Probably due to the inequality of enforcement. If everybody agrees something should be a crime but offender group A gets a 5 year sentence and group B gets 10 years or one gets community service and the other gets jail there&#x27;s some kind of problem.<p>Study controlling for type of crime and circumstances finds ~10% more severe punishment for crimes black to white:
<a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;papers.ssrn.com&#x2F;sol3&#x2F;papers.cfm?abstract_id=1985377" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;papers.ssrn.com&#x2F;sol3&#x2F;papers.cfm?abstract_id=1985377</a><p>Evidence that despite approximately equal occurrences of consumption of narcotics black citizens are arrested much more frequently than white citizens: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.washingtonpost.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;wonk&#x2F;wp&#x2F;2013&#x2F;06&#x2F;04&#x2F;the-blackwhite-marijuana-arrest-gap-in-nine-charts&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.washingtonpost.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;wonk&#x2F;wp&#x2F;2013&#x2F;06&#x2F;04&#x2F;the-b...</a>