Prosecutions against some black and minority-ethnic suspects should be deferred or dropped to help tackle the criminal justice system’s bias against them, according to a highly critical report. Allowances should also be made for younger defendants’ immaturity and criminal records should be sealed to help former offenders find work, adding that statistics suggested discrimination in the UK was worse than in the US in some cases. Tthere was “greater disproportionality” in the number of black people in prisons in England and Wales than in the US. Black people make up 3% of Britain’s population and 12% of the prison population, compared with 13% and 35% respectively, in the US.
Young black people are nine times more likely to be locked up in England and Wales than their white peers, according to Ministry of Justice analysis. The BAME proportion of youth prisoners rose from 25% in 2006 to 41% last year.
If the prison population reflected the makeup of England and Wales, there would be 9,000 fewer people in prison. The costs to the taxpayer of such disproportionate outcomes, the report claims, is more than £300m a year.
The report concludes there is overt racial prejudice in Britain’s criminal justice system, although it is declining. But problems of covert and unconscious or implicit bias are becoming more apparent instead.
A symptom of the bias problem, the MP said, was the mistrust shown by BAME defendants. “They see the system in terms of ‘them and us’ ,” Lammy said. “Many do not trust the promises made to them by their own solicitors, let alone officers in a police station warning them to admit guilt. What begins as a ‘no comment’ interview can quickly become a crown court trial.” Between 2006 and 2014, 41% of black defendants pleaded not guilty in crown courts compared with 31% of white defendants. Consequently, black defendants lose the opportunity of reduced sentences through early guilty pleas and distrust in the system is reinforced.
The UK should adopt Germany’s approach to assessing the maturity of younger offenders. Rather than an “inflexible” boundary, at the age of 18, between youth and adult courts in England and Wales, the German system allows for less punitive juvenile law to be applied to young adults if the “moral and psychological development” of the defendant suggests he or she is immature or “like a juvenile”. Assessments of maturity should be developed and used for defendants up until 21. Since there is a high proportion of BAME individuals among young adult prisoners, their introduction would help significantly. Most young people grow out of crime, the report says. Selling drugs as a teenager could prevent an individual becoming a plumber or licensed taxi driver well into their thirties.
In Massachusetts offenders who can demonstrate they have reformed and are no longer a threat can petition to have their criminal records expunged so that they do not need to disclose them on job applications. Their criminal records would be “sealed” so that judges would still have access in case of reoffending.
The report calls for an “ethnically representative judiciary and magistracy” by the year 2025. While 14% of the general population are from BAME backgrounds, the proportion within the police and prison service is 6%. It is 7% in the judiciary, 11% among magistrates and 19% in the Crown Prosecution Service.
Young black people are nine times more likely to be locked up in England and Wales than their white peers, according to Ministry of Justice analysis. The BAME proportion of youth prisoners rose from 25% in 2006 to 41% last year.
If the prison population reflected the makeup of England and Wales, there would be 9,000 fewer people in prison. The costs to the taxpayer of such disproportionate outcomes, the report claims, is more than £300m a year.
The report concludes there is overt racial prejudice in Britain’s criminal justice system, although it is declining. But problems of covert and unconscious or implicit bias are becoming more apparent instead.
A symptom of the bias problem, the MP said, was the mistrust shown by BAME defendants. “They see the system in terms of ‘them and us’ ,” Lammy said. “Many do not trust the promises made to them by their own solicitors, let alone officers in a police station warning them to admit guilt. What begins as a ‘no comment’ interview can quickly become a crown court trial.” Between 2006 and 2014, 41% of black defendants pleaded not guilty in crown courts compared with 31% of white defendants. Consequently, black defendants lose the opportunity of reduced sentences through early guilty pleas and distrust in the system is reinforced.
The UK should adopt Germany’s approach to assessing the maturity of younger offenders. Rather than an “inflexible” boundary, at the age of 18, between youth and adult courts in England and Wales, the German system allows for less punitive juvenile law to be applied to young adults if the “moral and psychological development” of the defendant suggests he or she is immature or “like a juvenile”. Assessments of maturity should be developed and used for defendants up until 21. Since there is a high proportion of BAME individuals among young adult prisoners, their introduction would help significantly. Most young people grow out of crime, the report says. Selling drugs as a teenager could prevent an individual becoming a plumber or licensed taxi driver well into their thirties.
In Massachusetts offenders who can demonstrate they have reformed and are no longer a threat can petition to have their criminal records expunged so that they do not need to disclose them on job applications. Their criminal records would be “sealed” so that judges would still have access in case of reoffending.
The report calls for an “ethnically representative judiciary and magistracy” by the year 2025. While 14% of the general population are from BAME backgrounds, the proportion within the police and prison service is 6%. It is 7% in the judiciary, 11% among magistrates and 19% in the Crown Prosecution Service.
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