In Miami-Dade county Afro-Latinos face the harsh reality of more severe consequences in the criminal justice system. A recent study by the University of Miami in partnership with the ACLU found that Black Hispanics, although a smaller segment of the population are overrepresented when it comes to convictions and incarceration. The study also found that white hispanics are underrepresented when compared to their segment of the population. Understanding the implications of this study helps put things in perspective when looking at our culture in Miami as a whole. This reminds us of the film Moon Light, and how underrepresented Afro-Latino culture is in our city.
Listen to the radio interview here.
Here’s what you need to know about the University of Miami’s study:
- A new study looks at the disparate treatment of black adult criminal defendants in Miami-Dade County
- “Black Hispanics, even though they make up one of the smaller populations in Miami Dade, they’re the most overrepresented in the system and we really found that across all of the different stages that we examined,” said Marisa Omori, a University of Miami sociology professor and co-author of the study.
- The study which looks at data from 2010 to 2015, broke down race by white non-Hispanic, white Hispanic, black non-Hispanic and black Hispanic.
“Previous research has really talked about racial disparities, but not as many talk about ethnic disparities. And so to see such divergent outcomes for white Hispanics relative to black Hispanics — I think that was the most surprising thing.” – Nick Petersen, co-author of the study
- The study produced in partnership with the American Civil Liberties Union of Greater Miami also found Black Hispanics are more likely to live in predominantly black neighborhoods that face higher rates of arrests and interactions with police officers.
- Some of the study’s findings include:
- Black Hispanics are detained at a rate that is four times larger than their representation in the county population.
- Black non-Hispanics are detained at a rate twice as large as their population share.
- White Hispanic defendants are underrepresented compared with their proportion of the county population.
- Black Hispanics spend, on average, about 11 days in pretrial detention, and Black non-Hispanic defendants spend an average of about 10 days in pretrial detention.
- White Hispanic defendants spend about eight days in pretrial detention, and White non-Hispanic defendants spend about seven days in pretrial detention. White non-Hispanics spend about 7 seven days.
- Black defendants regardless of ethnic makeup receive longer sentences than any other group.
