A new report finds, when it comes to the prosecution of crimes, blacks on the First Coast have had more cases dismissed than those whites or Hispanics.
Florida International University (FIU), the MacArthur Foundation and other organizations helped assemble the report.
The data came from analysis of more than 88,000 cases from 2017 to 2018, focusing on three counties in Northeast Florida–Duval, Nassau and Clay–which State Attorney Melissa Nelson represents.
The results also showed that more whites than blacks were going into diversion programs.
Nelson said the report displays her office’s effectiveness and fairness which showcased race and ethnicity were not factors in these cases.
The authors of the report insisted race doesn’t play a big part when it comes to the decisions to pursue justice.
Besiki Kutateladze, a professor of criminology and criminal justice at FIU, said, in many cases, a prosecutor will drop charges because there is insufficient evidence.
Attorney Ron Davis, a legal commentator with the Florida Radio Network, said these studies should be a wake-up call to those that say there is too much racial bias in the courts.
“This whole thing about racial disparities in the court system is just a stereotypical talking point by those on the left,” Davis told Florida Daily. “If someone commits a crime and a jury find that the evidence is stacked against them, white or black, they are guilty.”
Davis also said that the study proves that race isn’t nor should it be a factor when deciding on what happens with court cases.
“If the study shows that more of those in the white community have to go to diversion programs than more of those in the black community, then where is the racial disparity?” asked Davis.
Nelson’s office has called for similar studies to be conducted across the state.
Reach Ed Dean at ed.dean@floridadaily.com.
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