Let's get it right: race and justice 2000 - Nacro

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Let’s get it rightthan white defendants. In cases of medium gravity –where judges have more discretion than in the moreserious cases – the difference was 13%.The research also found differences in non-custodialpenalties. Judges were more likely to choose a ‘hightariff’ alternative to custody for black defendants than forwhites; black adult males were dealt with at a higher pointin the scale of punishments than were whites. NeitherAfrican Caribbean nor Asian defendants were placed onprobation as readily as whites. Partly this was due toprobation officers less readily recommending probation(they recommended probation for 26% of whites, andonly 16% of black and 9% of Asian defendants). Fewerblack defendants had social Inquiry Reports at the time ofsentencing – 42% of black defendants and 43% of Asianscompared to 28% of white offenders were sentencedwithout a social Inquiry Report.The following year, in 1993, Home Office researcherMarian FitzGerald prepared a report, ‘Ethnic Minoritiesand the Criminal Justice System’, for the RoyalCommission on Criminal Justice. It reviewed all availableresearch at the time and concluded:‘The research available addresses many of theconcerns which have been raised by ethnicminorities about their experience of criminaljustice. It does not do so definitively, however, andmany gaps remain. Yet Hood adds weight to theevidence already accumulated which stronglysuggests that, even where differences in social andlegal factors are taken into account, there areethnic differences in outcomes which can only beexplained in terms of discrimination.’The review summarised the research findings relating inparticular to African Caribbeans. It suggested that AfricanCaribbeans, particularly young people, were:more likely to be stopped by the police than whitesmore likely to be arrested (only a small proportion ofthese arrests resulting from stops) than whitesless likely to be cautioned and less likely than Asiansto have no further action taken against themlikely to face a different pattern of charges to thosebrought against whites or Asiansmore likely to plead not guilty to the charges againstthemmore likely to be acquitted-likely to receive more and longer custodial sentences,if found guilty, and a different range of non-custodialdisposals.Entry into the criminal justicesystemThe 1998 Home Office report on ‘Entry into the CriminalJustice System’ summarised the results of a survey of4,250 people held in 10 police stations in 1993/94. Thesurvey aimed to look at the process of arrest andprosecution. It concluded that:‘Members of ethnic minority groups – and blacksuspects in particular – appeared to be dealt withdifferently or responded differently from whitesuspects at a number of points between arrest andconviction. For example, they were on average:more likely to request legal advice; less likely toprovide confessions; less likely to be cautionedand more likely to have no further action takenagainst them by the police; less likely to be bailedafter charge; less likely (where the suspect was ajuvenile) to have their cases referred for interagencyconsultation; and much more likely to havetheir cases terminated by the CPS.’The authors note that other relevant factors may explainsome of the differences but that supervisors shouldexamine specific areas of decision-making carefully.The finding in relation to juveniles is important for theimplementation of the new youth justice system set out inthe Crime and Disorder Act. It will be important that allyoung offenders have equal access to inter-agency youthoffending teams.The research also found difference in the use of stop andsearch powers in that black suspects were less likely to becharged or cautioned when arrested following a stop andsearch and those arrested after a stop and search for stolenproperty were more likely ‘to be NFAed’ – to have nofurther action taken against them. According to the authors:‘These findings need more detailed examination tosee whether they show that stops and subsequentarrests in these circumstances are being made onless than reasonable suspicion or whether there areother explanations.’more likely to be tried at Crown Court14
RACE AND JUSTICE 2000CHAPTER 4 RESEARCH AND ETHNICMONITORINGEthnic monitoring andSection 95 of theCriminal Justice Act 1991‘To paraphrase John Donne, no agency isan island, entire of itself; any one’sfailure will diminish all the others,because they are all involved in the samesystem. We must not for this reasondecline to send to know for whom thebell tolls. On the contrary what weprincipally suffer is a lack of hardinformation which would allow us toknow where, and to what extent, racialdiscrimination is present. I would like toemphasise the importance I attach to[the CJCC] recommendation for allagencies to move quickly to a commonand comprehensive system of datacollection.’The late Lord Chief Justice, Lord Taylor, in 1995The research studies above highlight the need for ethnicmonitoring at key decision-making points of the criminaljustice system. Monitoring – which is becoming widelyaccepted both among criminal justice agencies and thegeneral public - is a useful tool. It helps to identifydifferent patterns or trends which suggest moreinvestigation is needed, particularly at those ‘crunch’points such as stop and search, arrest, charge, bail andsentencing which involve the use of discretionarydecision-making powers.Section 95 of the Criminal Justice Act 1991 was asignificant milestone for race and criminal justice. Forthe first time, the criminal justice agencies - which arenot covered by the 1976 Race Relations Act - weregiven a statutory duty to avoid discrimination. Section95 has led to much more information been available,through the development of ethnic monitoring, about theimpact of the criminal justice system on different groupsof people.SECTION 95,CRIMINAL JUSTICE ACT 1991‘The Secretary of State shall in each yearpublish such information as he considersexpedient for the purpose ofa) enabling persons engaged in theadministration of criminal justice tobecome aware of the financialimplications of their decisions; orb) facilitating the performance of suchpersons of their duty to avoiddiscriminating against any persons onthe ground of race or sex or anyother improper ground.’Five reports on race have been published (in 1992, 1994,1995, 1997 and 1998), one on gender (1992) and one oncosts (1992). The most recent report on race waspublished in December 1998. A very useful andcomprehensive report, it includes details of policemonitoring of stop and searches; arrests; cautions; andhomicides for the past two years; information aboutvictims of crime; the prison population; and thecomposition of the workforces in all the criminal justiceagencies.What is being monitored?Most criminal justice agencies now routinely monitor thecomposition of their staff and their recruitment andpromotion practices. New judicial and magisterialappointments are now monitored, as are appointments asQueen’s Counsel.As the s95 findings above show, since April 1996 allpolice forces have been required to monitor PACE stopand searches; arrests; cautions; and homicides. Someforces, such as Leicestershire Constabulary, monitor 12different areas of police powers.Probation services monitor commencements of probationorders, community service orders, combination orders,and pre-sentence reports using a system of race and ethnicmonitoring called PREM1.15
Page 1 and 2: Let’sget itrightRace and Justice
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Page 65 and 66: BIBLIOGRAPHYBland et al (1999), ‘
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NACRO Race Issues Advisory Committe
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