Topic: Racial and Ethnic Disparities

More Results

Between 2018 and June 2021, the Pre-Trial Diversion and Recovery Program has conducted 211 assessments, admitted 153 total participants. Of the total participants, 48 have graduated, and only 14.5% have been rearrested. Additionally, the Pre-Trial team has been able to open new modes of communication, establishing a consistent point of contact for resource connection to the District Attorney’s and Public Defender’s Offices, which wasn’t available before the program began.

As a result of the Expedited Arraignment program, the time it takes the District Attorney to bill a case has been reduced from approximately 8 weeks to 10 days, as of January 2020, which has had a direct effect on lowering the average daily population and the average length of stay at the Parish Prison. There has also been a significant decline in Failure to Appear rates since Expedited Arraignment began.

As a result of the new Rapid Case Assessment Team initiative, individuals had a far better chance at resolving the case early or getting a reduced bond at Call Out. In fact, between the launch of the Rapid Case Assessment team (RCAT) in July through December 2020, defendants at Call Out in Baton Rouge City Court had an 83% case resolution rate. In comparison, the case resolution rate of defendants prior to the implementation of RCAT at Call Out was nearly zero.

The Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (CJCC) formed as a nonprofit organization in January 2019. Since then, the CJCC has selected a board of directors which include the heads of all the major justice agencies in EBR, the Mayor-President’s Office, and community organizations. The results of which have led to increased cross-agency communication and collaboration, unified effort towards reforming justice policies and programs, and enhanced conversations regarding disparities within the local justice system.

Remaining Challenges

East Baton Rouge Parish is focused on addressing its remaining challenges in its local justice system.

While East Baton Rouge has seen a significant decrease (47% on average) in the jail population since joining the Safety and Justice Challenge, it has proven more difficult to realize similar success in reducing racial and ethnic disparities. Looking ahead, East Baton Rouge will be focusing more directly on reducing racial and ethnic disparities at critical points in the criminal justice process, using a lens of equity and inclusion.

East Baton Rouge plans to focus on the data from current initiatives to find and correct disparities, while also working in partnership with people who have lived experience in the criminal justice system.

Finally, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on every aspect of the parish’s local justice system and continues to uniquely affect those incarcerated in local jails. The foundation of collaborative, data-driven strategies, including the necessary structures and collaboration from local stakeholders that are in place to support these strategies, has set the parish up well to respond to the pandemic swiftly and effectively.

More Results

There have been significant pretrial justice system improvements in the county. For example, first appearance courtrooms are now headed by a small number of trained judges, which allows for uniformity in how release and detain decisions are made. The county also established a bail policy leadership group that is staffed by an analyst and meets monthly to review outcome data.

In addition, the Criminal Justice Services (CJS) Pretrial Supervision Unit is poised to launch two specialized caseloads focused on clients who are at higher risk of pretrial failure. An assessment done by the Center for Court Innovation has provided the CJS Pretrial Supervision Unit with a set of recommendations concerning best practices around procedural justice. The Unit is working to incorporate those suggestions.

The development of the Community Engagement Task Group drew significant interest from both the local justice partners and the larger community, who are all committed to collaborating around the development of policy and practice changes in the justice system so that it is more fair, just, and equitable for all. Nearly 100 community members applied to participate in the Task Group, and 10 applicants were selected in March 2021.

By the end of Summer 2021, all county justice agencies will have implemented the Implicit Bias Training for Justice Professionals.

Remaining Challenges

Mecklenburg County is focused on addressing its remaining challenges in its local justice system.

An analysis of local criminal justice data by the W. Haywood Burns Institute identified bookings and early release decisions as the two decision points in the justice system most impacted by racial and ethnic disparities. The Community Engagement Task Group will plan to review the racial and ethnic disparities data analysis and provide feedback on policy and practice changes that will help to eliminate existing disparities in the local system.

The county is seeing an uptick in violent crime, including homicide, which has placed an emphasis on identifying dangerous individuals that are legally eligible for pretrial detention and detaining them, and appropriately supervising others while they await disposition of their case.

Last, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on every aspect of the county’s local justice system. The foundation of collaborative, data-driven strategies, including the necessary structures and collaboration from local stakeholders that are in place to support these strategies, has set the county up well to respond to the pandemic swiftly and effectively. The county is focused on sustaining the work underway as part of the Safety and Justice Challenge in order to continue to support the work of reducing the local jail population and eliminating racial and ethnic disparities.

More Results

The county has learned that communication and collaboration are key to any reform strategy. System actors, including judges, law enforcement, public defenders, community members, and many others, have come together to work on making the local justice system fairer and more equitable.

As a result of the Community Engagement Workgroup’s work, a series of community listening conversations in late 2020 created a space for community members to share valued input on proposed criminal justice reform strategies. Within the system, court and law enforcement are participating in procedural justice trainings to learn ways to improve relationships with the public through increased transparency and understanding of legal processes. Over 600 employees have been trained so far.

From 2016 – 2020, the Population Review Team has reviewed and recommended release in 669 cases, and as a result, saved people an overall 4,325 days spent in jail.

The Toledo Municipal Court diversion program was able to effectively support people who often cycle in and out of the jail with alternatives to incarceration. Since 2018, 2,044 people have been referred to the program and 1,053 of them have completed the program. The program is being evaluated by the Harvard Access to Justice Lab.

Remaining Challenges

Lucas County is focused on addressing its remaining challenges in its local justice system.

Lucas County has more work to do in further reducing its jail population and racial and ethnic disparities in the justice system. An analysis of racial and ethnic disparities will be completed to inform further strategies to reduce racial and ethnic disparities. Additionally, Lucas County is focusing on expanding its continuum of services for individuals with behavioral health needs involved in the criminal justice system.

In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on every aspect of the county’s local justice system and continues to uniquely affect those incarcerated in local jails. The foundation of collaborative, data-driven strategies, including the necessary structures and collaboration from local stakeholders that are in place to support these strategies, has set the county up well to respond to the pandemic swiftly and effectively.

More Results

The County has seen significant reductions in the local jail population due to swift action from policymakers to reduce the spread of COVID-19 among adults in custody, as well as a continued interest in sustaining policies to maintain a low jail population. Additionally, local policymakers are committed to moving toward a risk-based pretrial system, which will increase the number of individuals released pretrial and further the County’s goals of reducing its reliance on jail. Since the beginning of the county’s participation in the Safety and Justice Challenge, there has been a significant reduction in the jail population while keeping the community safe.

Also, in recognition of the immense collateral consequences and economic disadvantage people on supervision already face, Multnomah County eliminated parole and probation fees within the County’s Department of Community Justice. Supervision fees place incredible financial pressure on individuals who are exiting the criminal justice system, a disproportionate number of whom come from Black, Indigenous, and other communities of color. The move includes elimination of community service fees, urinalysis fees, and any other administrative fee collected from people involved in the justice system.

Remaining Challenges

Multnomah County is committed to addressing its remaining challenges to ensure the local justice system is fair, just, and equitable for all.

In an effort to launch a broad systemic conversation about inequities embedded in the criminal legal system, the Local Public Safety Coordinating Council’s (LPSCC) January 2020 What Works conference highlighted the need to redefine the jurisdiction’s entire approach to criminal justice and intentionally put equity at the center. In response, LPSCC launched a multi-year Transforming Justice process to develop, align and implement strategies for system change by engaging criminal system leaders, health/housing system leaders, elected officials, service providers, victims of crime, community members, and individuals with lived experience to ask hard questions and, together, reimagine the future of justice policy. An inclusive steering committee of people with diverse backgrounds and professions was formed in May 2021 to direct this work, under the guidance of outside facilitators identified through a competitive procurement process.

Finally, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on every aspect of the County’s local justice system and continues to uniquely affect those incarcerated in jails. The foundation of collaborative, data-driven strategies — including the necessary structures and collaboration from local stakeholders that are in place to support these strategies — set the County up to respond to the pandemic swiftly and effectively.

Action from policymakers to reduce the spread of COVID-19 among adults in custody led to significant reductions in the local jail population and, moving forward, a continued interest in sustaining the policies to maintain a low population. Further, the challenges of the pandemic, paired with local and national calls for racial justice and reckoning, are powerful motivators to substantially change the way the local criminal justice system functions.