Incarceration Inequities

Illiteracy and crime are connected. The Department of Justice states, “The link between academic failure and delinquency, violence, and crime is welded to reading failure. Over 70% of inmates in America’s prisons cannot read above a fourth grade level.”

African Americans are disproportionately affected by mass incarceration and criminal justice policies, which can have lasting economic impacts on individuals and their families.
Sentencing Disparities: African Americans often receive harsher sentences than white individuals for the same crimes, reflecting racial biases within the judicial system.
Black Americans are incarcerated at nearly five times the rate of white Americans. Nationally, one in 81 Black adults is serving time in state prison (The Sentencing Project).
In 12 states, more than half the prison population is Black, including states like Alabama, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia (The Sentencing Project).