Our racial disparities study will inform prosecutors’ future work

There are a disproportionate number of people of color in the criminal justice system. Our nation’s history of “getting tough on crime” resulted in mass incarceration that makes us the international leader in incarceration rates. This is a complicated issue with many causes, but when I took office I wanted to examine the role of the Denver District Attorney’s Office to learn what we could do to ensure fair justice for all – victims of crime, community members and defendants.

It is important for prosecutors, as key participants in the system, to be transparent in our work and to engage in self-reflection. In 2017, I took the unusual step of commissioning an independent study that resulted in a report made public last week titled, Racial Disparities in Prosecutorial Outcomes.

I was pleased, but not surprised, that the study did not find racial or ethnic disparities in our general resolution of cases (about 71% of total cases reviewed). However, the study pointed out that people of different races or ethnicities had different outcomes in the areas of deferred judgments (4% of total cases reviewed) in which a defendant pleads guilty but the case is deferred for two years and then dismissed with successful completion of probation, dismissals (12% of total cases reviewed) and drug court (13% of total cases reviewed).

The study did not address why those disparities exist. The next step for the office is to drill down further to examine the involved cases to determine the reasons for plea negotiation dispositions.

The study has given us areas on which to focus. Once we have more information, we will be in a position to determine the next steps to ensure equitable consideration for all.

There are many reasons for certain resolutions in criminal cases. For example, a witness may recant or decide not to testify or a person may have pled guilty to a case in another jurisdiction so the Denver case was dismissed. The study describes a case in which a defense attorney discouraged a prosecutor from offering his client a deferred judgment because doing so would be “setting my guy up to fail” due to issues of homelessness and mental health. We are currently in negotiations with outside researchers to assist us in gathering this additional data so we can take steps to understand and address any racial or ethnic disparities in case dispositions.

Behind the thousands of cases the Denver DA’s Office handles each year are dedicated public servants who believe in the rule of law, who care about our community and crime victims, and who are tasked with doing what is right in a cumbersome and multi-faceted system. I have full confidence in the outstanding people who work in the office, but for the community to trust that we are ethical public servants, committed to equity and fairness, we must be transparent in our work and commit to continuous improvement. I hope that by releasing this study, we are making a good faith effort to do exactly that.

Because prosecutors hold great power to determine how justice is both administered and perceived by the community, we shared the study with the other statewide elected district attorneys and staff during a conference last week that we hosted with the Colorado District Attorneys Council. The depth of discussion surrounding race and justice by small, medium and large jurisdictions, Republicans and Democrats, was remarkable and something we can all be proud of as Coloradans. In contrast, Virginia’s district attorneys are so politically fractured that there is talk of forming separate DA associations. The conference was an important first step in examining the role of the prosecutor in addressing racial disparities in the system.

What then are next steps? Now that we know the areas of focus, I intend to take a deeper look at the data to see what more it can tell us about why certain defendants have different outcomes. We will work with the courts, public defenders and the community to examine eligibility criteria to participate in a diversion program, deferred judgment or specialty court.

We also know that we need to continue with our diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and offer more training and education office-wide. In addition, we now have processes in place so that when a case presented to us contains questionable police behavior we will address it with the Denver Police Department. I am grateful that Denver Police Chief Pazen is a willing and excellent partner in this effort.

Ultimately, the gift of this research is that it is sparking conversation and thoughtful consideration about our work and mission. The people of Denver have entrusted me and my office with the constitutional duty of advancing a society that holds people accountable for their criminal actions and strives for justice and equity for victims and defendants of all races and ethnic backgrounds. It is an awesome responsibility and one that I take very seriously. I look forward to building on the results of this study to learn as much as we can and to take the necessary steps to address the areas of concern.