Law Should Address Racial Disparity in the Legal System

Illinois – which had the highest black drug offender prison admission rate, and the second highest black-to-white ratio of prison admission rates for drug offenses – has enacted a measure that lays the groundwork to help address racial disparity in the legal system. “Problems of racial inequality are deep and complex, but solutions exist,” wrote State Sen. Mattie Hunter and State Rep. Arthur Turner in a Pantagraph commentary. “A new proactive tool that states are adopting to inform policymaking is a "racial impact assessment." These assessments are much like environmental impact statements and fiscal impact notes. … For Illinois, explicitly exploring the racial impacts of public policies is an important step for eliminating institutional bias. For communities of color, it may prove to be a giant leap toward justice.”