According to the Prison Policy Initiative, “systemic racism in the criminal [legal] system takes many forms, but it is present from policing to reentry.” See Visualizing the racial disparities in mass incarceration | Prison Policy Initiative.  Through its Judicial Accountability Initiative, ILARJ is educating the electorate on the ratings we have assigned judicial candidates as well as mobilizing the public in urging the judiciary to stop playing an active role in the disproportionate prosecution and/or punishment of Black, Brown, Indigenous, and poor people. We believe that it does little to help stop and/or heal the devastation experienced by these communities at the hand of the criminal legal system by being “impartial” only on a case-by-case basis when the pipeline into the system disparately treats whole groups of people.  Changing the latter requires an acknowledgement of the role the judiciary played and currently plays in this devastation, a firm commitment to public accountability through the public reporting of data that can reveal groups being disproportionately punished/prosecuted, and judges willing to develop a plan to ensure that the judiciary serves as a “check on” and “balance to” the executive branch. 

Our rating results are compiled in this Voters Guide.