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American Indians incarcerated at among highest rates in Wisconsin, as many as half the inmates in some jails

Quoted: Pamela Oliver, a professor emerita of sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has studied racial disparities in the justice system. She said communities of color are surveilled by police more frequently than white communities, and as a result, officers arrest a disproportionate number of people of color.

Many crimes are committed at the same rates between young white people and people of color, but people of color have been arrested for them at higher rates.

“White kids screw up just as much,” she said. “They do bad stuff, but nobody sees it because they’re not being watched.”