1. “ Racial Disparities: Crafting Solutions” 2011 Minnesota Justice Forum Reducing Racial Disparities Michael Tonry

4. Reducing Racial Disparities  1. Radically Reduce Prison Population.  2. Shift Drug Policy Emphasis from Street-level Enforcement to Prevention, Treatment, and Tolerance.  3. Reduce Racial Profiling by the Police.  4. Reduce Weight of Criminal History in Sentencing Guidelines.

5. Table 1. Hypothetical Reduction in Incarceration Rates BlackWhiteRatio A. Disparity Reduced 10% Imprisonment rate, 20062,6614835.5:1 10% less disparity2,3954835.0:1 Reduction per 100,0002660 Reduction, black prisoners101,000 B. Use of Imprisonment Halved Imprisonment rate, 20062,6614835.5:1 Imprisonment halved1,3302415.5:1 Reduction per 100,0001,330241 Reduction, black prisoners505,400 C. Return to 1980 Imprisonment Rates Imprisonment rate, 19808271346.2:1 Reduction per 100,0001,834349 Reduction, black prisoners697,000

6. Table 2. Hypothetical Reductions in Imprisonment, Effects of Racial Make-up State of AffairsBlack RateBlack/white RatioBlack Reduction In 2006 2661 per 100,000 5.5:1 Less 10% disparity 2395 per 100,000 5.0:1101,000 Halve 2006 population 1330 per 100,000 5.5:1505,400 Return to 1980 level 827 per 100,000 5.5:1697,000 Source: Tonry and Melewski 2008, table 5

7. Figure 1. Percentages of State and federal prisoners, by race, 1950-2008. Sources: for 1950—80: Cahalan (1986); for 1980—2008: BJS, “Prisoners,” various years.

8. Figure 2. Incarceration, state and federal prisons, local jails, per 100,000, by race, 1950-2008 Sources: BJS (1984, 1990; “Jail Inmates,” various years; “Prisoners,” various years; “Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear,” various years); Cahalan (1986); Gilliard and Beck (1996).

9. Figure 3. Imprisonment Increases, 1999—2006.

10. Table 3A. Percentage of Drug Use, by Race, 2005-06: Alcohol, All Illicit Drugs Drug20052006 WhiteBlackWhiteBlack Alcohol Ever Used Last year Last month 86.9 70.5 56.5 75.2 55.5 40.8 86.9 70.4 44.8 75.4 55.1 40.0 All Illicit Ever Used Last year Last month 48.9 14.5 8.1 44.7 16.0 9.7 49.0 14.8 8.5 42.9 16.4 9.8

11. Table 3B. Percentage of Drug Use, by Race, 2005-06 Drug20052006 WhiteBlackWhiteBlack Marijuana Ever Used Last year Last month 43.7 10.6 6.1 39.0 12.3 7.6 43.9 10.7 6.4 37.6 12.4 7.4 Cocaine Ever Used Last year Last month 15.5 2.4 1.0 9.8 2.0 1.1 16.3 2.5 0.9 9.1 2.1 1.3 Crack Ever Used Last year Last month 3.2 0.5 0.2 4.9 1.2 0.8 3.3 0.5 0.2 5.3 1.3 0.8

12. Figure 4. Total arrests for drug offenses, by race, 1978–2006. Sources: BJS Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics (http://www.albany.edu/sourcebook/), various years.

13. Figure 5. Illicit drug sales among youths aged 12 – 17, by race, 2001–2008. Source: Office of Applied Studies, National Survey on Drug Use and Health, Various years.

14. Figure 6. Juvenile Arrest Rate for Drug Offenses, by Race, 1965-2000 Source: Blumstein (1993), Blumstein and Wallman (2006 )

15. Figure 7. The Price of Cocaine 1981 – 2007 Source: Caulkins and Reuter 2010, figure 3, based on data from Office of National Drug Control Policy 2008.

16. Reducing Racial Disparities  1. Radically Reduce Prison Population.  2. Shift Drug Policy Emphasis from Street-level Enforcement to Prevention, Treatment, and Tolerance.  3. Reduce Racial Profiling by the Police.  4. Reduce Weight of Criminal History in Sentencing Guidelines.

17. GROUPPOP.STOP PROSTOPARREST White, Non- Hispanic 44 %10 %2.2 %NA Black, Non- Hispanic 25 %50 %17.6 %8:1 8:1 relative; 4:1 absolute Hispanic, Any Race 28 %30 %10.7 %5:1 THE LESSON: EVEN IF POLICE MAKE ARRESTS OR FIND CONTRABAND AT EQUAL RATES, MANY MORE BLACK AND HISPANIC PEOPLE ARE ARRESTED.

18. Table 6 – What is the most important reason for the much higher Black recommended-prison rate? [Answer: criminal history] Recommended prison in all cases, based on high offense severity alone – this zone of the grid accounted for 20% of the higher Black recommended-prison rate in 2000 thru 2009 Recommended prison only if a mandatory minimum applies (sometimes based on criminal history) – this zone accoun- ted for 17% of the higher Black recomd- prison rate, 2000-09 Recommended prison only at higher criminal history scores – this zone accounted for 63% of the higher Black recomm’d- prison rate 2000-09