The National Council of La Raza (NCLR) adopted criminal justice as a new priority issue in August 2000 to reduce the disproportionate representation of Latinos in our nation’s justice system. NCLR addresses these issues from a civil rights perspective. Expansion into this field was sparked by 1) the virtual absence of Hispanic voices in federal policy debates on criminal justice issues, 2) the need to educate and mobilize the Latino community to advocate for more effective public policies, and 3) the need to complement NCLR’s national voice with a sustainable state- and local-level advocacy capacity to address these issues from a Latino perspective.

NCLR works on a variety of areas within the criminal justice field, including: