Posted: | December 2, 2022 10:56 AM |
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From: | Senator Vincent J. Hughes and Sen. Maria Collett |
To: | All Senate members |
Subject: | Racial Impact Statements |
In the near future, we will be reintroducing Senate Bill 79 from last session. The bill would allow a member of the General Assembly to request a racial impact statement on any piece of legislation that proposes changes to the criminal offenses or sentencing laws in the Commonwealth. Similar to the use of fiscal notes to analyze bills that may impact Commonwealth and local funds, a racial impact statement would be another tool that would help the General Assembly make more informed decisions prior to casting a vote on a bill. The racial impact statement would describe the potential impact the proposed legislative changes would have on the racial and ethnic composition of our criminal offender population and/or the juvenile court system. While some improvements have been made and overall incarceration rates have decreased, it is still no secret that our nation’s prison population is disproportionately represented by minorities. According to figures from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, racial and ethnic disparities in the United States remain significant. As of 2020 Black males were 5.7 times as likely to be imprisoned as white males. What is more shocking is that black males ages 18-19 are 12.5 times as likely to be imprisoned as white males of the same age. The national statistics are just as abysmal for Hispanic males, and Black, Hispanic and Native American females. As of the most recent Pennsylvania data, Black individuals continue to be overrepresented in the incarcerated population at 44%, while they account for only 20% of the state’s population. We must acknowledge these disparities exist when noting white individuals comprise 45% of the prison population but also account for 74% of the state’s population. Many of the legislative measures we propose have the potential to exacerbate these racial disparities. A 2016 report from the Sentencing Project identified three recurrent explanations for racial disparities in state imprisonment: 1) policies and practices; 2) implicit bias and stereotypes; and 3) structural disadvantages. It is our belief that racial impact statements would provide an effective mechanism for analyzing the true scope and unforeseen ramifications of our legislative proposals. Notably, there is an effort nationwide to institute the use of racial impact statements as a means of examining the consequences of legislative proposals prior to their adoption. Iowa was the first state to enact similar legislation. Since then, eight other states – Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Oregon, Maine, Maryland, New Jersey, and Virginia – have implemented mechanisms for the preparation and consideration of racial impact studies. Minnesota has adopted racial impact studies through their Sentencing Guidelines Commission as opposed to through legislation. At least 9 other states have racial impact study legislation pending before their General Assembly. We believe it is time for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to take this important step towards addressing racial disparity within our criminal justice system. We hope you will join us in co-sponsoring this legislation. If you have any questions, please contact either of our offices. |
Introduced as SB79