Preliminary Report on Race and Washington\u27s Criminal Justice System

For this Report, the Research Working Group reviewed evidence on disproportionality in Washington’s criminal justice system and considered whether crime commission rates accounted for this disproportionality. We found that crime commission rates by race and ethnicity are largely unknown and perhaps unknowable, but that some researchers simply take arrest rates as good proxies for underlying commission rates for all crimes.We found that use of arrest rates likely overstates black crime commission rates for several reasons.68 But even if arrest rates are used as a proxy for underlying crime commission rates, the extent of racial disproportionality is not explained by commission rates. In 1982, 80% of black imprisonment in Washington for serious crimes could not be accounted for based on arrest rates, though by 2009, this had dropped to 45%Part II presents the Working Group’s findings and data regarding racial disproportionality within Washington State’s criminal justice system. Part III discusses three possible causes for this disproportionality. Part III.A discusses differential commission rates, concluding that this factor alone cannot account for the disproportionality observed in the criminal justice system. Part III.B discusses seven racially neutral policies that have racially disparate effects, and thus help explain racial disproportionality. Finally, Part III.C discusses bias, whether explicit or implicit, and how it produces racial disparity

Report and Recommendations to Address Race in Washington’s Juvenile Legal System: 2021 Report to the Washington Supreme Court

Report and Recommendations to Address Race in Washington’s Juvenile Legal System: 2021 Report to the Washington Supreme Cour

Preliminary Report on Race and Washington\u27s Criminal Justice System

For this Report, the Research Working Group reviewed evidence on disproportionality in Washington’s criminal justice system and considered whether crime commission rates accounted for this disproportionality. We found that crime commission rates by race and ethnicity are largely unknown and perhaps unknowable, but that some researchers simply take arrest rates as good proxies for underlying commission rates for all crimes.We found that use of arrest rates likely overstates black crime commission rates for several reasons.68 But even if arrest rates are used as a proxy for underlying crime commission rates, the extent of racial disproportionality is not explained by commission rates. In 1982, 80% of black imprisonment in Washington for serious crimes could not be accounted for based on arrest rates, though by 2009, this had dropped to 45%Part II presents the Working Group’s findings and data regarding racial disproportionality within Washington State’s criminal justice system. Part III discusses three possible causes for this disproportionality. Part III.A discusses differential commission rates, concluding that this factor alone cannot account for the disproportionality observed in the criminal justice system. Part III.B discusses seven racially neutral policies that have racially disparate effects, and thus help explain racial disproportionality. Finally, Part III.C discusses bias, whether explicit or implicit, and how it produces racial disparity

Race and Washington’s Criminal Justice System: 2022 Recommendations to Criminal Justice Stakeholders in Washington [DRAFT]

Race and Washington’s Criminal Justice System: 2022 Recommendations to Criminal Justice Stakeholders in Washington [DRAFT

Race and Washington\u27s Criminal Justice System: 2022 Recommendations to Criminal Justice Stakeholders in Washington

Race and Washington\u27s Criminal Justice System: 2022 Recommendations to Criminal Justice Stakeholders in Washingto

Recommendations to Address Race in Washington’s Juvenile Legal System: 2022 Recommendations to Criminal Justice Stakeholders in Washington

Recommendations to Address Race in Washington’s Juvenile Legal System: 2022 Recommendations to Criminal Justice Stakeholders in Washingto

Whai tikanga: In pursuit of justice. Māori interactions with the criminal justice system and experiences of institutional racism : A thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University, New Zealand.

The criminal justice system in Aotearoa, New Zealand has a destructive history of interactions with Māori. Considered alongside the broader context of colonisation, this history provides a backdrop against which to understand contemporary Māori experiences of institutional racism. This research project aims to provide a robust understanding of Māori historical, contemporary and lived experiences of institutional racism within the criminal justice system. Participants were five Māori adults who have had personal encounters with the criminal justice system. They were interviewed about their experiences within the criminal justice system, with a focus on their experiences of institutional racism. As Kaupapa Māori research, within the field of discursive psychology, deficit constructions of Māori were rejected and there is an explicit inclination toward a constructive narrative of Māori culture, identity, and history. From the analysis emerged four recurring linguistic resources; blatant racism, Māori and Pākehā identities, Māori as trapped in the criminal justice system, and Māori identity and culture as strength. Participants’ perspectives of the criminal justice system reveal that prevailing power relations facilitate the belittling of Māori identity, intrude on Māori rights, and diminish cultural integrity. Institutional racism is constructed as enduring and guided by notions of Māori cultural inferiority. The criminal justice system has persistently operated to disadvantage and marginalise Māori and the discussion extends on arguments for a separate Māori criminal justice system

Preliminary Report on Race and Washington\u27s Criminal Justice System

We are pleased to present the Preliminary Report on Race and Washington’s Criminal Justice System, authored by the Research Working Group of the Task Force on Race and the Criminal Justice System. The Research Working Group’s mandate was to investigate disproportionalities in the criminal justice system and, where disproportionalities existed, to investigate possible causes. This factbased inquiry was designed to serve as a basis for making recommendations for changes to promote fairness, reduce disparity, ensure legitimate public safety objectives, and instill public confidence in our criminal justice system. The Task Force came into being after a group of us met to discuss remarks on race and crime reportedly made by two sitting justices on the Washington State Supreme Court. This first meeting was attended by representatives from the Washington State Bar Association, the Washington State Access to Justice Board, the commissions on Minority and Justice and Gender and Justice, all three Washington law schools, leaders from nearly all of the state’s specialty bar associations, and other leaders from the community and the bar. We agreed that we shared a commitment to ensure fairness in the criminal justice system. We developed working groups, including the Research Working Group, whose Preliminary Report finds that race and racial bias affect outcomes in the criminal justice system and matter in ways that are not fair, that do not advance legitimate public safety objectives, and that undermine public confidence in our criminal justice system