Racial Inequities in Cuyahoga Justice System Will be Studied
Cleveland Plain Dealer
Leila Atassi
1/7/2008
Bill Mason has committed to announcing who will handle gathering hard data on racial inequalities in the prosecutor’s office by February. This is the first step in a negotiation with community leaders to address the significant and real problems found throughout the Cuyahoga criminal justice system.
Ryan Miday, spokesman for the prosecutor’s office, would not comment on the selection process but said Mason hopes to make a decision by early February.
In late November, Cleveland City Council members, Mason and other players in the criminal justice system met for 3½ hours with local leaders in the black community to discuss racial inequalities observed in the system.
[...]
Stanley Miller, executive director of the NAACP, emphasized the urgency in addressing the problem and offered Mason his office’s help in finding a solution.
[...]
The study also will review referrals to diversion and treatment programs at the local and county levels, including data regarding the programs’ admissions and success rates by race, Mason said. And researchers will collect data on indictments, charges, pleas and sentences, as well as the rate at which each of the county’s 34 judges uses the alternative programs.
The group agreed to reconvene early this year and invite others – university professors, research centers, social workers, judges and attorneys – to participate in the discussion.