Louisiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Bernette Joshua Johnson called on leaders in judicial, executive and legislative branches of government to consider ways they can improve the justice system following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and COVID-19, which she points out in Louisiana has disproportionately killed African Americans.
In an open letter posted to the court's website on Tuesday, Joshua Johnson says that protests that have erupted across the country are not the result of one or two isolated incidences of police violence.
"Rather, the protests are the consequence of centuries of institutionalized racism that has plagued our legal system," she wrote.
She cited statistics in the state's criminal legal system which she says disproportionately affects African Americans, who comprise 32% of the population, yet 70% of our prison population.
"African American children in Louisiana are imprisoned at almost seven times the rate of White children," she wrote. "Our prison population did not increase fivefold from 7,200 in 1978, to 40,000 in 2012 without decisive action over many years by the legislature and by prosecutors, juries and judges around the state. We are part of the problem they protest."
She urges those who administer the law "to hear the voices of the protesters. So many feel our criminal legal system is part of the problem. I entreat all of us to resolve to be part of the solution. We all pledge allegiance to the American flag and pledge support of our national creed that we are one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Like all of you, I firmly believe in the rule of law. But its legitimacy is in peril when African American citizens see evidence every day of a criminal legal system that appears to value Black lives less than it values White lives."
The letter can be read in its entirety here.