An Unjust Burden: The Disparate Treatment of Black Americans in the Criminal Justice System

This document provides an overview of the ways in which America’s history of racism and oppression continues to manifest in the criminal justice system. It also provides a summary of research demonstrating how the system perpetuates the disparate treatment of Black people and explains how the evidence helps account for the hugely disproportionate impact of mass incarceration on millions of Black people, their families, and their communities.