The Mifflin Street Block Party isn’t the only reason why arrest statistics were making the news recently. The Sentencing Project and Human Rights Watch, two non-governmental organizations, released independent studies this week lambasting Wisconsin as the state with the highest racial disparity in incarceration rates. University of Wisconsin sociology professor Pam Oliver reported that in 1996, African-Americans were 218 times more likely to be locked up for a drug offense compared to a white offender. 218! It begs the question: Why is there this disproportion in imprisonment?

The easy explanation would be minorities simply commit more crimes than whites. But it’s also the wrong answer. The Wisconsin Sentencing Commission concluded in 2004 that differential treatment accounts for up to 60 percent of the racial disparity in the criminal justice system. And it just so happens that we in Wisconsin are the best at being the worst in this area. Ms. Oliver wrote in a 2001 Wisconsin State Journal column that blacks are 13 times as likely to be incarcerated in this state. These facts are indicative of underlying problems of inequality and, well, racism. The process is not necessarily intentionally so, but the implementation of “justice” in our system is effectually and inherently racist.

At every step, the cards are stacked against people of color. Racial profiling and bias in arrests. Sentencing inconsistencies on the part of judges. Parole decisions. The statistics are particularly scary when it comes to the “war on drugs,” as the Dane County numbers show. But hey, we’re making progress. As of 2007, Dane County had racial disparities in incarcerating drug offenders of only 97-to-1!

I’m not a statistician, but I’m pretty sure 97-to-1 is still significant — and still a travesty.

President Nixon’s war on drugs was well-intentioned, but it has amplified and exacerbated existing racial disparities. It contributes to inequities while providing little in actual results. Sure, the arrests for drug-related crimes have increased since 1980. But the arrest rate has increased 225 percent for blacks, compared to 70 percent for whites. Yet whites are the majority of drug offenders, according to Human Rights Watch. The Wisconsin Sentencing Commission found 61 percent of Hispanics and 60 percent of African-Americans charged with va crime were imprisoned for a mid-level drug offense, compared to just 30 percent of whites committing similar crimes.

Even to a casual observer, the numbers just don’t make sense. There shouldn’t be these stark racial incongruencies in incarceration rates — but there are. Why?

One cause of the racial disparity is the sentencing guidelines for drug offenses. Crack is more prevalent than cocaine in lower-income, minority communities. Selling five grams of crack gets you a five-year, federally mandated minimum sentence. But you have to sell 500 grams of cocaine (the same thing as crack except powdered and present in more affluent neighborhoods) to get that same five-year punishment.

Now, I’m sure the government didn’t set out and say, “Hey, let’s target minorities with this rule.” However, its effects are basically doing the talking for them. The process itself is flawed.

And personal bias does play into the equation, although we all may wish it didn’t. Darrell Steffensmeier, a sociologist at Pennsylvania State University, found that young black males are sentenced more harshly than any other group. Intentionally or unintentionally, judicial discretion in sentencing has only amplified the existing racial disparity in our criminal justice system.

All the blame cannot be placed on the system or the individuals within it, though. One generation in jail, the next generation disadvantaged and the next one turning to crime because there is no other option. An oversimplification of the problem, yes, but it illustrates the importance of immediate reform. As Ms. Oliver put it, racial disparity in the justice system is merely a symptom, not the diagnosis.

Obviously, education and economic growth are key to halting this cycle of crime — in any population, not just in specific ethnic groups. And rehabilitation will ease the burden on our taxed corrections system. We should shift the focus away from a “war on drugs” and toward treatment and prevention. Judges should explore alternative sentencing options for nonviolent offenders.

The corrections system must seriously consider where the problems start. Where does the

racial disparity begin? Is it when an officer decides to arrest or not to arrest? When the district attorney files charges or doesn’t? When the judge or jury recommends a sentence? When the offender is up for parole?

We have to ask where the disparities start before we are able to answer where they will end. Until we do, our corrections program will continue to be a criminal “injustice” system.

Suchita Shah ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in neurobiology and will always be a Badger. On Wisconsin!