Sentencing Bias
Print
E-Mail
Share
The prison and jail population in the United States has increased from 200,000 in 1970 to some 2.3 million today. African Americans are incarcerated at an increasingly disproportionate rate. One-third of black males born today likely will spend at least some part of their lives behind bars; nearly one-tenth of black males in their twenties already live in prison; and almost one out of three black males in their twenties currently remains in jail, prison, on probation or parole, or otherwise under criminal justice control. African Americans are incarcerated at nearly six times the rate of whites, and Latinos at nearly double the rate.
Alabama’s Habitual Felony Offender Act imposes increasingly severe sentences for repeat offenders. People with prior convictions for writing bad checks, simple drug possession, and non-violent theft of property offenses have been sentenced to life without parole under the Act. Altogether, nearly 8000 inmates currently are serving these enhanced sentences, with almost 2000 of them serving life or life without parole.
Alabama’s stringent drug laws, which feature low quantity thresholds and mandatory minimum sentences for all trafficking offenses, expose even first-time offenders to extraordinarily harsh prison sentences.
Alabama’s sentencing scheme for felony drug possession and DUI offenses creates uneven results: African Americans are incarcerated at a far higher rate than whites for drug possession crimes, while the reverse is true for felony DUI offenses; and the average length of sentence for simple drug possession is nearly twice as long as that for felony DUI.
News
EJI's Public Education Efforts Featured on PBS
April 5, 2010
Bryan Stevenson, right, on Bill Moyers Journal on PBS.
On April 2, 2010, EJI's Bryan Stevenson discussed the status of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s vision of economic justice on PBS's Bill Moyers Journal. Watch it here.
Also this week, PBS will broadcast the critically-acclaimed film, The Dhamma Brothers. EJI supported the Dhamma Brothers project and film.
EJI Wins New Trial for Mother Illegally Sentenced to Life Without Parole
September 8, 2009On September 4, 2009, the Alabama Supreme Court reversed the conviction and sentence imposed on Marsha Colby, who was convicted of capital murder after giving birth to what doctors believe was a stillborn baby.
U.S. Supreme Court to Address Judicial Ethics Amid Succession of Judicial Misconduct Scandals Nationwide
February 25, 2009The United States Supreme Court will hear oral argument next week in Caperton v. Massey about whether West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Brent Benjamin violated the Constitution when he cast the deciding vote in favor of his campaign contributors, who spent $3 million to get him elected to the appellate court.
Study Finds Judges' Decisions in Death-Penalty Cases Affected by Elections
July 24, 2008A study entitled "State Public Opinion, the Death Penalty, and the Practice of Electing Judges" and published in the April 2008 American Journal of Political Science found significant links between public opinion and judicial decision-making in states that elect their supreme court judges.
United Nations Experts Examine Racism in the United States
May 28, 2008On May 26, 2008, United Nations Special Rapporteur on racism Doudou Diene heard testimony from EJI Executive Director Bryan Stevenson as part of his field mission to examine racism in the United States. Mr. Stevenson detailed evidence of racial bias against African Americans, Latinos, and other racial minorities, from the administration of the death penalty to the treatment of children in the criminal justice system.