Guest blog by Sarah Sawyerr JP
In a truly fair and democratic society, its justice system should treat everyone equally under the law. When those laws are broken and an individual comes before the criminal justice system, our metaphorical scales which represent impartiality and the obligation of the law, through its representatives, must weigh the evidence equally in determining innocence or guilt. For those convicted the sentences should be proportionate and balanced.
Training for magistrates
As magistrates we undertake a suite of equality and diversity training modules including; diversity, unconscious bias, intercultural communications, modern day slavery as well as mental health awareness training, in order for us to ‘do right by all manner of peoples without fear or favour’. The Magistrates Association’s (MA’s) Diversity and Inclusion networks have been set up to recognise and bring together magistrates from sections of society that are underrepresented within both the MA and the magistracy as a whole. Part of our function is to explore issues which are relevant and topical, such as disproportionality in sentencing outcomes.
Lammy Review five years on, what has changed?
Over representation, particularly in big cities, of defendants from Black and Asian communities coming before us in court, can lead to false perceptions of criminality in these groups and highlights sociopolitical and racial inequities in our society. Many of us, from these backgrounds ourselves, have asked why this is the case and what can we do as magistrates to manage it. Published in 2017, the Lammy Review examined the treatment by the criminal justice system (CJS) of people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups. His report highlights the current failings of the youth justice system and makes a number of important recommendations on how best to redress the disproportionate representation of Black, Asian and minority ethnic young people in the criminal justice system. However, since the publication of this report more than five years on, little has changed in terms of outcomes.
In May 2022, police chiefs reaffirmed their commitment to becoming an anti-racist service and published the Police Race Action Plan the aim of which was to improve policing standards for Black people. The survey, one of the largest of its kind involving policing, received more than 5,000 responses only 10 per cent of which were from Black, Black British or mixed Black heritage respondents. Whilst this is not necessarily a representative sample, this latter group were more sceptical than White respondents that the plan would be effective.
The Prison Reform Trust, since its inception, has worked to highlight the disproportionate representation of and the poorer outcomes for people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds in our prisons. Data from 2023 reveals that over a quarter (27%) of the prison population, 21,537 people, are from a minority ethnic group. The Prison Reform Trust states that ‘if our prison population reflected the ethnic make-up of England and Wales, we would have over 9,000 fewer people in prison—the equivalent of 12 average-sized prisons’.
It goes on to state ‘there is a clear direct association between ethnicity and the odds of receiving a custodial sentence. People from Black, Asian, and ‘Chinese or other’ backgrounds are more likely to be sent to prison at the Crown Court’. Black and Asian people in prison are more likely to be serving longer sentences than other groups and serve a greater proportion of their determinate sentence in custody than white people. Research from the Sentencing Academy has also highlighted disparities in relation to the imposition of custodial sentences and considered the available guidance for sentencers.
Black children were four times more likely to be strip-searched, when compared to national population figures
Furthermore, when it comes to young people in the CJS, a report produced by the Children’s Commissioner for England found that ‘457 strip searches of children by police took place between July 2022 and June 2023’. The case of child Q who was strip searched at her London school without an appropriate adult being present sent shock waves across many who work with young people. The report shows that Black children were four times more likely to be strip-searched, when compared to national population figures.
One of the themes that comes across in youth justice is that Black children are often perceived as older that their white counterparts. This ‘adultification’ portrays Black young people as less vulnerable and more mature. It is, perhaps, inevitable therefore that they will be treated more harshly as a consequence. Government statistics reveal that Black offenders have the highest reoffending rates out of all ethnic groups for both young people (47.1%) and adults (31.0%), this compares with 38.4% of young offenders and 28.5% of adults in the general population. Once a Black young person is criminalised, they are more likely to receive a custodial sentence. Disproportionality in policing methodologies leads to suspicion and a lack of confidence in the police by Black people in their communities.
The Runnymede Trust indicates that Black people are 18 times more likely to be stopped and searched under Section 60 than their white counterparts. There are mixed reviews about whether stop and search acts as a deterrent for reducing the number of people carrying knives. His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services raised concerns that ‘stop and search powers are often ineffective in tackling crime and procedurally incorrect’. One thing is certain that amongst the Black community their overuse can create negative effects on mental and physical health, attitudes toward the police, and elevate delinquent behaviour for individuals directly subject to them.
Link between crime and poverty
The link between crime and poverty is irrefutable. Research suggests that countries with higher income inequality experience higher crime rates. It is without doubt that factors such as unemployment, limited educational opportunities, poor quality housing and disrupted family structures contribute to criminal activity.
The Trust for London informs us that the most income-deprived areas have 40% more recorded crime than the least income-deprived. In these areas, violence, robbery, sexual offenses, and drugs, are twice as prevalent. In London 34% of non-white households live in poverty and 47% of single parent households live in poverty. Although poverty does not cause crime in itself; there is an evidential link between the two. The cost of being unable to afford necessities, combined with the lack of opportunity for social and economic advancement, creates a breeding ground for criminal activity.
The new government’s manifesto outlined steps towards tackling street crime, halving knife crime, halving violence against women and girls, and bringing in a form of Sure Start centres for teenagers. The new administration may also wish to prioritise giving poorer communities access to housing, education, mental health provision, employment and training to help achieve their criminal justice target: ‘halve serious violent crime and raise confidence in the police and criminal justice system to its highest levels in a decade’.
Magistrates Association create disparity toolkit
The Magistrates Association identified disproportionality as a policy priority producing a report in 2018. The MA then hosted a meeting for key stakeholders in the youth justice system exploring issues such as stop and search, engagement with the police, the Metropolitan Police Gangs Matrix, criminal exploitation, county lines and modern slavery. The MA is creating a disparity toolkit to support magistrates in court as they strive to offer rigorous and fair decision-making.
As magistrates our responsibility is to use the resources we have available to us such as the MA’s disparity toolkit and the Equal Treatment Bench Book, to increase awareness and understanding of the different circumstances of people appearing before us in court, to enable us to communicate effectively and ensure that steps are taken to increase participation in the judicial process by all defendants. We must ensure that we implement all our training to reduce unconscious bias and avoid stereotyping. Treating everyone fairly does not always mean treating everyone equally, it means levelling the playing field in order that we can meet individual needs. To end on a quote by one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement, Martin Luther King: ‘Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere’.
