Throughout the nation, people of color will experience a negative encounter with law enforcement at a rate that is disproportionate to their white counterparts. Whether from a minor infraction, a traffic stop, pre-trial detention, incarceration, or any number of circumstances that arise, encounters with law enforcement by Black and Brown people all too often turns into a death sentence. There is a lack of uniformity with in-custody death investigations, completion of death certificates, collection of public health information, data analysis, and implementation of corrective actions. This webinar will provide a pathway to solutions initiated with the Deaths In Custody Reporting Act of 2013 (H.R. 1447) and more, while exposing and exploring the various entities — policing systems, medical examiners, prosecutors, judges, legislators, federal agencies, and more — who have helped to perpetuate the current deaths in custody crisis.
Co-Sponsors: ABA Commission on Hispanic Legal Rights & Responsibilities, ABA Commission on Racial Ethnic Diversity in Profession, ABA Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, ABA Criminal Justice Section, ABA Division for Public Education
Resources
- Failure to report deaths in custody impedes study of trends
- Death in Custody: How America Ignores the Truth and What We Can Do About It | Roger A. Mitchell Jr, MD and Jay D. Aronson, PhD
- Official Ignorance: The Death in Custody Podcast
- Autopsy Initiative: Free Autopsies for Police-Related Deaths | Know Your Rights Camp
- REPORT Reducing Deaths in Law Enforcement Custody: Identifying High-Priority Needs for the Criminal Justice System