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U.S. Sentencing Commission Report: Racial Disparities Persist
Loaded on April 2, 2018
by Derek Gilna
published in Prison Legal News
April, 2018, page 58
Filed under:
Racial Discrimination,
Statistics/Trends,
U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.
Location:
United States of America.
by Derek Gilna
In a November 2017 report, the U.S. Sentencing Commission (USSC) found that despite the avowed purpose of the federal sentencing guidelines to promote sentencing uniformity across geographic and socio-economic lines, black defendants continue to receive longer sentences for similar offenses than whites. The report controlled for factors …
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More from this issue:
- America’s Toxic Prisons: The Environmental Injustices of Mass Incarceration, by Candice Bernd, Zoe Loftus-Farren, Maureen Nandini Mitra
- Ohio: Almost $3 Million Settlement in Suit Brought by Two Wrongfully Convicted Men, by Matthew Clarke
- $49,500 Settlement in Excessive Force Claim at Sacramento County Jail
- Inspector General Finds Substandard Conditions at California Jail Used by ICE, by Matthew Clarke
- Despite Class-action Settlement, Mental Healthcare Problems at CA Jail Persist, by Derek Gilna
- U.S. Sentencing Commission Report: Racial Disparities Persist, by Derek Gilna
- $415,000 Settlement in Lawsuit Over Tasered Prisoner Who Died in Texas Jail
- Filing Date of Operative Complaint Dictates if PLRA Exhaustion Applies
- Alaska Prisoners Stripped, Paraded on “Dog Leashes,” Held Naked for 12 Hours, by Christopher Zoukis
- Private Prison Forced to Produce Solitary Confinement Records
- Securus Fined $1.7 Million for Providing Inaccurate Information, FCC Approves Company Transfer Anyway, by Christopher Zoukis
- Rash of North Carolina Jail Deaths Due to Lack of Supervision and Medical Care, by David Reutter
- Prisoners in Kenya and New Zealand, Unlike Counterparts in U.S., Win Right to Vote, by Derek Gilna
- New Policies for Federal and State Prisoners Guarantee Feminine Hygiene Products, by Derek Gilna
- Twenty-six Indicted After Gang Investigation, Including Two Prison Guards, by Monte McCoin
- Idaho DOC Agrees to Provide Kosher Meals, Pay $93,000 Settlement
- Florida KKK Guards Convicted in Plot to Kill Former Prisoner
- Texas County Settles Suit Over Jail Prisoner’s Death for $250,000, by Matthew Clarke
- Innovative Use of Peanut Butter by Alabama Prisoners, by David Reutter
- New York to Spend $7.3 Million on College Programs for Prisoners, by Christopher Zoukis
- California: Protest Over Bay Area Jail Conditions, by Dale Chappell
- Tablets and E-messaging Services Expand in Prisons and Jails, as do Fees, by Matthew Clarke, Edward Lyon
- Challenge to Three-drug Execution Protocol Revived by Eleventh Circuit, by David Reutter
- Fifth Circuit: Strip Searches Due to Security Concerns Not Unconstitutional
- Alabama Supreme Court Holds Miller Entitled to Retroactivity
- Oregon Jailer Facing Sex Charges Improperly Denied Insanity Defense
- Indiana Prisoner Entitled to Kosher Meals Under RLUIPA
- Deadly Prison Riot in Delaware: 18 Prisoners Indicted, Slain Guard’s Widow Settles Suit for $7.55 Million, by Derek Gilna
- Maine: Court Does Not Need Jurisdiction Over Prisoner to Issue Order to Protect Child
- Missouri: $75,000 Settlement for Detainee’s Death Due to Untreated Ulcer
- Global Tel*Link Settles Mississippi Prison Bribery Case for $2.5 Million, by Christopher Zoukis
- New Mexico Prisoner Obtains Court Order to Allow Breastfeeding
- Colorado Federal Jury Awards $50,000 to Prisoner Assaulted by Deputy in Court, by Matthew Clarke
- Louisiana Prison Officials Sued for Trying to Block Investigation into Abuse of Disabled Prisoners, by David Reutter
- Ninth Circuit Reverses Dismissal of Deaf Former Prisoner’s ADA Claims
- Prisons and Jails Impose More Restrictions on Mail, Visits to Curtail Contraband, by Matthew Clarke
- California Prisoners File Class-action Suit Seeking Hepatitis C Treatment, by Greg Dober
- Colorado: Defendants Settle After Death of Prisoner Denied Medical Treatment, by Matthew Clarke
- Ashes to Ashes: In Illinois, the Erasure of Incarcerated People Continues After Death, by Sybil Drew
- As Wyoming State Penitentiary Falls Apart, Officials Rush Repairs, by Christopher Zoukis
- Fifth Circuit: Louisiana Must Allow Prisoner to Wear Dreadlocks, by Matthew Clarke
- What’s Hidden Behind the Walls of America’s Prisons, by Heather Ann Thompson
- New York: Former Rikers Guard Gets 30 Years for Civil Rights Violations, Conspiracy, by Monte McCoin
- California: Mentally Ill Jail Prisoner Dies after Two Days in Restraint Chair; $5 Million Settlement, by Christopher Zoukis
- Prison Administrators and Criminology Students Study Radical New Approach: Treat Prisoners Like Human Beings, by Christopher Zoukis
- California Supreme Court Upholds Death Penalty Reform Law, by Christopher Zoukis
- Corruption Among Prison Guards in North Carolina Spurred by Low Pay, by David Reutter
- Tennessee Sheriff Offered “Church Release” to Prisoners, by Christopher Zoukis
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- Florida Supreme Court Approves Use of Hypnotic Drug for Executions
- News in Brief
More from Derek Gilna:
- Federal Judge in Louisiana Issues Sweeping Opinion Finding Numerous Eighth Amendment, ADA and RA Violations at Angola, April 1, 2022
- Human Rights Defense Center Prevails in Censorship Lawsuit Against Napa County Jail, California, Sept. 1, 2021
- California State Auditor’s Report Faults Counties for Waste and Poor Oversight of State Funds Used in “Public Safety Realignment”, Sept. 1, 2021
- The Fight Over Cellphones in Prisons Rages On, Sept. 1, 2021
- District Court Extends Armstrong Order to Five Additional California Prisons, Sept. 1, 2021
- HRDC Settles Censorship Lawsuit with Johnson County, Kansas Jail for $50,000 and Policy Changes, Aug. 1, 2021
- Virginia Prosecutors to Dismiss 400 Drug Convictions Tied to Disgraced Cop, July 15, 2021
- Discredited New York Police Detective’s False Testimony Causes the Dismissal of Close to 100 Drug Convictions, June 15, 2021
- D.C. Department of Forensic Sciences Firearms Examination Unit Under Fire, April 15, 2021
- Mississippi Joins Illinois and Few Other States Prioritizing Vaccination of State Prisoners to Slow Spread of COVID-19, April 1, 2021
More from these topics:
- $6.75 Million Settlement Reached in Suit Accusing Massachusetts Guards of Retaliatory Assaults on Prisoners, Aug. 1, 2025. Racial Discrimination, Retaliation, Guard Brutality/Beatings.
- Multiple Prisoner Suits Accuse Guards of Violence at Virginia BOP Lockup, Aug. 1, 2025. Racial Discrimination, False Charges (Disciplinary Hearings), Guard Brutality/Beatings, Restraints, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Discrimination (Transgender).
- Prison Gerrymandering Alive and Well in Oklahoma, Aug. 1, 2025. Racial Discrimination, Census.
- U.S. Sentencing Commission Adopts 2025 Amendments to Resolve Circuit Conflicts, Aug. 1, 2025. U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Criminal History, Arrest/Arraignment, Sentence Enhancements/Departures.
- Summary of the 2025 Drug Offenses Amendment by the U.S. Sentencing Commission, Aug. 1, 2025. U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Methamphetamine, Drug Mule, Machine Guns, Safety Valve.
- Third Circuit Rejects U.S. Sentencing Commission Amended Compassionate Release Policy, July 15, 2025. U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Compassionate Release.
- Fourth Circuit: A Finding of Offering Money to Minor for Videos Depicting Specific Conduct Without Establishing Order of Events Insufficient to Establish Offer ‘Caused’ Minor to Produce Explicit Material Within Meaning of Guidelines § 2G2.2(c)(1) Cros, July 1, 2025. U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Applicable Guidelines Issues.
- Class Incarceration Has Become a Prominent Factor in Mass Incarceration, July 1, 2025. Racial Discrimination, Racial Profiling, Racial/Ethnic Bias/Profiling, Bias/Discrimination, Police Bias, Disproportionality.
- First Circuit Announces What Constitutes ‘Otherwise Using’ a Dangerous Weapon for Purposes of the Four-Level Enhancement Under Guidelines § 2B3.1(a), May 15, 2025. U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Probation, Sentence Enhancements/Departures.
- ACLU Sues BOP Over Failure to Implement First Step Act Release Credits, May 1, 2025. U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, First Step Act, Bureau of Prisons (BOP).

