Racial Discrimination in Pennsylvania Justice System Most Apparent with Drug Offenses

August 2, 2000

University Park, Pa. — African-Americans in Pennsylvania who are arrested on drug charges may be more likely to experience discrimination in the justice system than those arrested for murder, rape and robbery, according to Penn State researchers.

"We base our conclusions on comparisons of arrests with commitments to state prisons during the period 1991-95," says Dr. Roy L. Austin, associate professor of sociology, justice and African-American studies. 'The crimes in question were murder, manslaughter by negligence, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, theft, arson, other assaults and drug violations."

In the case of drug offenses, 11,686 White Americans were arrested in Pennsylvania in 1991, as opposed to 12,115 non White Americans (largely African-American). However, the number of White Americans sentenced to prison for drug-related crimes was 373 compared with 1,484 non-White Americans, according to Austin.

"The situation was quite different in the case of murder," he adds. "In 1991, the number of Whites arrested for homicide in Pennsylvania was 269, of whom 112 were sentenced to prison. The number of non-Whites arrested for murder was 457, of whom 329 received prison sentences. In that same year, the number of Whites arrested for rape was 854, of whom 118 were sent to prison. The corresponding figures for non-Whites were 797 and 111."

The researchers first calculated the ratio of arrests for Whites vis-a-vis non-Whites, then compared that with the ratio of commitments for Whites vis-a-vis non-Whites. In that way, they could determine the percentage of commitments traceable to the ratio between minority arrests and White arrests for the same offense.

For instance, non-Whites and Whites arrested for rape were sentenced at an approximate ratio of 1 to 1, with the courts being slightly more inclined to sentence Whites. On the other hand, non-Whites and Whites arrested for drug violations were sentenced at an approximate ratio of 4 to 1.

In other words, Black sentencing for drug offenses could be explained on the basis of White vis-a-vis non-White arrest rates only 26 percent of the time. The other 74 percent of the sentences were affected by other factors, apparently including racial discrimination on the part of judge or jury or prosecutor, Austin notes.

"These findings suggest that the war on drugs has contributed disproportionately and unjustly to the rapid increase in Black imprisonment," says Austin.

"The federal Anti-Drug Abuse Acts of 1986 and 1988 and their enforcement suggest that Blacks in the early 1990s were viewed as the primary villains in connection with drug law violations," Austin notes. "In the government war on drugs, Black communities were specifically targeted for drug law enforcement."

Furthermore, legislators have tended to impose harsher sentences in regard to crack cocaine offenses, which are largely associated with African-Americans. Possession and delivery of powdered cocaine, which occur more commonly among Whites, are punished less severely, Austin adds.

Austin and co-researcher Mark D. Allen, a police officer with Penn State University Safety who conducted the research as part of his undergraduate honors thesis, published their findings in "Racial Disparity in Arrest Rates as an Explanation of Racial Disparity in Commitment to Pennsylvania's Prisons," in the May issue of the Journal Of Research In Crime And Delinquency.

"Sentencing reformers expected sentencing guidelines to reduce judicial discretion and racial discrimination in the justice system," Austin says. "But Pennsylvania's guidelines have not eliminated all sentencing discretion; and legal authorities exercise discretion over precharging and other decisions not affected by the guidelines."

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EDITORS: Dr. Austin is at (814) 238-4463 or at by email.

Contacts:

Paul Blaum (814) 865-9481 (o)

Vicki Fong (814) 865-9481 (o)/ (814) 238-1221 (h)