Cohort 2023

United Way of South Central Michigan

Identifying Racial Disparities in Charging and Sentencing Outcomes

Jackson County, MI

Black and Latinx people are disproportionately represented in the US prison and jail populations and are more likely than white people to be charged with crimes carrying heavier sentences. In addition, prosecutors are more likely to charge Black defendants with habitual offender laws, which result in harsher penalties for minor offenses for people with multiple convictions. In Jackson County, Michigan, there are no available local data with which to determine whether these types of disparities exist.

With Catalyst Grant funding, United Way of South Central Michigan will serve as fiduciary to support the work of the Decriminalization of Poverty (DOP) Action Team. The DOP Action Team is structuring this project like Citizens for Racial Equity in Washtenaw’s report on racial disparities in Washtenaw County to look for racial disparities in how people of color are sentenced in the Jackson County legal system. Focusing on 2017–2020 circuit court felony data, the DOP Action Team will investigate the data using a highly trained statistician. The final report will be disseminated to stakeholders and the Jackson County community and will be used in work with the prosecutor’s office, local Judges, and other members of the local court system as necessary to address identified disparities.