Race and the Justice System: Media and Resource Guides

For there is another kind of violence, slower but just as deadly, destructive as the shot or the bomb in the night. This is the violence of institutions; indifference and inaction and slow decay. This is the violence that afflicts the poor, that poisons relations between men because their skin has different colors. — Robert F. Kennedy, in remarks to the Cleveland City Club, April 5, 1968

The Washington State Minority and Justice Commission recently hosted a Race and the Community Listening Session with Black leaders to discuss restoring confidence in the judicial process. The panel explored questions such as what it looks like to be anti-racist in the legal profession, how the courts may be contributing to structural racism, what judges are doing right, and the role of the court system in the work of the panelists. A major take-away from the discussion was the importance of self-education. The panelists recommended two books to learn more about systemic racism, How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi and So You Want to Talk about Race? by Ijeoma Oluo. In addition to these books, we have compiled audio and video resources that expand our knowledge about the history of racism in the United States and how it impacts our legal system.

Learning about systemic racism and implicit bias

∙What Is Systemic Racism? (2015) This 8 part video series from Race Forward discusses economic, health, and justice impacts of systemic racism. View here.

∙Let’s Get to the Root of Racial Injustice (2016) University of Washington professor Megan Ming Francis, author of Civil Rights and the Making of the Modern American State, speaks about the causes of racial injustice. View on the YouTube TEDx Talks channel.

∙Understanding and Addressing Implicit Bias (2018) This JustLead Washington CLE program discusses implicit bias in the law and justice systems. View at the Washington Race Equity & Justice Initiative website with the password rejiwebinars.

∙Let’s Talk About Abolition curriculum (2021) This course taught by Nikkita Oliver, Seattle University School of Law adjunct faculty, explores the history of abolition and the modern idea of police and prison abolition. Week 2 of the course explores the roots of these racist systems. Course materials are available here.

Films on the legal impacts of systemic racism

∙13TH (2016) The film 13th provides context surrounding the issues people of color face in the legal system including mass incarceration, the war on drugs, and police brutality. View on the YouTube Netflix channel.

∙Guilty Until Proven Guilty (2018) $ This documentary tells the story of a young Black man who was arrested for armed robbery and had to choose between pleading guilty or risking a possible 198 year prison sentence if convicted at trial. According to Harry Belafonte, “the documentary exposes the inequities faced every day by poor black citizens charged with crimes. The film should be seen by everyone…it deserves the widest possible audience.” View the trailer and stream here. Also available for rent or purchase at iTunes.

∙Just Mercy (2019) $ Just Mercy tells how Equal Justice Initiative client Walter McMillian spent six years on death row for a murder conviction before an appeal, led by attorney Bryan Stevenson, won his release for wrongful conviction. Just Mercy won the 2020 Silver Gavel Award for Drama & Literature from the American Bar Association. View the trailer and purchase on YouTube.

Racism and the school to prison pipeline

∙Pushout: the Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools (2019) $ This documentary looks at disparities facing Black girls in schools, society, and the judicial system. A recent episode of the Shades of Freedom podcast features a discussion of adultification and criminalization of Black girls with Dr. Monique Morris, the author of the book (available in our collection) that the film is based on. View the trailer and buy a DVD license with limited public performance rights here. Also available on Kanopy, a free streaming service available through many universities and public libraries.

∙The Mis-Education and Criminalization of Black and Latino Boys — the Role of Race, Culture and Resistance in the School-to-Prison Pipeline (2018) Sociology Professor Victor Rios, author of Punished: Policing the Lives of Black and Latino Boys and Human Targets: Schools, Police, and the Criminalization of Latino Youth discusses increased school policing and the militarization of urban neighborhoods, and emphasizes a need to value and humanize Black and Latino students. View here.

∙The Link Between Racist, Anti-Black Policing and Racist, Anti-Black Education (2020) In this Scholar Strike for Racial Justice video Osamudia James, formerly professor of law at the University of Miami, discusses anti-Blackness in education and in policing. View on the YouTube Scholar Strike channel.

Improving equal access to justice

∙Perpetuated Trauma (2017) Dominique Davis is the co-founder of Community Passageways, which collaborates with families, schools, courts, correction centers, and more to support youth of color. He describes this community-centered alternative to the current system. View on the YouTube TEDx Talks channel.

∙What Prosecutors and Incarcerated People Can Learn from Each Other (2019) Speaker Jarrell Daniels tells how his life was changed by taking a college course while in prison and discusses the power of collaborative education to transform the justice system. Daniels went on to found the Justice Ambassadors Youth Council Program at Columbia University’s Center for Justice. View here.

∙Implicit Bias: How Should Psychological Science Inform the Law? Part II — The Arc of Intent: How Psychological Science Should Inform the Law (2015) UCLA law Professor Jerry Kang discusses integrating scientific findings on implicit bias into legal policies. View on YouTube’s UW Video channel.

∙What Justice Could Look Like (2019) In this episode of the Justice in America podcast, Professor Sonya Shah, California Institute of Integral Studies, discusses restorative justice. Listen here or subscribe to Justice in America at Apple Podcasts or SoundCloud.

∙Reimagining our Legal, Political, and Economic Systems (2017) Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness (also available in our collection), speaks in Mass Freedom’s FRED Talks series on transforming the experience of communities of color in the justice system. View here.

Additional Resources on Racial Justice

Anti-Racism Resources: Educate Yourself — Project Home’s resource list

Black Lives Matter: Eliminating Racial Inequity in the Criminal Justice System — Report of The Sentencing Project

Girls of Color in Juvenile Detention in Washington State — Report of the Washington State Minority and Justice Commission

Criminal Justice — Resources for planning and implementing reform by Racial Equity Tools

Racial Disparity Resources — National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers resource list

Racial Equity in the Justice System — American Bar Association clearinghouse of information and resources

Race and Equity Tools & Resources — Local and Regional Government Alliance on Race and Equity (GARE)

Racial Justice — Equal Justice Initiative’s historical resources

Racial Justice — Harvard’s Carr Center for Human Rights Policy publications and videos

Racial Justice in America: Resources for Educating Prosecutors — Institute for Innovation in Prosecution’s resources list

Racial Justice in the U.S. — Drake Law Library’s research guide

Racial Justice Resources: Keeping Current — University of Washington Libraries’ research guide

Race in the Criminal Justice System — University of Washington Gallagher Law Library’s research guide

Racial Justice: Race and Diversity in America — Gonzaga University Chastek Law Library’s research guide (WB)