Task Force on Race and the Criminal Justice System

State-wide Initiative Aims for Education and Reform

The Task Force on Race and the Criminal Justice System is a state-wide initiative concerned about the role of racial bias and barriers in the criminal justice system in the State of Washington. It is made up of members of all three law schools, including Gonzaga University School of Law, as well as prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, associations, and concerned citizens.

The goal is to study the institutional and structural arrangements which continue to disproportionately impact racial minorities at all levels of our criminal justice system, from arrest, to prosecution, to sentencing. In addition, the Task Force is committed to advancing the discussion of this important topic through education and recommendations for reform.

Presents to State Supreme Court

The Task Force’s first meeting took place on November 4, 2010. On March 2, 2011, it presented a preliminary report on race and the criminal justice system to the Washington Supreme Court and leaders of the bar.

Presenters included Judge Steven C. Gonzalez, Chair of the Washington State Access to Justice Board and King County Superior Court Judge, Jason Gillmer, Professor of Law and John J. Hemmingson Chair in Civil Liberties at Gonzaga University School of Law, Alexes Harris and Katherine Beckett, Professors of Sociology at the University of Washington, and Robert Chang, Professor of Law and Director of the Fred T. Korematsu Center at Seattle University School of Law.

To skip to different points in the webcast, move your cursor over the video image, click on timeline and adjust the sliding indicator.

Webcast courtesy of TV Washington.

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