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Racial Disparities in the Massachusetts Criminal System

Research and context

  • Product Number: 2210253WBC
  • CLE Credits, earn up to:
    2 substantive credits, 0 ethics credits CLE Credit Note
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    In 2016 the late Chief Justice Gants asked Harvard Law School to study racial disparities in the criminal system in Massachusetts. The request was motivated by research showing that in Massachusetts, Black people are eight times more likely to be incarcerated and Latinx people are five times more likely to be incarcerated than their White counterparts. The Harvard researchers collected three years of administrative data from the relevant agencies and conducted a comprehensive analysis of racial disparities in the criminal process beginning with charging and moving all the way through to sentencing. This session explores the results of that study. 

    First, the lead researcher, Felix Owusu, walks us through the methodology and findings of the study. He explains how charging practices, mandatory minimum sentences, and indictment decisions drive racial disparities in sentence length, and explain how two categories of crimes—gun and drug offenses—produce the most severe disparities. He also helps you interpret the regression analysis featured in the report to gain a deeper understanding of the findings. 

    Next, Rahsaan Hall, Director of the Racial Justice Program for the ACLU of Massachusetts, and David Harris, Managing Director of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice at Harvard Law School, put this research in context. They discuss broader issues of systemic racism and address forces outside of the courts that contribute to and are exacerbated by the criminal system. They also describe antiracism and community work that is being done to counteract these forces and put forth an alternative vision for the future. 

    We conclude with a Q&A so please bring your questions. 

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    Agenda & Materials

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    MCLE webcasts are delivered completely online, underscoring their convenience and appeal. There are no published print materials. All written materials are available electronically only. They are posted 24 hours prior to the program and can be accessed, downloaded, or printed from your computer.

  • Faculty

    Chair

    Brook Hopkins, Esq., Harvard Law School/Former Executive Director of the Criminal Justice Policy Prog, Cambridge

    Faculty

    David J. Harris, Harvard Law School, Cambridge
    Felix Owusu, Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy, Cambridge
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