Racial Disparities in Criminal Justice in Wisconsin

1. Racial Disparities in Criminal Justice in Wisconsin Pamela Oliver

2. Plan for the Talk • National overview • Wisconsin patterns in imprisonment (with mention of overall incarceration) • Age Patterns of imprisonment in Wisconsin • County comparisons in imprisonment • County comparisons in arrests: Short • Implications: making the problem worse • What is to be done

3. The Magnitude of the Problem

4. Comparing International Incarceration Rates (Source: Sentencing Project)

5. World Incarceration Rates in 1995: Adding US Race Patterns

6. Nationally, The Black Population is Being Imprisoned at Alarming Rates • Upwards of 1/3 of the Black male population is under the supervision of the correctional system (prison, jail, parole, probation) • Estimated “lifetime expectancy” of spending some time in prison is 29% for young Black men. • About 12% of Black men in their 20s are in prison • 7% of Black children, 2.6% of Hispanic children, .8% of White children have a parent in prison (at one time) – lifetime expectancy much higher

7. About Rates & Disparity Ratios • Imprisonment and arrest rates are expressed as the rate per 100,000 of the appropriate population • Example: In 1999 Wisconsin new prison sentences • 1021 Whites imprisoned, White population of Wisconsin was 4,701,123: 1021 ÷ 4701123 = .000217. Multiply .00021 by 100,000 = 22, the imprisonment rate per 100,000 population. • 1,266 Blacks imprisoned, Black population of Wisconsin was 285,308. 1266 ÷ 285308 = .004437. Multiply by 100,000 = 444 • Calculate Disparity Ratios by dividing rates: 444/22 = 20.4 the Black/White ratio in new prison sentence rates

8. US Prison Admissions by Race

9. The 1970’s Policy Shift • Shift to determinate sentencing, higher penalties • LEAA, increased funding for police departments • Crime becomes a political issue • Drug war funding gives incentives to police to generate drug arrests & convictions • Post-civil rights post-riots competitive race relations, race-coded political rhetoric.?

11. Social Conditions, Political Processes, Crime, and Corrections

12. Imprisonment Has Increased While Crime Has Declined • Imprisonment rates are a function of responses to crime, not a function of crime itself • Property crimes declined steadily between 1970s and 2000 • Violent crime declined modestly overall, with smaller ups and downs in the period

13. Crime Trends Source: Crunching Numbers: Crime and Incarceration at the End of the Millennium by Jan M. Chaiken Based on Bureau of Justice Statistics data from National Crime Victimization Survey. Figures adjusted for changed methodology, shaded area marks change.

14. Property Crime

15. Violent Crime

16. Rape

17. The Drug War • Most of the increase in imprisonment is due to drug offenses. • Drug use rates have generally declined since the 1980s, while drug imprisonments have increased. • Black adult drug use rates are only slightly higher than White (see next chart), while their imprisonment rates for drugs are enormous • Among juveniles, Blacks use illegal drugs less than Whites, but Black juveniles have much higher drug arrest rates.

18. Current Illicit Drug Use Among Adults (National Patterns) • 6.6 percent for Whites • 6.8 percent for Hispanics • 7.7 percent for Blacks • 10.6 percent for American Indian/Alaska Natives (this is largely marijuana, rates for other drugs are lower than other races) • 11.2 percent for persons reporting multiple race • 3.2 percent for Asians • Source: 1999 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse

19. Wisconsin’s High Black Incarceration Rate Headlines in 2002 “Wisconsin #1 in Black incarceration in 2001”

20. Contributors to Incarceration Rates • Prisons (state-level & federal facilities) • New sentences for new offenses • Length of sentence for each offense • Probation & parole revocations • Jails (local county-level facilities) • Short-term sentences for convictions (number & length per sentence • Held awaiting trial • Held awaiting probation/parole revocation hearing • Growing use of prisons/jails for disruptive mentally ill

21. Disparities Higher For Prison than Jail • BJS said Wisconsin’s overall Black/White incarceration disparity is 10 to 1. • Prison disparity is closer to 20 to 1 • This means there is less disparity in jail than prisons • Most of Wisconsin’s counties are overwhelmingly White, presumably have overwhelmingly Whites in their jails • Prisons in Wisconsin are now majority Black despite Blacks being only 5% of general population

22. Wisconsin Prison Admissions Including Detailed Time Trends 1990-1999

23. New Imprisonment Rates by State, 1996

24. National & Wisconsin Imprisonment Rates

25. Wisconsin Prison Admissions by Race Black AmerInd Hispanic White Asian

26. Wisconsin: White NH Total Prison Admissions Total Admits, Whites Violent Theft Robbery & Burglary Drugs Other

27. Total Admits, Offense Blacks Drugs Violent Robbery & Burglary Other Theft

28. Total Admits, Hispanics Drugs Violent Robbery & Burglary Theft Other

29. Proportion of Admissions Involving New Sentences

30. White Admissions Status Violation Only New Sentence Only Violation + New

31. Blacks Admission Status Violation Only New Sentence Only Violation + New

32. Total admits, violations only Black AmerInd Hispanic White Asian

33. Whites, Violators Violent Theft Robbery & Burglary Other Drugs

34. Black violators Drugs Violent Theft Robbery & Burglary Other

35. Prison Admission by Race 1990-1999, New Sentence Only Total Admits, New Sentences Only Black Hispanic AmerInd Asian White

36. New Sentences, Whites Violent Robbery & Burglary Other Theft Drugs

37. New Sentences, Blacks Offense Drugs Violent Robbery & Burglary Theft Other

38. Conclusions About Wisconsin Prison Admissions • Huge racial disparities, especially Black vs. White • Probation/parole violators returning to prison are a major source of the rise • Blacks show steep rises in new sentences for drugs, while Whites show no increase • White new sentences are primarily for violent offenses. • Black new sentences are primarily for drug offenses.

39. Age Patterns for Imprisonment

40. New sentences by age, race

41. Offenses by Age, Whites

42. Offenses by Age, Blacks

43. Disparities by Age, Offense

44. County Comparisons

45. Males in prison per 100,000 population in April 2000, Wisconsin Counties with More than 1000 Non-Prisoner Blacks # counties with < 1000 American Indians Graphic calculated using 1999 population estimates

46. Females in Prison per 100,000 population in April, 2000,Wisconsin Counties with More than 1000 Non-Prisoner Blacks # counties with < 1000 American Indians Graphic calculated using 1999 population estimates

47. Total Prison Admissions Per 100,000 in 1999

48. Compare Counties Whites New Sentences

49. Compare counties Black, new sentences thick

50. Compare Counties, New Sentences B/w ratio