A structural failure?

A4W believes the country’s Federal, State & Local criminal justice systems do not provide equal justice to racial minorities. Instead, A4W believes that racial minorities are systematically victimized at every stage of the criminal justice process, beginning with police encounters and continuing through interactions with prosecutors & juries and final sentencing decisions by Judges.

American citizens expect the Police to impartially and uniformly enforce the law, but there’s ample evidence that police are more likely to interdict, coerce and/or brutalize racial minority American citizens versus Caucasian American citizens, owing to racial animus and/or misplaced prejudice.

There’s similar evidence that criminal Prosecutors often misuse the tools of their offices (e.g. charging decisions, bail terms, aggressive trial techniques, et al), to bully racial minority defendants into plea bargained jail time vs. treating them like all other defendants.

The nation-wide criminal justice system practices that allow Prosecutors to stack juries with jurors who have a predisposition to convict Black & Hispanic minority citizens - as well as, the harsh and/or mandatory sentencing that Criminal Court judges impose on racial vs. non-racial minorities - must be stopped immediately.

A4W advocates State & Federal criminal justice system reform that mandates…

• Uniform, civil and “best practice” guidelines for Police organizations;
• Judicial and civilian review & penalties for prosecutorial actions motivated by race;
• Civil & criminal liability for jurors who show bias against defendants regarding race, sex, age and other protected classes;
• Statutory limitations on Judicial sentencing discretion; and
• Judiciary-led reviews & audits of Criminal court Judge decisions regarding minority defendants.

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