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Prosecutions against some black and minority-ethnic suspects should be deferred or dropped to help tackle the criminal justice system’s bias against them, according to a highly critical report written by the Labour MP David Lammy at the request of the prime minister.
Lammy said allowances should also be made for younger defendants’ immaturity and criminal records should be sealed to help former offenders find work, adding that statistics suggested discrimination in the UK was worse than in the US in some cases.
“My conclusion is that BAME individuals still face bias, including overt discrimination, in parts of the justice system,” the MP says in his report. His findings provide facts that people from minority ethnic backgrounds have argued for decades.
The MP highlighted the fact that there was “greater disproportionality” in the number of black people in prisons in England and Wales than in the US. Black people make up 3% of Britain’s population and 12% of the prison population, compared with 13% and 35% respectively, in the US.
His report concludes there is overt racial prejudice in Britain’s criminal justice system, although it is declining. But problems of covert and unconscious or implicit bias are becoming more apparent instead.
As an example, Lammy said that when the word “gang” was used rather than “group” in discussions about crime, “it can be used to signal ethnicity rather than to describe the links between a group of suspects”.
The review was commissioned in January 2016 by David Cameron, the then prime minister, and has been supported by his successor, Theresa May. It attempts to disentangle the broader effects of discrimination and disadvantage in society from the procedures of police, courts, prisons and the probation service.
Deferred prosecutions, permitting suspects to enter rehabilitation programmes without having to admit guilt, have been piloted successfully in New Zealand, California and the West Midlands, the report says. People completing programmes have their charges dropped, but those who do not fo on to face criminal proceedings. Such schemes, Lammy said, should be extended to tackle racism in the British system.
Violent offenders who have gone through the West Midlands programme, Operation Turning Point, are 35% less likely to reoffend than those who went through the normal criminal justice channels. Victims were also more satisfied and costs were lower than traditional prosecutions, the report states. The scheme should be rolled out across England and Wales for adult and young offenders, Lammy recommends.
Young black people are nine times more likely to be locked up in England and Wales than their white peers, according to Ministry of Justice analysis picked up by Lammy. The BAME proportion of youth prisoners rose from 25% in 2006 to 41% last year.
If the prison population reflected the makeup of England and Wales, there would be 9,000 fewer people in prison. The costs to the taxpayer of such disproportionate outcomes, the report claims, is more than £300m a year.
A symptom of the bias problem, the MP said, was the mistrust shown by BAME defendants. “They see the system in terms of ‘them and us’ ,” Lammy said. “Many do not trust the promises made to them by their own solicitors, let alone officers in a police station warning them to admit guilt. What begins as a ‘no comment’ interview can quickly become a crown court trial.”
Lammy said allowances should also be made for younger defendants’ immaturity and criminal records should be sealed to help former offenders find work, adding that statistics suggested discrimination in the UK was worse than in the US in some cases.
“My conclusion is that BAME individuals still face bias, including overt discrimination, in parts of the justice system,” the MP says in his report. His findings provide facts that people from minority ethnic backgrounds have argued for decades.
The MP highlighted the fact that there was “greater disproportionality” in the number of black people in prisons in England and Wales than in the US. Black people make up 3% of Britain’s population and 12% of the prison population, compared with 13% and 35% respectively, in the US.
His report concludes there is overt racial prejudice in Britain’s criminal justice system, although it is declining. But problems of covert and unconscious or implicit bias are becoming more apparent instead.
As an example, Lammy said that when the word “gang” was used rather than “group” in discussions about crime, “it can be used to signal ethnicity rather than to describe the links between a group of suspects”.
The review was commissioned in January 2016 by David Cameron, the then prime minister, and has been supported by his successor, Theresa May. It attempts to disentangle the broader effects of discrimination and disadvantage in society from the procedures of police, courts, prisons and the probation service.
Deferred prosecutions, permitting suspects to enter rehabilitation programmes without having to admit guilt, have been piloted successfully in New Zealand, California and the West Midlands, the report says. People completing programmes have their charges dropped, but those who do not fo on to face criminal proceedings. Such schemes, Lammy said, should be extended to tackle racism in the British system.
Violent offenders who have gone through the West Midlands programme, Operation Turning Point, are 35% less likely to reoffend than those who went through the normal criminal justice channels. Victims were also more satisfied and costs were lower than traditional prosecutions, the report states. The scheme should be rolled out across England and Wales for adult and young offenders, Lammy recommends.
Young black people are nine times more likely to be locked up in England and Wales than their white peers, according to Ministry of Justice analysis picked up by Lammy. The BAME proportion of youth prisoners rose from 25% in 2006 to 41% last year.
If the prison population reflected the makeup of England and Wales, there would be 9,000 fewer people in prison. The costs to the taxpayer of such disproportionate outcomes, the report claims, is more than £300m a year.
A symptom of the bias problem, the MP said, was the mistrust shown by BAME defendants. “They see the system in terms of ‘them and us’ ,” Lammy said. “Many do not trust the promises made to them by their own solicitors, let alone officers in a police station warning them to admit guilt. What begins as a ‘no comment’ interview can quickly become a crown court trial.”
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The Prime Minister has been waiting on the report so she'll likely be implementing all the findings.
Teams in Prison attacking Staff ETC , they cant cover it, the whole penal system becoming a shambles .
Answer Leave them on the Streets .
Perhaps an increase in Police numbers and Pay ...
Young black people are nine times more likely to be locked up in England and Wales than their white peers.. ???
I doubt that very much ,who or what are these young Black People ? Can we have break down ? I have known Many
Black People in my life , I know none who are or were in Prison ? and thinking about I know a lot of white people
that went to prison .. But as I said who are included in this Group of so Called Black People ?
Answer Leave them on the Streets .
Perhaps an increase in Police numbers and Pay ...
Young black people are nine times more likely to be locked up in England and Wales than their white peers.. ???
I doubt that very much ,who or what are these young Black People ? Can we have break down ? I have known Many
Black People in my life , I know none who are or were in Prison ? and thinking about I know a lot of white people
that went to prison .. But as I said who are included in this Group of so Called Black People ?
21,937 prisoners are from a minority ethnic group. This compares to around one in 10 of the general population.
Out of the British national prison population, 10% are black and 6% are Asian. For black Britons this is significantly higher than the 2.8% of the general population they represent.
Overall black prisoners account for the largest number of minority ethnic prisoners (49%).
At the end of June 2014, 28% of minority ethnic prisoners were foreign nationals.
According to the Equality and Human Rights Commission, there is now greater disproportionality in the number of black people in prisons in the UK than in the United States.
*Stolen from Prison Reform Trust
Out of the British national prison population, 10% are black and 6% are Asian. For black Britons this is significantly higher than the 2.8% of the general population they represent.
Overall black prisoners account for the largest number of minority ethnic prisoners (49%).
At the end of June 2014, 28% of minority ethnic prisoners were foreign nationals.
According to the Equality and Human Rights Commission, there is now greater disproportionality in the number of black people in prisons in the UK than in the United States.
*Stolen from Prison Reform Trust
If a hypothetical group makes up, say, 10% of the population, that doesn't mean they will be responsible for 10% of crimes committed. They may do fewer, they may do more. If they are committing more crimes then that suggests they are more criminally minded than average.
If the prison population reflected the makeup of England and Wales, there would be 9,000 fewer people in prison.
I know politicians like to abuse statistics, but this is a particularly outrageous example.
I know politicians like to abuse statistics, but this is a particularly outrageous example.
Lammy .. the "democrat" who thought that Parliament who should just ignore the will of the people and vote against the Brexit result.
Take everything he says with a pinch of salt, he's got agendas..
Take everything he says with a pinch of salt, he's got agendas..
How come Jews and Chinese are under-represented in the prison population, afaik.
Funny that.
It's as if the central tenet of diversity has been broken - that tenet being that differing outcomes are not in any way due to culture.
Funny that.
It's as if the central tenet of diversity has been broken - that tenet being that differing outcomes are not in any way due to culture.
They interviewed some chap on the news (black), supposedly now reformed. He committed a significant crime, said when he was convicted he was expecting 9 years and got 4 (sweet, he said).
He did the crime, but said as he was young he thought he could wing it in court and get off so pleaded not guilty. Blamed his brief for not convincing him to plead guilty. All white judge & jury convicted him, but prosecutor was black. He admitted to giving the prosecutor a knowing look and nod as if to say, 'come on mate help a fellow black guy out here'.
He did the crime, but said as he was young he thought he could wing it in court and get off so pleaded not guilty. Blamed his brief for not convincing him to plead guilty. All white judge & jury convicted him, but prosecutor was black. He admitted to giving the prosecutor a knowing look and nod as if to say, 'come on mate help a fellow black guy out here'.
Someone should point out to Lammy that BAME people don't HAVE to commit crime.
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