The Color of Justice Race, Ethnicity, and Crime in America FIFTH EDITION SAMUEL WALKER University of Nebraska at Omaha CASSIA SPOHN Arizona State University MIRIAM DELONE Fayetteville State University Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves right to remove additional at time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. Australia • Brazil • Japan • Korea • Mexico • Singapore • Spain • United Kingdom • United States This is an electronic version of the print textbook. Due to electronic rights restrictions, some third party content may be suppressed. Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. The publisher reserves the right to remove content from this title at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. For valuable information on pricing, previous editions, changes to current editions, and alternate formats, please visit www.cengage.com/highered to search by ISBN#, author, title, or keyword for materials in your areas of interest. Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves right to remove additional at time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. The Color of Justice: Race, © 2012, 2009, 2007 Wadsworth, Cengage Learning Ethnicity, and Crime in ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this work covered by the America, Fifth Edition copyright herein may be reproduced, transmitted, stored, or used Samuel Walker, Cassia Spohn, in any form or by any means graphic, electronic, or mechanical, Miriam DeLone including but not limited to photocopying, recording, scanning, Senior Publisher: Linda digitizing, taping, Web distribution, information networks, or Schreiber-Ganster information storage and retrieval systems, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, Acquisition Editor: Carolyn without the prior written permission of the publisher. Henderson Meier Editorial Assistant: Virginette For product information and Acacio technology assistance, contact us at Cengage Learning Media Editor: Andy Yap Customer & Sales Support, 1-800-354-9706 Marketing Manager: Marcia Locke For permission to use material from this text or product, submit all requests online at www.cengage.com/permissions. Marketing Coordinator: Sean Foy Further permissions questions can be emailed to Senior Marketing Communication [email protected]. Manager: Heather Baxley 2011927746 Manufacturing Director: Marcia Library of Congress Control Number: Locke Student Edition: Content Project Management: ISBN-13: 978-1-111-34692-8 PreMediaGlobal 10 1 111 34692 5 Art Director: Maria Epes ISBN- : - - - Print Buyer: Karen Hunt Wadsworth Rights Acquisitions Specialist 20 Davis Drive Text & Images: Dean Dauphinais Belmont, CA 94002-3098 Cover Designer: Riezebos USA Holzbaur/Tae Hatayama Cover Photo Credit: Steve Allen Cengage Learning is a leading provider of customized learning Compositor: PreMediaGlobal solutions with office locations around the globe, including Singapore, the United Kingdom, Australia, Mexico, Brazil and Japan. Locate your local office at www.cengage.com/global. Cengage Learning products are represented in Canada by Nelson Education, Ltd. For your course and learning solutions, visit www.cengage.com. Purchase any of our products at your local college store or at our preferred online store www.cengagebrain.com. Printed in the United States of America 12345671514131211 Brief Contents PREFACE xv 1 Race, Ethnicity, and Crime: American’s Continuing Crisis 1 2 Victims and Offenders: Myths and Realities about Crime 39 3 Race, Ethnicity, Social Structure, and Crime 97 4 Justice on the Street? The Police and Racial and Ethnic Minorities 129 5 The Courts: A Quest for Justice during the Pretrial Process 195 6 Justice on the Bench? Trial and Adjudication in Criminal Court 241 7 Race and Sentencing: In Search of Fairness and Justice 281 8 The Color of Death: Race and the Death Penalty 345 9 Corrections in America: A Portrait in Color 403 10 Minority Youth and Crime: Minority Youth in Court 443 11 The Color of Justice 491 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 497 Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves right to remove additional at time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. INDEX 521 iii Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. Contents PREFACE xv 1 Race, Ethnicity, and Crime: American’s Continuing Crisis 1 Goals of the Chapter 1 Race, Ethnicity, and Justice in America 1 Is Discrimination Just a Myth? 3 The Scope of this Book 5 Objectives of the Book 8 The Colors of America: Racial and Ethnic Categories 8 Racial and Ethnic Categories 9 The Politics of Racial and Ethnic Labels 16 The Quality of Criminal Justice Data on Race and Ethnicity 18 The Crime and Immigration Controversy 20 Sorting Out the Issues on Immigration, Unauthorized Immigration, and Crime 21 The Geography of Racial and Ethnic Justice 24 Disparity versus Discrimination 26 The Law of Discrimination 28 The Discrimination–Disparity Continuum 29 Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). A Theoretical Perspective on Race, Ethnicity, and Crime 30 Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves right to remove additional at time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. Alternative Theories 32 Conclusion 32 v vi CONTENTS Discussion Questions 33 Notes 33 2 Victims and Offenders: Myths and Realities about Crime 39 Popular Images of Victims and Offenders: A Racial Hoax 39 Goals of the Chapter 39 Media and Crime 40 Racial Hoaxes 40 Race and Gender of Crime Victims 41 A Broader Picture of the Crime Victim 42 The National Crime Victimization Survey 44 Household Victimization 46 The Effect of Urbanization 46 Personal Victimization 48 The Effects of Urbanization 50 Lifetime Likelihood of Victimization 52 Homicide Victimization 55 Summary: A More Comprehensive Picture of the Crime Victim 57 Picture of the Typical Offender 58 Official Arrest Statistics 58 Problems with UCR Data 58 Arrest Data 60 Perceptions of Offenders by Victims 65 Problems with NCVS Offender Data 65 Perceptions of Offenders 66 Self-Report Surveys 68 Problems with Self-Report Surveys 69 Characteristics of Offenders 69 Theoretical Explanations for the Racial Gap in Offending 70 Community Influence on the Racial Gap in Offending Rates 70 Drug Offenders 72 Summary: A Picture of the Typical Criminal Offender 73 Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Crime as an Intraracial Event 73 Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves right to remove additional at time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. National Crime Victimization Survey 74 Uniform Crime Report Homicide Reports 74 Summary 74 CONTENTS vii Crime as an Interracial (Hate) Event 75 Ethnic Youth Gangs 79 Gang Myths and Realities 80 Varieties of Ethnic Gangs 83 African American 83 Native American 83 Asian American 84 Hispanic 84 White 85 Conclusion 86 Discussion Questions 87 Notes 88 3 Race, Ethnicity, Social Structure, and Crime 97 Goals of the Chapter 97 A Snapshot of Social Inequality and Criminal Justice 98 Inequality and Crime 98 Long-Term Trends and the Recession 98 Two Societies? 99 Economic Inequality 99 Income 100 Wealth 101 The “Family Thing”: Inheritance 102 The Growing Gap between the Very Rich and Most Americans 103 Unemployment 103 Poverty Status 104 Insurance Coverage 105 Social Capital and Cultural Capital 105 The Debate over the Underclass 107 Community Social Structure 109 Residential Segregation 109 Residential Segregation and Crime 110 The Impact of Crime and Drugs 112 Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial