WFHB Bloomington Community Radio
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A new report, by the Monroe County chapter of the NAACP and the Unitarian Universalist Church of Bloomington’s Racial Justice Task Force, found African-Americans in Monroe County are disproportionately affected by the Criminal Justice system.
Less than four percent of Monroe County residents are Black, but last year African-Americans made up over a quarter of those imprisoned from Monroe County. Twenty-seven percent of inmates in the Indiana Department of Corrections from Monroe County in 2017 were Black; over seven times their share of the county’s population.
The report, which looks at data over the past twenty years shows that’s a trend.It found similar over-representation in the Monroe County jail. African-Americans made up 15.7% of the Monroe County jail population in 2017, over four times their share of the county’s total Black population.
A press conference and public discussion addressing the report and recommended policy changes will be held at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, December 12, at the Second Baptist Church in Bloomington.
