Study Examines Sentencing Guidelines - Harsher Punishments for Minorities
/The percentage of minority inmates in U.S.
prisons has increased sharply since federal sentencing guidelines took
effect 17 years ago, with blacks generally receiving harsher
punishments than whites, a federal advisory panel concludes. The
15-year study by the U.S. Sentencing Commission, which sets guidelines
for federal judges, examines how well the guidelines have brought
uniformity to punishments. It found that while sentencing has become
"more certain and predictable," disparities still exist among races and
regions of the country. The findings come as the Supreme Court
considers the constitutionality of the guidelines, which advocates say
are critical to achieving fairness in punishments. The justices could
decide as early as next week whether to throw out the system because it
allows judges, not juries, to consider factors that can add years to
sentences. Before the guidelines were created in 1987, judges had wide
discretion in issuing sentences. The guidelines give judges a range of
possible punishments for a given crime and make it difficult for judges
to go outside those boundaries. According to the study released
Tuesday, the average prison sentence today is about 50 months, twice
what it was when lawmakers began calling for a uniform sentencing
system in 1984, due mostly to the elimination of parole for offenses
such as drug trafficking.
- The percentage of whites in prison dropped sharply from nearly 60 percent in 1984 to about 35 percent in 2002, according to the report. It attributed the decrease to a dramatic growth in Hispanics imprisoned on immigration charges - from about 15 percent to 40 percent.
- In addition, the gap between sentences for blacks
and whites widened. While blacks and whites received an average
sentence of slightly more than two years in 1984, blacks now stay in
prison for about six years, compared to about four years for whites.
