some states stays with a felony conviction all serve to reinforce the disparity

some states, stays with a felony conviction), all serve to reinforce the disparity in treatment of racial and ethnic minorities by the criminal justice system. Physical and sexual victimization in prisons varies by type of victimization and by race and ethnicity, though the total amount of such victimization appears to be similar for these groups. The numbers of racial and ethnic minorities working in corrections has increased substantially over the years, and for African Americans, at least, it appears that they mirror their numbers in the community in a number of jurisdictions. Minorities and Corrections Chapter 12 1 1 Introduction •Race and ethnicity has shaped law and practice from beginning •At writing and ratification of Constitution, full citizenship denied to those not White

•Historically agencies treated people differently based on race and ethnicity •Minorities more likely to be incarcerated in some parts of country •Sometimes segregated into separate institutions or sections of institutions Defining Race, Ethnicity, Disparity, and Discrimination •Race –Based on biology –As racial distinctions developed, there has been much intermingling •Ethnicity –May be made up of several races and have diverse national heritage –Different ethnicity examples •Disparity –Can happen in many organizations and entities •Discrimination

–Often linked in law to classes of people distinguished by race, ethnicity, gender, age, disability, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, and income Defining Race, Ethnicity, Disparity, and Discrimination A Legacy of Racism •Racism defined •Legacy runs long and deep in United States •Sometimes term applied when one ethnic group holds discriminatory attitudes or beliefs •Legacy has affected, and continues to affect, their operation African Americans •Slavery practiced almost from settling of U.S. –Lucrative business •Correctional institutions in South following civil war devised to maintain slavery system –Sometimes segregated from White prisoners in Northern and Midwestern prisons •Lynchings of Black men practiced in many states and communities following Civil War

The Scottsboro Case •Powell v. Alabama (1932) •Facts of case and ruling •Case exemplified racist attitudes of communities and how they were translated into discriminatory practices by criminal justice entities African Americans •Ku Klux Klan –Reinforced culture of fear –Avowed purpose was to target and persecute –Membership widespread •Little doubt institutional racism existed up until Civil Rights movement and implementation of law and practices reducing racism –In correctional institutions oNot until movement morphed into Prisoners Rights Movement in jails and prisons

Native Americans or American Indians •Term designation •Also been victims of racism in this country •Reportedly 20 million living in North America at time of Columbus’ landing –Populations decimated within few short decades by disease, wars, and massacres