Perspectives By
James Scanlan | April 4, 2021, 8:02 PM EDT
James ScanlanThere exists an essentially universal belief that generally reducing adverse criminal justice outcomes will tend to reduce (a) relative racial differences in rates of experiencing the outcomes (as commonly presented in terms of the ratio of the rate for Black individuals to that of white individuals) and (b) the proportion Black individuals make up of persons experiencing the outcomes (compared with the proportion they make up of the population).
The belief underlies the calls for defunding the police that were heard in many places over the past year. The belief also plays an important role in support for criminal justice reforms aimed at generally reducing prison populations, expanding options for pretrial release and diversion programs for defendants with low risk of recidivism, de-incentivizing traffic stops, and modifying police practices in ways that can reduce all adverse interactions between