Submitted by Micky Hingorani on Wed, 06/06/2007 - 11:16am
Over at Tom Paine, Alan Jenkins and Kirsten Levingston (of the Brennan Center) use the recent escapades of Lindsay Lohan as a teachable moment about the inequities in our criminal justice system and the importance of redemption.
At the same time, the system is unequal in its administration. Although
African Americans and whites use illegal substances at about the same
rates, African Americans are far more likely to be incarcerated for
drug offences. Between 1990 and 2000 the number of African Americans
incarcerated in state prisons for drug offenses increased by over 80
percent to 145,000, a number that is 2.5 times higher than that for
whites. Affluent whites like Ms. Lohan are far more likely to be let go
with a warning, to avoid prison time, or to avoid criminal scrutiny at
all. Their substance abuse problems lead them to places like Promises,
not the penitentiary. Race and class, then, play a powerful role in
determining the consequences of unlawful behavior.
