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An Analysis of Louisiana’s Rising Incarceration Rate and the Racial Disparities Within Its System



Author(s)

Arnedia Wallace

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DOI:10.17265/2160-6579/2025.06.003

Southern University Law Center, Baton Rouge, USA

The vision of equality in the United States of America has always dwelled in the realm of theory, than in the sphere of practice. It has been the reality of few and the dream of many. The efforts to prove true the declaration of “all men are created equal” have been partial throughout the course of history. Using Louisiana as the subject state, 2014 results from the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections Service (LDPSCS) show that African Americans are twice as likely to be arrested as Caucasian ethnics, and make up more than 60% of those housed in correctional facilities throughout the state despite the fact that blacks make up only 30% of the state’s population. Examining plausible causes to these disparities in the state of Louisiana will lead to possible answers to why African Americans are so highly present in the state’s prisons. It will also be significant in discovering whether cause-related disparity results in the state of Louisiana exist within various other states across the country, ultimately proving whether there is a consistent pattern that can be seen that leads blacks to the doors of correctional facilities throughout the nation. Using secondary analysis, with national statistics of incarceration from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and state statistics from LDPSCS, there is an obvious imbalance between blacks and other ethnics imprisoned, and the graphical sketches included will attempt to allow for a more visual understanding of the issue at hand, upon which this research will offer possible solutions that may decrease the African American incarceration disparity rate in the state, by examining existing policy designed to do so specifically, as well as other viable implementations that could have lasting effects.

racial disparity, Louisiana, criminal justice policy