Pubdate: Sun, 05 Aug 2001
Source: State, The (SC)
Copyright: 2001 The State
Contact:  http://www.thestate.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/426
Author: Roger G Owens, Special to The State
Note: Mr. Owens, a retired insurance executive, is president of Save our 
Sons, a Greenville non-profit group that mentors young men.
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/prison.htm (Incarceration)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/racial.htm (Racial Issues)

INCARCERATION STATISTICS MISLEADING

 From 1992 through 1997, approximately equal numbers of white and black men 
were arrested in South Carolina for drug law violations. But 85 percent of 
those imprisoned were African-Americans. When half of the arrests are 
black, we should expect that about half of those incarcerated should be 
black. Significant deviations from this norm deserve investigation. Some of 
the reasons for disparate incarceration rates are legitimate and non-racial 
(--) class, lack of a family support system, aggravating circumstances, for 
example. However, it is highly unlikely that the reasons for most of the 
variances are legitimate. The differences are significant enough that 
fair-minded persons should support investigating, analyzing and evaluating 
the principal reasons.

What my own research turned up with regard to drug laws is just a microcosm 
of the disparities that exist throughout the state's criminal justice 
system. The most recent Census report showed that while only 31 percent of 
the state's population is black, 68 percent of inmates in South Carolina 
are African-Americans.

Many people simply write off the discrepancies to higher arrest rates among 
African-Americans. As my drug study found, that is simplistic and inaccurate.

Arrest rates are only one factor that leads to disproportionate 
incarceration. Others include policing patterns, policies and resource 
utilization; decisions about whom to prosecute and on which charges; the 
availability and use of pre-trial intervention, drug courts and other 
diversion programs; plea-bargaining practices; the jury-selection process, 
including equitable representation of African-Americans in the jury pool 
and the enforcement of the prohibition on selecting jurors based on race; 
the availability of quality defense counsel and attendant resources; 
mandatory sentencing laws (i.e., different sentences for crack and powdered 
cocaine); prior offenses; the presence or absence of family support 
systems; and political calculations.

We cannot know the relative impact of any of these factors unless an 
in-depth study is done. We already know, however, that at higher percentage 
of convicted African-Americans than convicted whites are incarcerated, 
especially for non-violent crimes, with the worst discrepancies in 
drug-related crimes.

This is not a general indictment of the criminal justice system. We have an 
excellent system overall. But some problems exist, and they need to be 
addressed, in our state and in the nation.

Save Our Sons is suggesting a statewide analysis of the criminal justice 
process -- from arrest through sentencing -- to identify and quantify the 
relative impact of contributory causes of disparate incarceration rates.

The study should be competent and comprehensive enough to withstand 
extensive scrutiny. One cannot prejudge the study results. If the answers 
were already known with sufficient precision to correct the problem, a 
study would be unnecessary.

One of the most fundamental and precious rights a U.S. citizen has is equal 
protection under the law. If the criminal justice process is inequitable 
for some, the rights of all are jeopardized.
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager