Racial disparities in sentencing rise after guidelines loosened

[cory777]

Source: McClatchy Newspapers

By Marisa Taylor | McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — Black and Hispanic men are more likely to receive longer prison sentences than their white counterparts since the Supreme Court loosened federal sentencing rules, a government study has concluded.

The study by the U.S. Sentencing Commission reignited a long-running debate about whether federal judges need to be held to mandatory guidelines in order to stamp out what might appear to be inherent biases and dramatically disparate sentences.

The report analyzed sentences meted out since the January 2005 U.S. v. Booker decision gave federal judges much more sentencing discretion.




Read more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/03/12/90316/racial-disparities-in-sentencing.html

[TheDebbieDee]

1. White privilege is still alive and well in the USA............

[EFerrari]

2. Related thread from Amy's reporting yesterday, fyi:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7895198

[StClone]

3. When is the SCOTUS Judges going to be held responsible

For the vast, destructive and activist rulings that have such profoundly detrimental affects on this Country? Activist is too soft a word to describe their radical Right nut buffoonery (Clarence Thomas is a robed clown!). Incoherent with past rulings and charting new waters of Corporate favoring tendencies since Bush V Gore, it's plain the rules have changed.

[Per Capita]

4. Prior convictions?

Does anyone look at the prior convictions in any of these cases? Or is everyone automatically assuming that everything is equal right from the get go?

[Igel]

7. Blank slate.

The study means what you want it to.

No information about prior convictions or details of the crime beyond the charges.

No information about whether whites or those with some college education were offered reduced charges/sentences in exchange for plea bargains. Nothing about mitigating circumstances.

So that even the author's studies say that certain classes of conclusions can't be drawn.

As is often the case, the assumption is that inequality in result has to be preceded by equality in the initial state. (No better an assumption than asserting that equality of process should yield equality of outcome given what's acknowledged to be unequal starting conditions).

[Solly Mack]

5. k/r

[Exultant Democracy]

6. We are the number one jailers in history and our justic system is systemically racist, coincidence?