ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the status of African American males within the criminal justice system and considers projections for the future should policies continue. It assesses the factors that have created such high levels of criminal justice control. Many young and first-time offenders are stigmatized by their contact with the criminal justice system, without necessarily receiving either appropriate supervision or support. The chapter provides a set of recommendations for public policy that would help to alleviate the disastrous circumstances that prevail while having a more constructive impact on public safety. It analyzes the statistical evidence and research findings that enable people to understand these developments. These can be divided into four areas of inquiry: crime rates; race and class effects; bias within the criminal justice system; and drug policies. As the trials of O. J. Simpson illustrated so clearly, discussions of race and the criminal justice system are often heavily overlaid with considerations of class as well.
