Most People Who Are Processed in the Courts are Black and Latino, but Few Will Face a Judge Who Looks Like Them

WNYC News | May 7, 2021

A new statewide report on judicial demographics reveals stark disparities between the demographic composition of the bench and the rest of New York State.

In 2019, only 15% of the population in New York State was Black, yet Black people accounted for 38% of all adult arrests, and nearly half of all people being sent to prison, according to the most recent data.

Despite this, those who are doing the sentencing are mostly white.

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'It's chaos': LIRR commuters face shutdown, workarounds on first weekday of strike

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On an off-Broadway stage, actors bring immigrant stories alive and spark public debate

Immigrants' stories have been unfolding on an off-Broadway stage in an uncommon way. One is of a doctor in her 40s who fled Zimbabwe. Another featured a Colombian woman who regretted leaving her homeland for the United States. A third entered into a marriage of convenience with an American after overstaying her visa, and then suffered a violent assault in the subway.