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Members of some disadvantaged minority groups in every Western country are disproportionately likely to be arrested, convicted, and imprisoned for violent, property, and drug crimes. This is true whether the minority groups are members of different "racial" groups from the majority population, for example, blacks or Afro-Caribbeans in Canada, England, or the United States, or of different ethnic backgrounds, for example, North African Arabs in France or the Netherlands, orirrespective of race or ethnicity-are recent migrants from other countries, for example, Yugoslavs or Eastern Europeans in Germany and Finns in Sweden. Important social policy dilemmas that are seen in individual countries to be uniquely their own, such as race relations in the United States or assimilation of Maghreb-derived guest workers in France or the experience of Aborigines in Australia, are not unique at all but are instead variations on common themes of social structure that characterize many countries. It is important, however, not to be reductionist. The different offending patterns and justice system experiences of members of different groups in a country are not simply the result of group differences in wealth, social status, or political power. That is why the word ''some" is emphasized in the phrase "some disadvantaged minority

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When and if the will to roll back mass incarceration and to create just, fair, and effective sentencing systems becomes manifest, the way forward is clear. First, three-strikes, mandatory minimum sentence, and comparable laws should be repealed. Second, any three-strikes, mandatory minimum sentence, and comparable laws that are not repealed should be substantially narrowed in scope and severity. Third, any three-strikes, mandatory minimum sentence, and comparable laws that are not repealed should be amended to include provisions authorizing judges to impose some other sentence "in the interest of justice." Fourth, life-without-possibility-of-parole laws should be repealed or substantially narrowed. Fifth, truth-in-sentencing laws should be repealed. Sixth, criminal codes should be amended to set substantially lower maximum sentences scaled to the seriousness of crimes. Seventh, every state that does not already have one should establish a sentencing commission and promulgate presumptive sentencing guidelines. Eighth, every state that does not already have one should establish a parole board and every state should establish a parole guidelines system. Ninth, every state and the federal government should reduce its combined rate of jail and prison confinement to half its 2014 level by 2020. Tenth, every state should enact legislation making all prisoners serving fixed terms longer than 5 years, or indeterminate terms, eligible for consideration for release at the expiration of 5 years, and making all prisoners 35 years of age or older eligible for consideration for release after serving 3 years.

Race and gender pose empirical and policy problems that are both similar and different for the U.S. criminal justice system. They are similar in that blacks and women occupy subordinate social and economic positions in American life, and their interests are less likely to be represented in the justice system than are those of white men. They are different in that blacks are overrepresented in arrest statistics and jail and prison populations while women are underrepresented. If over-(or under-) representation is assumed to result from similar effects of bias and subordination, the two patterns are hard to explain. The empirical literature on criminal courts reveals policy dilemmas in achieving "just" sentencing practices. Blacks (and especially black men) may be more likely than white men or women to benefit from tightly limited discretion and limited individualization of sentencing whereas women (both black and white) may be more likely to benefit from broader discretion and greater individualization. Future policies will need to confront the competing demands of justice that race and gender pose in the official response to crime. On June 30, 1995, federal and state prisons in the United States held 1,104,074 sentenced prisoners. Black men and women, who are 12 percent of the general population, were 51 percent of prisoners. Women of all racial and ethnic groups, who are 51 percent of the general population, were 6 percent (Bureau of Justice Statistics 1995b). Racial and ethnic disproportionalities in those charged, convicted,