Projects

Racial Disparities in California Criminal Justice

This project involves the publication of fact sheets examining various aspects of the California criminal justice system. This series examines racial disparities in arrests, charges, and convictions in various offense types based on the review of 13 years of California criminal history data (from 2006 to 2018) accessed through the California Department of Justice.* The publication of this series would have not been possible without the consultancy and assistance of his colleagues. Members of the Racial Justice Act Implementation Workgroup’s Data Committee of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Northern California provided valuable insights on critical issues of racial equity in the California criminal justice system as well as extensive and detailed feedback on the drafts of the fact sheets. Professor Light especially thanks Emi MacLean, Emi Young, and Lisa Romo. He also appreciates the advice of Professor Ingrid Eagly of UCLA School of Law. Jungmyung Kim, a Ph.D. candidate of the Department of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, played important roles of conducting statistical analyses and writing drafts of the fact sheets.

Professor Light hopes that this series forms a basis for productive scholarly and public discussions toward racial equity in the criminal justice system.  Racial equity in the criminal justice system is of the utmost importance in the U.S., and our aim is that this series will be a valuable resource for scholars and the public to have informed discussions grounded in rich empirical findings. To this end, he welcomes and encourages readers to make inquiries regarding findings of the fact sheets. All correspondence regarding the fact sheets should be directed to Professor Light (mlight@ssc.wisc.edu) or Jungmyung Kim (jungmyung.kim@wisc.edu).

Fact Sheet #1: Explanation of the CORI Data

This general factsheet explains the use of California Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI data) by the University of Wisconsin (UW) at Madison Department of Sociology to examine racial disparities associated with particular charges in California over a 13-year period (2006-2018). This factsheet should be read alongside the related individual factsheets.

Fact Sheet #2: Racial Disparities in Resisting Arrest

This factsheet summarizes our analysis of policing and prosecution related to alleged violations of California Penal Code Sections 69 and/or 148—otherwise referred to as “resisting arrest.”

Fact Sheet #3: Racial Disparities in Gun Possession

This factsheet summarizes our analysis of policing and prosecution related to violations of California Penal Code Sections 25850 and/or 25400 —otherwise referred to as “gun possession.”

Fact Sheet #4: Racial Disparities in Marijuana Cultivation and Possession for Sale

This factsheet summarizes our analysis of policing and prosecution related to violations of California Health and Safety Code Sections 11358—“unlawful cultivation of marijuana”— and/or 11359— “unlawful possession of marijuana for sale.”

Fact Sheet #5: Racial Disparities in Criminal Street Gang Activities

This factsheet summarizes our analysis of policing and prosecution related to violations of California Penal Code 186.22(a)—otherwise referred to as “criminal street gang activities.”

 

* Support for this research was provided by the National Science Foundation (Award # 1849297)