Young Black Americans and the Criminal Justice System

I n 1990 The Sentencing Project released a report that documented that almost one in four (23 percent) African American males in the age group twenty to twenty-nine years old was under some form of criminal justice supervision—in prison or jail, on probation or parole. That report received extensive national attention and helped to generate much dialogue and activity on the part of policymakers, community organizations, and criminal justice professionals.