According to a recent TV news story, a meeting of Allegheny County judges this month “erupted in protest” over the draft of a new court mission statement proposed by President Judge Kim Berkeley Clark. The disputed portion of the statement proclaims that “We are committed to being fair and consistent, while paying attention to issues of bias (both implicit and explicit), and systemic racism that currently exist in the justice system. We pledge to actively seek to identify, address, and eliminate these obstacles to equitable outcomes.”

Several of the judges refused to sign off on the statement because it acknowledged that systemic racism affects the criminal justice system. The judges were personally offended by the statement because they believed it implied that the judges themselves are racists.

This controversy appears to stem from a misunderstanding of the meaning of systemic racism. A misunderstanding that is unfortunate because it resulted in a failed opportunity to make a strong statement showcasing the court’s commitment to equity and equality in the justice system.

In order to have a meaningful discussion about systemic racism in the criminal justice system, first we need to define the terms. To paraphrase the definition adopted by the U.N. in a recent report, systemic racism is a term that refers to a system of laws, policies and practices that have a disparate impact on communities of color. When we refer to the criminal justice system, we refer to the whole process: from the decision to patrol a particular area, to the arrest decision, to the jury selection process, to sentencing.

Systemic racism recognizes that even when individual actors (for example, the police officer, prosecutor, defense attorney and presiding judge in a criminal case) act in good faith, the system itself can produce results that disproportionately impact our most vulnerable communities — particularly impoverished and primarily Black neighborhoods. So when a person says that the criminal justice system is affected by systemic racism, that is not an allegation that each individual actor in the system is personally racist.

Having defined the terms, is the local criminal justice system affected by systemic racism? Yes. How do we know that? Because the data conclusively shows that it is:

• A 2019 report issued by the University of Pittsburgh Institute of Politics shows that white defendants are 41% less likely to be sentenced to jail (on the same charge) than Black defendants.

• The same report shows that despite making up only 13% of the local population, African Americans make up 49% of the jail population.

• Statistics from a recent Allegheny County Adult Probation and Parole annual report show that 43% of individuals on probation or parole are Black. Further, white defendants are 33% less likely to have an on-view arrest on their charges than Black defendants.

• Black defendants spend an average 21 more days in the jail than white defendants.

• Black girls are 13 times more likely than white girls to be arrested.

Specific to the City of Pittsburgh, from 2015-19, Black men were three times more likely than white men to be subjected to a traffic stop, six times more likely to be arrested, and 10 times more likely to be frisk-searched.

In the decades our members have served as defense lawyers, we’ve yet to see the criminal justice system and its leaders engage in deep introspection relating to matters of race and equity. We are a part of the system, and thus we shoulder some responsibility for that failure.

But with the insight gained from the national reckoning on race following George Floyd’s killing and the positive example of other cities that have implemented successful reforms, now is the time to study the data and closely re-examine the system in order to determine what parts are working and what areas can be improved. This must be done not only to improve outcomes but also to restore the public’s trust.

An essential first step in the process is to recognize the unpleasant but real truth that the criminal justice system is, indeed, affected by systemic racism — as countless other civic and government leaders have already done. President Judge Clark, in a show of leadership, asked all Allegheny County judges to take this step and sign-off on a mission statement that acknowledges that systemic racism exists and pledges to work to improve the system. In order to demonstrate the bench’s unified commitment to equity and equality, we hope that the judges who initially objected to signing the statement will reconsider their positions.

Turahn Jenkins and Rob Perkins are leaders of the Allegheny Lawyers’ Initiative for Justice, which advocates for smart and innovative solutions that will improve the local justice criminal justice system.

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