America's race to incarcerate: Locking up communities of color

Research findings support the conclusion that incarceration in the United States has increased, and numbers of African-American male prisoners have increased. The problem is that it remains unclear whether mandatory sentencing acts have resulted in increased African-American prisoner status. The purpose of the study was to determine if mandatory minimum statutes and the United States Sentencing Guidelines based on the SRA and the PROTECT Act of 2003 have resulted in higher rates of African-American prisoners. Archival and survey research were used for this study to address relevant research questions and hypotheses. Archival data were from the BJS (2007), the Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities (2007), and the USSC (2007). The survey sample consisted of 15 parole officers, 15 probation officers, and 30 prison officials from state and federal prisons. Findings were that no difference existed between African-American prisoner status due to sentencing laws alone and most hypotheses were not supported; only sexual abuse and drug trafficking led to significant findings. Survey findings supported the notion that many factors affect prisoner status.