California Three Strikes Law Disproportionately Affects Blacks & Latinos

New data released recently by the Justice Policy Institute reveals that California's Three Strikes law disproportionately locks up African Americans and Latinos compared to Whites. African Americans constitute 6.5 percent of California's state population, but nearly 30 percent of the the prison population and 44.7 percent of those sentenced to life under the Three Strikes law. According to this first-of-its-kind analysis of the racial and ethnic makeup of Three Strikes defendants, African Americans are given life sentences under Three Strikes at nearly 13 times the rate of Whites; and, the Latinos are incarcerated under Three Strikes a staggering 82 percent more than Whites. According to "Racial Divide: An Examination of the Impact of California's Three Strikes Law on African Americans and Latinos," African Americans and Latinos are penalized at every stage of the criminal justice system at rates disproportionate to their share of the general population.  [more]