Referring to a recent study published in The Guardian, The Sentencing Project reports that racial disparity in the criminal justice system is not just a problem in the United States. The article reveals the following:
Ethnic minorities in the United Kingdom are far more likely to receive prison sentences for certain crimes than are their white counterparts. The study found that Black offenders were 44% more likely to be sentenced to prison for driving offenses than were white offenders, 38% more likely to be sentenced to prison for public disorder or possession of a weapon, and 27% more likely for drug possession. Asian offenders also received disparate punishment, as they were 41% more likely to be sentenced to prison for drug offenses than were whites.
The Sentencing Project also reports that “The study suggests that there is also considerable variation in sentencing depending on the court’s location. For persons involved in the recent August riots, a West London court sentenced 17 of the 107 Black defendants to jail, but only 21 of the 237 white defendants, revealing that Black defendants were 79% more likely to receive a jail sentence. A court in the north of England that dealt with a similar number of cases, though, sentenced white and Black defendants at an almost equal rate.”
Source: The Sentencing Project
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