Texas Prison System: Incarceration Rates by Race - Essay Sample

Introduction

The prison system in Texas is under the criminal system department, which is run by nine board members chosen by the governor (Champagne et al. 458). The incarceration rate in Texas in 891 per 100,000 individuals. The number of individuals behind bars in Texas is 250,000 (Nelis 5). Five thousand seven hundred are in juvenile prison, 27,000 in federal prisons, 55,000 in local jails while 163,000 are locked up in state prisons. In Texas, blacks are incarcerated the most, followed by Hispanics and whites. The number of blacks, Hispanics and whites incarcerated in Texas is 2,855, 972 and 768, respectively per 100,000 people (Nelis 5). The Texas criminal justice system consists of involuntary commitment, federal prisons, local jails, parole, state prison and probation.

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The Racial/Ethnic Makeup of the Prison Population in Texas

African Americans in Texas are overrepresented in prison compared to the other racial/ethnic groups. Whites, Latino and African Americans make up 43%, 39% and 13% of the general population (Champagne et al. 459). However, in prison, African Americans represent the majority of the population, followed by the Latinos and then the whites. African Americans, Latinos and whites make up 34%, 34% and 32% of the prison population (Champagne et al. 459). The situation is also identical in the number of individuals under the death row. The percentage of African Americans, Latinos and whites under the death row is 44%, 26% and 28%, respectively (Champagne et al. 459). Based on the numbers highlighted above, it is evident that the number of African Americans is disproportionately high despite being the minority in the state.

The decision-making process drives the overrepresentation of the minority racial/ethnic groups in Texas by the justice system, poverty, unemployment rates, education distribution and criminal history (Nelis 9). Various policies have been adopted by the state to utilize imprisonment much more to counter various felonies. Such policies include the implementation of extreme drug laws that affect minorities much more compared to whites. For example, it has been proven that African Americans are more likely to be arrested four times more than whites for drug-related cases. However, research indicates that drug consumption among African Americans and the Whites is almost the same despite the difference in arrest and convictions made by the criminal justice system. The police more often target African Americans in the stop, question and frisk policy compared to the whites furthering the disparity in the number of arrests made. Due to low-income by African Americans in Texas compared to the whites, they are more likely to be subjected to pre-trial detention, which is linked to longer prison terms.

The disparity between African Americans and whites is also enhanced by the perceptions attached to individuals of different races/ethnic. For example, African American people are believed to be more dangerous to the public than whites (Nelis 10). Decision-makers with such perception make decisions that are biased and affect African Americans negatively.

Social factors like poverty, unemployment rates and low education distribution by African Americans result in higher crime rates. African Americans reside in neighbourhoods with high crime rates, while whites reside in high advantaged communities. The structural disadvantage makes it more likely for African Americans to be arrested than whites.

Incarceration Rates and Death Penalty Usage in Different Regions of the Country

In the US, the regions with the highest incarceration rates and death penalty usage are the South, Midwest, West and Northeast, respectively (Champagne et al. 465). The number of executions in the South, Midwest, West and Northeast since 1976 are 1242, 187, 85 and 4, respectively (Death Penalty Information Center).

The high number of incarcerations and executions in the south is due to the politicization of the crime issue by the republicans who associated African Americans to crime to attract white voters who were mainly the working class (Nelis 11). The rise in crime rate and the reduction in economic opportunities due to the surge of marginalized groups created nervousness among the whites. Republicans took advantage of the situation to implement harsh laws and order policies that targeted the minorities, increasing the number of incarcerated and executed.

Conclusion

The state of Texas has the highest number of wrongful convictions in the US. Between 1989 and 2018, there have been 2240 exonerations in the US, with Texas contributing to 343 of those exonerations. Despite its efforts to contain the crime rate in Texas, the policies and the structure of the criminal justice system have failed to protect the innocent from wrongful punishment resulting in the highest number of false convictions. Also, the significant disparity observed between African Americans and whites who are incarcerated and executed is evidence enough that the justice system is ineffective. This illustrates that the criminal justice system in the state is highly unfair and requires reforms to ensure it is efficient in performing its duties. The state should not victimize any racial/ethnic groups and needs to carry out its convictions in a transparent manner.

The state should revise policies that lead to racial disparities such as policies that address the war on drugs and redirect the resources to drug prevention campaigns. Despite the progress on hostility towards African Americans, Decision-makers should be trained on the impact of their decisions, which are biased to reduce the negative perception of the minority groups, which may help in minimizing the number of wrongful convictions. The state should also implement racial impact legislation that investigates the impact of policies on racial disparities and enable adaptation of policies that victimize the minority.

Works Cited

Champagne, Anthony, Edward J. Harpham, and Jason P. Casellas. Governing Texas. WW Norton, 2018. https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393680119

Death Penalty Information Center. “Executions by State and Region Since 1976.” Death Penalty Information Center, Death Penalty Information Center, 2020, deathpenaltyinfo.org/executions/executions-overview/number-of-executions-by-state-and-region-since-1976. https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/executions/executions-overview/number-of-executions-by-state-and-region-since-1976

Nellis, Ashley. The color of justice: Racial and ethnic disparity in state prisons. Sentencing Project, 2016. https://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/color-of-justice-racial-and-ethnic-disparity-in-state-prisons/#IV.%20Drivers%20of%20Disparity