Racial Equity in Criminal Justice

Jan 12

Just before the start of the new year, the Task force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice (TREC), released its annual report detailing the progress the group has made to address disparate impacts in the North Carolina criminal justice system. Below is an overview of the Task Force, and the progress they made in 2022.

What is TREC?

“By pursuing equality in our criminal justice system, we seek to have all North Carolinians treated with the dignity they deserve at the same time as we make the system more effective.”

The TREC was established in June 2020 to develop strategies and solutions for racially disparate outcomes in the criminal justice system. The task force is led by the NC Attorney General and the North Carolina Associate Supreme Court and consists of twenty-four members statewide. They focused on addressing existing policies and procedures that disproportionately affect communities of color and developing solutions to ensure racial equity in North Carolina’s criminal justice system.

In 2020, the TREC submitted 125 recommendations to the Governor on policy changes to address problems with North Carolina’s criminal justice system. Working to put these recommendations into action, the TREC develops actionable policy recommendations that are influenced by advisory groups consisting of law enforcement, prosecutors, and victims/survivors.

What has TREC accomplished?

Since the TREC submitted the 125 policy change recommendations, it has worked with local and state actors to implement these changes. The task force experienced many successes in 2021 including new legislation, administrative court rule changes, and executive orders influenced by the recommendations made by the task force. Notably, the administrative rule change by the North Carolina Supreme Court, which allows for the assessment of a defendant’s ability to pay prior to levying any fines, was influenced by TREC recommendations.

In 2022, the TREC was successful in influencing communities across the state to adopt new programs and policies designed to limit community violence by the publishing sample policies and information sheets, holding meeting and advisory group panels of local policy makers, and presenting to local council meetings and to statewide associations of local government.

Additionally, the task force held listening sessions to discuss areas of criminal justice that need reform, held a cannabis policy webinar series, and created “one-pager” information sheets to be distributed to actors in the criminal justice system.

Goals Moving Forward

“We know that this work must continue, and that the success of our efforts depends on continued collaboration and commitment from people in every part of the criminal justice system and the public.”

While the task force has made significant strides in implementing its policy recommendations, it still has a significant way to go to realize its 125 policy recommendations. Recognizing this, the Governor extended the task force, which was originally set to conclude in December 2022, so that TREC can continue recommending policy changes to effect its mission. Moving forward, the TREC will focus on implementing recommendations relating to local law enforcement practices, violence prevention, changing judicial system policies, and collecting criminal justice system data. ~ Christian Jones

You may access the full report by clicking here.