Pubdate: Tue, 4 Dec 2007
Source: Reno Gazette-Journal (NV)
Copyright: 2007 Reno Gazette-Journal
Contact: http://www.rgj.com/helpdesk/news/letter_to_editor.php
Website: http://www.rgj.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/363
Author: Geralda Miller, Reno Gazette-Journal
Referenced: the report http://drugsense.org/url/21uS48TR
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?244 (Sentencing - United States)

Report:

WASHOE 41ST NATIONALLY IN BLACK DRUG INMATES

Sixteen times as many blacks as whites were sent to prison from Washoe
County for drug offenses in 2002, 60 percent more than the national
average, according to a new report released by a nonprofit agency
seeking alternatives to incarceration.

In data for the year from 198 counties with at least 250,000 people,
Washoe ranked 41st in the number of persons per 100,000 imprisoned for
drug offenses, one slot behind Los Angeles and two behind New York
City.

The national black-white ratio for drug inmates was 10 to 1. The ratio
for Los Angeles was 17 to 1, slightly higher than Washoe County's
16-to-1 ratio.

The report issued by the Justice Policy Institute also said Washoe
County spent as much per capita as Los Angeles, Philadelphia and
Chicago on law enforcement and judicial system budgets in 2002, the
only year for which prison data was available for 38 states from the
National Corrections Reporting Program.

"With the low number of African Americans we have in Washoe County and
to have that many incarcerated is appalling," said Lucille Adin,
president of the Reno-Sparks branch of the National Association for
the Advancement of Colored People. "It absolutely is. What is happening?"

Some local officials and legal experts questioned a report with only
one year's data. Others said the report justifies further discussion
and study.

"Instead of getting defensive about the report, I hope it leads to
communitywide discussion," said state Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie,
D-Reno. "I think we need to look more deeply into this report and
understand what is happening. It really calls out for dialogue with
the police department."

Reno police Chief Mike Poehlman questioned the report.

"I have to look at this in greater depth," he said.

He said it is a fact that blacks are sent to prison at a greater rate
than whites.

"To say it's because law enforcement is targeting minorities to try
and put them in prison, I find that pretty ludicrous," he said. "The
law has been enforced based on the statutes that are in the books."

The report is called "The Vortex: the Concentrated Racial Impact of
Drug Imprisonment and the Characteristics of Punitive Counties." The
NCRP says it is the only source that examines yearly admissions to
state prisons by jurisdiction, race, offense and other variables.

Because of coding problems from the original database, information
about Las Vegas, Baltimore and Boston was not included. No information
was available from 12 states, including Arizona, Idaho, Montana, New
Mexico and Wyoming.

But author Phillip Beatty said Washoe County should examine poverty as
well as spending on law enforcement and courts. "The data speaks for
itself," he said.

Washoe County had a per-capita spending for law enforcement of $300,
compared to an average of $199 for counties researched. Per-capita
spending for the judiciary was $136, more than double the national
average of $62.

"You're in the big-city enforcement spending patterns," Beatty said.
"We're saying that the larger the police budget, the more resources
available for discretionary drug offenses."

Gary Hengstler, director of the Center for Courts and Media at the
National Judicial College in Reno, questioned the institute's bias and
methodology, with only one year of data.

"They are pushing an agenda," he said. "I guess that makes me a little
suspicious.

"Can we make a logical leap that because we're spending more money
that we should have a lower incident of African American
incarceration," he said. "I would want to know why. I think that is
the big thing.

"I would like to see a five-year trend rather than an isolated year,"
he said. "I want to see a pattern rather than a snapshot before I go
drawing sweeping conclusions." 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake