A new bill introduced in the state of California would require judges to consider race when giving prison sentences to criminals.
QUICK FACTS:
- A new Democrat-backed bill going through the California Legislature would force judges to take a criminal’s race into consideration when sentencing prison time.
- Bill 852 was first introduced in February by Assembly Member Reggie Jones-Sawyer, the Democratic chair of the California Assembly’s Public Safety Committee.
- The bill would add a section to California’s Penal Code requiring courts to “rectify” alleged racial bias in the justice system by considering how historically “disenfranchised” minorities are.
- “It is the intent of the Legislature to rectify the racial bias that has historically permeated our criminal justice system as documented by the California Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans,” the proposed legislation reads.
- “Whenever the court has discretion to determine the appropriate sentence according to relevant statutes and the sentencing rules of the Judicial Council, the court presiding over a criminal matter shall consider the disparate impact on historically disenfranchised and system-impacted populations,” the text continued.
REPUBLICAN ASSEMBLYMEMBER TOM LACKEY ON FOCUSING ON VICTIMS OF CRIMES RATHER THAN A CRIMINAL’S ETHNICITY:
“Our justice system is intended to focus on accountability for behavior without racial considerations,” Lackey said. “The voice of victims and any potential repercussions for public safety should be our highest consideration when making decisions that directly impact California communities.”
BACKGROUND:
- In May 2023, California’s “Reparations Task Force” approved recommendations that would result in billions of dollars in compensation for the state’s Black residents
- Vice chairman Amos C. Brown emphasized the importance of action at the time, stating, “I think there comes a point in time that we got to be practitioners and we got to be social engineers and make sure that we deliver something to this Black population or else we never will do it.”
- The comprehensive report, over 1,000 pages long, covered historical accounts and estimates of loss resulting from race-based discrimination in sectors such as health care, housing, education, and law enforcement.
- The exact amount of compensation for eligible Black residents has not been determined.
- Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom will need to sign any reparations legislation, including cash payments to individuals.
- The San Francisco Chronicle reported that calculations of losses for eligible Black residents aged 71 and older who have lived their entire lives in California could amount to $1.2 million.
