Does Race Affect Incarceration? by Br0saurusRex

Population in the US as a whole

quinsmith96 — 2016-03-11 17:13:53 UTC

White alone, percent, April 1, 2010 (a) | 72.4%

White alone, percent, July 1, 2014, (V2014) (a) | 77.4%

Black or African American alone, percent, April 1, 2010 (a) | 12.6%

Black or African American alone, percent, July 1, 2014, (V2014) (a) | 13.2%

Hispanic or Latino, percent, April 1, 2010 (b) |16.3%

Hispanic or Latino, percent, July 1, 2014, (V2014) (b) |17.4%

- As we can see from the information above, provided by the United States Census Bureau, the Caucasian population is considerably larger then the African American and Hispanic or Latino. Even though all populations grew from 2010 to 2014 the Caucasian population kept its considerable lead and actuallyu grew 5% while the African American population only grew 0.6% and the Hispanic or Latino population grew 1.1%.

"The vintage year (e.g., V2015) refers to the final year of the series (2010 thru 2015)."(Quick Facts)

quinsmith96 — 2016-03-11 18:23:06 UTC

Sentenced Prisoner in 2010

quinsmith96 — 2016-03-15 00:57:14 UTC

quinsmith96 — 2016-03-15 01:16:41 UTC

- If we add both the female and male prisoners together there was a total of 1,550,600 prisoners sentenced in 2010. Of the prisoners sentenced 34.5% were Caucasian, 40.7% were African American and 24% were Latino. Now if we compare the US population to the number of sentenced prisoners, Caucasians were 72.4% of the population while only 34.5% of sentenced prisoners were Caucasian. That's a difference of 37.9%. African Americans were 12.6% of the population while 40.7% of sentenced prisoners were African Americans. There is a difference of 28.1%. Last 16.3% of the US population was Latino while 24% of the sentenced prisoners were also Latino. That is a difference of 7.7% Now the numbers of female prisoners sentenced is more of what you would expect if the number of sentenced prisoners matched the population as a whole. With the number of sentenced Caucasian prisoners being the largest of the three groups, 45.9% of the sentenced female prisoners were Caucasian, 25.4% were African American and 17.9% were Latino. The next thing to look at is how much larger the number of sentenced males is compared to the number of sentenced females. There were 1,341,400 more males then females sentenced in 2010 with 31.2% of the sentenced males being Caucasian, 38.8% being African American and 22.6% being Latino.

Sentenced Prisoners in 2011

quinsmith96 — 2016-03-19 20:43:18 UTC

quinsmith96 — 2016-03-19 20:46:05 UTC

- In 2011 there was a 13,185 decrease of sentenced prisoners, 33.6% of the prisoners where Caucasian, 37.8% were African American and 22.7% were Latino. Overall all of the groups had a decrease in number of prisoners sentenced. Even though the total number of females sentenced went down, the number of female Caucasians sentenced actually went up by 3.4%, while the other two groups stayed relatively the same. Just like in 2010 there was still a considerably larger amount of males sentenced then females but the number of males sentenced did decrease as well. Interestingly the number of Caucasian and Latino males sentenced actually went up a little bit while the number of African Americans sentenced decreased, but even with the decrease and increase of sentences African Americans still had the largest number of male prisoners sentenced.

quinsmith96 — 2016-03-19 20:52:23 UTC

quinsmith96 — 2016-03-20 18:27:46 UTC

Sentenced Prisoners in 2012

quinsmith96 — 2016-03-20 18:28:44 UTC

quinsmith96 — 2016-03-20 18:32:07 UTC

- For the second year in a row the overall number of sentenced prisoners decreased, this time by 25,935 prisoners, 33.1% of the prisoners were Caucasian, 36.5% were African American and 22% were Latino. All three groups decreased as well but just like the last two years African Americans still had the largest number of sentences. As usual the number of male prisoners sentenced was much larger than the female prisoners. All three groups ,both male and female, had a decrease in sentences unlike last year where the Caucasian females and Caucasian and Latino males had a small increase of sentences.

quinsmith96 — 2016-03-20 18:56:00 UTC

Sentenced Prisoners in 2013

quinsmith96 — 2016-03-20 18:56:50 UTC

quinsmith96 — 2016-03-20 18:59:44 UTC

- Unlike the last two years there was an increase of sentenced prisoners in 2013 but it was only an increase of 5,399 prisoners, 33.3% of the prisoners were Caucasian, 36.2% were African American and 22% were Latino. From the last year the overall number of Caucasians prisoners increased while the number of African Americans sentenced decreased and the number of Latino prisoners stayed the same. Interestingly both the number of Caucasian and Latino female prisoners increased. The Caucasians by about 2,000 and the Latinos by 600 while the number of African American prisoners actually decreased by about 200. As to be expected the male prisoners still had a larger number of sentences then the females. The number of both African American and Latino male prisoners decreased while the number of Caucasian prisoners increased. But just like all the other years African American males still had the largest number of sentences.

quinsmith96 — 2016-03-20 19:28:50 UTC

Sentenced Prisoners in 2014

quinsmith96 — 2016-03-20 19:29:49 UTC

quinsmith96 — 2016-03-20 19:33:21 UTC

- In 2014 there was another decrease of the overall number of sentenced prisoners this time by 8,243 prisoners, 33.6% of the prisoners where Caucasian, 35.8% were African American and 21.6% were Latino. While the number of Caucasian prisoners did increase a small amount both the number of African American and Latino prisoners decreased. Even though the overall number of prisoners decreased the number of female prisoners increased. Just like the year before both the numbers of the female Caucasian and Latino prisoners increased with the number of female African Americans ,again, decreasing. As usual the number of male prisoners sentenced was larger than the number of female prisoners. All three groups of male prisoners decreased with the African Americans having the largest decrease of prisoners. It's the largest decrease of sentences so far with about 10,000 less prisoners then the last year, but even with this decrease the number of African American prisoners sentenced is still the largest.

quinsmith96 — 2016-03-22 00:22:44 UTC

Conclusion

quinsmith96 — 2016-03-22 00:24:40 UTC

In the US Caucasians dominate the population having about 60-64% more population compared to the Latino and African American populations. Which is not surprising and to be expected. What was not as expected was how much larger the number of African American sentences were compared to the other two races. Even though African Americans have the smallest population in the US as a whole they consistently had the largest number of sentences for at least the last 14 years (2000-2014). Even though the number of Latinos sentenced was consistently the lowest they were on average only about 1,000 sentences less than the Caucasians. Which is crazy considering there are 60% more Caucasians than Latinos in the US population as a whole. Breaking the number of sentences in to male and female does change the proportions slightly. While the male prisoners have the same proportions as the combined male and female sentences, a majority of the time female Caucasians had the largest number of sentences. In 2000-2002 African American females had a slight lead in the number of sentences but Caucasians soon had the largest number of sentences and it stayed that way for the next 12 years. Even with female Caucasians having the largest number of sentences the proportions still don't quite match the US's population as a whole. To summarize for 14 years African Americans have had the largest number of sentences despite having the smallest population in the US as a whole.

Sentenced Prisoners 2000-2009

quinsmith96 — 2016-03-22 01:02:08 UTC

Resources

quinsmith96 — 2016-03-22 01:47:42 UTC

"Quick Facts." United States Census Bureau. US Census Bureau. Web. 24 Mar. 2016. .
"Publications & Products: Prisoners." Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) - All Publications & Products. Bureau of Justice Statistics. Web. 21 Mar. 2016. .

Pictures
Prison Tower- http://www.allthingscrimeblog.com/2014/06/01/destructive-justice-lessons-in-survival-nathan-makes-a-friend/
Cell Bars- https://aclum.org/civil-liberties-minute/who-holds-the-keys-to-the-jail-cells-in-america/
Prisoners- http://www.survivalistboards.com/showthread.php?t=213097
Handcuffs- - http://mentalfloss.com/article/52447/how-get-out-handcuffs
Judge- http://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/local/2014/06/03/brevard-judge-will-take-leave-of-absence-after-courtroom-scuffle/9935077/
Prison Yard- http://www.getyourfit.com/4-hardcore-exercises-8x6-prison-cell/
Prisoners at Tables- http://koin.com/2014/12/04/washington-county-jail-turning-health-care-page/