Gone but not Forgotten

The report from The Sentencing Project found that one in 81 Black adults is serving time in a state prison, which is five times higher than for White adults. This means that for every 100,000 Black adults, there are 810 in prison, compared to just 160 White adults in prison.

These numbers are alarming and should be taken seriously. It is clear that the criminal justice system is vastly different for Black and White people, and this needs to be addressed.

The report also noted that the criminal justice system has racist underpinnings and that immediate and focused attention on the causes and consequences of racial disparities is needed to eliminate them.

It is important to remember that Black people are not the only ones affected by the criminal justice system. Everyone should be treated fairly and equally, and that starts by recognizing and addressing the racism that is a part of our criminal justice system. disproportionalities" among the rates of incarceration of Blacks and Latinx people compared to Whites. In 12 states, more than half of the prison population is Black. And Latinx individuals are incarcerated in state prisons at a rate that is 1.3 times the incarceration rate of Whites, according to the report.

The Sentencing Project found that Wisconsin leads the country with the highest rate of Black inmates. One in every 36 Black Wisconsinites are in prison, according to the report.

A separate analysis from The Prison Policy Initiative gave the state a failing grade for overcrowding their adult correctional facilities during the pandemic, and a 2013 study by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Employment and Training Institute found that half of the young Black men from Milwaukee County were in state prison.