DISPARITY WORTH NOTING IN INCARCERATION RATES

The Feb. 22 article on the cost to the taxpayer of getting tough on
crime contained much information that the public should take into
consideration when they hear politicians claiming to have solved a
social problem by attaching a penalty to it.

It mentioned that Pennsylvania has the longest average prison
sentences in the nation. It is relevant, but not mentioned in the
article, that Pennsylvania also has the dubious distinction of having
the greatest disparity between white and non-white incarceration
rates. In 2000, the incarceration rate for whites was 117 per 100,000.
For blacks, it was 1,678 per 100,000.

If more whites were to feel the effects of these get-tough solutions,
I am sure that our courts would start being more creative with
alternative sentencing.

David Rose

Easton