Wisconsin Imprisons Black People At A Higher Rate Than Any Other State, Study Finds - Blavity
A new report from The Sentencing Project has revealed that Black people represent 42% of the total prison population in Wisconsin . Despite accounting for only 6% of the state's population, one in every 36 Black residents in Wisconsin are currently in prison, the study concludes. Black people in the state are also 12 times as likely as their white counterparts to be imprisoned, according to the study, which uses data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics. That number is well above the national average. Only New Jersey has a higher rate of racial disparity between Black people and white people. According to criminal justice experts, years of housing segregation and redlining have contributed to the disparity in imprisonment. “For many years, Milwaukee has been one of the top segregated areas in the country by most measures,” Larry Dupuis, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin, told NBC News. “It has a long history that...