Race and criminal justice in America

National

“Equal justice” is carved into the U.S. Supreme Court. But from higher arrest rates to stiffer prison sentences, people of color face harsher treatment in the criminal justice system.

From from higher arrest rates to stiffer prison sentences, equal justice eludes Americans of color.

Photo illustration of handcuffs and two police officers.

Photo Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios. Photo: Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Deep Dive: Hard Truths - Criminal Justice

Latin America and Latinos

“Equal justice” is carved into the U.S. Supreme Court. But from higher arrest rates to stiffer prison sentences, people of color face harsher treatment in the criminal justice system.

Police shootings captured on video often drive a lot of media attention, but after the funeral, it leaves victims' families with years of pain and a lonely journey with little sense of closure or justice.

Why it matters: Unlike organizations that provide support for victims of mass shootings or drunk drivers, families who have lost loved ones at the hands of police say there's no nationally known group currently that represents them as they grow in number. Instead, communities respond by erecting makeshift memorials and RIP murals (rest-in-peace public art) in honor of those killed by officers.

Stephen and Renetta Torres hold a portrait of their son, Christopher, 27, who was shot and killed by Albuquerque police in 2011.

Stephen and Renetta Torres hold a portrait of their son Christopher, 27, who was shot and killed by Albuquerque police in 2011. Photo: Russell Contreras/Axios

Stephen and Renetta Torres sought to protect their 27-year-old son Christopher, who had schizophrenia, from dangerous encounters with police. He had landed several traffic tickets.  

The devout Hispanic Catholic family asked Albuquerque police to notify them in advance if officers needed to talk to Christopher to prevent an altercation because of his mental health. 

In April 2011, two plainclothes officers visited the Torres household to question Christopher over an alleged road rage episode. According to court documents, officers jumped a fence and fought with Christopher. One officer got on top of him and fatally shot him in the back. 

It's unclear if Christopher ever knew they were officers.

"I just don't understand. I thought we did everything we were supposed to do," Renetta Torres told Axios. 

Jewel Hall looks out onto the Albuquerque, N.M., sunset while thinking of her late son, Milton. 

Jewel Hall in her Albuquerque, N.M., apartment while speaking of her late son Milton. Photo: Russell Contreras/Axios

Milton Hall grew up in a middle-class family in Saginaw, Mich., and Albuquerque. His mother, Jewel, was a science educator who was active in the NAACP.

The former high school athlete attended Knoxville College and the University of New Mexico and got involved in racial justice issues, eventually getting to meet civil rights icon Rosa Parks.

Two side-by-side photos of Milton Hall before his death and a college photo of him with Rosa Parks.

Milton Hall before his death and a young Hall meeting Rosa Parks. Photo: Courtesy of the Hall family. 

In July 2012, the 49-year-old Milton, homeless, with mental health issues and holding a pocket knife, was surrounded by six Saginaw officers who unloaded 47 shots. 

Videos of the shooting sparked protests that attracted prominent activists Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. It led to more officers of color getting hired to Saginaw police, but no officers involved in the killing were ever charged.

"My son was killed by a firing squad," Jewel Hall said. "I have a video of it on my computer. I've never seen it. I doubt I ever will." 

Saginaw Branch NAACP president Terry Pruitt said he's working on getting a memorial placed near the site where Milton Hall was killed. 

The big picture: A Washington Post analysis examining police shootings since 2015 found that Black Americans are killed by police at more than twice the rate as white Americans. Latinos also are killed at a rate 55% higher than whites.

In the past two decades, the number of family members mourning victims of police excessive force has skyrocketed into thousands. 

Since 2012, families of police shooting victims have led demonstrations from Warren, Ohio, to Portland, Ore., and Albuquerque to Ferguson, Mo., against excessive force and become local advocates for change.

Viral videos and witness accounts have called into question tactics used by police in communities of color and families often used the videos to argue the need for reforms.

Officers are rarely — if ever — prosecuted, but city and county governments have paid out millions of dollars to families to settle excessive force cases. The exact figure is unknown. Many agreements are undisclosed. 

Yes, but: Eventually, temporary memorials are disbanded, RIP murals are painted over and the names of those shot by police, once shouted in the streets by demonstrators, fade into obscurity. 

Axios continues its coverage of systemic racism today, unpacking the criminal justice system, from policing to incarceration and release. 

Children of color too often are born into segregated, overpoliced communities. Read about children's perception of police. 

In middle and high school, teachers often see students of color as older than they are, and the students face harsher punishment. Read about teens' experiences with police. 

America's court system is rife with racial disparities, from the first contact with law enforcement to sentencing. Read more about how systemic racism pervades the courts. 

For Americans who have served time, the hurdles they must overcome to re-enter society are so high, recidivism is common. Read more about how systemic racism impedes a full re-entry into society. 

Makeshift memorials tell a lonely story

"I just don't understand. I thought we did everything we were supposed to do."

Illustration of an adult hand and a child hand touching, the child's hand is cut out. 

Police shootings captured on video often drive a lot of media attention, but after the funeral, it leaves victims&#x27; families with years of pain and a lonely journey with little sense of closure or justice.Why it matters: Unlike organizations that provide support for victims of mass shootings or drunk drivers, families who have lost loved ones at the hands of police say there&#x27;s no nationally known group currently that represents them as they grow in number. Instead, communities respond by erecting makeshift memorials and <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="RIP murals" data-vars-click-url="https://www.sltrib.com/news/2020/07/11/youve-seen-salt-lake-city/" data-vars-content-id="268f3c43-89b7-480b-bde3-95d417eb61ac" data-vars-headline="Makeshift memorials tell a lonely story" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.sltrib.com/news/2020/07/11/youve-seen-salt-lake-city/" target="_blank">RIP murals</a> (rest-in-peace public art) in honor of those killed by officers.

President Biden has made the COVID-19 crisis and a post-Trump return to national unity and traditional democratic ideals his top priorities. From vaccinations to stimulus to schools, Biden is seeking bipartisan compromise while showing a willingness to use executive authority and bare Democratic majorities in the U.S. House and Senate to implement his policies. Republican leaders are navigating deep party divisions over if and how to move beyond former President Trump.

Politics & Policy

Data: Axios/Ipsos Poll; Note: 2.8% margin of error; Chart: Axios Visuals

Solid majorities of Americans across all racial groups do not believe either the police or the criminal justice courts treat all people equally, according to a new Axios-Ipsos poll.

The big picture: The poll shows a resounding lack of confidence in the basic principle of equal justice under the law — a sign that systemic racism throughout the criminal justice system is still a widely acknowledged crisis a year after George Floyd was killed by police, sparking nationwide protests.

By the numbers: Nearly six out of 10 respondents — 59% — disagreed with the statement "police treat all Americans equally," while 58% said the same about criminal justice courts and lawyers.

Black Americans gave the system an especially strong vote of no confidence, with 84% disagreeing that police treat people equally and 76% saying the same about the courts.

But 53% of white Americans, 62% of Hispanic Americans and 67% of Asian Americans also disagreed that police treat everyone equally, while 55% of white Americans and Asian Americans and 56% of Hispanic Americans voiced a lack of confidence in the courts.

That lack of faith extended across virtually all other groups, including by gender, age, region, urban/suburban/rural residency, and education and income levels.

The only hint of confidence in the police came from Republicans, with 51% saying police treat everyone equally (only 7% of Democrats and 18% of independents agreed). Just 42% of Republicans said the courts treat everyone equally.

Between the lines: Most Americans still have a positive view of the police, regardless of how they feel about equal justice. But that's not true of Black Americans — nearly six out of 10 (57%) said they have unfavorable views of the police and law enforcement.

And Black Americans are the one group that doesn't believe the police are looking out for them. When asked how well the police look out for "people like you," just 29% of Black Americans said the police look out for them well, while 68% said not well.

That's the reverse of every other group: 71% overall, including 83% of white respondents, 60% of Hispanic respondents and 61% of Asian respondents, said the police look out for them well. 

The poll found that no majority of any group supported the "defund the police" movement, but 57% overall supported diverting some police funding to community policing and social services — which is what most supporters of the movement actually mean.

And solid majorities of all groups support increasing independent oversight over police, like requiring shootings by police officers to be investigated by an independent authority and creating civilian oversight boards.

When Americans face the courts, the poll found a large gap in their experiences, with Black and Hispanic Americans more likely to depend on court-ordered attorneys than other groups.

43% of white Americans and 52% of Asian Americans said they've had their own attorneys when they or a family member has had to appear in court.

By contrast, just 29% of Black Americans and 39% of Hispanic Americans had their own lawyers, while 49% of Black Americans and 43% of Hispanic Americans had court-ordered attorneys.

That's important because public defenders are widely considered to be overworked and underfunded, and because researchers have become concerned in recent years that some public defenders might have their own forms of implicit bias.

There's also a deep divide between white and Black Americans on whether a wealthy Black person would get better treatment from the criminal justice system than a poor white person.

White Americans were more likely to say a wealthy Black person would get better treatment, 40% to 23%, while Black respondents disagreed, 52% to 20%. Hispanic and Asian respondents were more evenly divided.

Methodology: This Axios/Ipsos poll was conducted April 28-May 4 by Ipsos' KnowledgePanel®. This poll is based on a nationally representative probability sample of 1,875 general population adults age 18 or older.

The margin of sampling error is ±2.8 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the entire sample of adults.

Go deeper: Axios-Ipsos poll: Black Americans' police experiences are getting worse

📺 Coming up on "Axios on HBO" this Sunday at 6pm ET/PT: Axios race and justice reporter Russell Contreras and managing editor for politics Margaret Talev dig deeper into exclusive poll results. Tune in on HBO Max.

Axios-Ipsos poll: No faith in equal justice

Majorities across all racial groups say neither the police nor the courts treat all people equally.

Solid majorities of Americans across all racial groups do not believe either the police or the criminal justice courts treat all people equally, according to a new Axios-Ipsos poll.The big picture: The poll shows a resounding lack of confidence in the basic principle of equal justice under the law — a sign that systemic racism throughout the criminal justice system is still a widely acknowledged crisis a year after George Floyd was killed by police, sparking nationwide protests.

Axios Finish Line

Children of color face harsher standards for discipline and punishment from their first day in the classroom.

The big picture: "Black youth, particularly boys, are more likely to be suspended and expelled from school than their peers," says Marc Schindler, executive director of the Justice Policy Institute. "Folks have viewed that as the start of the school-to-prison pipeline." 

By the numbers: Black children constitute 18% of preschoolers but account for about half of out-of-school suspensions. And Latino kindergarteners are four to five times more likely to get suspended than their white non-Latino peers.

Harsh punishments at school and encounters with law enforcement in their often-over-policed neighborhoods push kids of color to grow up too quickly and keep parents awake with worry about their children's safety.

"Kids are impressionable. They’re forming beliefs," Schindler says. "If they see the police doing things that aren’t seen as positive, it’ll leave an impression." 

Illuminating stat: At the age of 7, white, Black and Latino kids all have nearly identical high opinions of law enforcement, according to a recent Arizona State University study. White, Black and Latino children give law enforcement respective ratings of 3.93, 4 and 3.96 out of five.

By age 14, those ratings drop dramatically for kids of color — 2.94 among Black kids and 2.57 among Latino kids — but stay stable at 3.74 among white kids.

What's happening: One Massachusetts mother, who has white kids that are older and Black kids who are younger and whose kids asked her to remain anonymous when telling their stories, tells Axios, "I let my older son play with toy guns. I never let my younger son play with toy guns" after 12-year-old Tamir Rice was killed by police while playing with a toy gun.

"There are things every day," she says. When he was in first grade, her Black son was playing in the school hallway with two white friends, and they bumped into a bulletin board. The only damage was a small piece of ripped construction paper. 

Nothing happened to her son's white friends, but her son spent the rest of the day in an administrative office, where he was locked in a closet as punishment, she says.

And her kids were among the only kids of color at a school assembly in which a local police officer was invited to speak. They felt uncomfortable and anxious, while the staff clapped as the officer talked about his work — and encouraged kids to thank the officer for protecting them.

What's next: Incorporating lessons about race and criminal justice into elementary school curriculums is key, says historian and antiracist scholar Ibram X. Kendi, whose book, "STAMPED (For Kids)," promotes antiracism for schoolchildren.

"For teachers, if they teach their kids to not connect Black people to bad behavior, it's much more likely that they reflect on those times that they connected kids to bad behavior simply because they’re Black," he says. 

It starts on the first day of school

Black children constitute 18% of preschoolers, but account for around half of out-of-school suspensions.

Illustration collage of a child raising their hand, surrounded by alphabet blocks

Children of color face harsher standards for discipline and punishment from their first day in the classroom.The big picture: &quot;Black youth, particularly boys, are more likely to be suspended and expelled from school than their peers,&quot; says Marc Schindler, executive director of the Justice Policy Institute. &quot;Folks have viewed that as the start of the school-to-prison pipeline.&quot;

Suspension rates among public school students

 Data: U.S. Department of Education; Chart: Will Chase/Axios 

Some school districts are weighing removing police from their hallways and offering more mental health services to students as a way to address behavioral issues that too frequently escalate into disciplinary matters, especially among Black youth. 

Why it matters: Advocates of these initiatives point to a lack of evidence that increased police presence in schools actually improves safety and instead could "significantly disrupt learning environments."

The big picture: Concern about crime brought police to schools and led to a "zero tolerance" policy for discipline violations.  Police became more involved in school disciplinary actions, which were applied more often to Black and Hispanic students than their white classmates. For older students especially, those interactions can give them an early introduction to the criminal justice system, the Justice Policy Institute found. 

Disabled students are also disproportionately affected negatively when police or school resource officers rather than teachers and administrators maintain discipline, according to a 2019 study by UCLA professor Emily Weisburst and a white paper from think tank R Street Institute.

14 million U.S. students are in schools with police but have no mental health services staff like counselors, nurses, psychologists, or social workers, per an ACLU analysis. 

By the numbers: The suspension rates for Black and American Indian/Alaska Native youth in elementary and secondary schools were about two to four times those of white students in 2015-16, according to federal data.

Black youths make up 14% of all youth under 18 in the U.S., but 42% of boys and 35% of girls in juvenile facilities are Black, according to the Prison Policy Initiative. Native youth are also overrepresented in juvenile facilities. 

What's happening: Dozens of school boards across the U.S. have voted to end or reduce the presence of police in schools since the police killing of George Floyd last year, per the Hechinger Report.

In June of last year, the school board in Madison, Wis., voted unanimously to cancel its contract with municipal police and remove all officers stationed at its high schools, a move Black and Southeast Asian activists had sought for five years. 

This fall, the Alexandria, Va., public schools will be without police on campus for the first time in 30 years. The district recently voted to end the $800,000 program and redirect the money for students' mental health initiatives, the Washington Post reports. 

Yes, but: There is still pressure from communities to have police in schools as a potential line of defense if an active shooter were to come on campus or as an opportunity to expose officers as mentors and role models for some students. 

"It’s a difficult bell to unring because nobody wants to pull police out of a school and then have something horrible happen and then be blamed," Joanna Paxton Federico, a doctoral student at Rutgers University studying policy responses to mass school shootings, tells Axios.

Schools question the role of police on campus

Dozens of school boards have voted to end or reduce the presence of police since George Floyd's death.

Some school districts are weighing removing police from their hallways and offering more mental health services to students as a way to address behavioral issues that too frequently escalate into disciplinary matters, especially among Black youth. Why it matters: Advocates of these initiatives point to a lack of evidence that increased police presence in schools actually improves safety and instead could <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="&quot;significantly disrupt learning environments" data-vars-click-url="https://cssp.org/2020/08/law-enforcement-doesnt-belong-in-schools/" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://cssp.org/2020/08/law-enforcement-doesnt-belong-in-schools/" target="_blank">&quot;significantly disrupt learning environments</a>.&quot;

A whopping 97% of state and federal convictions are the result of plea bargains, often driven by mandatory minimum sentences, and Black people are more likely to be arrested and charged with crimes that carry those heavier penalties. 

Why it matters: Mandatory minimums give prosecutors tremendous leverage in convincing defendants to agree to a conviction without a jury trial. It’s just one example of a trial system rife with racial disparities, from the first contact with law enforcement through sentencing in either the state or federal system.

A 2018 study published in the Boston University Law Review found the arrest rate for crimes such as disorderly conduct, drug possession, simple assault, theft, vagrancy and vandalism is twice as high for Black people than white.

Black people are five times more likely than their white counterparts to be arrested for prostitution, and that rate doubles for gambling.

A Harvard study found Black and Latino suspects in Massachusetts tend to face more serious initial charges than white suspects.

All three races were convicted of charges “roughly equal in seriousness,” per the study, indicating the “underlying conduct in these cases may be similar across race.”

The research also found Black defendants sentenced to the state's prisons had on average been convicted of less serious crimes than their white counterparts.

Nonetheless, they received longer sentences.

How it works: The severity of an initial charge is critical in determining whether a defendant eventually takes a plea deal — particularly for crimes carrying a mandatory minimum sentence.

Black people are 65% more likely to be arrested for such offenses.

Partly because mandatory minimum crimes carry a harsher sentence, the charge alone can also explain more than half of a 10% disparity in sentence length between white and Black people for the same crime and for people with similar prior records, according to a University of Michigan Law School study.

Between the lines: Mandatory minimum sentences themselves also give prosecutors a great deal of leverage in convincing defendants to take plea deals.

Stiff charges coupled with potentially long sentences force defendants "to weigh their options based on the relative risks of facing a judge and jury, rather than simple matters of guilt or innocence" the New York Times wrote in 2011.

Even when a case goes to trial, the makeup of the jury goes a long way toward determining a defendant's fate.

A 2012 Duke-led study looking at 700 felony criminal cases in Sarasota and Lake counties in Florida from 2000-10 found that all-white juries convicted Black defendants 16% more often than white defendants.

Adding one Black juror to the pool nearly eliminated that disparity.

"I think this is the first strong and convincing evidence that the racial composition of the jury pool actually has a major effect on trial outcomes," said Patrick Bayer, chairman of Duke's Economics Department and the study's senior author.

Yes, but: Research shows prosecutors routinely remove Black jurors from pools, citing "race-neutral" reasons.

The Equal Justice Initiative found prosecutors "have been trained to exclude people on the basis of race and instructed on how to conceal their racial bias."

This occurs despite the Supreme Court's 1986 ruling making it unconstitutional to dismiss jurors based on race or sex.

The bottom line: The underpinning of the legal system itself — a high degree of human discretion at nearly every step —  makes it vulnerable to racial bias, said former solicitor general Neal Katyal.

Police officers decide whether to arrest someone at all; prosecutors determine charges and plea bargains; judges administer the trial, and juries decide whether to convict.

"Discretion is critical because one wants a role for mercy — we don’t want robots meting out justice," Katyal said. "But with discretion comes the problem of bias, both conscious and unconscious."

A system vulnerable to bias, from start to finish

It's a system rife with racial disparities, from the first contact with law enforcement through sentencing.

Illustration of a main standing on an X with a gavel coming down on top of him.

A whopping 97% of state and federal convictions are the result of <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="plea bargains" data-vars-click-url="https://www.nacdl.org/getattachment/95b7f0f5-90df-4f9f-9115-520b3f58036a/the-trial-penalty-the-sixth-amendment-right-to-trial-on-the-verge-of-extinction-and-how-to-save-it.pdf" data-vars-content-id="0aa9cbaf-6fb4-437d-ba29-41851561dd1b" data-vars-headline="A system vulnerable to bias, from start to finish" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.nacdl.org/getattachment/95b7f0f5-90df-4f9f-9115-520b3f58036a/the-trial-penalty-the-sixth-amendment-right-to-trial-on-the-verge-of-extinction-and-how-to-save-it.pdf" target="_blank">plea bargains</a>, often driven by mandatory minimum sentences, and Black people are more likely to be arrested and charged with crimes that carry those heavier penalties. Why it matters: Mandatory minimums give prosecutors tremendous leverage in convincing defendants to agree to a conviction without a jury trial. It’s just one example of a trial system rife with racial disparities, from the first contact with law enforcement through sentencing in either the state or federal system.

Laws and stigma keep certain jobs, housing and even transportation off-limits to the formerly incarcerated, making it difficult for those returning to their families to restart their lives. 

Why it matters: People of color are disproportionately imprisoned in the U.S., and people looking to get hired after serving time are more likely to deal with restrictions that can force some back into similarly desperate circumstances that led to their arrest.

"The No. 1 factor that determines recidivism or whether or not you're going to go back into the cycle is whether you have economic stability," said Eliana Green, an Equal Justice Works fellow for Root and Rebound, one of many organizations providing reentry help to people. 

What's happening: Some employers explicitly will not hire people convicted of certain crimes, while others may be more hesitant to hire someone with a criminal record.

State occupational licensing requirements can automatically reject formerly incarcerated applicants for jobs in health care, education and other skilled industries. Roughly 1 in 5 workers have to get licensed for their jobs. 

People with records have been kept from being hair cutters and treating drug and alcohol addictions. They can even be denied licenses in fields they have training and experience in — sometimes even from reentry programs behind bars.

In California, inmates help fight wildfires for up to $3 a day, but upon release are likely to be refused a job in firefighting.  

Even without prison time, people on probation are often "still walking out with a felony and still have all the barriers that are created by a felony conviction," Green said. 

After finishing years of probation for being present when $40 of marijuana was sold, Jamila Banks tried to become a licensed family therapist. The board "let me take the test. They approved my hours — all of this costs money. Then, they deny me" because of the felony conviction, Banks said in a video about her story, provided by Root and Rebound. After a 2020 California law passed restricting boards from denying licenses because of criminal convictions, Banks won her case and is now licensed.

People on probation and parole also have the added difficulty of working around the daily requirements of supervision, including last-minute meetings with their case officers. Small, technical violations can result in jail or prison time. 

The big picture: It's not just jobs. Other federal and state laws prevent people with records from living in public housing and qualifying for a valid driver's license — creating interlocking challenges to a second chance.

Formerly incarcerated people are 10 times more likely to be homeless than their neighbors, and the likelihood is even higher among Black and Hispanic former inmates, according to the Prison Policy Initiative.

Forty-three states allow driver's licenses to be suspended for outstanding court debt, according to Fines and Fees Justice Center. But without a job, people often can't pay those fines. And without a license, it's harder to get to work.

What to watch: Efforts to eliminate some barriers have been gaining ground over the years, and now "there's a stronger track record of bipartisanship on reentry reforms," Brennan Center's Justice Program senior counsel, Ames Grawert, told Axios. 

States have recently passed laws to prevent licensing boards from discriminating against those with a criminal record.

There's also growing movement behind "clean slate laws" that allow people to expunge crimes from their record.

"Ban the box" campaigns to stop employers from asking about criminal records early in the interview process have resulted in 36 states now having policies that require employers to wait until later in the hiring process.

The bottom line: The U.S. criminal justice system is cyclical and leaves a lasting imprint on people’s lives. Every step of the way, people of color suffer most.

The obstacles to a second chance

State and federal laws place hurdles in the way of the formerly incarcerated trying to restart their lives.

Illustration of a person standing next to a barbed wire fence with a sun in the background

Laws and stigma keep certain jobs, housing and even transportation off-limits to the formerly incarcerated, making it difficult for those returning to their families to restart their lives. Why it matters: People of color are disproportionately imprisoned in the U.S., and people looking to get hired after serving time are more likely to deal with restrictions that can force some back into similarly desperate circumstances that led to their arrest.

Race and business ownership and leadership in America

Business ownership and corporate diversity initiatives are seen as paths toward closing the racial wealth gap. But for people of color, systemic barriers along both routes still hobble success.

Ownership and leadership are traditionally thought of as paths to creating wealth

Illusration of an opened briefcase with shapes coming out. 

Deep Dive: Hard Truths - Business Ownership and Leadership

Business ownership and corporate diversity initiatives are seen as paths toward closing the racial wealth gap. But for people of color, systemic barriers along both routes still hobble success.

After a record economic expansion, the coronavirus pandemic sent the U.S. economy into a recession as unemployment soared to staggering heights. The country now faces urgent questions about how much stimulus is needed for reeling consumers and businesses, and what a recovery might look like.

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