"The Housing, Family, Civil and Criminal courts of New York City in particular continue to be faced with high volumes of cases, fewer resources to hear those cases, subpar technology and in some instances, crumbling and outdated facilities," the report reads.Ī district attorney said, "you don't see, at all, any care or compassion for the family that is watching their son or daughter being sentenced to 20 years in prison. "Over and over, we heard about the 'dehumanizing' and 'demeaning cattle-call culture' in these high-volume courts," Johnson wrote. Interviews with some 289 people revealed the realities of a "second-class system of justice for people of color in New York State," echoing a 1991 review that had similar findings, Johnson wrote in an introductory letter.
Overcrowded courts with a backlog of cases worsened the situation, largely for people of color, the report found. The review, looking at civil and criminal courts across the state, revealed the treatment tenants facing eviction, families trying to hold onto custody of their children, or defendants accused of crimes have to deal with while fighting their cases.
N.Y. COURTS SEEK ROOT OUT RACISM FULL
The review, released last Thursday, found the courts system is full of racism directed at litigants, attorneys, court officers, and judges amidst a "culture in the courts that discourages compassionate treatment," as one judge told interviewers. Secretary of Homeland Security under the Obama administration, Jeh Johnson, to review institutional racism within the courts system operations back in June-in the wake of mass arrests after protests against the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis that led to a widely-criticized curfew leaving hundreds of New Yorkers with criminal misdemeanor summonses. The New York State courts system is rife with institutional racism and lack of diversity despite previously attempted initiatives to address discrimination, according to an independent review of the courts system.Ĭhief Judge Janet DiFiore commissioned former U.S.
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