Why the US needs black lawyers even more than it needs black police

[erpowers]

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A 2011 study of the New York County district attorney’s office (DANY) found black defendants 19% more likely than white defendants to be offered plea deals that included jail or prison time. Black people charged with misdemeanor offenses or drug offenses were also more likely than white people to be held in jail or prison at their arraignment.

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A 2010 national study uncovered “shocking evidence of racial discrimination in jury selection in every [southern] state”. The study found evidence that some state and local prosecutors were actually trained to exclude people on the basis of race and instructed on how to conceal their racial bias. While unconscious-bias training and stricter rules might improve the situation, the best way to stem discrimination is to have more black faces in the room. This was the sentiment shared by black prosecutors in a 2010 district attorney roundtable discussion.

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Just ask the residents of Ferguson, Missouri. The public was shocked to learn that despite its black majority, only 6% of the police force is black. At the time of Brown’s killing in August, the number of black attorneys in Ferguson was zero, according to the Missouri bar, which listed only four white attorneys for the city’s 14,000 black residents, who were issued 92% of the city’s warrants and received 95% of two-day or more jail sentences.

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Then sitting justices William Rehnquist, Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia and David Souter had never hired a black clerk. A decade later, a study by the Administrative Office of the US Courts found that the number of African Americans clerking for appellate judges had actually declined from 3.5% in 2006 to 2.4% in 2010. At the district court level, the percentage of African American clerks declined from 3.5% to 3.2%.

[1StrongBlackMan]

1. And a step further ...

More Black lawyers feeds the judgeship pipeline.

But sadly, that is not enough ... having Black folks "in power" in a racist system will do little to change things.

[erpowers]

2. So, What Should We Do?

I am really interested in any suggestions you have.

[1StrongBlackMan]

3. Black lawyers and Black judges are a start; but, ...

what would go farther is re-visiting the criminal code; but more, re-visit the purpose of prisons. Are they for punishment or rehabilitation? Are they just to get the criminal off the street, or to keep them out of prison?