Overview
Racial disparities in every aspect of the legal justice system - including arrests, charging, conviction, and more - have been widely documented. Multiple studies show racial disparities in sentencing based on both the race of the perpetrator and race of the victim. In short, the system punishes Black and Brown people harsher than white people for committing the same crimes, and punishes all people harsher when the victim is white rather than a person of color.
Lawyers for Good Government is wary of establishing new criminal penalties, because given what we know about the legal justice system, new penalties will most likely be disproportionately used against communities of color. However, there are some instances where we believe that establishing new charges or enhancing penalties for existing charges will help combat systemic discrimination against people of color. We want to ensure that people of color are not overly charged and sentenced, and that when people of color are victimized, that they receive equal justice as when the victim is white.
State-by-state penalties for criminal charges encompass a wide range of fines and imprisonment. The same conduct might lead to a felony charge in one state but only a misdemeanor charge in another state. Sometimes a high-level misdemeanor can result in a harsher penalty than a low-level felony.
This project aims to complete an up-to-date survey of criminal misdemeanor sentencing. The results of this project will show how states charge and sentence criminal defendants and which states have the harshest and most lenient sentencing schemes. This research will also be incorporated into every future Lawyers for Racial Justice report where a current or potential criminal charge is relevant.
Project Details
Seeking attorneys from law firms and/or corporate legal departments to research the law in 50 states plus DC and Puerto Rico
Data will be incorporated into future Lawyers for Racial Justice reports where a current or potential criminal charge is relevant
No prior experience required
Clear written instructions and mentorship provided
1-2 hours of work per state/territory
Deadline is January 10, 2022
To express interest in this project, please fill out the form on this page and select “Sentencing for Misdemeanor Crimes” in the Projects field. In the “Questions / Comments” field, please provide an estimate of how many states/territories your attorneys will be able to take on.