It's funny: White people often rightly complain that for too many blacks, everything is about race, always. But they fail to grasp the corollary truth that for too many whites, nothing is about race, ever
Good quote, Bigster. Good article.
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MORE WHITES THAN BLACKS EVADE DEATH PENALTY
Study Finds Disparity in Plea Bargain Process
July 24, 2000
By Amy Worden WASHINGTON (APBnews.com) - Plea bargains are sparing the lives of white defendants in federal capital cases at a much higher rate than black defendants, according to an analysis of 146 federal death penalty cases.
The analysis, prepared by the Federal Death Penalty Resource Counsel Project, found 60 percent of white defendants in federal capital cases had their sentences reduced through plea bargains with federal prosecutors; 41 percent of blacks convicted in similar cases reached such an agreement.
"The concern is the federal system is skewed by race"
-- http://www.apbnews.com/cjsystem/justicenews/2000/07/24/deathpleas0724_01.html
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Sentencing reforms have also led to more blacks than whites going to prison following arrest. Black men now have a 28 percent lifetime chance of incarceration, compared to the 7 percent chance for white men. The result is that sentencing reforms have had a far greater disruptive impact on black communities.
-- http://www.urban.org/crime/module/sabol/prison_pop.html
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As can be seen, the absolute increase for violent offenders was virtually identical for blacks and whites (31,000 and 33,000 respectively), but for drug offenses, the black increase outpaced that for whites by 66,000 to 15,000, a 465.5% just five years. Absent data regarding the racial breakdown of persons involved in drug crimes, these trends may reflect the impact of "drug war" policies in inner cities and the fact that when discretion is more prevalent in the criminal justice system, minorities may suffer greater consequences.
-- http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/dope/laws/charts.html
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While previous studies have suggested that blacks and whites use drugs at about the same rate, African Americans were arrested for drug offenses at about five times the rate of whites during the height of the drug war in 1989.At almost every stage of the criminal justice process, whites fare better than African Americans or Latinos. One-third of whites who are first-time offenders had charges reduced compared to one-quarter of blacks and Latinos. White first offenders also received rehabilitative placements in the community at twice the rate of African Americans and Latinos. And prison sentences for drug offenses were harsher for blacks and Latinos than whites: Latinos went to prison at twice the rate of whites; African Americans one-third more frequently
-- http://www.pdxnorml.org/LAT_Racial_Fairness_021396.html
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black people get sunburned too! :-).... we don't burn nearly as quickly as fair-skinned folks, but we still burn. -- Back2dafront
Damn skippy!