NCJ Number
155528
Date Published
1994
Length
56 pages
Annotation
This analysis of the racial composition of the population arrested and sentenced in the Texas criminal justice system shows that arrest and incarceration rates per 100,000 African-American adults increased significantly between 1985 and 1992 and that drug offenses accounted for most of the increase in the number of black adults arrested and incarcerated.
Abstract
The arrest rate per 100,000 population for black adults arrested for drug violations increased by 76 percent between 1985 and 1992, compared to a decline of 12 percent for whites in the same category. In 1992, the arrest rate for drug violations by blacks was 1,631, compared to 363 for whites. In the seven Texas counties studied, 43 percent of blacks convicted for a felony offense were convicted for a drug violation, compared to 29 percent and 27 percent for whites and Hispanics, respectively. In 1985, the convicted felon to prison rate per 100,000 population for black adults was 5.5 times the convicted felon to prison rate for whites. By 1992, the convicted felon to prison rate for blacks was 9 times that of whites (1,489 versus 165). The percentage of black adults in the Texas prison system in 1992 was 4 times their percentage representation in the State adult population. In all counties studied, with the exception of El Paso, blacks were overrepresented in the convicted population and the population sentenced to prison. Black adults came into the trial process with a more serious criminal history than white and Hispanic offenders; more than half of the convicted felony population who did not post bond or had bond denied were black; and minorities were slightly more likely to be sentenced to prison for violent and drug offenses, even taking criminal history into consideration. Overall, large differences in prison sentence length received by different races were not observed. Supplemental data on arrests and sentencing are appended. 15 tables and 40 charts