More Blacks, Hispanics Prosecuted in Connecticut Than Whites
The second annual review of the state's court data reveals that Black and Hispanic Connecticut residents make up a majority of prosecutions, despite being a minority percentage of the population.
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According to an analysis of state prosecution data Black and Hispanic residents continue to make up a disproportionate number of people in Connecticut’s justice system, which also is charging African Americans with felonies at higher rates, reports the Hartford Courant. Researchers with the state Office of Policy and Management and The Urban Institute reviewed nearly 156,000 charges in more than 65,000 criminal cases that were closed in 2020. The number of total cases declined 47 percent compared with 2019, which officials linked to the coronavirus pandemic and the shutdown of many courthouses, but racial disparities remained at nearly the same levels. About 28 percent of all disposed cases in 2020 involved Black residents, who comprise 11 percent of the state population, the same percentage as in 2019.
Hispanic residents, who make up 17 percent of the population, were charged in 23 percent of all disposed cases in 2020, compared with 26 percent in 2019. White residents comprise 67 percent of the population and were involved in 46 percent of prosecutions in 2020, up three percentage points from the year before. The report also said Black defendants are disproportionately represented among those prosecuted for felonies.
