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Human Rights Commission Recommendations on Criminal Justice Copyright 2014 City of Dubuque Action Items # 3. ITEM TITLE: Human Rights Commission Recommendations on Criminal Justice SUMMARY: Human Rights Commission submitting its recommendations on criminal justice. SUGGESTED DISPOSITION: Suggested Disposition: Receive and File ATTACHMENTS: Description Type Criminal Justice Recommendations from Human Rights Supporting Documentation Commission Recommendations on Criminal Justice To: City Council From: City of Dubuque Human Rights Commission Date: December 15, 2015 This country is very different than it was 40 years ago. In 1972 there were 300,000 people in prisons and jails. Today there are 2.3 million. The United States now has the highest incarceration rate in the world. There is now a response to the incarceration problem at the Federal, State, and Local levels. Federal The Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2015, introduced by Senator Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), leaders on the Senate Judiciary Committee, calls for shorter prison terms for drug felons and eliminates the so-called "three strikes" rule mandating life sentences. It also seeks to end mass long-term incarceration of prisoners that has led to severe prison overcrowding and skyrocketing costs. State of Iowa On October 1 , 2015, Koch, the Iowa State Bar and others sponsored the Iowa Criminal Justice Summit at the University of Northern Iowa. News writers reported that...The chief justice of the Iowa Supreme Court spoke late this morning, saying the goal of equal justice may only be achieved "when justice is seen and felt by all. The difficulty of the task is great, but the benefits of success far, far greater," Iowa Supreme Court Chief Justice Mark Cady said. "The time is now. It is time to listen, it is time to understand and it is time to act." Nearly 10 percent of the adult black men in Iowa are either in prison or have been sentenced to prison. Cady said it's time for a "new understanding" of racial bias in the criminal justice system. "A voice for justice must be heard," Cady said, "not a voice to debate or to argue, but a voice to inform, to challenge, to inspire." Cady touted some changes already made, such as juvenile diversion courts that give judges another option besides prison time for teenagers. Cady said all judges in Iowa, including the justices on the Supreme Court, are undergoing training to "raise consciousness of the City of Dubuque The City of Dubuque Human Rights Commission (DHRC) has been concerned that according to the Iowa ACLU that "Iowa has the largest racial disparity in the country of arrests in marijuana possession, with blacks being more than eight times as likely to be arrested than whites, even though whites use marijuana at about the same rate, a national American Civil Liberties Union study has found." Furthermore the DHRC has been dismayed that the City of Dubuque leads Iowa in these findings. nai Chilli In Marijuana Posse59m Arrest Rales' Steep enaquae possession arose rates 21101All Counties with the largest itisparilies Is, .m.n hk.e 311 om as ww 5.ox w aa ow un 5 ,® s8X 3x Counties with the largest population mr ffi ffi Amo Plk 51 3x 66x �t 5.9x Resolutions of the Human Rights Commissioners The time for change is at hand. The change will take a multi-prong approach and will need the involvement of all levels of government at the federal, state and local level. We see the DHRC encouraging the change in the City of Dubuque. We suggest several steps: 1 . Inclusive Dubuque and the Human Rights Commission should work with area businesses to "ban the box' in employment practices in area businesses. "Band the Box' urges employers to remove from their hiring applications the box that applicants with a criminal record are required to check. Banning the "box' provides for a fairer system and eliminates barriers for formerly incarcerated people. 2. We encourage community organizations to study the incarceration problem and take appropriate steps in education and social change so that citizens are informed and that actions that are taking place at the federal and state level become a part of practice in Dubuque. It is important that voices for African Americans and Latinos lead the way. It is also important that the new immigrants to Dubuque (over 50 countries and multiple home languages are represented in our community) become literate in the United States Criminal Justice system as well as the English language and as immigrants become citizens that there be an understanding of how to affect social change. 3. The positive steps of the Dubuque Community Schools and the role of the schools in language literacy and criminal justice understanding is important for our youth. We will be in continuing dialogue with the schools. 4. At all levels of government there is a concern with fair and impartial practices in due process, the need for reform in sentencing, parole and reentry. Human Rights Commissioners should be informed about the changes and be supportive of promising practices. 5. Policing practices are changing. We commend the intercultural competence training that officers receive in cooperation with the Human Rights Department. We encourage this training to also include the concept of implicit bias. We support the Police Department's commitment to community policing and encourage the Police Department to expand community policing practices. We encourage the Police Department to research successful policing practices already in place in large cities. The evidence is clear for cities such as the District of Columbia. Community policing is also a part of practice in Iowa communities such as Davenport and Storm Lake. Dialogs with specialist in community policing and the Human Rights Department and Human Rights Commission should result in community policing training and practices that help to prevent crime. 6. The research and reporting to the Dubuque City Council of steps successfully taken at the local level elsewhere, along with recommendations for steps that might be adapted for Dubuque based on local resident concerns. 7. As a Commission we are concerned with efforts to assure a safe community. We pledge to review and make recommendations related to a safe community that are consistent with justice, equity and closing the gaps in our city society. 8. Human Rights Commissioners should reexamine the document Racial Disparities Report to serve as a resources for guiding Dubuque oriented actions regarding the points above as well as to guide action in other areas (e.g. Housing) ' "Human Rights Commission Panel Discussion on Race Disparities The Human Rights Commission hosted a panel discussion aimed at reducing and eliminating racial, ethnic, and social class disparity in criminal justice, education, community, employment/economic wellbeing, and housing in Dubuque by providing access and opportunity for all on January 28, 2015, from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. at Clarke University in the Jansen Music Hall. Click this link to view the Race Disparities Report.