HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	134
TWENTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE, 2013		H.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

REQUESTING ALL AGENCIES IN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM TO CONDUCT ANNUAL, MANDATORY, IMPLICIT, UNCONSCIOUS BIAS TRAINING FOR SPECIFIC EMPLOYEES.

     WHEREAS, bias-based profiling is an action or decision based solely on a trait common to a group, including but not limited to race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, economic status, background, age, or culture; and

     WHEREAS, the absence of facts, suspicious activity, or specific criminal information is what separates bias-based profiling from legitimate criminal profiling; and

     WHEREAS, the implicit bias phenomenon is being explored in many phases of the criminal justice system and is not limited to law enforcement; and

     WHEREAS, implicit bias is being studied in judicial decision making, such as jury selection, jury instruction, and sentencing decisions, as well as in hiring and promotion decisions within criminal justice agencies; and

     WHEREAS, outside of the criminal justice field, the topic has been examined in the fields of education and medicine, as well as in chief executive officer selection at Fortune 500 companies; and

     WHEREAS, a discussion on implicit bias must start with a brief explanation of how the brain sorts, relates, and processes information; and

     WHEREAS, much of the day-to-day processing is done at an unconscious level as the mind works through what Professor Jerry Kang of the University of California, Los Angeles calls schemas, which are "templates of knowledge that help us organize specific examples into broad categories"; and

     WHEREAS, implicit, unconscious bias is an important issue in Hawaii, as evidenced by the 2010 Office of Hawaiian Affairs report, "The Disparate Treatment of Native Hawaiians in the Criminal Justice System" and the Native Hawaiian Justice Task Force Report; and

     WHEREAS, the task force found that disproportionate representation of Native Hawaiians in prisons suggests implicit, unconscious bias against the native population by law enforcement, courts, and corrections employees; and

     WHEREAS, there are compelling reasons to believe that prosecutors unwittingly display implicit bias at a variety of decision points, and in the aggregate, the harm of these biases is quite substantial; and

     WHEREAS, the Hawaii Judiciary has conducted unconscious, implicit bias training for all judges; and

     WHEREAS, justice should not wait, and the search for fairness in the criminal justice system must continue with both a moral compass and a thirst for emerging social-scientific knowledge; and

     WHEREAS, properly defining and identifying bias-based profiling is essential for the advancement of civil rights; now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-seventh Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2013, the Senate concurring, that all agencies in the criminal justice system are requested to conduct annual, mandatory, implicit, unconscious bias training for employees who have direct contact with offenders or individuals in the criminal justice system; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Attorney General, Director of Public Safety, Chair of the Hawaii Paroling Authority, Honolulu Prosecuting Attorney, Maui Prosecuting Attorney, Hawaii Prosecuting Attorney, Kauai Prosecuting Attorney, Honolulu Police Chief, Maui Police Chief,
Hawaii Police Chief, Kauai Police Chief, Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Chair of the Senate Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs, and Chair of the House of Representatives Committee on Public Safety.

Report Title: 

Bias-based Profiling; Training; Criminal Justice System