ACLU sues DA Rosen claiming his office hid racial data

BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer

A civil rights nonprofit has sued Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen for allegedly hiding data that shows he disproportionately charges Latino and Black defendants with felonies.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California has been going back and forth with lawyers for Santa Clara County for two years over a far-reaching California Public Records Act request.

The ACLU asked for demographic data on all criminal defendants since 2015, along with information about their arrest, whether they were prosecuted and the factors considered in charging decisions.

The ACLU also requested data from Rosen about each defendant’s bail, plea offers and diversion programs, the demographic data of victims and the prosecutor assigned to each case.

In an email yesterday, Assistant District Attorney David Angel said the DA’s Office is troubled by the ACLU lawsuit because it seeks “thousands upon thousands” of private records that identify Santa Clara County individuals who have been charged with a crime.

“We have provided the ACLU, and many others, with tremendous quantities of de-identified and aggregate data,” Angel said. “We remain convinced that, especially in today’s environment, people have a right to privacy concerning their records.”

Santa Clara County’s lawyers, led by County Counsel Tony LoPresti, have asserted that much of the data is considered investigative records or an attorney work product, and therefore isn’t public. 

In the lawsuit filed on Oct. 29, the ACLU asked a judge to order Rosen to release the records and find that he violated the California Public Records Act.

Checking up on the DA

ACLU Executive Director Abdi Soltani said he’s trying to ensure Rosen is upholding the principles of the California Racial Justice Act, or RJA, passed by the state Legislature in 2020 in an attempt to “eliminate racially discriminatory practices in the criminal justice system.”

The Racial Justice Act said that the public should have access to statistical data to see if racial disparities or discrimination exist.

“By withholding the requested information, the DA has obstructed the public’s ability to monitor prosecutorial practices, subverted the RJA’s purpose, and weakened efforts to ensure a fair and equitable legal process,” said the ACLU’s lawsuit, filed in Santa Clara County Superior Court.

Trend seen in limited data

The limited data publicly available from Rosen’s office shows that Latino and Black individuals are prosecuted for felony offenses at rates significantly higher than their share of the county population, the suit said.

Latinos comprised 53% of felony prosecutions in 2021 despite making up about 25% of the population. Black individuals accounted for 13% of felony prosecutions yet made up 2% of the population, the suit said.

White residents made up 22% of felony cases in 2021 while accounting for 31% of the county population, the suit said.

Angel said prosecutors file charges at the same rate across races based upon the cases referred to them by police, and the DA’s Office publishes a data dashboard that shows those charging rates.

The DA’s Office partnered with Harvard on “race blind charging,” where all racial and ethnic identifiers were removed from charging decisions, and the data showed no difference in charging rates, Angel said.

“Race and inequity are complex issues, and just as these inequities are found in housing, medical care and educational admissions, they are found in the criminal justice system,” Angel said. “We didn’t need the ACLU lawsuit to tell us that.”