CRMJ 205 1st Edition Lecture 12 Outline of Last Lecture I Postville USA Overview II Gender inequality III After Raid IV Hiring Agencies Outline of Current Lecture I African American Prison Statistics II Are Judges Bias III Five Explanations for Racial Disparity IV Citizenship and Sentencing V Perception of Danger VI Geography of Racism VII Four examples of Historical Aspects of Discrimination Regarding Sexual Assault and Rape Current Lecture I African American Prison Statistics a Disproportionate number of African Americans incarcerated b Disparity Offending patterns or criminal history c Key points Reasons for over incarceration of racial minorities II Discrimination Are Judges Bias a We know that discrimination exists but at what level b Disparity in Sentencing Two types of evidence that disparity exists 1 Statistics 2 Judges sentencing decisions These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute African American males are 6 5 times more likely to be incarcerated than white males Hispanics are 2 6 times more likely than white males III Five Explanations for Racial Disparity a The text gives 5 potential explanations for racial disparities in sentencing 1 African Americans and Hispanics commit more serious crimes Criminal histories 2 Economic Discrimination Not able to obtain a decent job Less likely to incarcerate person with good job Can t afford attorney 3 Neutral Laws Ex treating possession of crack cocaine different than possession of powder cocaine Crack perceived as more dangerous than powder 4 Racial discrimination within the court room Discrimination bias Prosecutors biased even if unintentional 5 Race and Sentencing IV Court room more likely to giver harsher sentencing to African Americans and Hispanics Citizenship and Sentencing a Illegal immigrants are more likely to be sentenced to prison than citizens b However they are likely to receive sentences because once they re out they can be deported V Perception of Danger a Illegal immigrants are often perceived as being more dangerous than citizens VI Geography of Racism a Racism and discrimination can occur anywhere b Southern states c Jena 6 Jena Louisiana Problems with racism in Jena LA VII Fight 6 African American students got in a fight with a white kid He went to the hospital but didn t have any life threatening injuries Charged Jena 6 with attempted murder Media drew attention to it and charges were lessoned to battering About 5 years ago Four examples of Historical Aspects of Discrimination Regarding Sexual Assault and Rape a Historical Virginia code of 1819 Penalty for white men vs Penalty for African Americans Differences Penalty for rape for white men 10 21 years in prison and for black men it was death Georgia Penal Code of 1816 Penalty for Rape for African Americans was death and for white men raping a black female it was a maximum of 23 years in prison Sentenced to discretion of court room for white men The New Jim Crow Book by Michelle Alexander NY times best seller Alexander 2012 argues that mass incarceration is the new Jim Crow