Recent drug sanction declines come almost entirely from reduced Black arrest rates

Evidence

In the midto late 2000s, long-standing trends in drug sanctions reversed. The number and rate of drug arrests and prison admissions for drug offenses as well as racial imbalances in these sanctions began to decline—slowly at first and then more rapidly. Remarkably, most of the declines in drug sanctions are attributable to reductions in African Americans’ rate of drug arrest and prison admissions; Whites’ rates of drug arrest and prison admissions have changed only modestly. — Joseph Avery, Jim Sidanius, Joel Cooper, Gregory Davis, Amanda N., Bias in the Law, 1082

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to research on whether progressive drug reforms narrowed racial disparities in the justice system — mixed evidence elsewhere suggests disparities often persist even as absolute numbers fall. — connects to: Drug-war arrests and imprisonment fell disproportionately on Black Americans — Lawrence M. Friedman and Grant M. Hayden, American Law: An Introduction, 1435
• QUESTION: Why did White arrest rates barely change if the reforms were race-motivated — does this reflect differential police targeting that reforms didn’t touch, or something else?
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Joseph Avery, Jim Sidanius, Joel Cooper, Gregory Davis, Amanda N., Bias in the Law: A Definitive Look at…, 1082