Resources on Structural Racism and Implicit Bias in the Criminal Legal System, the Family Court System & the Broader Community 

NYSDA is committed to exposing and helping end the systemic racism that public defense clients and lawyers, their communities, and others, experience or observe in the family and criminal legal systems and society-wide. We are also committed to addressing the effects of trauma—individual and collective—that results from this ongoing racism.

Our statement, Black Lives Matter to the New York State Defenders Association, includes the following: “In our work as a resource center for public defenders, we will enhance our training on systemic racism and implicit bias in the criminal legal and child welfare systems and make relevant materials and resources readily accessible on our website.” This webpage is one way we are meeting that pledge. Other ways include providing information on issues involving race, identifying the racial impact of legal issues, and acknowledging ongoing racism within the legal system, in our trainings and publications (including News Picks from NYSDA Staff).

The resources posted below are not exhaustive. They are offered for informational purposes and are starting points for attorneys, programs, and others confronting racism. We will update these pages as more resources are identified and/or become available. We welcome suggestions for updates and additions: email info@nysda.org. NYSDA is not vouching for all information or approaches used by the sites posted here; working for racial justice is complicated.

Articles

Overcoming Racial Equity Fatigue, Benjamin Abtan, Stanford Social Innovation Review (December 9, 2021)

Race, Mass Incarceration, and the Disastrous War on Drugs, Nkechi Taifa, Brennan Center for Justice (May 10, 2021)

How Punitive Excess is a Manifestation of Racism in America, Theodore R. Johnson, Brennan Center for Justice (Apr. 13, 2021)

‘Racialized Dehumanization’: UC Berkeley Experts Weight in on Criminal Justice, Eric Rogers, Daily Californian (Aug. 18, 2020)

‘So What Really Is Going on Here?' Appellate Justices Use Concurrence to Raise Concerns About Racial Bias in Policing, Jason Grant, New York Law Journal (August 13, 2020)

Visualizing the racial disparities in mass incarceration, Prison Policy Initiative (July 27, 2020)

Book and Film Lists
Many organizations and libraries have compiled book and film lists. A few of those lists appear below.

Center for Racial Justice in Education, Reading Lists

Cornell University, Black Lives Matter Library Guide: Home Page

Racial Equity Tools, Book and Film Lists

Shippensburg University, Guide to Anti-Racism Books and Resources

Upstate University of South Carolina Library, Black Lives Matter Websites, News Links and Reading List

Links: Racial Justice in the Legal System

Black Harm Reduction Network (Legal Action Center)

Equal Justice in the New York State Courts: 2022 Year in Review (New York State Unified Court System, 2022)

Report and recommendations of the Committee on Families and the Law: Racial Justice and Child Welfare (Approved by New York State Bar Association House of Delegates April 2, 2022)

Court System Proceeds with Implementation of Proposals Made by Special Adviser on Equal Justice in the Courts (New York State Unified Court System, May 17, 2021)

Report from the Special Adviser on Equal Justice in the New York State Courts (Oct. 1, 2020)

The Dehumanization of Children of Color: Rethinking Policing and Policy (Georgetown Law, Feb 11, 2021)

Black Public Defender Association

Center for Race, Inequality and the Law (New York University)

National Legal Aid & Defender Association: Racial Justice resources

National  Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers: Racial Disparity website

Racial Equity in the Justice System (Clearinghouse) American Bar Association

Racial Justice Clinic (Georgetown Law)

Resources for Racial Justice (John Jay College of Criminal Justice)

Links: Racial Justice Society-Wide

Boston University Center for Antiracist Research

Here’s How Nonprofits Can Get Americans to Fight the Racism Laid Bare by Covid-19, Chronicle of Philanthropy (April 29, 2020)

Racial Equity Tools

Racial Justice Project Resources, New York Law School

Racial & Social Inequity hub, Social Science Research Network (SSRN)

Resources on Racism in the Criminal Legal System (see also NYSDA's Law Enforcement Resources pages)

Race and Ethnicity (Prison Policy Initiative)

Criminal Convictions in New York State: 1980-2021 (Data Collaborative for Justice 2023)

Building the Table: Advancing Race Equity in the Criminal Legal System, National Initiative to Advance Racial Equity in the Criminal Legal System, (JustLeadershipUSA 2023)

Racial Disparities in the Administration of Discipline in New York State Prisons, (State of New York Offices of the Inspector General November 2022)

Racial Justice, Juvenile Justice Initiative, Georgetown Law

Reducing Racial Inequality in Crime and Justice: Science, Practice and Policy (National Academies Press 2022)

Race, Disability and Criminal Justice, The Crime Report (Aug. 4, 2021)

Report and Recommendations of the Task Force on Racial Injustice and Police Reform (New York State Bar Association June 2021)

The Time for Reckoning, Center for Law and Justice and the New YorK State Writers Institute at the University at Albany (October 2020)

Prosecutors' Vital Role in Reforming Criminal Justice, Lucy Lang, Governing (Aug. 10, 2020)

Can Public Defenders Be Racist?, Black Attorneys of Legal Aid Caucus (Gideon’s Soldiers Aug. 3, 2020)

Resources on Racism in the Family Regulation/Family Court System

Memo Re The Blind Removal Process and Kin-First Firewall (Oct. 14, 2020) (NYS Office of Children and Family Services)

20-OCFS-ADM-18 Kin-First Firewall Practice Administrative Directive (Oct. 14, 2020) (NYS Office of Children and Family Services)

20-OCFS-ADM-18 Kin-First Firewall FAQ's (2020) (NYS Office of Children and Family Services)

20-OCFS-ADM-19 The Blind Removal Process Administrative Directive (Oct. 14, 2020) (NYS Office of Children and Family Services)

BLM means BFM: The Foster System Hurts Black Families & We Must Include Black Mothers in the Fight for Justice, Shriver Center on Poverty Law (Aug. 24, 2020)

It’s Not Enough to Mean Well: The Child Welfare System Is Racist, Even If Most Professionals Think They Are Not., Cathy Krebs, The Imprint Youth and Family News (Aug. 12, 2020)

The Sad Omission of Child Welfare from Mainstream Discussion on Race, Tehra Coles, Zainab Akbar, Emma Ketteringham, and Lauren Shapiro, The Imprint Youth and Family News (Aug. 6, 2020)

Racism and Health (Physical & Mental)

2024 BIPOC mental health toolkit (Mental Health America)

BIPOC Mental Health (Mental Health America)

The Link Between Experiences of Racism and Stress and Anxiety for Black Americans: A Mindfuless and Acceptance-Based Coping Approach (Anxiety.org, Nov 14, 2023)

Mental Health in Black Communities: Challenges, Resources, Community Voices (NAMI California)

Wintertime Often Means Seasonal Depression In The Black Community (Seattle Medium, Nov. 22, 2023)

Understanding and Addressing Race-Related Stress and Trauma for Black Americans, Mental Health Technology Transfer Center Network (YouTube, May 30, 2023)

Mental Health Resources for the Black Community (VeryWell Mind, Feb. 2, 2023)

Black Mental Health Resources (Dallas Behavioral Healthcare Hospital)

No Health = No Justice (Legal Action Center)

"Defunding the Police" and People with Mental Illness (The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, August 2020)

Mental Health, Substance Use, and Suicidal Ideation During the COVID-19 Pandemic — United States, June 24–30, 2020 (Centers for Disease Control, Aug. 14, 2020)

Michigan lawmakers want to declare racism a public health crisis (Mlive.com, June 10, 2020)

Resources for Coping With and Addressing Racial Oppression  (Mental Health Association of New York State, June 2, 2020)

Racial Equity Resources (Technology Transfer Centers, Spring/Summer 2020)

Related Websites

Criminal Justice Reform: Latino Justice/PRLDEF

National Hispanic and Latino Mental Health Technology Transfer Center Network

Statements of Public Defense Organizations, Civil Legal Services Organizations, and Advocacy Organizations

NYSDA Statement Welcoming the Report of the Special Adviser on Equal Justice (Nov. 22, 2020)

Judges of Color Message to the Community (in New York State)

CPCS Statement: No Lives Matter Until Black Lives Matter, Committee for Public Counsel Services (Massachusetts)

NAPD Statement in Response to the Shooting of Jacob Blake, National Association for Public Defense