Indigenous Carceral System Inequalities in the US: A Synthesis of the Literature About the Nature and Sources

ABSTRACT Racially disproportionate incarceration, or over‐incarceration, of Indigenous people is a significant issue in the US. Overincarceration of Indigenous people in the US is a critical and deep‐rooted social issue. Racialized structural inequalities in general are theorized to underpin racialized inequalities in carceral system capture (arrest and incarceration) and outcomes including sentence length, monetary penalties, and supervision. Further, settler colonialism is theorized to underpin these inequalities where they are experienced by Native people. However, this research area is still in the earlier stages of development in the US. Nonetheless, a notable body of literature is available that demonstrates the existence of Native carceral system, or “criminal justice system,” inequality at the stage of arrest, incarceration, and post‐release supervision, as well as in the case of the assessment of legal financial obligations. As well as those that theorize the underlying structures that create, maintain, and exacerbate these inequalities of criminalization and carceral system capture. This review and synthesis of the literature provides a comprehensive illustration of the state of carceral system inequalities experienced by Native (Indigenous) individuals and communities in the United States from the criminalization of Nativeness within US law and culture to the modern experiences of disparate carceral system involvement and the disparately harsh outcomes of this involvement.