Justice is supposed to be colorblind.
In Illinois, justice has been black and white.
If you are black, the probability is greater that the justice system will send you to prison for low-level drug possession than if you are white.
A state commission last week released a report that reveals that African Americans charged with low-level drug crimes were sent to prison at a rate almost five times greater than whites in 2005, the most recent year for which comprehensive data was available.
The Illinois Disproportionate Justice Impact Study Commission, established in 2008, found that, among defendants statewide charged with a Class 4, low-level drug possession, 19% of African-American defendants were sentenced to prison, compared with 4% of white defendants.
In Cook County--where you might think that justice is a bit more balanced, well, you would be wrong. The disparity was greater. African Americans in Cook County arrested only for Class 4 possession were eight times more likely than whites to be sentenced to prison.
Additionally, drug arrests of African Americans was more likely in 62 of Illinois' 102 counties--including urban, suburban, and rural areas. Racial disparities for drug arrests varied widely by county but tended to be greater in jurisdictions with smaller populations of nonwhite residents.
"The Commission has found that people of color, particularly African Americans, are disproportionately arrested, prosecuted, and imprisoned for low-level drug crimes in Illinois," said State Senator Mattie Hunter (D-Chicago), co-chair of the commission.
What could help restore justice to the system of Illinois justice?
Hunter says, "We need to divert non-violent drug offenders from expensive incarceration to rehabilitation programs, such as court-ordered drug treatment."
Illinois spends approximately $25,000 per inmate every year, according to Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities President Pamela Rodriguez. However, the state spends only between $4,000 and $7,000 to treat low-level drug offenders through alternative substance abuse programs.
Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority Executive Director Jack Cutrone said the state has implanted an initiative, Adult Redeploy Illinois, with $1 million in federal grants. The pilot program has diverted 157 people from prison and saved the state about $4.5 million, according to Cutrone.
While Illinois justice has failed to be color blind, it has also managed to be deaf and dumb.
Why?
In the last two years, the state of Illinois has overall slashed funding for substance abuse treatment by nearly 30%, according to Sara Moscato Howe, the President of the Illinois Alcoholism and Drug Dependence Association.
The very state strategy that could ensure that justice is delivered and tax money saved is undermined. Dumb.
Both Hunter and Rodriguez stressed that the focus now needs to be on solutions. They want the Illinois General Assembly and Governor Pat Quinn to line up behind a key commission recommendation to provide necessary substance abuse treatment to erase the disproportionate arrest and imprisonment of African Americans involved in low-level drug crimes in Illinois.
Let hope that they will not turn a blind eye to the action and the justice demanded by this commission.
(Another version of this post appeared on the blog at TASC, Inc.)