Racial and Ethnic Disparities.

Racial and Ethnic Disparities (RED) refers to the disproportionate minority contact with the criminal justice system. Persistent racial biases have been found at every level of the criminal process, from enforcement to prosecution to sentencing. Enhancements and mandatory minimums, for example, are imposed disproportionately higher on black defendants than on white defendants with the same charge, with prosecutors seeking mandatory prison twice as often in cases with black defendants (Center for American Progress, 2018). Compounding this issue, black defendants are less likely to receive relief from a mandatory sentence (U.S. Sentencing Commission, 2017).

Similar disparities are found in the juvenile justice system. The Utah Board of Juvenile Justice has reported that black youth are almost four times more likely to be arrested than white youth, and American Indian or Alaska Native youth are two times more likely to be arrested than white youth. In addition, black and Hispanic youth are twice as likely to be confined in Secure Care compared to white youth. The report also indicates that all youth of color were less likely to have their cases diverted from court than white youth (Utah Board of Juvenile Justice, 2017).

There are efforts both nationally and locally to try and equalize the justice system so that the population within both systems are proportionate to the population which it serves. As many states take on the issue of RED, the Juvenile Justice Evaluation Center and Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) have developed steps and strategies to evaluate and reduce RED. One of the strategies is to ask appropriate questions about why RED is occurring. Such questions include:

• Do minorities and non-minorities have the same access to services?

• What is the rate at which minorities are admitted to community-based programs for first-time offenders compared to the rate at which they are confined in secure detention?

• What factors are putting youth at risk of offending and what factors are protecting youth?

• What policies or laws are in place to regulate behavior among youth at schools and do they disproportionately affect minority youths?

Our organization believes that the perspective of defense is critical in legislating the reduction of RED, particularly the perspective of indigent defenders.