Racial impact statements, already used in other state legislatures, could lead to fairer laws and sentencing guidelines in Indiana, some say.
“Particularly with regards to sentencing policy, we hope racial impact statements provide more informed discussion around the proposed impact of policy, with specific attention on what the racial disparity policy may have,” said Nicole Porter, director of advocacy for The Sentencing Project.
According to the Sentencing Project, racial impact statements are tools for lawmakers to evaluate potential disparities of proposed laws prior to their adoption and implementation.
Some widely-cited examples of racial disparity are the different sentencing guidelines for people dealing crack cocaine— more often people of color—than those dealing powder cocaine, even though the drugs are virtually identical.
A racial impact statement on these laws would inform lawmakers of how they’d affect Black communities.
Currently Oregon, Iowa and Connecticut have adopted racial impact statement legislation. Also, the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission leadership has changed some of their practices to mirror racial impact statements.
Sen. Lonnie Randolph, D-East Chicago, who is also chair of the Indiana Black Legislative Caucus, said he likes the idea and is open to serious discussion with the Black caucus and other members of the House and Senate on Indiana using racial impact statements.
“This is very powerful and when you define what that means and how it can affect African-Americans, then (lawmakers) can be in a better position to understand why Blacks and other groups feel the way they do about justice,” said Randolph.
The Indiana American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) also is in favor of this document.
“The ACLU’s work has shown the devastating impacts of racial disparity on arrests and sentencing, particularly for low-level drug offenses,” said Kelly Jones Sharp, ACLU of Indiana director of communications and education. “We feel that a tool designed to assist lawmakers in making better decisions on proposed bills prior to a discussion or vote, which would help in evaluating the potential outcomes of these bills on racial and ethnic minorities, would be a good tool to have.”
Although Indiana does not have a law that requires the Indiana State Legislature to draft racial impact statements, Rep. Matt Pierce, D-Bloomington, said there is a House rule that allows the House Speaker to recommit to the Courts Committee any bill that creates a new crime or enhances an existing penalty.
He added that as for an actual bill adopting racial impact statements, there has been discussion in the past, but thus far, a bill never materialized.
Porter, of The Sentencing Project, said many states have offices that produce legislative analysis documents that come with bills. Staffers may have to collaborate with other entities such as researchers in the department of corrections or other relevant agencies to get the information, however a racial impact statement could be added to documents that currently accompany bills.
She said thus far, racial impact statements are dispersed at the committee level prior to deliberation, but some states could choose to pass out statements to the entire legislature for review prior to a mass vote.
Porter’s hope is that more states adopt racial impact statement policy to inject a level of thought in policy debate and improve the lawmaking process overall.
Returning to the example of differing sentencing guidelines for crack vs. powder cocaine, Porter said during the mid 80s when Congress passed “get tough on drugs” laws, they relied on anecdotal information, rather than solid data.
That resulted in racial and sentencing disparity among people convicted of federal crack offenses, she said.
Such laws may still exist, but Porter said in the meantime communities of color should fight to fix laws that unfairly impact their communities.
For example, the public could take action on recidivist statutes that lengthen prison terms for people with prior felony convictions, rather than evaluating a potential sentence based on the individual circumstances.
“Black defendants are oftentimes subjected to these laws because of the over-enforcement they experience in urban areas where police prioritize enforcing these practices,” said Porter.
Porter knows that due to the racial climate in America today, racial impact statements could potentially be used by racially insensitive lawmakers to harm communities of color.
However, she maintains that greater transparency in the lawmaking process will help voters, by exposing those lawmakers who harbor racial hostility toward Blacks and Latinos.
Porter said it is important to note that in the three states that have adopted racial impact statements, there has been legislation that was brought to lawmakers that would negatively affect communities of color. However, in the interest of “public safety,” the laws were passed anyhow.
“Racial impact statements aren’t about tying the hands of lawmakers. Again, it’s about elevating the dialogue and hopefully for lawmakers who want to counter racial disparity and address the harms done by sentencing policy,” said Porter.
For more information, visit sentencingproject.org.
