics are held in state prisons at an average rate
of 378 per 100,000, producing a disparity ratio of 1.4:1 compared
to whites.
OVERALL FINDINGS
Data source: United States Department of Justice. Ofce of Justice
Programs. Bureau of Justice Statistics. National Prisoner Statistics, 1978-
2014. Bibliographic Citation: ICPSR36281-v1. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university
Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2015-10-09; U.S.
Census Bureau (2013). 2013 Population Estimates. Annual estimates of
resident population by sex, race, and Hispanic origin for the United States,
states and counties: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2013. Washington, DC: U.S.
Census Bureau.
Figure 1. Average rate of incarceration by race and
ethnicity, per 100,000 population
WhiteHispanicBlack
1,408
378 275
The following tables present state rates of incarceration according
to their rank. Table 1 shows how racial disparities play out at
the state level. The states with the highest rate of African
American (male and female) incarceration are Oklahoma,
Wisconsin, Vermont, Iowa, and Idaho.

The Color of Justice: Racial and Ethnic Disparity in State Prisons 5
Table 1. Incarceration rates per 100,000 by race, by black
(male and female) incarceration rate
State
White
Black
Hispanic
Oklahoma
580
2625
530
Wisconsin
221
2542
563
Vermont*
225
2357
Not Provided
Iowa
211
2349
361
Idaho
458
2160
619
Arizona
444
2126
842
Oregon
366
2061
395
Montana
316
1985
Not Provided
Colorado
260
1891
587
Texas
457
1844
541
Pennsylvania
204
1810
668
California
201
1767
385
Louisiana
438
1740
34
Kansas
246
1734
301
Michigan
253
1682
93
Nebraska
201
1680
359
Arkansas
443
1665
251
Missouri
404
1654
232
Ohio
289
1625
334
Florida
448
1621
85
Indiana
339
1616
302
Nevada
387
1592
337
Illinois
174
1533
282
South Dakota
309
1493
480
Utah
202
1481
333
Alabama
425
1417
Not Provided
Kentucky
431
1411
183
State Average
275
1408
378
Connecticut*
148
1392
583
Virginia
280
1386
116
New Mexico
208
1326
422
Wyoming
375
1307
495
Washington
224
1272
272
Delaware*
259
1238
220
West Virginia
348
1234
167
Minnesota
111
1219
287
Tennessee
316
1166
180
New Jersey
94
1140
206
Georgia
329
1066
235
Alaska*
278
1053
148
Mississippi*
346
1052
207
New Hampshire
202
1040
398
South Carolina
238
1030
172
North Carolina
221
951
221
Rhode Island*
112
934
280
New York
112
896
351
North Dakota*
170
888
395
Maryland
185
862
Not Provided
Maine*
140
839
104
Massachusetts*
81
605
351
Hawaii*
246
585
75
United States Department of Justice. Ofce of Justice Programs. Bureau of Justice Statistics. National Prisoner Statistics, 1978-2014. Bibliographic
Citation: ICPSR36281-v1. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2015-10-09; U.S. Census Bureau (2013).
2013 Population Estimates. Annual estimates of resident population by sex, race, and Hispanic origin for the United States, states and counties: April 1,
2010 to July 1, 2013. Washington, DC: U.S. Census Bureau.
* = Bureau of Justice statistics data augmented with state annual report data for this state. See Methodology section for additional information.
a = See footnote 13 for more information about Massachusetts.
Table 2. Rate of adult black male
incarceration
State
Rate of Imprisonment
Vermont
1 in 14
Oklahoma
1 in 15
Iowa
1 in 17
Delaware
1 in 18
Connecticut
1 in 19
Arizona
1 in 19
Idaho
1 in 20
Pennsylvania
1 in 20
Louisiana
1 in 20
Wisconsin
1 in 20
Texas
1 in 20
Arkansas
1 in 21
Michigan
1 in 21
Oregon
1 in 21
Missouri
1 in 21
Indiana
1 in 22
Ohio
1 in 22
Florida
1 in 22
Nebraska
1 in 22
California
1 in 22
Rhode Island
1 in 22
Kansas
1 in 23
Colorado
1 in 23
Illinois
1 in 23
Alabama
1 in 25
Nevada
1 in 25
Montana
1 in 26
State Average
1 in 26
Kentucky
1 in 27
Virginia
1 in 27
Alaska
1 in 27
Utah
1 in 28
Minnesota
1 in 28
South Dakota
1 in 30
Tennessee
1 in 30
Mississippi
1 in 30
New Jersey
1 in 31
Georgia
1 in 33
Washington
1 in 34
South Carolina
1 in 34
West Virginia
1 in 36
Maine
1 in 37
New Mexico
1 in 37
North Carolina
1 in 37
Wyoming
1 in 38
New York
1 in 40
Maryland
1 in 41
New Hampshire
1 in 41
North Dakota
1 in 49
Massachusetts
1 in 54
Hawaii
1 in 61

6 The Sentencing Project
24710 +
Figure 2. Black/white incarceration ratios
Breaking down these gures by age and gender reveals dramatic
ndings. In 11 states, at least 1 in 20 adult black males is in
prison (see Table 2). Staggering on its own, these gures do not
even include incarceration in federal prisons or jails, which would
generally increase the number of people by approximately 50%.
In Oklahoma, the state with the highest black incarceration rate,
one in 29 African American adults is in prison, and this reduces
to one in 15 when restricted to black males age 18 and older.
The map presented above (Figure 2 and Appendix Table C)
provides the black/white differential in incarceration rates. Here
we can see that in New Jersey, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, and
Vermont, the rate of black imprisonment is more than 10 times
that for whites. In an additional 11 states, the incarceration for
African Americans is at least seven times the incarceration rate
Data Sources: United States Department of Justice. Ofce of Justice Programs. Bureau of Justice Statistics. National Prisoner Statistics, 1978-2014.
Bibliographic Citation: ICPSR36281-v1. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2015-10-09; U.S. Census
Bureau (2013). 2013 Population Estimates. Annual estimates of resident population by sex, race, and Hispanic origin for the United States, states and
counties: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2013. Washington, DC: U.S. Census Bureau.
of whites. And even in the state with the lowest racial disparity,
Hawaii, the odds of imprisonment for blacks are more than
twice as high as for whites.

The Color of Justice: Racial and Ethnic Disparity in State Prisons 7
0 1 2 3+
Figure 3. Hispanic/white incarceration ratios
Data Sources: United States Department of Justice. Ofce of Justice Programs. Bureau of Justice Statistics. National Prisoner Statistics, 1978-2014.
Bibliographic Citation: ICPSR36281-v1. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2015-10-09; U.S. Census
Bureau (2013). 2013 Population Estimates. Annual estimates of resident population by sex, race, and Hispanic origin for the United States, states and
counties: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2013. Washington, DC: U.S. Census Bureau.
= Data was not provided.
The map above (Figure 3 and Appendix Table D) shows the
rate of Hispanic imprisonment in relation to the rate of white
imprisonment, or the disparity ratio. The disparity between
Hispanics and whites in Massachusetts tops the nation, with a
ratio of 4.3:1. Following Massachusetts are Connecticut (3.9:1),
Pennsylvania (3.3:1), and New York (3.1:1).
Appendix Table E shows that the rate of incarceration is highest
in Arizona, where 842 per 100,000 Hispanic individuals are in
prison. The next highest rate of Hispanic imprisonment is in
Pennsylvania (668), followed by Idaho (619), Colorado (587),
and Connecticut (583).

8 The Sentencing Project
The particular drivers of disparity may be related to policy,
offending, implicit bias, or some combination. Regardless of
the causes, however, the simple fact of these disparities should
be disturbing given the consequences for individuals and
communities. One has to wonder whether there would have
been more of an urgency to understand and remedy the disparity
directly had the ratios been reversed. While chronic racial and
ethnic disparity in imprisonment has been a known feature of
the prison system for many decades,11 there has been relatively
little serious consideration of adjustments that can be made—
inside or outside the justice system—toward changing this
pattern.
Racial disparities in incarceration can arise from a variety of
circumstances. These might include a high rate of black
incarceration, a low rate of white incarceration, or varying
combinations. We note that the states with the highest ratio of
disparity in imprisonment are generally those in the northeast
or upper Midwest, while Southern states tend to have lower
ratios. The low Southern ratios are generally produced as a result
of high rates of incarceration for all racial groups. For example,
Arkansas and Florida both have a black/white ratio of
imprisonment considerably below the national average of 5.1:1
(3.8:1 and 3.6:1, respectively). Yet both states incarcerate African
Americans at higher than average rates, 18% higher in Arkansas
and 15% higher in Florida. But these rates are somewhat offset
by the particularly high white rates, 61% higher than the national
average in Arkansas and 63% higher in Florida.
Conversely, in the states with the highest degree of disparity,
this is often produced by a higher than average black rate, but
a relatively low white rate.12 As seen in Table 3 below, seven of
the ten states with the greatest racial disparity also have high
black incarceration rates, while all have lower than average white
rates. In New Jersey, for example, blacks are incarcerated at a
rate twelve times higher than whites even though the black
incarceration rate is 24% below the national average. This comes
about through its particularly low incarceration of whites: 94
per 100,000, or one-third of the national average (275).
THE SCALE OF DISPARITY
Table 3. States with the highest black/white
differential
State White Incarceration
Rate
Black Incarceration
Rate
B/W
New Jersey
94
1140
12.2
Wisconsin
221
2542
11.5
Iowa
211
2349
11.1
Minnesota
111
1219
11.0
Vermont*
225
2357
10.5
Connecticut*
148
1392
9.4
Pennsylvania
204
1810
8.9
Illinois
174
1533
8.8
California
201
1767
8.8
Nebraska
201
1680
8.4
State Average
275
1408
5.1
Data Sources: United States Department of Justice. Ofce of Justice
Programs. Bureau of Justice Statistics. National Prisoner Statistics, 1978-
2014. Bibliographic Citation: ICPSR36281-v1. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university
Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2015-10-09; U.S.
Census Bureau (2013). 2013 Population Estimates. Annual estimates of
resident population by sex, race, and Hispanic origin for the United States,
states and counties: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2013. Washington, DC: U.S.
Census Bureau.
* = Bureau of Justice statistics data augmented with state annual report
data for this state. See Methodology section for additional information.
The scale of racial disparity in incarceration can also be seen by
comparing states that have lower than average black incarceration
rates to those with higher than average white incarceration rates.
Here we nd that the states with the highest white incarceration
rates (Oklahoma, Idaho, Texas, Florida, and Arizona) fall below
the states with the lowest black rates (Hawaii, Massachusetts,13
Maine, Maryland, and North Dakota).

The Color of Justice: Racial and Ethnic Disparity in State Prisons 9
Persistent racial disparities have long been a focus in criminological
research and the presence of disparities is not disputed.14
Proposed explanations for disparities range from variations in
offending based on race to biased decisionmaking in the criminal
justice system, and also include a range of individual level factors
such as poverty, education outcomes, unemployment history,
and criminal history.
15
Research in this area nds a smaller amount
of unwarranted disparity for serious crimes like homicide than
for less serious crimes, especially drug crimes.
Alfred Blumstein’s work in this area examined racial differences
in arrests and, after comparing these to prison demographics,
determined that approximately 80% of prison disparity among
state prisoners in 1979 was explained by differential offending
by race, leaving 20% unexplained. He noted that if there was
no discrimination after arrest, the racial makeup of prisoners
should approximate the population of arrestees. The greatest
amount of unexplained disparity was found among drug offenses:
nearly half of the racial disparity for prison among those
convicted of drug crimes could not be explained by arrest. In
a follow-up study, Blumstein found that the proportion of racial
disparities found in prisons explained by arrests in 1991 had
declined to 76%.
16
Subsequent studies have replicated this work
with more recent data and found even higher amounts of
unexplained disparities, particularly in the category of drug
arrests.17
One issue raised by Blumstein’s approach is that the use of arrest
records as a reection of criminal involvement may be more
accurate for serious offenses than less serious offenses. For less
serious crimes, authorities may exercise greater discretion at the
point of arrest.
18
Cassia Spohn’s research on sentencing reasons
that for less serious crimes, judges might depart from the
constraints of the law, allowing other factors to enter into their
judgment. These factors might include forms of racial bias
related to perceived racial threat.
19
Despite the possibility of
failing to account for all variance, research that relies on incident
reporting (i.e., self-report data rather than police data) to
circumvent these potential problems also reveals unexplained
racial disparities. Patrick Langan’s work, for example, estimated
DRIVERS OF DISPARITY
unexplained disparity to be in the range of 15-16%, and though
this is a smaller amount of unexplained variance (compared to
that found by Blumstein, for example) it is likely due to the fact
that his analysis did not include drug offenses.20
Analyses of more recent data all come to similar conclusions:
a sizable proportion of racial disparities in prison cannot be
explained by criminal offending.21 Some analyses have focused
on single states22 while others have looked at all states individually
to note the range of disparity.23 Studies that examine regional
differences within states are also revealing. Researchers Gaylen
Armstrong and Nancy Rodriguez, whose work centers on county-
level differences in juvenile justice outcomes found that it is not
solely individual-level characteristics that inuence outcomes,
but the composition of the community where the juvenile resides
that makes a difference as well. Specically, they conclude that
“juvenile delinquents who live within areas that have high
minority populations (more heterogeneous) will more often be
detained, regardless of their individual race or ethnicity.”24 And
nally, studies seeking to better understand the processes between
arrest and imprisonment, particularly at the stage of sentencing,
have been pursued in order to better understand the unexplained
disparities in state prisons.25
CAUSES OF DISPARITY
The data in this report document pervasive racial disparities in
state imprisonment, and make clear that despite greater awareness
among the public of mass incarceration and some modest
successes at decarceration, racial and ethnic disparities are still
a substantial feature of our prison system.
Three recurrent explanations for racial disparities emerge from
dozens of studies on the topic: policies and practices that drive
disparity; the role of implicit bias and stereotypes in
decisionmaking; and, structural disadvantages in communities
of color which are associated with high rates of offending and
arrest.

10 The Sentencing Project
Policies and Practices
The criminal justice system is held together by policies and
practices, both formal and informal, which inuence the degree
to which an individual penetrates the system. At multiple points
in the system, race may play a role. Disparities mount as
individuals progress through the system, from the initial point
of arrest to the nal point of imprisonment.
26
Harsh punishment
policies adopted in recent decades, some of which were put into
effect even after the crime decline began, are the main cause of
the historic rise in imprisonment that has occurred over the past
40 years.27
The rise in incarceration that has come to be known as mass
imprisonment began in 1973 and can be attributed to three
major eras of policymaking, all of which had a disparate impact
on people of color, especially African Americans. Until 1986, a
series of policies was enacted to expand the use of imprisonment
for a variety of felonies. After this point, the focus moved to
greater levels of imprisonment for drug and sex offenses. There
was a particularly sharp growth in state imprisonment for drug
offenses between 1987 and 1991. In the nal stage, beginning
around 1995, the emphasis was on increasing both prison
likelihood and signicantly lengthening prison sentences.28
Harsh drug laws are clearly an important factor in the persistent
racial and ethnic disparities observed in state prisons. For drug
crimes disparities are especially severe, due largely to the fact
that blacks are nearly four times as likely as whites to be arrested
for drug offenses and 2.5 times as likely to be arrested for drug
possession.
29
This is despite the evidence that whites and blacks
use drugs at roughly the same rate. From 1995 to 2005, African
Americans comprised approximately 13 percent of drug users
but 36% of drug arrests and 46% of those convicted for drug
offenses.30
Disparities are evident at the initial point of contact with police,
especially through policies that target specic areas and/or
people. A popular example of this is “stop, question, and frisk.”
Broad discretion allowed to law enforcement can aggravate
disparities. Though police stops alone are unlikely to result in a
conviction that would lead to a prison sentence, the presence
of a criminal record is associated with the decision to incarcerate
for subsequent offenses, a sequence of events that disadvantages
African Americans. Jeffrey Fagan’s work in this area found that
police ofcers’ selection of who to stop in New York City’s
high-prole policing program was dictated more by racial
composition of the neighborhood than by actual crime in the
area.31 The process of stopping, questioning and frisking
individuals based on little more than suspicion (or on nebulous
terms such as “furtive behavior,” which were the justication
for many stops) has led to unnecessary criminal records for
thousands. New York’s policy was ruled unconstitutional in 2013
with a court ruling in Floyd v. City of New York.
Other stages of the system contribute to the racial composition
of state prisons as well. Factors such as pre-trial detention—more
likely to be imposed on black defendants because of income
inequality—contributes to disparities because those who are
detained pre-trial are more likely to be convicted and sentenced
to longer prison terms.32 Cassia Spohn’s analysis of 40 states’
sentencing processes nds that, though crime seriousness and
prior record are key determinants at sentencing, the non-legal
factors of race and ethnicity also inuence sentencing decisions.
She notes that “black and Hispanic offenders—particularly those
who are young, male, and unemployed—are more likely than
their white counterparts to be sentenced to prison than similarly
situated white offenders. Other categories of racial minorities—
those convicted of drug offenses, those who victimize whites,
those who accumulate more serious prior criminal records, or
those who refuse to plead guilty or are unable to secure pretrial
release—also may be singled out for more punitive treatment.”
33
Still other research nds that prosecutorial charging decisions
play out unequally when viewed by race, placing blacks at a
disadvantage to whites. Prosecutors are more likely to charge
black defendants under state habitual offender laws than similarly
situated white defendants.34 Researchers in Florida found
evidence for this relationship, and also observed that the
relationship between race and use of the state habitual offender
law was stronger for less serious crimes than it was for more
serious crimes.35 California’s three strikes law has been accused
of widening disparities because of the greater likelihood of
prior convictions for African Americans.
Implicit Bias
The role of perceptions about people of different races or
ethnicities is also inuential in criminal justice outcomes. An
abundance of research nds that beliefs about dangerousness
and threats to public safety overlap with individual perceptions
about people of color. There is evidence that racial prejudice
exerts a large, negative impact on punishment preferences among
whites but much less so for blacks.36 Other research nds that
assumptions by key decision makers in the justice system
inuence outcomes in a biased manner. In research on presentence
reports, for example, scholars have found that people of color
are frequently given harsher sanctions because they are perceived
as imposing a greater threat to public safety and are therefore
deserving of greater social control and punishment.
37
And

The Color of Justice: Racial and Ethnic Disparity in State Prisons 11
survey data has found that, regardless of respondents’ race,
respondents associated African Americans with terms such as
“dangerous,” “aggressive,” “violent,” and “criminal.”38
Media portrayals about crime have a tendency to distort crime
by disproportionately focusing on news stories to those involving
serious crimes and those committed by people of color, especially
black-on-white violent crime.
39
Since three-quarters of the
public say that they form their opinions about crime from the
news,
40
this misrepresentation feeds directly into the public’s
crime policy preferences.
Reforms to media reporting that more carefully and accurately
represent the true incidence of specic crimes and their
perpetrators, and victims, would change perceptions about crime,
but in themselves would not necessarily impact how these
perceptions translate into policy preferences. A 2013 study by
Stanford University scholars found that public awareness of
racial disparities in prisons actually increases support for harsher
punishments.41 Using an experimental research design, researchers
exposed subjects to facts about racial compositions. When
prisons were described as “more black,” respondents were more
supportive of harsh crime policies that contribute to those
disparities. On the other hand, some nd that when individuals—
practitioners in particular—are made consciously aware of their
bias through implicit bias training, diversication of the
workforce, and education on the important differences between
implicit and explicit bias, this can mitigate or even erase the
actions they would otherwise take based on unexplored
assumptions.42
Structural Disadvantage
A third explanation for persistent racial disparities in state prisons
lies in the structural disadvantages that impact people of color
long before they encounter the criminal justice system. In this
view, disparities observed in imprisonment are partially a function
of disproportionate social factors in African American
communities that are associated with poverty, employment,
housing, and family differences.
43
Other factors, not simply race,
account for differences in crime across place. Criminologists
Ruth Peterson and Lauren Krivo note that African Americans
comprise a disproportionate share of those living in poverty-
stricken neighborhoods and communities where a range of
socio-economic vulnerabilities contribute to higher rates of
crime, particularly violent crime.44 In fact, 62% of African
Americans reside in highly segregated, inner city neighborhoods
that experience a high degree of violent crime, while the majority
of whites live in “highly advantaged” neighborhoods that
experience little violent crime.
45
Their work builds on earlier
research focused on the harms done to the African American
community by disparate living environments, and extends this
knowledge to evidence that this actually produces social problems
including crime.
The impact of structural disadvantage begins early in life. When
looking at juvenile crime, it is not necessarily the case that youth
of color have a greater tendency to engage in delinquency, but
that the uneven playing eld from the start, a part of larger
American society, creates inequalities which are related to who
goes on to commit crime and who is equipped to desist from
crime.46 More specically, as a result of structural differences
by race and class, youth of color are more likely to experience
unstable family systems, exposure to family and/or community
violence, elevated rates of unemployment, and more school
dropout.47 All of these factors are more likely to exist in
communities of color and play a role in one’s proclivity toward
crime.

12 The Sentencing Project
Even though the pace of reform is relatively modest in addressing
the scale of mass incarceration and the enduring racial and
ethnic disparities, reforms being pursued in the states are
encouraging. New Jersey provides an example of this potential.
Despite its high ranking in disparity among sentenced prisoners,
New Jersey has recently pursued a range of reforms that could
lessen this disparity and accelerate progress. Like most states,
New Jersey experienced a steady rise in incarceration from the
1970s through the 1990s. Since 2000, however, the state has
reduced its prison population by 28%.48
Drug laws with disparate racial effects have been in place for
many years in New Jersey, but in 2010 the legislature passed
reforms through Assembly Bill 2762 to modify sentencing laws
associated with drug-free school zone laws, reinstating judicial
discretion. Passage of the law followed years of advocacy to
implement change based on a report released by the Commission
to Review Criminal Sentencing, which identied staggering racial
disparities attributable to the state’s drug free school zone law.
49
New Jersey has also adopted substantial reforms to its parole
system, which at one point included a backlog of parole hearings
for 5,800 prisoners. As a result of the parole commissioner’s
modication of the parole process, the number of parole grants
increased from 3,099 in 1999 to 10,897 in 2001.50
Table 4. Change in prison population and
composition, New Jersey 2000-2014
Year Prison Total White Black Hispanic
2000 29,784 5,665 (19%) 18,716 (63%) 5,279 (18%)
2014 21,590 4,750 (22%) 13,170 (61%) 3,454 (16%)
Change -28% -16% -30% -35%
Table 4 shows that the prison decarceration reforms in New
Jersey so far appear to have had the greatest impact on people
of color. The overall depopulation of New Jersey prisons has
included a 30% reduction in African American prisoners, a 35%
reduction in Hispanic prisoners, and a 16% reduction in white
prisoners. With more time and continued focus on reforms, the
racial disparities may continue to improve.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR REFORM
While remedies such as these will advance reforms to some
extent, even reducing staggering racial and ethnic disparities,
lawmakers and practitioners must also address the unevenness
more directly. A few suggestions in this regard follow.
Most now agree that the war on drugs was not an effective
approach to either addressing crime or addressing drug addiction,
and that its policies worsened racial disparities in incarceration.
Yet, many laws are still in effect at both the state and federal
levels that sentence individuals to lengthy prison terms for drug
offenses when alternatives to incarceration would be more
suitable. Reforms should be enacted that scale back the use of
prison for low-level drug crimes and instead redirect resources
to prevention and drug intervention programming.
A host of mandatory minimum sentences and truth in sentencing
provisions are still in place in most states. These remove judicial
discretion from the sentencing process and tie up limited
corrections resources by incarcerating those who may no longer
be a threat to public safety. The states and federal government
should revisit and revise mandatory minimum sentences and
other determinate sentencing systems that deny an individualized
approach.
A third reform is to scale back punishments for serious crimes,
especially those that trigger long sentences for repeat offenders.
While public safety is always a priority, imposing excessively
long prison sentences for serious crime has been shown to have
diminishing returns on public safety.
51
Furthermore, these policies
have had a disproportionate impact on people of color, especially
African Americans, because they are more likely to have a prior
record, either because of more frequent engagement in crime
or because of more frequent engagement with law enforcement.52
Habitual offender policies are also problematic because of the
documented ways in which they are favored for prosecutorial
charging decisions.
As described above, prosecutors are more likely to charge African
Americans under habitual offender laws compared to whites
with similar offense histories. The impact is that African
Americans are not only more likely to go to prison but are more

The Color of Justice: Racial and Ethnic Disparity in State Prisons 13
likely to receive longer sentences.53 Today one in nine people in
prison is serving a life sentence while many other countries’ use
of life sentences is quite rare. Nearly half of lifers are black and
one in six is Hispanic.
Fourth, adequate and regular training on the role of implicit,
unchecked bias by key decisionmakers in the criminal justice
system is a necessary step in reducing its impact. While open
expression of negative views about people of color, as well as
overt discrimination, has declined signicantly in many areas of
American society (largely attributable to successful civil rights
laws and campaigns), some convincingly argue that this overt
discrimination, especially against African Americans, has
transformed into implicit bias, but with similar disparate results.
54
Evidence suggests that when professionals are faced with a need
to triage cases—a regular occurrence for law enforcement and
defense counsel, for instance—implicit bias likely comes into
play in deciding which cases to take as a sort of mental shorthand
used to draw quick conclusions about people and their criminal
tendencies.55
To offset this, implicit bias trainings can make people aware of
these temptations, and this awareness can minimize racially
inuenced trigger responses in the future.56 Additionally, instilling
in practitioners a motivation to be fair and impartial can inuence
implicit bias, as could be accomplished through professional
trainings on the topic of implicit social cognitions. Self-report
data from California judges before and after they received a
training on implicit bias, along with a three-month follow up
survey to ascertain behavior modication that occurred as a
result of the training, showed modest evidence of a positive
effect on reducing implicit bias through trainings.57 Similar
trainings can be provided to prospective and chosen jurors, who
are also vulnerable to implicit bias.58
Finally, several states are pursuing racial impact legislation, an
idea that rst became law in the state of Iowa in 2008. To date,
Connecticut and Oregon have also passed racial impact laws
and several additional states have introduced similar legislation.
The idea behind racial impact laws is to consider the outcome
of changes in the criminal code before passing laws in order to
provide an opportunity for policymakers to consider alternative
approaches that do not exacerbate disparities. Similar to scal
impact statements or environmental impact statements, racial
impact statements forecast the effect of bills on people of
different races and ethnicities. There is a cost, both nancial
and moral, to maintaining racial and ethnic disparities.

14 The Sentencing Project
Criminal justice reform has become a regular component of
mainstream domestic policy discussions over the last several
years. States grappling with budget constraints are successfully
experimenting with diversion approaches that can reduce prison
populations without harms to public safety. Allies have come
together from both conservative and progressive campaigns to
move policies forward that will ease bloated prison populations
and reconsider punishments for low-level nonviolent offenses.
It is difcult to miss the fact that the U.S. is experiencing a unique
moment with the potential for a true turnaround of our system
of mass incarceration. How long that moment will last is not
known.
There is a growing recognition among policymakers that the
system of mass incarceration now rmly in place has not been
an effective remedy for crime and is not sustainable. Some
jurisdictions have pursued reforms that include scaling back
stop and frisk practices by law enforcement and enacting
legislative changes that shift certain offenses from felonies to
misdemeanors.59 These may reduce overall incarceration rates
with the prospect of greater impact on racial and ethnic minorities
as well.
At the same time, many states exhibit astounding rates of racial
and ethnic disparity: Nationally, African Americans are
incarcerated in state prisons at ve times the rate of whites. This
report also shows that racial disparities vary broadly across the
states, as high as 12.2:1, but even in Hawaii— the state with the
lowest black/white disparity—African Americans are imprisoned
more than two times the rate of whites.
When viewed over time it is evident that the racial dynamics of
incarceration have improved, particularly when viewed through
the lens of gender: between 2000 and 2009, imprisonment rates
for black females dropped 31 percent from 205 per 100,000 to
142 per 100,000. The ratio of black/white imprisonment among
women declined from 6.0:1 to 2.8:1 over this period. Yet part
of this decline is explained through the higher rates of
incarceration for white women. Between 2000 and 2009
incarceration for white women rose 47%, from 34 per 100,000
to 50 per 100,000.60
CONCLUSION
Despite the positive developments in justice reform efforts
described above, there is not enough attention to the chronic
racial disparities that pervade state prisons, and without this
acknowledgment the United States is unlikely to experience the
serious, sustainable reforms that are needed to dismantle the
current system of mass incarceration. Overall, the pace of
criminal justice reform has been too slow as well as too modest
in its goals. Accelerated reforms that deliberately incorporate
the goal of racial justice will lead to a system that is both much
smaller and more fair.
METHODOLOGY
This report relies primarily on two major sources of ofcial
data. The rst is the U.S. Census, which counts the nation’s
residents every ten years and provides estimates based on
projections for years between its ofcial counts. The data in the
report comes from 2013 “American Fact Finder” estimates based
on the 2010 Census. The second source of data used to generate
the ndings in this report is the U.S Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Each year, it publishes results from its National Prisoner Statistics
(NPS) survey of the state departments of corrections. The data
used to generate the National Prisoners Series, most recently
Prisoners in 2014¸ are housed on the National Criminal Justice
Archive’s Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social
Research. Data on race and ethnicity of prisoners sentenced to
at least one year in prison (NPS survey question: “On December
31, how many inmates under your jurisdiction -- a. Had a total maximum
sentence of more than 1 year [Include inmates with consecutive sentences
that add to more than 1 year]). The Prisoners in 2014 publication
reports state totals in Table 4. Additionally, each state provides
to BJS the demographic composition of its prison population,
though this is not typically reported in the National Prisoners
Series. In the following states, data on race and ethnicity provided
directly from state departments of corrections were used to
augment the BJS data: Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii,
Maine, Massachusetts, Mississippi, North Dakota, Rhode Island,
and Vermont.61

The Color of Justice: Racial and Ethnic Disparity in State Prisons 15
The rates of incarceration for racial and ethnic groups were
calculated by dividing the total number of individuals in prison
of a given race or ethnicity (Non-Hispanic whites, Non-Hispanic
blacks, or Hispanic) by the total number of individuals in the
population of that race or ethnicity and multiplying this gure
by 100,000. To arrive at the state averages shown in Tables 1-3
and Appendix Tables C-E, the total number of prisoners across
all states, disaggregated by race or ethnicity, was divided by the
total number of individuals in the population of the same race
or ethnicity, and then multiplied by 100,000. Because the District
of Columbia does not have a prison system (DC prisoners are
held in federal prisons), data from this jurisdiction were not
included in these calculations.

16 The Sentencing Project
APPENDIX
Table A. State imprisonment 2014, by percent black
in prison
State
Prison
% Black in Prison
% Black in Population
Maryland
20,733
72.0%
29.2%
Louisiana
38,022
67.8%
32.0%
Mississippi*
17,876
65.3%
37.1%
South Carolina
20,830
64.7%
27.4%
Georgia
52,485
62.0%
30.5%
New Jersey
21,590
60.5%
12.9%
Alabama
30,766
58.5%
26.3%
Delaware*
4,141
58.4%
21.1%
Illinois
48,278
58.0%
14.2%
Virginia
37,544
58.0%
19.0%
North Carolina
35,769
55.9%
21.3%
Michigan
43,359
53.6%
14.0%
New York
52,399
48.9%
14.6%
Pennsylvania
50,423
48.7%
10.6%
Florida
102,870
47.7%
15.5%
Ohio
51,519
44.6%
12.2%
Tennessee
28,769
44.1%
16.8%
Wisconsin
21,404
42.7%
6.3%
Arkansas
17,819
42.5%
15.4%
Connecticut*
11,735
41.6%
9.7%
Missouri
31,938
36.2%
11.6%
Texas
158,589
35.9%
11.7%
Minnesota
10,637
34.1%
5.5%
Indiana
29,261
33.3%
9.2%
Kansas
9,365
31.4%
5.9%
Nevada
12,415
29.0%
8.1%
Rhode Island*
1,880
28.9%
5.5%
California
136,088
28.6%
5.7%
Massachusetts*
9,486
28.3%
6.6%
Oklahoma
27,261
27.3%
7.4%
Nebraska
5,347
26.9%
4.6%
Iowa
8,798
25.8%
3.1%
Kentucky
20,969
23.5%
8.0%
Colorado
20,646
18.7%
3.9%
Washington
18,052
17.9%
3.6%
Arizona
40,175
14.0%
4.0%
West Virginia
6,881
11.7%
3.5%
Vermont*
1,508
10.7%
1.1%
Alaska*
2,754
9.9%
3.5%
Oregon
15,060
9.4%
1.8%
New Mexico
6,860
7.3%
1.8%
Maine*
2,030
7.1%
1.3%
North Dakota*
1,603
6.9%
1.7%
Utah
7,024
6.3%
1.0%
South Dakota
3,605
6.2%
1.8%
New Hampshire
2,915
5.9%
1.2%
Wyoming
2,383
5.0%
1.6%
Hawaii*
3,663
4.7%
2.1%
Montana
3,699
2.9%
0.5%
Idaho
8,039
2.8%
0.7%
Table B. State imprisonment 2014, by percent Hispanic
in prison
State
Prison
% Hispanic in Prison
% Hispanic in Population
New Mexico
6,860
60.6%
47.3%
Arizona
40,175
42.0%
30.3%
California
136,088
41.6%
38.4%
Texas
158,589
34.7%
38.4%
Colorado
20,646
31.5%
21.0%
Connecticut*
11,735
26.2%
14.7%
Massachusetts*
9,486
26.0%
10.5%
New York
52,399
24.2%
18.4%
Rhode Island*
1,880
21.3%
13.6%
Nevada
12,415
20.8%
27.5%
Utah
7,024
18.4%
13.4%
New Jersey
21,590
16.1%
18.9%
Idaho
8,039
14.6%
11.8%
Oregon
15,060
12.7%
12.3%
Washington
18,052
12.5%
11.9%
Nebraska
5,347
12.4%
9.9%
Illinois
48,278
12.4%
16.5%
Wyoming
2,383
11.7%
9.7%
Pennsylvania
50,423
10.7%
6.3%
Kansas
9,365
10.4%
11.2%
Wisconsin
21,404
9.6%
6.3%
Minnesota
10,637
7.3%
5.0%
Oklahoma
27,261
7.2%
9.6%
Iowa
8,798
6.9%
5.5%
New Hampshire
2,915
5.7%
3.2%
North Carolina
35,769
5.4%
8.9%
North Dakota*
1,603
5.1%
2.9%
Indiana
29,261
4.4%
6.4%
Delaware*
4,141
4.3%
8.7%
Georgia
52,485
4.1%
9.2%
South Dakota
3,605
3.8%
3.4%
Florida
102,870
3.8%
23.6%
Arkansas
17,819
2.9%
6.9%
Hawaii*
3,663
2.8%
9.8%
Alaska*
2,754
2.6%
6.6%
Ohio
51,519
2.5%
3.4%
Virginia
37,544
2.2%
8.6%
South Carolina
20,830
2.1%
5.3%
Tennessee
28,769
2.0%
4.9%
Missouri
31,938
1.7%
3.9%
Kentucky
20,969
1.3%
3.3%
Mississippi*
17,876
1.0%
2.9%
Michigan
43,359
1.0%
4.7%
Maine*
2,030
1.0%
1.4%
West Virginia
6,881
0.6%
1.4%
Louisiana
38,022
0.2%
4.7%
Alabama
30,766
Not Provided
4.1%
Maryland
20,733
Not Provided
9.0%
Montana
3,699
Not Provided
3.3%
Vermont*
1,508
Not Provided
1.7%

The Color of Justice: Racial and Ethnic Disparity in State Prisons 17
Table C. Black/white incarceration ratios, by racial
disparity
State
White
Black
B/W
New Jersey
94
1140
12.2
Wisconsin
221
2542
11.5
Iowa
211
2349
11.1
Minnesota
111
1219
11.0
Vermont*
225
2357
10.5
Connecticut*
148
1392
9.4
Pennsylvania
204
1810
8.9
Illinois
174
1533
8.8
California
201
1767
8.8
Nebraska
201
1680
8.4
Rhode Island*
112
934
8.3
New York
112
896
8.0
Massachusetts*
81
605
7.5
Utah
202
1481
7.3
Colorado
260
1891
7.3
Kansas
246
1734
7.0
Michigan
253
1682
6.6
New Mexico
208
1326
6.4
Montana
316
1985
6.3
Maine*
140
839
6.0
Washington
224
1272
5.7
Oregon
366
2061
5.6
Ohio
289
1625
5.6
North Dakota*
170
888
5.2
New Hampshire
202
1040
5.2
State Average
275
1408
5.1
Virginia
280
1386
5.0
South Dakota
309
1493
4.8
Arizona
444
2126
4.8
Delaware*
259
1238
4.8
Indiana
339
1616
4.8
Idaho
458
2160
4.7
Maryland
185
862
4.7
Oklahoma
580
2625
4.5
South Carolina
238
1030
4.3
North Carolina
221
951
4.3
Nevada
387
1592
4.1
Missouri
404
1654
4.1
Texas
457
1844
4.0
Louisiana
438
1740
4.0
Alaska*
278
1053
3.8
Arkansas
443
1665
3.8
Tennessee
316
1166
3.7
Florida
448
1621
3.6
West Virginia
348
1234
3.5
Wyoming
375
1307
3.5
Alabama
425
1417
3.3
Kentucky
431
1411
3.3
Georgia
329
1066
3.2
Mississippi*
346
1052
3.0
Hawaii*
246
585
2.4
Table D. Hispanic/white incarceration ratios, by
ethnic disparity
State
White Rate
Hispanic Rate
H/W
Massachusetts*
81
351
4.3
Connecticut*
148
583
3.9
Pennsylvania
204
668
3.3
New York
112
351
3.1
Minnesota
111
287
2.6
Wisconsin
221
563
2.6
Rhode Island*
112
280
2.5
North Dakota*
170
395
2.3
Colorado
260
587
2.3
New Jersey
94
206
2.2
New Mexico
208
422
2.0
New Hampshire
202
398
2.0
California
201
385
1.9
Arizona
444
842
1.9
Nebraska
201
359
1.8
Iowa
211
361
1.7
Utah
202
333
1.6
Illinois
174
282
1.6
South Dakota
309
480
1.6
Idaho
458
619
1.4
State Average
275
378
1.4
Wyoming
375
495
1.3
Kansas
246
301
1.2
Washington
224
272
1.2
Texas
457
541
1.2
Ohio
289
334
1.2
Oregon
366
395
1.1
North Carolina
221
221
1.0
Oklahoma
580
530
0.9
Indiana
339
302
0.9
Nevada
387
337
0.9
Delaware*
259
220
0.9
Maine*
140
104
0.7
South Carolina
238
172
0.7
Georgia
329
235
0.7
Mississippi*
346
207
0.6
Missouri
404
232
0.6
Tennessee
316
180
0.6
Arkansas
443
251
0.6
Alaska*
278
148
0.5
West Virginia
348
167
0.5
Kentucky
431
183
0.4
Virginia
280
116
0.4
Michigan
253
93
0.4
Hawaii*
246
75
0.3
Florida
448
85
0.2
Louisiana
438
34
0.1
Alabama
425
Not Provided
NA
Maryland
185
Not Provided
NA
Montana
316
Not Provided
NA
Vermont*
225
Not Provided
NA

18 The Sentencing Project
Table E. Incarceration rates, by Hispanic
incarceration rate
State
White
Black
Hispanic
Arizona
444
2126
842
Pennsylvania
204
1810
668
Idaho
458
2160
619
Colorado
260
1891
587
Connecticut*
148
1392
583
Wisconsin
221
2542
563
Texas
457
1844
541
Oklahoma
580
2625
530
Wyoming
375
1307
495
South Dakota
309
1493
480
New Mexico
208
1326
422
New Hampshire
202
1040
398
Oregon
366
2061
395
North Dakota*
170
888
395
California
201
1767
385
State Average
275
1408
378
Iowa
211
2349
361
Nebraska
201
1680
359
New York
112
896
351
Massachusetts*
81
605
351
Nevada
387
1592
337
Ohio
289
1625
334
Utah
202
1481
333
Indiana
339
1616
302
Kansas
246
1734
301
Minnesota
111
1219
287
Illinois
174
1533
282
Rhode Island*
112
934
280
Washington
224
1272
272
Arkansas
443
1665
251
Georgia
329
1066
235
Mississippi*
346
1052
232
North Carolina
221
951
221
Delaware*
259
1238
220
Missouri
404
1654
207
New Jersey
94
1140
206
Kentucky
431
1411
183
Tennessee
316
1166
180
South Carolina
238
1030
172
West Virginia
348
1234
167
Alaska*
278
1053
148
Virginia
280
1386
116
Maine*
140
839
104
Michigan
253
1682
93
Florida
448
1621
85
Hawaii*
246
585
75
Louisiana
438
1740
34
Alabama
425
1417
Not Provided
Maryland
185
862
Not Provided
Montana
316
1985
Not Provided
Vermont*
225
2357
Not Provided
Data sources for Appendix Tables A-E: United States Department of
Justice. Ofce of Justice Programs. Bureau of Justice Statistics. National
Prisoner Statistics, 1978-2014. Bibliographic Citation: ICPSR36281-v1. Ann
Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research
[distributor], 2015-10-09; U.S. Census Bureau (2013). 2013 Population
Estimates. Annual estimates of resident population by sex, race, and
Hispanic origin for the United States, states and counties: April 1, 2010 to
July 1, 2013. Washington, DC: U.S. Census Bureau.
* = Bureau of Justice statistics data augmented with state annual report
data for this state. See Methodology section for additional information.

The Color of Justice: Racial and Ethnic Disparity in State Prisons 19
ENDNOTES
1 The Sentencing Project (2016). U.S. prison population
trends, 1999-2014: Broad variation among states. Washing-
ton, DC: The Sentencing Project.
2 Among countries with a population of at least 100,000
residents.
3 Carson, E. A. (2015). Prisoners in 2014. Washington, DC:
Bureau of Justice Statistics.
4 Neill, K. A., Yusuf, J., & Morris, J.C. (2014). Explaining
dimensions of state-level punitiveness in the United
States: The roles of social, economic, and cultural
factors. Criminal Justice Policy Review 26(2):751-772.
5 Clear, T., Rose, D., & Ryder, J. (2001). Incarceration and
the community: The problem of removing and returning
offenders. Crime and Delinquency 47(3): 335-351; Lynch, J.
& Sabol, W. (2001). Prisoner reentry in perspective (Vol.
3, Crime Policy Report). Washington, DC: Urban Institute;
National Research Council (2014). The growth of incarcer-
ation in the United States: exploring causes and conse-
quences. Washington, DC: The National Academies
Press.
6 This report limits the presentation of data to these three
categories because white, blacks, and Hispanics com-
bined the vast majority of prisoners.
7 Carson, E. A. (2015). Prisoners in 2014. Washington, DC:
Bureau of Justice Statistics. Six percent of prisoners are
composed of racial groups that fall under the category
of “other.”
8 Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Nevada, New
York, Nevada, and Texas.
9 U.S. Census (2015). Quick facts: United States. Available
online: https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/
PST045215/00
10 Though this report focuses on rates of disparity, it is still
informative to view the composition of prisons as
percentages. We have provided two tables that contain
this information in Appendix A, Tables 1 & 2.
11 National Research Council (2014). The growth of incarcer-
ation in the United States: Exploring causes and conse-
quences. Washington, DC: The National Academies
Press.
12 This observation is documented elsewhere as well. See,
for example, Blumstein, A. (1993). Racial disproportional-
ity revisited. University of Colorado Law Review, 64:
743-760; Mauer, M. (1997). Intended and unintended
consequences: State racial disparities imprisonment.
Washington, DC: The Sentencing Project; Bridges, G. &
Crutcheld, R.D. (1982). Law, social standing and racial
disparities in imprisonment, Social Forces, 66(3): 699-724.
13 Data from Massachusetts in this report should be
interpreted with caution. The system of incarceration in
Massachusetts is somewhat unique in that this state
uses county-level houses of corrections to hold some
inmates who have been convicted of felonies and
sentenced up to 2.5 years. The population of prisoners in
houses of corrections is approximately 5,400, but the
racial composition of those incarcerated at these
institutions is not publicly reported. For this reason,
estimates in this report do not include inmates in houses
of corrections. As a result, the rates of incarceration by
race and ethnicity are underestimated.For more on the
composition of Massachusetts prison system, see:
Massachusetts Department of Corrections (2014).
Weekly Count Sheets. Available Online: http://www.mass.
gov/eopss/law-enforce-and-cj/prisons/rsch-data/
weekly-count-sheets.html.
14 Blumstein, A. (1993). Racial disproportionality of U.S.
prison populations revisited. University of Colorado Law
Review 64(3); 743-760; Bridges, G. and Crutcheld, R. D.
(1988). Law, social standing and racial disparities in
imprisonment. Social Forces 66(3): 699-724; Mauer, M.
(1997) Intended and unintended consequences: State racial
disparities in imprisonment. Washington, DC: The Sen-
tencing Project; Sorenson, J., Hope, R., & Stemen, D.
(2003). Racial disproportionality in state prison admis-
sions: Can regional variation be explained by differential
arrest rates? Journal of Criminal Justice 31: 73-84; Mauer,
M. & King, R. (2007). Uneven justice: State rates of incar-
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Sentencing Project; Tonry, M. (1994). Racial Dispropor-
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97-115; Tonry, M (2011). Punishing race. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
15 Garland, B., Spohn, C., and Wodahl, E. (2008). Racial
disproportionality in the American prison population:
Using the Blumstein method to address the critical race
and justice issues of the 21st Century. Justice Policy
Journal 5(2): 1-42.
16 Blumstein, A. (1993). Racial disproportionality of U.S.
prison populations revisited. University of Colorado Law
Review 64(3): 743-760.
17 Baumer, E. (2010). Reassessing and redirecting research
on race and sentencing. Draft manuscript prepared for
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tencing for Research, School of Criminal Justice, Univer-
sity at Albany; Tonry, M. (2011). Punishing race: An
American dilemma continues. New York: Oxford Univer-
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18 Blumstein, A. (1982). On the racial disproportionality of
United States’ prison populations. The Journal of Criminal
Law and Criminology 73(2): 1259-1281.; Garland, B.,
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19 Crawford, C., Chiricos, T., & Kleck, G. (1998). Race, racial
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20 The Sentencing Project
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666-683; Garland, B., Spohn, C., and Wodahl, E. (2008).
Racial disproportionality in the American prison popula-
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21 Baumer, E. (2010). Reassessing and redirecting research
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22 The Sentencing Project

The Color of Justice: Racial and Ethnic
Disparity in State Prisons
Ashley Nellis, Ph.D.
June 2016
1705 DeSales Street NW, 8th Floor
Washington, D.C. 20036
Tel: 202.628.0871
Fax: 202.628.1091
sentencingproject.org
The Sentencing Project works for a fair and effective U.S. justice system by
promoting reforms in sentencing policy, addressing unjust racial disparities and
practices, and advocating for alternatives to incarceration.
Related publications by The Sentencing Project:
• Race and Punishment: Racial Perceptions of Crime and Support for
Punitive Policies (2014)
• Addressing Racial Disparities in Incarceration (2011)
• Uneven Justice: State Rates of Incarceration By Race and Ethnicity
(2007)