PRISON TERMS BY RACE APPEAR EVEN-HANDED

GREENSBORO -- A state study shows minorities and whites with equal criminal
backgrounds are receiving similar sentences -- proof, legal observers say,
that the state's structured sentencing laws have eliminated race as a
factor in sentencing.

But a disturbingly high number of minorities are still going to prison, in
part because law enforcement is singling them out, at least one civil
rights official contends.

The study, conducted by the North Carolina Sentencing and Policy Advisory
Commission, found 35 percent of minority defendants received prison time
compared with 28 percent of whites.

But the report also found the average prison term for whites and minorities
was similar. Whites were sentenced to 36.7 months compared with 34.1 months
for minorities with the same criminal history.

The advisory commission examined 27,015 felony cases North Carolina courts
handled between July 1999 and June 2000.

The 30-member commission, which includes judges, lawmakers, residents and
law enforcement officials, was created by the General Assembly in 1990 to
review how North Carolina sentenced criminals.

"I think what we're tapping into is sociological and economic inequalities
that continue to cause more of the nonwhites to get caught up in the
criminal justice system," said Susan Katzenelson, the advisory commission's
executive director. "Once they get caught up in the system I think the
system deals with them pretty even-handedly. I would say it's encouraging."

The study examined trends under the state's structured sentencing laws,
which took effect in 1994 based on the commission's recommendations.

Structured sentencing, which eliminated parole, is a formula based on a
defendant's criminal record and provides mandatory sentencing guidelines
for judges.

"In other words, the legislature basically has taken over criminal
sentencing, and there is little room for individual variation," Guilford
Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Douglas Albright said. "That's been an
effort to address disparity."

David Dansby, an attorney and president of the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People in Greensboro, described the findings as
misleading because many minorities including blacks are unfairly targeted
by law enforcement before they step foot in a courtroom.

"The discretion is really in the hands of the district attorney," Dansby
said. "They have a whole lot more power."

In both 1970 and 2000, blacks made up 22 percent of the state's population.
But the percentage of black inmates in North Carolina rose from 53 percent
to 61 percent, according to the 2000 Census.

"Race is not a factor we consider in making any type of prosecutorial
decision," Guilford County Assistant District Attorney Howard Neumann said.
"I'm sure there are several individuals who feel they've been singled out,
but I can tell you there's certainly no policy here to take race into
consideration at all."

Buncombe County Superior Court Judge Ronald Payne, a member of the advisory
commission, pointed out the study shows judges send minorities and whites
to prison at the same rate in cases where judges have the option of putting
them on probation.

Although the sentencing guidelines are mandatory, judges still have some
discretion concerning putting people on probation or sending them to prison
in felony cases such as forgery, drug trafficking and writing worthless checks.

In those cases, the percentage of whites and minorities receiving prison
time was the same, about 32.7 percent, according to the study.

Prison time is mandatory in cases such as murder, rape, embezzling at least
$100,000 and burning churches. People convicted of first-degree murder must
serve at least life in prison unless a jury sentences them to death.