How Identity Affects Treatment from Law Enforcement

Written by Monicah Thuita-Villa Duchesne

Aspects of an individual’ s identity affect their encounters with law enforcement and the justice system. Black individuals are discriminated against by cops and the justice system as a whole. Due to deep-rooted white supremacist views of Black men as aggressors or savages, today they are often seen as criminals. Although being Black is enough to make a cop have his hand on his gun, if one was to have other marginalized identities on top of being Black the situation could become much more hostile. Black transgender people, in addition to being grossly disrespected in society, often experience violent and unpleasant encounters with police. Transgender people today face an epidemic of hatred and anti-trans violence. Half of transgender people report they are uncomfortable seeking police assistance. 22% of transgender people who interacted with law enforcement reported harassment, and 6% of transgender individuals reported that they experienced bias-motivated assault by officers. Black transgender people reported much higher rates of biased harassment and assault (38% and 15%). (Reforming Police and Ending Anti-Transgender Violence) In addition, with the over-policing of Black communities, there is always someone waiting for them to make one mistake to trap them in the endless cycle of imprisonment, which adds to the distrust of cops in those areas.

Furthermore, the justice system's inadequate portrayal of marginalized people has contributed to a large amount of them being in prisons. Public defenders are criminally overworked. In Colorado, Missouri, and Rhode Island, the typical public defender has two to three times the workload they should provide an adequate defense. In Louisiana, defenders have almost five times the appropriate workload. With this gigantic workload they are not able to provide the defense a client needs, but with most of their clients not being able to afford a lawyer, they have no choice but to accept this subpar defense. Therefore, leading to Black and other people of color being continuously failed by these systems.