Study: Iowa has nation's highest prison racial disparity
10:00 AM
Posted: Wednesday, July 18, 2007
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- A new study by a nonprofit criminal justice policy group says blacks in Iowa are imprisoned at 13.6 times the white rate in Iowa, the widest disparity in the nation.
The Sentencing Project, a Washington-based organization, released the report Wednesday that examined the racial and ethnic dynamics of prison populations in the United States.
Using Bureau of Justice Statistics from a 2005 publication, the group said blacks in Iowa are imprisoned at a rate more than double the national average. Per 100,000 people, Iowa incarcerates 309 whites and 4,200 blacks, the study said.
Paul Stageberg, administrator of the Iowa Division of Criminal and Juvenile Justice Planning, an agency in the Iowa Department of Human Rights, said the study results aren't surprising, but the causes are subject to interpretation.
"We've looked to determine whether or not there is a disparity in sentencing practices over the years and we haven't found any," said Stageberg. "We've done a recent review of how long people stay in prison and looked at that by race and essentially we've found for releases in fiscal 2006, that there really wasn't any significant difference in the length of time served by black and white inmates."
Stageberg said that the disproportionately high black arrest rates in Iowa are likely linked to high poverty rates among blacks and lower educational achievement.
"If you look at blacks in the prison system, on average they are less well educated than whites in the prison system," Stageberg said. "If you look at rates of poverty, blacks have higher rates of poverty than whites, so these things contribute to criminal activity."
Nationally, the report finds that blacks are incarcerated at 5.6 times the rate of whites. Hispanics are nearly double the white rate at 1.8 times.
States in the Northeast and Midwest have the greatest black-to-white disparity in incarceration, the report's authors said.
Second behind Iowa is Vermont with a ratio of 12.5, followed by New Jersey with 12.4 and Connecticut with 12.
States with the lowest black-to-white ratio are Hawaii, with 1.9, Georgia with 3.3 and Mississippi with 3.5.
In Iowa, Vermont, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Wisconsin blacks are incarcerated at more than 10 times the rate of whites, the group said.
"Racial disparities in incarceration reflect a failure of social and economic interventions to address crime effectively and also indicate racial bias in the justice system," stated Marc Mauer, the group's executive director.
The group made several recommendations to public policy makers:
--Revisit the domestic drug control strategy, including recalibrating sentencing laws, such as the federal cocaine statutes which result in disproportionate numbers of low-level offenders being prosecuted.
--Revisit mandatory minimum sentencing and restore judicial discretion to incorporate individual circumstances in the sentencing decision.
--Set standards for indigent defense that ensure quality representation for all defendants.
--Mandate that all legislation affecting the prison population be accompanied by a racial impact statement.
The issue is not new to Iowa officials.
In 1999, Gov. Tom Vilsack appointed a task force to study the high rate of black incarcerations. The task force released a report in 2001 that said 24 percent of Iowa prison beds were occupied by black inmates even though blacks comprised just over 2 percent of the state's total population.
The group found then that in 1999 the median incarceration rate for blacks in Iowa was 2,950 per every 100,000 people while the median incarceration rate for whites was 188 per every 100,000 people.
Among the Iowans appointed to the task force was Rep. Wayne Ford, D-Des Moines, at the time Iowa's only black lawmaker.
Ford said the state had few financial resources to deal with the problem when the report was done and may be in a better position now. However, Ford makes it clear he believes it's not just state government's problem to solve.
"It's going to take the corporate communities and rural and urban people working together. It will take all of us," he said.
Among the primary contributors is the lack of substance abuse treatment and job training, Ford said.
"It's hard for many black Iowans to get treatment," he said.
Ford said job training for minorities and ex-offenders is critical.
"If we don't slow down the recidivism rate, you will be covering this story every year until hell freezes over," Ford said.
Stageberg said Gov. Chet Culver reconvened the 1999 task force to get at the root cause of the problem.
"We've got new direction and new commitment from Gov. Culver and we're going to spend serious time on this issue," he said.
The group has met twice this year and is expected to provide recommendations to Culver by Aug. 1.
The Sentencing Project, a Washington-based organization, released the report Wednesday that examined the racial and ethnic dynamics of prison populations in the United States.
Using Bureau of Justice Statistics from a 2005 publication, the group said blacks in Iowa are imprisoned at a rate more than double the national average. Per 100,000 people, Iowa incarcerates 309 whites and 4,200 blacks, the study said.
Paul Stageberg, administrator of the Iowa Division of Criminal and Juvenile Justice Planning, an agency in the Iowa Department of Human Rights, said the study results aren't surprising, but the causes are subject to interpretation.
"We've looked to determine whether or not there is a disparity in sentencing practices over the years and we haven't found any," said Stageberg. "We've done a recent review of how long people stay in prison and looked at that by race and essentially we've found for releases in fiscal 2006, that there really wasn't any significant difference in the length of time served by black and white inmates."
Stageberg said that the disproportionately high black arrest rates in Iowa are likely linked to high poverty rates among blacks and lower educational achievement.
"If you look at blacks in the prison system, on average they are less well educated than whites in the prison system," Stageberg said. "If you look at rates of poverty, blacks have higher rates of poverty than whites, so these things contribute to criminal activity."
Nationally, the report finds that blacks are incarcerated at 5.6 times the rate of whites. Hispanics are nearly double the white rate at 1.8 times.
States in the Northeast and Midwest have the greatest black-to-white disparity in incarceration, the report's authors said.
Second behind Iowa is Vermont with a ratio of 12.5, followed by New Jersey with 12.4 and Connecticut with 12.
States with the lowest black-to-white ratio are Hawaii, with 1.9, Georgia with 3.3 and Mississippi with 3.5.
In Iowa, Vermont, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Wisconsin blacks are incarcerated at more than 10 times the rate of whites, the group said.
"Racial disparities in incarceration reflect a failure of social and economic interventions to address crime effectively and also indicate racial bias in the justice system," stated Marc Mauer, the group's executive director.
The group made several recommendations to public policy makers:
--Revisit the domestic drug control strategy, including recalibrating sentencing laws, such as the federal cocaine statutes which result in disproportionate numbers of low-level offenders being prosecuted.
--Revisit mandatory minimum sentencing and restore judicial discretion to incorporate individual circumstances in the sentencing decision.
--Set standards for indigent defense that ensure quality representation for all defendants.
--Mandate that all legislation affecting the prison population be accompanied by a racial impact statement.
The issue is not new to Iowa officials.
In 1999, Gov. Tom Vilsack appointed a task force to study the high rate of black incarcerations. The task force released a report in 2001 that said 24 percent of Iowa prison beds were occupied by black inmates even though blacks comprised just over 2 percent of the state's total population.
The group found then that in 1999 the median incarceration rate for blacks in Iowa was 2,950 per every 100,000 people while the median incarceration rate for whites was 188 per every 100,000 people.
Among the Iowans appointed to the task force was Rep. Wayne Ford, D-Des Moines, at the time Iowa's only black lawmaker.
Ford said the state had few financial resources to deal with the problem when the report was done and may be in a better position now. However, Ford makes it clear he believes it's not just state government's problem to solve.
"It's going to take the corporate communities and rural and urban people working together. It will take all of us," he said.
Among the primary contributors is the lack of substance abuse treatment and job training, Ford said.
"It's hard for many black Iowans to get treatment," he said.
Ford said job training for minorities and ex-offenders is critical.
"If we don't slow down the recidivism rate, you will be covering this story every year until hell freezes over," Ford said.
Stageberg said Gov. Chet Culver reconvened the 1999 task force to get at the root cause of the problem.
"We've got new direction and new commitment from Gov. Culver and we're going to spend serious time on this issue," he said.
The group has met twice this year and is expected to provide recommendations to Culver by Aug. 1.
Story Comments
Read More and Post Comments 9 comment(s)
Please note: The following are comments from readers. In no way do they represent the views of The Sioux City Journal or Lee Enterprises. We will not edit or alter your comments, but we do reserve the right to not post or to remove comments that violate our code of conduct. No comment may contain potentially libelous statements; obscene, explicit or racist language; personal attacks, insults or threats. Terms of Service
Justice wrote on Aug 23, 2008 7:31 PM:
Bozo wrote on Jul 23, 2007 6:41 PM:
Darnell wrote on Jul 22, 2007 3:59 PM:
fluffy wrote on Jul 18, 2007 11:28 PM:
UncleBuck wrote on Jul 18, 2007 6:08 PM: