Black inmates now constitute roughly 38% of the nearly 2.2 million people incarcerated in U.S. prisons and jails Bureau of justice statistics [BJS], 2007), where they are overrepresented relative to other populations. For instance, there are 3,042 black male inmates per 100,000 black males in the United States, compared to 1,261 Hispanic male inmates per 100,000 Hispanic males, and 487 white male inmates per 100,000 white males (BJS, 2007). Today, black defendants serve as much time in federal prison for drug offenses as white defendants serve for violent offenses-a result largely attributed...

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