Confronting Racial Bias & Implementing Strategies to Ensure Justice in the Prosecution of Sexual Violence, Domestic Violence, Stalking, and Human Trafficking
Aug 27, 2020
Employ strategies for eradicating racial bias and enhancing justice for Black women and people of color in the criminal justice system.
Resource Details
Resource type
Webinars
Author(s)
Tene McCoy Cummings (Assistant State’s Attorney & Supervisor, Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office); Sharla Jackson (Domestic and Sexual Violence Resource Prosecutor, Prosecuting Attorneys' Council of Georgia); Carmen Lineberger (Managing Assistant United States Attorney and Former President NBPA); Jennifer Long (CEO, AEquitas); Nancy O’Malley (Alameda County District Attorney & AEquitas Board Member); Dalia Racine (Attorney Advisor, AEquitas); April Ross (Executive Director, Georgia Commission on Family Violence)
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This web-based panel is hosted by AEquitas and the National Black Prosecutors Association and explores the ways in which bias against Black women affects the investigation and prosecution of sexual assault, domestic violence, stalking, and human trafficking.
Panelists address the following topics:
- Effects of inequalities and challenges that Black women uniquely face as victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, stalking, and human trafficking;
- Barriers to reporting crimes—such as bias and stereotypes held by law enforcement prosecutors, judges, and jurors— which can translate into disparate outcomes for victims through unfair credibility determinations;
- The impact of bias on the accuracy of assessments of the probability of conviction in cases, and the collateral consequences on a victim's ability to seek restoration;
- The necessary commitment offices must make to eradicate implicit bias among its staff and enhance recruitment, mentorship, and support for individuals who are Black and/or African American and people of color; and
- Strategies for prosecutors' offices to enhance justice for victims by engaging in cultural humility, promoting criminal record relief, improving training, and ensuring accountability reinforced by data.