The Defender Association received in 1999 a $146,000 grant from the Justice Department to establish a Racial Disparity Project. The Project has represented clients, conducted continuing legal education training, raised the level of discussion concerning racial disparity and race bias, and developed a partnership with the King County Prosecutor and the District Court to divert cases involving driving with a suspended license. The Project staff also have participated in many discussions with community based organizations, courts and prosecutors, and local law enforcement authorities, and have participated in discussions with local and state legislators on a variety of issues related to the justice system. The RDP staff helped to plan a retreat for the Regional Law, Safety, and Justice Committee to discuss racial disparity issues. They were invited to make a presentation on disparity issues to the Superior Court Judges last fall.

The Institute on Race and Poverty at the University of Minnesota completed its evaluation of the Racial Disparity Project in December, 2000. The evaluation concluded:

"With the RDP, the Seattle Defender Association has gone beyond case-by-case representation of clients to work proactively on behalf of both clients and the communities whence they come.... The Racial Disparity Project enables the DA to broaden its advocacy to encompass not only representation of individual clients, but also efforts to change the system for the benefit of disadvantaged communities, and particularly communities of color."

The Project has worked primarily on the following issues:

• Racial disparity in enforcement of suspended driver license laws, including impoundment of cars of drivers with suspended licenses.
  • Racial disparity in enforcement of drug laws.
  • Racial profiling/pretext stops.
• Pre-trial release rule.
• Racial disparity in the enforcement of truancy laws.

The Open Society Institute awarded the Defender a $75,000 grant to support the project for the period from July 15, 2000, through July 14, 2001, and has provided a two-year, $150,000 grant which requires obtaining $50,000 in matching funds for the 2001-2003 period. The King County Office of Public Defense is providing $35,000 to the Defender for the project in 2001.

Articles About the RDP's Work

Beginning

We should prevent racial profiling (Seattle P-I)

Impound

Suspended License and Impoundment Issues

Impound law dealt setback by judge (Seattle Times)

Appeal unlicensed driver ruling (Seattle P-I)

Ruling on impounds restores rights (Seattle P-I)

Better court practices, not impoundment, have reduced DWLS (Seattle P-I)

Drug Cases

Forum tackles race and drug use (Seattle P-I)

A Window of Opportunity (PDF Document)

Racial Disparity Reported in King County's Drug Arrests (Seattle Times)

Racial Disparity in Seattle Drug Arrests (KOMO-TV, QuickTime Movie)

Drug arrests target blacks most often (Seattle P-I)

Ruling turns heat on police (Seattle Times)

Racial Profiling / Pretext Stops

Council names 14 citizens to racial profiling study group (Seattle P-I)

Profile stops may be encouraged: Sheriff's deputy lauded for seeking 'dirtbags'