Many inequalities exist within the justice system and need to be highlighted and corrected. Statistics show that African American men are arrested more often than women and people of other races. There are steps that can and should be taken to reduce racial disparity in the justice system. Racial disparity in the criminal justice system exists when the proportion of a racial or ethnic group within the controlling system is greater than the proportion of the group. in the general population. The cause of this disparity varies and may include differences in levels of criminal activity, law enforcement focus on particular communities, legislative policies, and/or decision-making by one or more people at some level of the criminal justice system. According to statistics since the early 1970s, the number of incarcerated people has increased by 500%, with an average of 2.2 million people behind bars. The increase in the number of incarcerated people has also led to an increasingly disproportionate racial composition. Jails and prisons have a high rate of incarcerated African Americans, with an average of 900,000 of the 2.2 million incarcerated being African American. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1 in 6 African American men have been incarcerated at some point since 2001. In theory, if this trend continues, it is estimated that approximately 1 in 3 black men at birth are expected to spend time in prison and at some point in his life. One in nine African American men between the ages of 25 and 29 are currently incarcerated. Although the imprisonment rate for women is considerably lower than that for men, African American women are incarcerated... middle of article...... King, R. and Mauer, M., (2007) . The Sentencing Project. Unequal justice: State incarceration rates by race and ethnicity. Retrieved from http://www.sentencingproject.org/doc/publications/rd_stateratesofincbyraceandethnicity.pdfThe Sentencing Project. (2008). Reducing racial disparities in the criminal justice system: A handbook for practitioners and policymakers. Retrieved from http://www.sentencingproject.org/doc/publications/rd_reducingracialdisparity.pdfNew Century Foundation. (2005). The Color of Crime: Race, Crime, and Justice in America. Retrieved from http://www.colorofcrime.com/colorofcrime2005.pdfPearson Education. (2008). Arrests by Race, 2006. Retrieved from http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0004896.htmlUS Census Bureau. (2011). The 2012 Statistical Summary. Retrieved from http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/cats/law_enforcement_courts_prisons.html