PHILADELPHIA — A new report from the District Attorney’s Office has concluded that the vestiges of slavery, redlining, and the War on Drugs are still present in Philadelphia’s legal system and disproportionately impacts Black communities.
Titled “Racial Injustice Report: Disparities in Philadelphia’s Courts from 2015 to 2022,” the report mined over 290,000 criminal cases from the last eight years to reveal that Black people are overrepresented at every stage of the legal system, from car stops and pedestrian stops to incarceration.
District Attorney Larry Krasner released the report Monday at a news conference outside Eastern State Penitentiary, where he was joined by anti-violence activists, and formerly incarcerated men, who spoke against a backdrop of building blocks meant to depict the uptick in Black incarceration rates over time.
