Racial Disparities in Military Justice

Résumé du livre

POD received responses from four of the service branches, each of which provided data on service members' annual military justice and disciplinary involvement broken down by racial and ethnic demographics. This report analyzes this previously unpublished data to examine whether and to what extent there are racial and ethnic disparities within military disciplinary and justice systems. All FOIA responses can be seen in Appendix D, and the full details of POD's analysis and calculations are included in Appendices B and C. The data shows that, for every year reported and across all service branches, black service members were substantially more likely than white service members to face military justice or disciplinary action, and these disparities failed to improve or even increased in recent years. Findings for other racial groups varied, with some evidence that non-black people of color may have higher military justice or disciplinary involvement than white service members. The primary exception was Asian service members, who appear to have lower military justice or disciplinary involvement. The substantial racial disparities within military justice and disciplinary procedures, particularly between black and white service members, strongly indicate the need for aggressive responses to address inequities and ensure that the military has the strongest and best force possible.