NEWS

July 19, 2007
Make prison rates of blacks a top priority
Iowa still leader in troubling disparity

Ten years ago, a national study by a prison-sentencing research organization revealed that Iowa had the second-highest ratio of blacks in prison compared to whites. A report released by the organization this week showed that nothing has changed. Iowa is still No. 2, right behind the District of Columbia.

Iowa state officials have known about this troubling disparity for two decades, at least, and it has taken steps to deal with it. Clearly, as the latest figures released by the Sentencing Project show, Iowa still has much work to do.

The first step is to answer the question: Why should we care about the fact that, proportionally, 13 times as many blacks are in Iowa prisons and jails as whites? Apart from the fundamental reason that the justice system must work fairly and equitably from top to bottom for all classes and races of Americans, the simple fact that a hugely disproportionate percentage of blacks spend time in jail, prison or both has a devastating impact on black families and communities. Of course we should care.

Finding solutions to this problem must begin with assessing the reasons for it in the first place. They have never been satisfactorily explained, either nationally or for Iowa. Rates of the crimes that lead to jail and prison are higher in some African-American communities compared with others. There are social, educational and economic explanations for that. Some of it might be explained by the fact that whites defendants generally have better access to family and community resources that help them avoid jail or prison.

But none of that explains why Iowa's incarceration rate for blacks compared to whites is twice the national average. Some of it may be explained by statistical flukes, including the fact that Iowa puts a far smaller percentage of people in prison overall than most other states: Iowa ranks 35th in the nation in the rate of whites in jails and prisons. Still, it has the third-highest black incarceration rate in the nation.

One factor that has to be considered is that Iowa's legal profession is overwhelmingly white, which is reflected in the fact that there are just five black judges or magistrates in the state among Iowa's 341 judges.

It would be unfair to draw the conclusion that Iowa's criminal-justice system is racist, but race is a factor: An Iowa Supreme Court task force on equality in the courts created in 1993 reported that a significant number of judges and lawyers surveyed thought minority defendants were at a disadvantage. While "discrimination is not blatant in Iowa courts," the report said, "from the point of view of a victim of such discrimination it no doubt appears to be, and is, inexcusable."

Iowa has taken the first step in recognizing it has a problem: It has been working to identify the causes and potential solutions. The next step in that process will occur later this summer, when a task force appointed by Gov. Chet Culver reports findings and recommendations that he will include in his legislative package for 2008. It should be a top priority.

According to the Sentencing Project, if the current incarceration rates continue nationally, "one in three black males born today can expect to spend time in prison during his lifetime. Given the devastating impact that a prison record can have on future employment opportunities alone, this means it will be increasingly harder for African-Americans to fully participate in mainstream society and the American economy.

Such radical economic and social disparity is bad for communities and for the nation as a whole.

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