🧵 HARD TRUTHS DEEP DIVE — Systemic racism in the criminal justice system
The U.S. criminal justice system is cyclical and leaves a lasting imprint on people’s lives. Every step of the way, people of color suffer most.
axios.com/hard-truths-de…
Police shootings captured on video often drive a lot of media attention, but after the funeral, it leaves victims' families with years of pain and a lonely journey with little sense of closure or justice.
axios.com/hard-truths-de…
In 2011, two plain-clothes officers visited Stephen and Renetta Torres’ house to question their son, Christopher, over an alleged road rage episode. Court documents said officers jumped the fence and fought with him. axios.com/hard-truths-de…
One officer got on top of him and fatally shot him in the back.
"I just don't understand. I thought we did everything we were supposed to do," Renetta Torres told Axios. axios.com/hard-truths-de…
In schools, Black children constitute 18% of preschoolers but account for around half of out-of-school suspensions. Latino kindergarteners are four or five times more likely to get suspended than their white non-Latino peers. axios.com/hard-truths-de…
In an Axios-Ipsos poll, solid majorities of Americans across all racial groups do not believe either the police or the criminal justice courts treat all people equally. axios.com/hard-truths-de…
In the court system, 97% of state and federal convictions are the result of plea bargains, often driven by mandatory minimum sentences, and Black people are more likely to be arrested and charged with crimes that carry those heavier penalties. axios.com/hards-truths-d…
Mandatory minimums give prosecutors leverage in convincing defendants to agree to conviction without a jury trial.
It’s an example of a trial system with racial disparities, from the first contact with law enforcement through sentencing in either the state or federal system.
📬 To get Hard Truths in your inbox, sign up for Axios AM: link.axios.com/join/am-signup…
Share this Scrolly Tale with your friends.
A Scrolly Tale is a new way to read Twitter threads with a more visually immersive experience.
Discover more beautiful Scrolly Tales like this.