SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER

Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.

* indicates required
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
The Progressive

NewsWire

A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release
Contact:

Morgan McLeod, mmcleod@sentencingproject.org

One Year After George Floyd's Murder: The Fight for Racial Justice Continues

It's been a year since George Floyd was killed at the hands of police violence, sparking a critical nationwide reckoning on racial justice in America.

Policing is just one of many stages of the legal system in which Black Americans are disadvantaged relative to white Americans. The Sentencing Project's three decades of research on racial disparities finds that:

WASHINGTON

It's been a year since George Floyd was killed at the hands of police violence, sparking a critical nationwide reckoning on racial justice in America.

Policing is just one of many stages of the legal system in which Black Americans are disadvantaged relative to white Americans. The Sentencing Project's three decades of research on racial disparities finds that:

  • Black youth are 5X more likely to be incarcerated than white youth
  • Black Americans are incarcerated in state prisons at 5X the rate of whites
  • Black women are nearly twice as likely to be imprisoned as white women
  • One in 5 Black men in prison today is serving a life sentence
  • One in 16 Black adults cannot vote because of a felony conviction, compared to 1 in every 59 non-Black voters

"The over-policing, overcharging, and over-incarceration of people of color, especially Black Americans, causes great harm to all Americans," stated Amy Fettig, Executive Director of The Sentencing Project. "To achieve racial justice, we must transform the entire criminal legal system to focus on humanity, rehabilitation, prevention and public safety for all - not just a privileged few."

The Sentencing Project is a leader in changing the way Americans think about crime and punishment. The Sentencing Project promotes effective and humane responses to crime that minimize imprisonment and criminalization of youth and adults by promoting racial, ethnic, economic, and gender justice.

(202) 628-0871