Thursday, February 19, 2009

Latino convicts now represent the largest ethnic population in the federal prison system

Latino convicts now represent the largest ethnic population in the federal prison system, accounting for 40% of those convicted of federal crimes, according to a study released by the Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan research organization. Latinos made up only 13% of the United States adult population in 2007, but they accounted for one third of federal prison inmates that year. As the annual number of federal offenders more than doubled from 1991 to 2007, the number of Latino offenders sentenced in a given year nearly quadrupled, to 29,281 from 7,924. Of Latino federal offenders, 72% are not United States citizens and most were sentenced in courts from one of the four states that border Mexico.

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