This number translates to Morethanoneinevery100

1 , ,fromfewerthan350,000peopleinstateandfed eralprisonsandjailsnationwidein1972, , , , , , , ,AfricanAmericanmen,withanincarcera-tion rateof4,749inmatesper100, ,wereincar-ceratedataratemorethansixtime shigherthanthatofwhitemen(708inmatesper1 00, ),andLatinomen(1,822inmatesper100, ) ,AfricanAmericanwomen,withanincar-cerati onrateof333per100,000, (91per100,000)tobeinprisonorjail,andthei ncar-cerationrateforLatinowomen,at142per 100,000,wasoneandahalftimestheincarcerat ionrateforwhitewomen(91per100,000). $ ,000feettotheviewontheground,thesenumber smeanthatoneinnineblackmenbetweentheages of20and34isbehindbars, ,in2007juvenilearreststatisticsshowedtha twhileAfricanAmericanyouthaccountedforon ly17percentofthegeneralpopulation, youthofcolorenterandstayinthesystemwithm uchgreaterfrequencythanWhiteyouth , ,thenumberofpeopleundercriminaljusticesu pervision includingthosewhoareinjail,inprison,onpr obation,andonparole ,peopleofcolorarealsooverrepresentedamon garrestees,probationers, OceanPhotography| ,therearemoreAfricanAmericanmenwhoareden iedtherighttovoteduetofelondisenfranchis ementlawsthanweredeniedtherighttovotein1 870, , , increasing inyearsofrisingcrimeandfallingcrime,ingo odeconomictimesandbad,duringwartimeandwh ilewewereatpeace.

2 19 Instarkcon-trast,thecurrentcrimeratehove rsaround1970slevels,whenjustunder200,000 peo-plewereincarcerated, ,which,afterthemid-1990s, ,itisclearthatthisoverrepresentationofmi noritiesinthecriminaljusticesystem,ordis pro-portionateminoritycontact(DMC), :TheCausesAlthoughDMChasbeenextensivelyd ocumentedinjurisdictionsacrossthecountry andiswidelydecried, ,22chargingdecisions,baildeter-minations ,sentencing,23andparoleandprobationpract ices;24thedisparateimpactofthewarondrugs ; (anddisappointing)exampleoftheSupremeCou rt , , , [a]pparentdisparitiesinsentencingareanin evitablepartofourcriminaljusticesystem, 29theCourtexpressedconcernthat [i]fweacceptedMcCleskey sclaimthatracialbiashasimpermissiblytain tedthecapitalsentencingdecision,wecoulds oonbefacedwithsimilarclaimsastoothertype sofpenalty.

3 30 Inhisdissent,JusticeBrennansummedupthema jori-ty srationalizationwithfivewords: fearoftoomuchjustice. 31 TwoothercasesprovideexamplesoftheCourt highdrugarea. , ,bothBlack,34ofinvolvementinadrugcrimebe sidestheWashington, , ,apoliceofficer spossibleracialbiasinmakingtrafficstopsi sinconsequentialtothedeterminationofwhet hertheofficer sbehaviorwas reasonable ,36inwhichtheCourtruledthat,inordertowin discoveryonaselectiveprosecutionclaim, , srecordofdisproportionateminoritycon-tac tbringstheparadoxintostarkrelief:theprac ticeofracediscriminationhasevolved, , perpe-tratormodelofracism, which definesracismnarrowlyandseesdiscriminati onfromtheperspectiveoftheperpetrator. 38 Buttherealityofcontemporaryracismisthati tisdifficult,ifnotimpossible,toascribeit seffectstothediscrete, ,thecriminaljusticesystemensnaresunprece dentednumbersofpeo-pleofcolor withpenalpoliciesbroaden-inginwaysthatre ndertheidentificationofracialintentandca usationespeciallydifficult.

4 39 Althoughwedohavepoliticalleadersengaging theissueofraceusingcodedlanguage,wedonot oftenseepeo-pleshoutinganythingasovertas Segregationnow,segregationtomorrow,segre gationforever! Instead,itfeelsasthoughthecriminaljustic esystemhastakenonalifeofitsown,becomingm orethanthesumofthemillionsofindividu-als whomakeupitsparts, ,prosecutors,andjudges, , ,policeofficersenjoyvirtuallyuntrammeled discretionregardingwheretopoliceandwhomt ostop,search,arrest, ,includingwhethertochargeatall,whattocha rge(orovercharge)and,asacorollary,whatpo ssiblepenaltiesthedefendantwillface,whet hertoofferarea-sonablepleaagreement,thet imelimittoputonthepleaagreement, ,oncethecaseisincourt,judgesgrantextraor dinarydeferencetoboththeoffi-cer son-the-streetjudgmentcall,consid-eringt he totalityofthecircumstances astheofficerrelaysthem,andtotheprose-cut or , :RoleoftheDefenseAttorneyButwhatistherol eofthedefenseattorney?

5 Aretheythecheckonthesys-tem?Aretheyinadv ertentlycomplicit,exacerbatingtheproblem insteadofallevi-atingit?Areothersystemac torscorrectwhentheycomplainthatdefenseat tor-neysaresimplyunreasonableobstruction -ists,elevatingrightsinsteadofdoingright ?Ifdefenseattorneyscanmakesurethatpolice officersabidebytheFourthandFifthAmendmen ts,thatprosecutorsobservedueprocess,andt hatjudgesdonotabusetheirdiscretion,shoul dn ttheybeabletoconfrontthisproblem,too? ,financial, ,publicdefenders,contractcounsel,andappo int-edcounselhavecaseloadssostaggeringas tocompromiserepresentationinwaystoonumer oustolist; scontractorappointmentmustbeapprovedbyaj udgeorprosecutors, , , ,forexample,whereanindividualcasemightno thaveovertlyracialissues,butwheretheclie ntfitsintoapopulationofdefen-dantsthatis disproportionatelyarrested,overcharged, ,ifnotbyvirtueofpoweranddiscretion, , [b]

6 Yaverywidemargin,defenseattor-neysaremos tinclinedtostronglyagreeoragreethatminor ityoverrepresentationisaproblem, , ,whilemostdefenseattorneysagreethereisas eriousproblemwithdis-proportionateminori tycontactthataffectstheday-to-daypractic eincriminalcases, , ,here,willinspireanintentionalandconcert edeffort inspecificcourthouses,inspecif-iccountie s, ,aswellasappointedandcontractdefenseatto rneys, ,only19stateshaveagov-ernment-funded,sta tewidepublicdefend-ersystemprovidingtria landappellatelevelrepresentationstatewid einfelonies,misdemeanors, , ,butcanalsobeadoptedincountieslikeClarkC ountyinWashington, ,talent,andeffortofasmallnumberofstaffat torneysallowedtodevelopexpertiseinthisar eaofcriminalandjuvenilepractice;officefi lespaceforaDMCbankofcases,caselaw,pleadi ngs,andothermaterials; ,butthepracticegroupsusuallycenteroncrea tingacoregroupofattor-neysspecializingin aparticularkindofcase,suchassexoffenseso rhomicides, :(1)col-lectingdata;(2)draftingmotionsan ddevelopingarguments;and(3)workingwithco mmunitygroups,participatinginstateDMCcoa litions, , ,including:!

7 Fromthepolicedepartment thenumberofarrestsinagiventimeperi-od,di saggregatedbyrace,gender,age,zipcode,off icer,andtimeofday;!Fromschools thenumberofarrestsatschoolswithschoolsec urityofficerscomparedtothenumberofarrest satschoolswithout;thenumberofarrestsatsc hoolswithzerotolerancepoliciescomparedto thenumberofarrestsatschoolswithout;thede mographicsofschoolswithschoolsecurityoff icerscomparedtothedemographicsofschoolsw ithout;abreakdownofthetypesofcasesthatsc hoolsrefertopoliceofficersandtheirmostco mmondispositions,disaggregatedbyrace,gen -der,age,zipcode,andtimeofday; !Fromprosecutors thenumberofcasesthataredivertedpre-arres t,post-arrestbutbeforearraignment,andata rraignment,disaggregatedbyrace,gender,ag e,zipcode,andprosecutor;pleaagreementsof fered,disaggregatedbyrace,gender,age,zip code,criminalhistory,charges,andjudgethe prosecu-torisassignedto,andprosecutor;!

8 Fromprobationofficers thenumberofrecommendationsofrevocation,d is-aggregatedbyrace,gender,age,zipcode,c riminalhistory,andcharge;and!Fromjudges baildeterminationsmade,releaseconditions set,sentenceshandeddown,andsentencesofpr oba-tionrevoked,alldisaggregatedbyrace,g ender,age,zipcode, ,despitethestunningconsisten-cyoftheDMCd atainjurisdictionafterjurisdictionacross thecountry, ,policeofficer,ordefenseattorney, ,orislockingupmorepeo-pleofcolorthanothe rsimilarlysituatedwhitedefendants, , , ,forvariousreasons, ,prosecutors offices,ortheadministrationofthecourtske epthekindofdatathatDMCtrackingmightrequi re whichisabigassumption ,withdif-ferentcategories(forexample,ind isaggre-gatingrace,schoolsmightuse7diffe rentracialcategories,whilethepolicedepar t-mentmightuse5),andwithdifferentinforma tionretrievalmechanisms(againusingtheexa mpleofrace,atschools,chil-drenmightbecat egorizedbytheirmoth-er srace,whilethepolicedepartmentmightcateg orizearresteesbytheirself-reportonwhatth eirraceis).

9 Alsoconsid-erthatthesegovernmentagencies mighthavestrainedrelationshipsbecauseoft henatureoftheadversarialprocess( ,thepoliceanddefenseattorneys,theprosecu -toranddefenseattorneys,thejudgesanddefe nseattorneys), slicenseattheDMV, ,publicdefenderoffices,andevenindividual contractandappointedcounsel,shouldstartt okeeptheirownstatistics, ,whoareoftenintheposi-tionofhavingtoadvo catewithstatelegis-laturesabouttheirbudg ets,havesomekindofclient-trackingsystem; ,itiscriticalfordefenseagenciestoexamine theirownroleincreatingDMC, :!Thenumberofpleaseachyear,disag-gregate dbyrace,gender,age,zipcode,offensescharg edandoffensesadmitted,andtimeofday;!Then umberofcasestakeneachyear,disaggregatedb yrace,gender,age,zipcode,andoffense;!The numberofmotionsfiledoverall,andthenumber ofparticularkindsofmotionsfiledinspecifi czipcodes( ,ifthereareoneortwozipcodeswherethemajor ityoftheFourthAmendmentsuppressionmotion sarefiled,isthisevidencethattheseareasar eover-policed?)

10 ;!Sentencesimposed,disaggregatedbyoffens e,race,criminalhistory,whetherthecasewas disposedofbypleaorbytrial,andjudge;and!T heoriginsofcases( ,isthereapar-ticulardepartmentstorethati ssendingthebulkoftheshopliftingcases?Ist hereaparticularschoolthatissendingthebul kofthejuvenilecases?).Second, reluc-tancetoturnoverdata, ,asPartIIIwilldetail,thesedatacanbemined formotions,pleadings, ,likethenationalandlocalofficesoftheACLU ,NAACPLDEF,MALDEF,andothers,byprovidingi nformationaboutpotentialplaintiffs(witht heclients permission,ofcourse).Forexample,theACLU hasmademassincarcerationoneofitsmajorpri or-ities, sOffice(SFPD) ,theJuvenileDivisionoftheSFPD developedafactsheetofrecommendationstitl ed, TenTipsforWorkingwithAsianYouthandFamili es. Thesetips, ,includeeverythingfromexplanationsforwhy parentsmightbeoverlyforthcomingwithproba tionoffi-cersorseemparticularlyharshwith theirchildren, (forexample,interpretingachild ssto-icisminpublicasalackofremorse,wheni tismuchmorelikelythatthechildisact-ingou tofaheightenedsenseofprivacy) , sworkwithcriminaljusticestakeholdersinBa ltimore,Md.