Race, Inequality, and the Prioritization of Corrections Spending in the American States

Abstract

Observers of U.S. criminal justice trends have noted the vast increase in spending on prison systems over the past 25 years. First, the authors empirically verify that overall spending on corrections not only increased but also that corrections spending grew compared to other budget areas. Second, the authors examine the mechanisms behind this prioritization. The authors posit that race and class dynamics of individual states affects the extent to which corrections spending is prioritized. Race acts as a central cleavage factor while class acts as a secondary cleavage in the political decision-making environment. Time-series cross-sectional (TSCS) analysis of state budget outlays between 1984 and 1999 provides strong evidence for this hypothesis. Our findings depart from previous scholarly work devoted to "underclass" theories of race and class interactions; the authors uncover a more intricate relationship between race and class. The article demonstrates that the higher the proportion of African Americans in a state, the higher the prioritization of corrections spending. Only in states with low proportions of African Americans does income inequality matter.