Black Men Given Longer Prison Sentences Than White Men

On average, black men are given prison sentences 20 percent longer than those imposed upon white men committing similar crimes. The data, in a report by the U.S. Sentencing Commission, also finds that black men were 25 percent less likely than whites to receive a sentence below the sentencing guidelines. Another analysis of the data that excluded sentences of probation found a similar pattern, albeit with a less exaggerated difference. That study found that black men were given sentences 14.5 percent longer than whites. The findings show that the racial divide in sentencing has widened since the 2005 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in U.S. v. Booker, in which a 1984 law requiring judges to impose sentences within sentencing guidelines was struck down. The report’s recommendations include advising federal judges to give sentencing guidelines more weight, and advising appeals courts to give more scrutiny to sentences outside those guidelines.