The goal of criminal prosecution is to seek justice, but that goal is undermined if decisions regarding charging, plea offers, and sentencing are impacted by implicit bias against a defendant’s race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, sexual orientation or other demographic markers. This project will gather data from the City Attorney’s Office and its criminal justice partners (e.g., Bellevue Police Department, King County District Court) to identify potential implicit bias in the prosecution of criminal cases in Bellevue; formulate recommendations for addressing currently identified evidence of implicit bias and for avoiding further implicit bias in the future including but not limited to guidelines and training for prosecution attorneys and staff; and as a regional leader, share findings and solutions with other criminal justice agencies in the area to increase the impact of our efforts to combat implicit bias in criminal prosecution.
Read the final student report delivered to the local gov/community partner.
Livable City Year Contact Info
Teri Thomson Randall
Program Manager
terir@uw.edu
206.221.9240
University Faculty Contact
Richard Conlin
Local Government / Community Contact
Mike McCormick-Huentelman
Neighborhood Services | Community Development