Time for introspection for the entire criminal justice system
Re: “Our racial disparities study will inform prosecutors’ future work,” April 16 commentary
Denver District Attorney Beth McCann’s opinion column about racial skews in her office’s work was heartening, and I commend her for the courage to be introspective and transparent.
The next challenge is for the rest of the criminal justice system to do the same. As a retired criminal defense attorney, I call on my colleagues to examine whether they might bear some responsibility, too.
Are we handling our work with the equality the job demands?
Are we zealously representing every client regardless of their ethnicity?
Is the defense bar representative of our citizenry and of our clients? If not, why?
We don’t know until we look.
Philip Cherner, Denver
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