[From Our Partners] Understanding the Impact of Racial and Ethnic Disparities from Arrest to Sentencing
Launched in 2015, the Safety and Justice Challenge (SJC) works with cities and counties to reduce the over-reliance on jails across communities, as well as to address racial and ethnic disparities, while improving community safety.
Many SJC sites report evidence of racial and ethnic disparities at different decision points in their case processing. Yet, they have less information about how disparities at one decision point can impact disparities at subsequent ones. It was clear that more research was needed into how disparities can compound across decision points and create cumulative effects.
To examine cumulative disparities, Justice System Partners (JSP) examined racial and ethnic disparities in three SJC sites—Pima County, AZ, New Orleans, LA, and San Francisco, CA—at five major decision points in the criminal legal system: arrest, pretrial decision, diversion decision, case disposition, and sentencing. JSP focused on four key research questions:
Do racial and ethnic disparities exist at different decision points and within pathways in the criminal legal system?
When and where do these occur, and does it occur at individual decision points or cumulatively across pathways?
What factors drive these disparities? How do disparities by race and ethnicity intersect with individual characteristics, such as sex and age, and case characteristics, such as charge type and criminal history?
Which decision points have the most influence on cumulative disparities and more often change the trajectory of an individual’s pathway?
The research contributes to the evidence base about the existence of racial disparities and drivers of cumulative disparities at major decision points and includes policy recommendations to address these disparities. Key findings include:
Pretrial detention is the highest leverage decision point in the criminal legal system. High-cost, long lengths of pretrial stay for Black men are not only harmful to individuals and communities, but they also carry significant costs for the system itself.
While Black men are overrepresented at most decision points, Black men are underrepresented at diversion and deflection opportunities, or off-ramps, that exist across the system. This reflects systemic disparities that must be examined at each decision point.
ABOUT THE SAFETY & JUSTICE CHALLENGE
In 2015, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation launched the Safety and Justice Challenge (SJC), a multi-year initiative to reduce populations and racial disparities in American jails. To advance knowledge development grounded in a research agenda that explores, evaluates, and documents site-specific strategies to safely and effectively reduce jail populations and address racial and ethnic disparities, the Foundation engaged the Institute for State & Local Governance (ISLG) at the City University of New York (CUNY) to establish and oversee an SJC Research Consortium. Consortium members are nationally renowned research, policy, and academic organizations collaborating with SJC sites to build an evidence base focused on pretrial reform efforts.