Cohen Looks To Address Ethnic And Racial Disparities In Law Enforcement

By Kleinheider Posted on October 29, 2009 at 6:49 pm

From the Appeal:

U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., testified before the House Judiciary crime subcommittee today in favor of a bill he introduced to address real and perceived racial and ethnic disparities in law enforcement.

Cohen introduced the Justice Integrity Act (H.R. 1412) earlier this year with its proposal to create 10 five-year pilot advisory projects to look at every aspect of criminal justice for evidence of disparities. The committees would make their findings to the U.S. Attorney General.

Cohen said widespread perceptions of disparity are found in stories of racial profiling, crack versus powder cocaine sentencing guidelines, and arrests for marijuana use.

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