SJC Exchange Library

Originally posted by Adam Gelb on 04/17/2024

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We're out with a batch of 15 new reports on state imprisonment disparities as part of our Pushing Toward Parity research series in partnership with Georgia State University and the Crime and Justice Institute. The new reports assess the impact of sentencing reforms on disparity trends in 12 states (Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, New York, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah), examine imprisonment trends among female populations, and explore challenges in measuring of Hispanic disparities. They build on reports in 2019 and 2022 that assessed national-level trends in disparity in probation, parole, jail, and prison populations, crime-specific changes in imprisonment disparities, differences in disparity by race and sex, and changes in reported offending rates and decisions at the key stages of criminal justice case processing.

Among the key takeaways: recent statutory sentencing reforms tended to codify rather than drive reductions in Black-White disparities and further significant reductions in imprisonment disparity will require reductions in disparate rates of community violence, in the length of prison terms for violent offenses, or some combination of the two.

Please dig in and holler with any questions and concerns.

------------------------------
Adam Gelb
President & CEO
Council on Criminal Justice
------------------------------