Gonzaga Law Review Race and Washingtons Criminal Justice
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Abstract
Excerpted From: The Task Force 2.0 Research Working Grouping, Race and Washington's Criminal Justice System: 2021 Report to the Washington Supreme Courtroom, 57 Gonzaga Law Review 119 ( 2021/2022) (114 Footnotes) (Full Document)
At the outset, it is important to make clear what this report is and what it is not. Chore Strength 2.0 includes many organizations and individuals. Information technology developed a procedure past which the Research Working Group was tasked with drafting inquiry memoranda to update the piece of work of the previous chore force to provide a more consummate picture of race disproportionality in Washington'due south criminal justice arrangement and to identify, where and when information technology could, the extent to which those observed disproportionalities were non justified past differential involvement of individuals of dissimilar racial/ethnic groups in criminal offense commission. The procedure allowed for input and robust involvement by stakeholders in all of the different working groups, including the Research Working Group.
This report is the product of that process. But at the end of the day, it is the work of the Research Working Grouping. Thus, the list of organizations and individuals in Chore Force two.0 does not indicate endorsement of each statement or report finding.
This report was intended to be accompanied by a full set of recommendations from the Recommendations Working Group. It does not. Belatedly in the process, a concern was raised that proposed recommendations should be vetted with more stakeholders. We have extended the process for consideration of recommendations. It is also probable that consensus will non exist reached on everything, in which example majority and minority positions may issue for sure recommendations. This procedure is under way, and Task Force two.0 is committed to providing its full set of recommendations later this year.
This written report focuses primarily on the treatment and experience of adults in the criminal justice organisation. A separate subcommittee, in some ways a chore force inside the broader task force, examined race and the juvenile justice system and volition event its findings and recommendations subsequently this yr.
This written report focuses on race and non on the intersection of race and gender. There are of import limitations to the chosen focus, including that the experiences of women of color in the criminal justice system may be obscured, and the experiences of certain men of color, for example, Black men, may not appear to be as severe because what they experience is considered relative to the unabridged Black population instead of to the subset of the Black male population. This report is offered equally a complement to the just-released 2021: How Gender and Race Touch Justice At present: Final Written report issued past the Washington Land Gender and Justice Commission.
The 2011 Preliminary Report, issued by the previous task force, for the nigh part failed to examine or written report disproportionalities as experienced by Indigenous people. Though additional work remains to document and empathize fully these disproportionalities, we brainstorm by highlighting our findings of the disproportionalities experienced by Ethnic people.
Ethnic people, in comparison to non-Hispanic White people,
• were killed at a higher charge per unit by law enforcement (3.3x);
• were more probable to take force used against them past police force enforcement in 3 of the 4 cities examined (ii.9x, 5x, i.3x - 2x);
• were stopped more than frequently by law enforcement in both cities examined (v.8x and 2.6x);
• were searched more than often in the two cities examined every bit well as by the Washington State Patrol;
• were arrested more than frequently in all four years examined (2017, 2.3x; 2018, 1.7x, 2019, 2.6x; 2020, 2.6x);
• received felony sentences at a college rate in the three years examined (2018, one.5x; 2019, one.5x, 2020, i.7x);
• bear a disproportionate per capita share of legal fiscal obligations; and
• are incarcerated at a higher charge per unit (3.7x).
The persistence of this unduly through different meet points in the criminal justice system may come equally a surprise to some; to others, these figures may put numbers to what was already well known to Indigenous people and Indigenous communities.
Below are some boosted primal observations about race disproportionality and disparity in Washington's criminal justice system. The lack of consistent data collection on Latinas/os makes it hard to make up one's mind the existence and extent of disproportionality. Where possible, the Research Working Grouping reports figures for that population, but with the exception of certain information sets, such as police killings for which there is more complete and authentic information, we practise not accept a lot of confidence for most data sets.
Stops. In the jurisdictions examined, racial minorities tend to be stopped unduly. Studies of select jurisdictions in Washington have plant that sure racial minorities are stopped more often than similarly situated White people.
Searches. In the jurisdictions examined, racial minorities tended to be searched unduly, even though enquiry shows that racial minorities who are searched are less probable to possess narcotics or weapons than White people who are searched. Considering discretionary searches ought to be driven by legitimate criminal justice reasons (likelihood of finding contraband, whether narcotics for drug violations or weapons for officer safety), the fact that disproportionality persists in the face of what is known about "hit rates," suggests strongly that race is a factor in searches.
Use of Forcefulness. In the jurisdictions examined, racial minorities, with the exception of Asian Americans, are more than probable to exist the victim of police use of force. It is very of import to note that with regard to the lethal use of force by police, because disaggregated ethnic information is available, individuals who are Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders are iii.three times more likely than a White person to be killed by police force.
Arrests. Blackness and Ethnic persons are consistently arrested disproportionately, whether measured by relative or comparative ratios. This might be expected given the upstream disproportionalities of stops and searches. Observed disproportionality varies in significant means for dissimilar crimes, with disproportionality for Black persons being greatest for robbery and the lowest for drug crimes. Though disproportionality for drug offenses may be lower than for other offenses, it remains high, with Black people arrested for drug offenses at a comparative ratio more than 2 times that of White people, despite consistent findings that Black and White people employ and sell drugs at similar rates.
Convictions. Equally measured by all felony sentences in 2018, 2019, and 2020, Black people were 2.7 times more likely to be convicted than White people in each of those years. Indigenous people in those same years ranged from being ane.5 to one.7 times more likely to be convicted than White people. There also appears to exist additional disproportionality in the punishment given for felony sentences for certain kinds of offenses, where White people are slightly more likely than others to be sent to jail or receive an alternative penalty instead of being sent to prison.
Legal Financial Obligations (LFOs). Black persons, Indigenous persons, and Latina/os are sentenced to LFOs more oft and at higher rates than White persons and Asian Americans/NHOPIs. Even after decision-making for relevant legal factors, Latina/os are sentenced to significantly higher LFOs than similarly situated White defendants.
Incarceration Sentences. An examination of all fiscal twelvemonth 2019 felony sentences for not-drug offenses revealed that BIPOC defendants on boilerplate received longer sentences than White defendants as measured at different criminal offence seriousness levels. For the two virtually serious crime levels, BIPOC defendants received significantly longer sentences than White defendants. In addition, disproportionality was pronounced for BIPOC defendants with lower criminal history scores who received longer sentences than White defendants for the same offense levels. Stated differently, Black people who commit very serious crimes are treated more than harshly than White people who commit very serious crimes; Black people with low criminal history scores are treated more harshly than White people with low criminal history scores.
Death penalty. In Washington, a Blackness accused in a upper-case letter instance was 4.5 times more than probable to be sentenced to death than a similarly situated White defendant.
Disproportionate incarceration. When viewed over time, it appears that Black/White comparative disproportionality has improved since 1980 when a Black person was 14.1 times more than likely to exist incarcerated than a White person. In 2005, this had dropped to half-dozen.four, and in 2020, to 4.seven. This looks similar smashing progress. However, it is important to empathize how this "improvement" was achieved. From 1980 to 2005, the Black rate of incarceration nearly doubled, from ane,342 Black people incarcerated per 100,000 Black people to ii,522 per 100,000. But the comparative disproportionality ratio dropped considering the rate of White incarceration more than quadrupled, going from 95 White people incarcerated per 100,000 White people to 393. And so, from 2005, the drib from half dozen.four to 4.seven comparative ratio came near because the Black rate of incarceration dropped from 2,522 to 1,267 per 100,000 Black people, while the White rate dropped from 393 to 269. Because the Black rate dropped more than the White rate, the comparative disproportionality ratio decreased. Just this figure, 4.vii times, remains substantially greater than the recent comparative Black/White disproportionality ratios for felony convictions the final few years, ii.7 times.
The 2011 Preliminary Report establish that facially neutral policies resulted in disparate handling of minorities over time. It also found that disproportionality was explained in part by the prevalence of racial bias-- whether explicit or implicit--and the influence of bias on determination-making within the criminal justice system. Information technology establish that race and racial bias matter in ways that are not fair, that do non accelerate legitimate public safety objectives, that produce disparities in the criminal justice system, and that undermine public confidence in our legal system.
The Research Working Grouping of Task Force ii.0 finds, likewise, that facially neutral policies and bias continue to operate to contribute significantly to the observed disproportionalities. Certainly, some things take improved. A brilliant spot, if it can be called that, is that the Blackness charge per unit of incarceration has dropped from 2,522 per 100,000 in 2005 to 1,267 per 100,000. But race and racial bias continue to matter in ways that are non off-white, that do non advance legitimate public safety objectives, that produce disparities in the criminal justice system, and that undermine public confidence in our legal system.
[. . .]
As we did in the 2011 Preliminary Report, we take presented show of race disproportionality in the criminal justice organisation. Our exam of the data leads us to echo the conclusions we reached x years ago. In 2021, race still matters in ways that are not off-white, that practice not accelerate legitimate public safety objectives, that produce racial disparities in the criminal justice system, and that undermine public confidence in our legal system.
The question and claiming, and so and now, is what will be done to remedy these issues.
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Source: https://racism.org/articles/law-and-justice/criminal-justice-and-racism/373-criminal-justice-reform/10177-race-and-washington
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