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Journal Article Link 2.1: Schlesinger, Traci (2011). The Failure of Race Neutral Policies: How Mandatory Terms and Sentencing Enhancements Contribute to Mass Racialized Incarceration. Crime & Delinquency, 57(1): 56-81.

This study examines the effects of mandatory terms and sentencing enhancements on Black and White men’s state-level prison admission rates. Four major findings emerge from the analysis. First, both mandatory terms and sentencing enhancements increase prison admission rates for Black and White men. Second, these policies disproportionately increase Black men’s admissions. Third, the effects of these policies—on both scale and disparity—are strongest and most consistent on admissions for violent offenses. Finally, although sentencing enhancements increase admission rates more consistently than mandatory terms, mandatory terms have larger effects on admission rates for the categories—for example, violent admissions for Black men—where they do increase admission rates. The findings are consistent with theories of modern racism, which argue that, in the post-civil rights era, racial disparities are primarily produced and maintained by colorblind policies and practices. 

1. What factors account for racial disparities from ostensibly race-neutral policies?
2. What sentencing reform efforts might be implemented in order to reduce sentencing disparities?
3. What do these disparities reveal about unforeseen outcomes from corrections policies and practices?