White Judge Eugene Hyman Discusses Racial Gap in Sentencing
/A recent report by the U.S. Sentencing Commission says that sentences for black males are getting longer, suggesting that the racial gap is widening even more when it comes to criminal sentencing.
Retired Superior Court Judge of Santa Clara, California, Eugene Hyman, believes that more training for judges needs to happen. He says that judges need to be trained on recognizing situations where there are disparities and subtleties with respect to biases.
The federal government has made sentencing more similar than in the past for crack cocaine and powder cocaine, as crack cocaine has a tendency to be tied more with minorities. Hyman hopes that the racial gap the report suggests more of a subtle and not overt racial discrimination and thinks that the gap might relate more to the legislative cocaine challenges.
While the report doesn’t indicate where in the U.S. this racial gap occurs, Hyman suspects it’s probably widespread, with possible differences in certain states. He also believes that what is occurring is not just judicial bias but also includes “every actor” that touches a case, to include prosecutors and probation officers.
Honorable Judge Eugene Hyman has received numerous awards and recognition for his work with families and children and has appeared on numerous television news shows. For more information, visit www.judgehyman.com. He is also a featured commentator on The Family Law Channel and The Legal Broadcast Network.
