Just the Facts: Racial Disparities

June 1, 2007

 

Racial Disparities in the Pacific Northwest
Montana
  • American Indian population in Montana: 7%[1]
  • Overall American Indian prison population in Montana: 15%[2]
  • Percent of women prisoners who are American Indian: 27%[3]
Idaho
 
  • The Hispanic population in Idaho: 9.1%[4]
  • The Hispanic prison population in Idaho:15.8%[5]
  • The African American population in Idaho: 0.6%[6]
  • The African American prison population in Idaho: 2.1%[7]
Washington
  • The African American population in Washington State: 3.5%[8]
  • The African American prison population in Washington State: 20[9]%
Oregon
  • African American population in Oregon: 1.8%[10]
  • African American prison population in Oregon: 9.7%[11]
  • Hispanic population in Oregon: 9.9%[12]
  • Hispanic prison population in Oregon: 10.9%[13]
  • In 2000, African Americans made up 25.8% of arrestees for drug offenses in Multnomah County.[14]
 
 
 
National
 
  • The African American population makes up 12.8% of the total population in the United States.[15]
 
  • The African American prison population makes up 40% of the total prison and jail population.[16]
 
  • More African American men were in prison at midyear 2006 than any other racial or ethnic group: African American (836,800), Caucasian (718,100), Hispanic (426,900)[17]
 
  • Based on current rates of first incarceration, an estimated 32% of black males will enter state or federal prison during their lifetime, compared to 17% of Hispanic males and 5.9% of white males.[18]
 
  • 4.8% of all African American men in the U.S. were in custody in 2006 and 12% of all African American men age 25 to 29 were in prison or jail in 2006.[19]
 
  • The country’s 75 largest counties reported in 2002 that 43% of all felony defendants were African American, while African Americans make up 15% of their population.[20]
 
  • The country’s 75 largest counties reported in 2002 that 31% of all felony defendants were white, when white people make up 53% of their population.[21]
 
  • Of adults on probation in 2005: 30% were African American, 55% were White, 55%, 13% were Hispanic[22]
 
  • One in every 133 U.S. residents was in prison or jail at midyear 2006.[23]
 
Notes: We refer to “Hispanic” instead of Latino because that is the language these reports use. Other racial data on prisoners exists, but groups together American Indians, Alaska Natives, Asians, Native Hawaiians, and other Pacific Islanders, a grouping we did not find helpful for tracking racial disparities among these groups.

[1] http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/30000.html
[2] http://leg.mt.gov/content/committees/interim/2007_2008/law_justice/meeting_documents/2007BiennialReport.pdf (page 57)
[3] http://leg.mt.gov/content/committees/interim/2007_2008/law_justice/meeting_documents/2007BiennialReport.pdf (page 57)
[4] http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/16000.html
[5] http://corrections.state.id.us/facts/annual/AnnualReport2006.pdf
[6] http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/16000.html
[7] http://corrections.state.id.us/facts/annual/AnnualReport2006.pdf
[8] http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/53000.html
[9] http://www.doc.wa.gov/aboutdoc/budget/docs/statistics/FY08Q2PopulationSummary.pdf 2007
[10] http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/41000.html
[11] Oregon DOC Inmate Population Profile for 1.June.2007
[12] http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/41000.html
[13] Oregon DOC Inmate Population Profile for 1.June.2007
[14] http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/193013e.pdf page 27
[15] http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/00000.html
[16] http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/pjim06.pdf US Bureau of Justice Statistics
[17] BJS: Prison and Jail Inmates at midyear 2006 (Packet page 9)
[18] http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/crimoff.htm#lifetime (taken directly)
[19] http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/pjim06.pdf bureau of justice statistics
[20] BJS Bulletin #NCJ210818, Feb. 2006. Felony Defendants in Large Urban Counties, 2002, Table 3.
[21] BJS Bulletin #NCJ210818, Feb. 2006. Felony Defendants in Large Urban Counties, 2002, Table 3.
[22] BJS Bulletin #NCT215091, Nov. 2006. Probation and Parole in the United States, 2005, Table 3: Probation.
[23] BJS: Prison and Jail Inmates at midyear 2006 (Packet page 8)

 

 

This article was originally printed in the Summer 2007 issue of Justice Matters

 

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