On Saturday, Baltimore’s State Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby spoke out against the criminal justice system and the negative impact it has had on people of color.
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Mosby, who has led efforts to right the wrongs of the criminal justice system in Maryland, was a speaker at the University of Baltimore Law Review’s forum titled “400 Years: Slavery and the Criminal Justice System.”
She was forward in her criticism of how courts have handled people of color, The Baltimore Sun reported.
“Black people are six times more likely to be arrested and become a part of the criminal justice system [than] whites,” Mosby admitted.
Mosby joined other individuals from the law community who also have a vested interest in pursuing justice. Mosby spoke candidly about the disparity in the way the justice system treats people of color versus how their white counterparts are treated. She further noted that the community has largely been at the bottom of the totem pole, and has felt the brunt of unjust convictions.
“You have an over-militarization of police departments all across the country, racially unjust application of laws against poor Black and brown people, [and] collateral consequences of these convictions that have kept Black and brown people and communities [as] second-class citizens,” she said.
Last month, according to The Baltimore Sun, Mosby announced that she will be cleaning house by asking the courts to throw out at least 790 criminal cases that were reportedly led by 25 corrupt cops.
READ MORE: Marilyn Mosby seeks to overturn 790 convictions led by corrupt cops
Mosby, along with Baltimore Public Defender Kirsten Downs, Democratic Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy and Brianna Ford, deputy director of the university’s Innocence Project Clinic, were featured on a panel, “Collaborative Methods to Reduce Mass Incarceration” The Baltimore Sun further reports.
The outlet reports that together, the trio were in agreement, that they must lead the charge to change racism in the system by creating opportunities a) for young people prior to run in with the law, b) for return felons to make money legally, despite their criminal records, and c) for the means to remedy any wrongfully accused or convicted cases that the city encounters.
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