With the continuing racial bias that is happening around the country, New York State completed a report to give a better look at their court system. This report interviewed 289 individuals including court clerks, court attorneys, and other personnel involved with the New York court system.
This report not only found that court officers often have been saying and doing overtly racist acts, but racism is systemic as well.
Looking at the racism of court officers in New York, there have been severe cases of officers posting racist memes or making comments that had a racial bias. Court officers of color interviewed in a recent report commented that they often heard racial slurs that went unpunished and if the officer faces punishment it is not one that results in a changed attitude by the officer.
In the courthouse, people heard court officers calling teenagers the “n-word.” Some officers were also disrespectful to lawyers and defendants of color when they were in the courthouse. It goes deeper than disrespect. Officers using racial slurs towards people of color have been heard multiple times in New York courthouses.
These biases are not the only occurrences of racism going on. People of color are more likely to have to wear handcuffs than their white counterparts when sitting in the courtroom. A “second class system of justice” is what the people of color in New York are experiencing.
New York court officers need to be held accountable immediately. They need to be fired for racial remarks, not the second or third time it happens but the first time it happens. While diversity and inclusion training help, there needs to be a set of rules that keeps the officers accountable.
People of color court officers deserve equality. People of color who are attending court, whether they have been charged or not, deserve equality. People of color deserve equality.
The systemic racism in the New York court system needs to stop NOW.
