Pubdate: Tue, 04 Dec 2007
Source: Orlando Sentinel (FL)
Copyright: 2007 Orlando Sentinel
Contact:  http://www.orlandosentinel.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/325
Note: Rarely prints out-of-state LTEs.
Author: Willoughby Mariano
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/racial.htm (Racial Issues)

BLACKS ARE SENT TO PRISON AT HIGHER RATES THAN WHITES AFTER 
CONVICTIONS IN DRUG CASES

National Drug-Case Statistics Are Mirrored In Central Florida Counties.

A report by a criminal-justice think tank shows that blacks are more 
likely than whites to be imprisoned for a drug offense in 97 percent 
of the nation's largest counties.

Central Florida is no exception, according to the report, which was 
released today by the Justice Policy Institute. These disparities 
exist despite the fact that whites and blacks use, sell and transport 
illegal drugs at roughly the same rate, the report said.

According to the report, the largest racial disparity in Central 
Florida is in Volusia, where blacks are 22 times more likely to be 
imprisoned than whites. But the two counties with the highest 
percentage of black residents -- Polk and Orange -- had the lowest 
disparity in incarceration rates. In Polk County, blacks were just 
four times more likely than whites to be imprisoned on drug charges, 
and in Orange, they were 10 times more likely to be locked up.

The report does not accuse law-enforcement agencies of targeting 
blacks but says that the disparity should pressure policymakers to 
reconsider how drug policy and policing affect communities.

"This report speaks to, what do we want to look for? Drugs all the 
time or violent crime?" said Jason Ziedenberg, executive director of 
the Washington, D.C.-based group, whose goal is to reduce the 
country's dependence on incarceration.

But drawing a distinction between policing against violent crime and 
drug violations is easier said than done, especially in Orlando and 
unincorporated Orange County, which both broke murder records in 
2006, law-enforcement officials said.

Drugs linked to crimes

Open-air drug sales spawn violence, as drug dealers use guns to 
settle disputes over unpaid bills and the quality of their goods, 
experts said. Drug addicts commit robberies to fund their lifestyles. 
Neighborhoods bearing the brunt of the violence are often poor, and 
many are predominantly black.

Arrests for drug offenses can keep those kinds of neighborhoods 
safer, said Gary Hester, chief of staff for the Polk County Sheriff's Office.

"My belief is -- especially in drug cases -- if you allow drug crimes 
and you don't enforce drug laws, your neighborhood deteriorates," Hester said.

It's well-accepted in criminal-justice circles that blacks have been 
disproportionately affected by tougher drug laws and enforcement 
efforts, said Elizabeth E. Mustaine, an associate professor at the 
University of Central Florida.

Sentences doled out to blacks tend to be longer, even if blacks are 
convicted of the same crime as a white person, Mustaine said. But 
addressing this problem is difficult in a political climate where 
voters like candidates who are tough on crime.

"There doesn't seem to be a lot of effort to do anything about it," 
Mustaine said.

The report did not include arrest comparisons by race, but Ziedenberg 
said arrest data shows similar disparities.

The Justice Policy Institute began its research after policymakers 
began looking for more cost-effective ways of handling the drug 
problem, Ziedenberg said. The study looks at counties across the 
United States with populations above 250,000.

San Francisco tops scale

The counties with the greatest racial disparities are outside Central 
Florida. San Francisco has the highest imprisonment rate for blacks, 
with 1,013.9 per 100,000 in the population being incarcerated for 
drug offenses. In Orange County, the rate is 173.3 per 100,000.

Nationwide, more than twice as many blacks as whites were sent to 
prison for drug offenses in the counties studied, even though white 
drug users outnumber black users, the study states.

The institute recommends that local agencies collect data to assess 
whether they're imprisoning a representative cross-section of drug 
users. It also advocates for making more drug-treatment services 
available to minorities.

Local officials stress that the reasons behind the disparities are complex.

"Certainly our policy is, there is no profiling," said Sgt. Barbara 
Jones, an Orlando police spokeswoman. "We look at crime stats; we 
look at trends."

What law-enforcement agencies do focus on is crime hot spots. Agency 
crime statisticians identify areas where robberies, murders or other 
crimes are taking place regularly so officers on patrol can focus on them.

Easy arrests in the street

In many of those neighborhoods, enclaves often isolated by race and 
poverty, drugs are sold on the street -- and it's far easier to 
arrest someone dealing drugs openly than a person selling inside 
their home, said Randy Means, executive director of the 
Orange-Osceola State Attorney's Office.

Prosecutors decide to charge arrestees based solely upon whether they 
have enough evidence, Means said. After that, the suspect's criminal 
history often determines what happens next, said John Tanner, state 
attorney for the 7th Judicial Circuit, which includes Volusia, 
Flagler, Putnam and St. Johns counties. First-time offenders can 
qualify for a program that diverts them to treatment.

"Our first approach is to try to help them stop," Tanner said. "Just 
putting drug users in jail doesn't work. It's not good for the 
community, and it doesn't stop the behavior."

Repeat offenders punished

Wayne Holmes, chief assistant state attorney in Brevard County, where 
blacks are sent to prison at 21 times the rate of whites, said his 
office doesn't prosecute black drug offenders more harshly than white 
drug offenders, but it does punish repeat criminals more harshly than 
first-timers.

The thought of so many blacks being caught up in the criminal-justice 
system for drug offenses is upsetting, he said.

"Do I wish it was not a situation where many black kids are getting 
tied up in the criminal-justice system and before they know it, 
they're so involved in repeated crimes that they're . . . throwing 
away their lives? I hate that," he said.

"I hate to see any kid not have opportunity. I hate to see any kid 
throw his life away."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom