Wednesday, May 27, 2020

Racial disparities in military justice: a FOIA saga

Protect Our Defenders has worked for years to obtain data about racial disparities in the administration of military justice. The latest report on its efforts --  Federal Lawsuit Reveals Air Force Cover Up: Racial Disparities in Military Justice, Part II, May 2020 -- has just been made public. Excerpt:
POD’s initial FOIA request seeking racial disparity data almost immediately resulted in the Air Force creating its racial disparity working group in an apparent effort to mitigate its dismal record. Even though the working group found “consistent” and “persistent” racial disparities, the Air Force does not appear to have acted in any way on the recommendations of the working group. Despite the fact that the working group consisted of members who worked for the Chief of Staff, Air Force leadership apparently
showed little interest in its results. If they did, they chose not to implement any reforms. Instead, the service engaged in a multi-year effort to keep the findings and recommendations from the working group hidden. It remains to be asked why the Air Force fought so hard to keep the information from the public, and at what level were those efforts being directed.
The report includes links to two decisions of the U.S. District Court in POD's FOIA litigation. 

No comments:

Post a Comment

Comments are subject to moderation and must be submitted under your real name. Anonymous comments will not be posted (even though the form seems to permit them).