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RACIAL IMPACT STATEMENTS
Ashley NellisBrad Richardson
WEBINAR PRESENTED BY:
THE COALITION FOR JUVENILE JUSTICE’S ETHNIC AND CULTURAL DIVERSITY COMMITTEE
Racial Impact Statements: History and Applicability to Juvenile Justice
PoliciesAshley Nellis, Ph.D.
Senior Research Analyst
The Sentencing Project
June 2015
3Overview
• Theoretical framework for racial impact statements
• States that have adopted racial impact statements
• States moving toward statutory change
• Why important for juvenile justice arena
4Theoretical Framework for Racial Impact Statements
• Crime policies often have unintentional impacts on certain groups (usually people of color) that would be best addressed through more careful, forward-looking analyses prior to adopting policies.
• Reversing problematic policies is vastly more challenging than avoiding them in the first place.
5Youth Example: School Discipline Policies
• History of school discipline policies dates back to the Gun Free Schools Act of 1994. States required to adopt a zero tolerance policy for firearms on campus but led to significant expansion of zero tolerance policies that created the school-to-prison pipeline.
• Nationally, although African-American youth represent 15 percent of all students, they make up 35 percent of students suspended once, 44 percent of those suspended more than once, and 36 percent of students expelled.
6Racial Impact Statement Reform in the States
• Three states have implemented mechanisms for preparation and consideration of racial impact statements: • Iowa, 2008: in addition to preparing a correctional impact statement for
proposed policy changes, the legislative services agency should also conduct a racial impact analysis that examines the impact of sentencing or parole changes on racial and ethnic minorities.
• Connecticut, 2008: called for racial and ethnic impact statements to be prepared for bills and amendments that would increase or decrease the pretrial or sentenced populations of state correctional facilities.
• Oregon, 2013: provides a process for formally requesting racial impact statements when considering criminal justice and child welfare legislation.
7Reform in the States, continued
• In 2007, Minnesota incorporated racial impact statements into its sentencing guidelines: although not required by law, sentencing commission routinely drafts analyses that forecasts the racial impact of sentencing policies for felony offenses.
• The American Law Institute and the American Bar Association have both adopted policy statements endorsing the use of racial impact statements.
• Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi, and Wisconsin have introduced but not yet passed racial impact statement legislation.
8Racial and Ethnic Disparity in the Juvenile Justice System
• African American youth comprise about 16% of the population of those under age 18 in the US, but:
• 31% of all referrals to court;• 35% of all petitions;• 33% of delinquency adjudications; and• 52% of secure placements
9Rate of Youth in Residential Placement per 100,000, by race and ethnicity
White
Black
Hispanic
American Indian
Asian
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
112
521
202
361
36
Data Source: Sickmund, M., Sladky, T.J., Kang, W., and Puzzanchera, C. (2015) "Easy Access to the Census of Juveniles in Residential Placement."
10Racial and Ethnic Disparity in the Juvenile Justice System, specific states
• Despite historic declines in out-of-home placement for youth – now at 50% of their levels in 1999—racial and ethnic disparities have not budged.
State Black: White Disparity at Point of Placement, 2011
Wisconsin 14.0
New Jersey 12.5
Connecticut 12.4
Minnesota 9.7
Rhode Island 9.4
Pennsylvania 9.3
Data Source: Sickmund, M., Sladky, T.J., Kang, W., and Puzzanchera, C. (2015) "Easy Access to the Census of Juveniles in Residential Placement."
11The Federal Mandate
• States are required to address racial disparity through the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act
• Little change in racial and ethnic disparity since the mandate has been in place; in some places it has gotten worse
• JJDPA bill currently in consideration would strengthen this requirement in important ways• Expand mandate from “address” DMC to “address and reduce”• Expand direction to states by requiring the following 4 steps to be completed:
• Develop coordinating bodies to work on DMC; • Identify key decision points where racial and ethnic disparities are present; • Use data to make decisions; and • Publicly report findings
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Resu
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Toward Ethnic and Cultural Impact Assessment
1. Perspective: Historical and Experiential
2. Foundation: National Environmental Policy Act and inclusion of Social Impact Assessment
3. Racial Impact Statements & Legislation
4. From Statements to Assessment: Impacting Causes of Disparities
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Perspective
Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission
systematic examination of disparities in the law
Social and Psychological Impact of the Accident at Three Mile Island
social impact assessment approach
Social and Economic Impact of OCS Leasing on Native Villages
the social indicators methodology
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Foundation: The Law and Environment
National Environmental Policy Act – requires federal agencies to consider the environmental impacts of proposed actions and reasonable alternatives
Social Impact Assessment
• way of life – how they live, work, play and interaction; culture, customs, values and language or dialect;
• community – cohesion, stability; political systems; environment; health and wellbeing; economics; individual disadvantage or violation of civil liberties; perceptions about safety and about the future
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Racial Impact Statement Model
Prior to legislators’ deliberation of proposed legislation, a statistical analysis of the potential impact the legislation could have on racial and ethnic disparities in the justice system should be performed
The Sentencing Project, “Racial Impact Statements: Changing Policy to Address Disparities,” http://bit.ly/1ec1ivM
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State Law Example
“Prior to debate on the floor of a chamber of the general assembly, a correctional impact statement shall be attached to any bill, joint resolution, or amendment which proposes a change in the law which creates a public offense, significantly changes an existing public offense or the penalty for an existing offense, or changes existing sentencing, parole, or probation procedures. The statement shall include….the impact of the legislation on minorities….”
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Section C – Minority Impact StatementPursuant to 2008 Iowa Acts, HF 2393, Iowa Code Section 8.11, all grant applications submitted to the State of Iowa which are due beginning January 1, 2009 shall include a Minority Impact Statement. This is the state’s mechanism to require grant applicants to consider the potential impact of the grant project’s proposed programs or policies on minority groups.
Please choose the statement(s) that pertains to this grant application.
The proposed grant project programs or policies could have a disproportionate or unique positive impact on minority persons. Describe the positive impact expected from this project Indicate which group is impacted: ___ Women ___ Persons with a Disability ___ Blacks___ Latinos ___ Asians ___ Pacific Islanders___ American Indians ___ Alaskan Native Americans ___ Other
The proposed grant project programs or policies could have a disproportionate or unique negative impact on minority persons. (Iowa Dept. of Natural Resources)
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Political Will v. Science [Racial Impact Statements] do not affect laws already on the books, but they promote fairness (Mauer)
AP reported Iowa Law Has Modest Effect
DM Register quote: “Rep. Chip Baltimore, an Iowa Republican who heads the Judiciary Committee, said the statements were of little value because they do not consider the root causes of the racial disparity. But he said they offered political cover to lawmakers who oppose legislation for other reasons. “I think at times it becomes a political tool,” he said. “There are some legislators that, if it has any minority impact, they won’t vote for it.”
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Who Determines Racial Impact
“The statements are drafted by the Legislative Services Agency using data on the prison population, arrests, convictions and sentences broken down by race. The agency has found disproportionate racial effects in proposals…”
“analysts are sometimes ‘kind of guessing’ as to how a new crime would affect minorities using data from similar existing offenses… [but] the studies lead to a more informed debate.”
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Current Advances: Toward an Ethnic and Cultural Impact Assessment
Guidelines and Principles For Social Impact Assessment
The Interorganizational Committee on Guidelines and Principles forSocial Impact Assessment. U.S. Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Marine Fisheries Service (May 1994).
Center for Racial Justice Innovation - Racial Equity Impact Assessment (REIA)
A ten point guide to systematic examination of how different racial and ethnic groups will likely be affected by a proposed action or decision. REIAs are used to minimize unanticipated adverse consequences in a variety of contexts, including the analysis of proposed policies, institutional practices, programs, plans and budgetary decisions. The REIA can be a vital tool for preventing institutional racism and for identifying new options to remedy long-standing inequities.
(italics mine)
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Recommendations
1. Establish Ethnic and Cultural Impact Assessment Methodology adapting social indicators and social impact assessment methods
2. Apply ECIA method to past disparity (pilot test)
3. Where ECIA is applied to proposed laws, follow-up is needed to see what happens (we can’t assume the predictions are accurate; we do a poor job predicting the future and unintended consequences)
4. ECIA should be conducted independent of government agencies (self policing does not work)
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Contact InformationIf you have a question about webinar content, please contact:
Ashley Nellis, The Sentencing Project, [email protected]
Brad Richardson, The University of Iowa School of Social Work, [email protected]
If you require a certificate of completion for this webinar or would like to hear more about future CJJ webinars, please contact:
Katie Mercier, Coalition for Juvenile Justice, [email protected]
To learn more about CJJ, including how to become an individual or organizational member, visit www.juvjustice.org/about-us/.
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