Race and crime in the United States

The relationship between race and crime in the United States has been a topic of public controversy and debate for more than a century. 
Since the 1980s, the debate has focused on the causes of some minorities at all stages of the criminal justice system, including arrests, racial background of violent criminals as identified by their victims, prosecutions and incarcerations. Federal Prosecutors of African American and Hispanic defendants are twice as likely to push for mandatory minimum sentences, leading to longer sentences and disparities in incarceration rates for federal offenses.