Criminal Justice Facts

1. Of the 2.1 million inmates today, 91,000 are African-Americans. Blacks make up 43% of the state and federal prison populations but only 12.3% of the U.S. population. Latinos constitutes 12.6% of the country’s population, and yet they are 18.3% of the prison population. Whites account for 69% of the U.S. population and 34.7% of those incarcerated.
2. 1.4 million African-Americans men, or 13%, have currently or permanently lost their right to vote as a result of a felony conviction – seven times the national average.
3. Black women born today are five times more likely to go to prison in their lifetimes than Black women born in 1974.
4. Nationwide, young Black offenders are more than twice as likely to be transferred to adult court as their White counterparts.

From the book Covenant with Black America.