- Mar 11, 2015
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In the real world, systemic racism exists against blacks.
Black people in the U.S. are seven times more likely to be falsely convicted of a serious crime like murder than white people, according to a new report published Tuesday by the National Registry of Exonerations. The finding is based on an analysis of exonerations for serious crimes in the U.S. over the last four decades, which found that Black people make up less than 14% of the U.S. population but account for 53% of exonerations in the country.
In addition to dramatic disparities across racial groups in false convictions, the report finds that innocent Black people also spend a significantly longer time in prison before exoneration than white people, with many spending in excess of 20, 30 or 40 years in prison for crimes they did not commit
When the false convictions are drilled down into categories, a staggering 69% of drug conviction exonerees are Black, compared with just 16% who are white. That means that despite studies showing that Black and white people use drugs at similar rates, innocent Black people are 19 times more likely to be convicted of drug crimes than innocent white people. And a lot of this, the report says, is up to the discretion of law enforcement.
“Because drug crimes are almost never reported to police, the police choose who to pursue for drug offenses — and they choose to stop, search and arrest Black people several times more often than whites,” the report says. “That’s racial profiling. One of its deplorable consequences is drug crime convictions of innocent Black defendants.”
In sexual assault cases, the report notes, Black people are nearly eight times more likely than white people to be falsely convicted of rape, mainly because of higher misidentification of Black suspects by white victims.
Black people in the U.S. are seven times more likely to be falsely convicted of a serious crime like murder than white people, according to a new report published Tuesday by the National Registry of Exonerations. The finding is based on an analysis of exonerations for serious crimes in the U.S. over the last four decades, which found that Black people make up less than 14% of the U.S. population but account for 53% of exonerations in the country.
In addition to dramatic disparities across racial groups in false convictions, the report finds that innocent Black people also spend a significantly longer time in prison before exoneration than white people, with many spending in excess of 20, 30 or 40 years in prison for crimes they did not commit
When the false convictions are drilled down into categories, a staggering 69% of drug conviction exonerees are Black, compared with just 16% who are white. That means that despite studies showing that Black and white people use drugs at similar rates, innocent Black people are 19 times more likely to be convicted of drug crimes than innocent white people. And a lot of this, the report says, is up to the discretion of law enforcement.
“Because drug crimes are almost never reported to police, the police choose who to pursue for drug offenses — and they choose to stop, search and arrest Black people several times more often than whites,” the report says. “That’s racial profiling. One of its deplorable consequences is drug crime convictions of innocent Black defendants.”
In sexual assault cases, the report notes, Black people are nearly eight times more likely than white people to be falsely convicted of rape, mainly because of higher misidentification of Black suspects by white victims.
MSN
www.msn.com