And Justice for Some

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Table of Contents

Major Findings
Introduction
Methodology
The Arrest
Juvenile Court Processing
1. Referrals
   
2. Detention
   
3. Formal Processing (Petitioning)
   
4. Waiver
   
5. Disposition
   
6. The State Perspective
   a. Detention
   b. Waiver
Juvenile Corrections
1. The National Perspective
   
2. The State Perspective

Youth in Adult Corrections

1. The National Perspective
   
2. The State Perspective
Conclusion

Authors & Acknowledgments

Major Findings

The overrepresentation of minorities, particularly African Americans, in the nation’s prisons has received much attention in recent years. However, the disproportionate representation of racial/ethnic groups is not limited to adult prisons and jails. It is also found among youth confined in secure juvenile facilities.

Unfortunately, research in this area specific to Latino youth is scant. Inconsistencies in the collection and presentation of information on Latino populations in the justice system continue to be a problem. Since many data systems fail to disaggregate ethnicity from race, Latino youth are often counted as "White." As a result, data on the extent to which minority populations are overrepresented in the juvenile juctice system are generally underreported in much of the analysis of this issue.

While public attention has tended to focus on the disproportionate number of minorities in confinement, minority overrepresentation is often a product of actions that occur at earlier points in the juvenile justice system, such as the decision to make the initial arrest, the decision to hold a youth in detention pending investigation, the decision to refer a case to juvenile court, the prosecutor’s decision to petition a case, and the judicial decision and subsequent sanction.

Some have argued that this overrepresentation of minority youth in the justice system simply is a result of minority youth committing more crimes than White youth. However, a fair analysis is much more complicated. Thus, it is not clear whether this overrepresentation is the result of differential police policies and practices (e.g., targeting patrols in certain low-income neighborhoods, policies requiring immediate release to biological parents, group arrest procedures); location of offenses (minority youth using or selling drugs on street corners, White youth using or selling drugs in homes); different behavior by minority youth (e.g., whether minority youth commit more crimes than White youth); differential reactions of victims to offenses committed by White and minority youth (e.g., whether White victims of crimes disproportionately perceive the offenders to be minority youth); or racial bias within the justice system. In addition, in a meta-analysis of studies on race and the juvenile justice system, researchers have found that about two-thirds of the studies of disproportionate minority confinement showed negative "race effects" at one stage or another of the juvenile justice process.1

Arrest

• In 1998, the majority of arrests of juveniles involved White youth.
• In1998, African American youth were overrepresented as a proportion of arrests in 26 of 29 offense categories documented by the FBI.

Referral to Juvenile Court

• In 1997, the majority of cases referred to juvenile court involved White youth. Minority youth were overrepresented in the referral cohort.

Detention

• While White youth comprised 66% of the juvenile court referral population they comprised 53% of the detained population. In contrast, African American youths made up 31% of the referral population and 44% of the detained population. Youth of other races represented about the same proportion of the referred and detained groups.
• In every offense category–person, property, drug, public order–a substantially greater percentage of African American youth were detained than White youth.

Formal Processing

• African American youth are more likely than White youth to be formally charged in juvenile court, even when referred for the same type of offense.
• Although just over half of drug cases involving White youth and youth of other races result in formal processing, three-quarters of drug cases involving African American youth result in formal processing.
• Minority youth were overrepresented in the detained population in 43 of 44 states.

Waiver to Adult Court

• An estimated 8,400 petitioned delinquency cases were waived from juvenile to adult court in 1997.
• Minority youth were much more likely to be waived to adult criminal court than White youth. This was true in all offense categories.
• For offenses against persons, White youth were 57% of cases petitioned but only 45% of cases waived to adult court. African American youth charged with similar offenses were 40% of cases petitioned but rose to 50% of cases waived to adult court. Similarly, in drug cases, White youth were 59% of cases petitioned but only 35% of cases waived to adult court. African American youth charged with drug offenses were 39% of cases petitioned but rose to 63% of the cases waived to adult court. Thus, among drug offense cases referred to juvenile court, White youth enjoy a 24% "waiver advantage," while African American youth carry a 24% "waiver disadvantage."

Disposition

• African American youth were overrepresented among cases receiving a disposition of out-of-home placement (e.g., commitment to a locked institution). This was true in all offense categories and was most pronounced among drug offense cases.
• In every offense category, minority youth were more likely than White youth to be placed out-of-home.
• Conversely, among all offense categories, White youth were more likely than minority youth to be placed on probation.

Incarceration in Juvenile Facilities

• Although minority youth are one-third of the adolescent population in the United States, minority youth are two-thirds of the over 100,000 youth confined in local detention and state correctional systems.
• Minority youth are overrepresented in residential placement facilities for all offense categories. In fact, minority youth were at least one-half of all youth in residential placement among each of the non-status offense categories.
• Minorities comprise the majority of youth held in both public and private facilities. Minority youth, especially Latino youth, are a much larger proportion of youth in public than private facilities.
• Minority youth were confined behind locked doors twice as often as White youth. African American youth represent the largest racial/ethnic proportion of youth held behind locked doors.
• In 1993, when controlling for current offense and prior admissions, incarceration rates to state public facilities were higher for African American and Latino youth than White youth.
• When White youth and minority youth were charged with the same offenses, African American youth with no prior admissions were six times more likely to be incarcerated in public facilities than White youth with the same background. Latino youth were three times more likely than White youth to be incarcerated.
• Admission rates to public facilities were seven times greater among African American youth with one-to-two prior admissions than for White youth in 1993. Admission rates for Latino youth were twice the rate of White youth.
• In 1993, African American youth were confined on average for 61 days more than White youth, and Latino youth were confined 112 days more than White youth.
• While representing just 34% of the U.S. population in 1997, minority youth represented 62% of youth in detention, 67% of youth committed to public facilities, and 55% of youth committed to private facilities.
• Nationwide, minority youth were overrepresented in the detained population at 1.8 times their rate in the general population, among commitments to public facilities at 2.0 times their rate, and among private commitments at 1.6 times their rate in the population.
• Nationally, custody rates were five times greater for African American youth than for White youth. Custody rates for Latino and Native American youth were 2.5 times the custody rate of White youth.

Incarceration in Adult Prisons

• In 1997, 7,400 new admissions to adult prisons involved youth under the age of 18. Three out of four of these youths were minorities.
• Overrepresentation of minority youth and underrepresentation of White youth were reported by nearly every state reporting juvenile admissions to adult prisons in 1996.
• The proportion of juvenile prison admissions involving a drug offense was three times greater among African American youth than White youth in 1997.

Introduction

In order to put the representation of minority youth in context it is necessary to view the justice system as a process. Representation of minority youth can be examined as a series of critical decision points as youth progress through the system. Accordingly, amendments to the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act required states to assess the level of minority youth confinement in their juvenile justice systems by systematically identifying the extent of overrepresentation at each decision point in the process. This systematic approach views the overall process that creates overrepresentation rather than focusing only on the end result of confinement.

Depending on local practices and traditions, states and communities can differ in the way that they process juvenile law violators. However, a common set of critical decision points regarding arrest, intake, detention, adjudication, and disposition have become the cornerstone for researchers' examination of minority overrepresentation.

Studies finding evidence of disproportionate minority confinement typically ascribe its causes to either racial bias against minority youth within the juvenile justice system or more serious and/or more frequent offenses being committed by minority youth.2 Determining whether either or both of these phenomenon are the reason for disparity requires analysis of detailed data providing information on specific offense classifications, criminal history, and other factors used in decision-making. Studies such as this suggest that processing decisions in many states and local juvenile justice systems are not racially neutral. Minority youth are more likely than White youth to become involved in the system with their overrepresentation increasing at each stage of the process.

Research also suggests that disparity is most pronounced at the beginning stages of involvement with the juvenile justice system or, more specifically, at the intake and detention decision points. When racial/ethnic differences are found, they tend to accumulate as youth are processed through the system. This "cumulative disadvantage" of minority youth within the juvenile justice system is reflected in a 1997 report on DMC 3 which found that overrepresentation increased from the point of arrest through other points in the system to the final point of secure (juvenile) corrections in 31 of 36 states studied. The first Building Blocks for Youth report, "The Color of Justice," 4 found a similar "cumulative disadvantage" for youth in California who were waived to adult court and sentenced to prison.

As expected, much of the existing research on DMC has primarily focused on disparity in the processing of youth through the juvenile court and the disproportionate confinement of minority youth in facilities while under juvenile court jurisdiction. However, with lawmakers across the country actively pursuing measures to "get tough" on serious and violent juvenile offending, increasing numbers of juveniles are being processed through adult criminal courts. Currently, all states and the District of Columbia allow adult criminal prosecution of juveniles under some circumstance. In addition, between 1992 and 1997, legislatures in 47 States and the District of Columbia enacted laws that either made it easier to transfer youth from the juvenile justice system to the criminal justice system, that gave criminal and juvenile courts expanded sentencing options, or modified or removed traditional juvenile court confidentiality provisions.

As a result, the consequences of disproportionate numbers of minority youth flowing through the juvenile justice system is no longer just about juvenile court sanctions. It is now also about disproportionate numbers of minority youth subject to adult court processing and incarceration in adult jails and prisons. A 1998 report showed that African American youth were less than one-half (41%) of cases involving a juvenile charged with a felony and processed through the juvenile justice system but two-thirds (67%) of such cases transferred from juvenile court jurisdiction and handled in the criminal justice system. 6 Almost two-thirds of all juveniles transferred on a felony charge were convicted in adult court and about two-thirds of these convictions involved incarceration–49% in adult prison and 19% in adult jails. Indeed, a recent study by the Bureau of Justice Statistics of the U.S. Department of Justice reports that the number of people under age 18 who are sentenced to adult state prisons each year more than doubled between 1985 and 1997-from 3,400 to 7,400.

Unfortunately, research in this area specific to Latino youth is scant. Inconsistencies in the collection and presentation of information on Latino populations in the justice system continue to be a problem. Since many data systems fail to disaggregate ethnicity from race, Latino youth are often counted as "White." As a result, data on the extent to which minority populations are overrepresented in the juvenile juctice system are generally underreported in much of the analysis of this issue.

Methodology

Analysis of juvenile court data was performed utilizing national estimates developed by the OJJDP's National Juvenile Court Data Archive and distributed through the data presentation and analysis package, Easy Access to Juvenile Court Statistics. The juvenile corrections data from OJJDP's Census of Juveniles in Residential Placement was adapted from analysis presented in OJJDP’s Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 1999 National Report. Additional information on juveniles in corrections was also obtained from the Juveniles Taken into Custody Program. Analysis presented on juveniles in adult custody was derived from research presented by the Bureau of Justice Statistics in the Special Report series of publications utilizing data collected by the National Corrections Reporting Program.

Generally, "disproportionate minority confinement" refers to differences between the minority proportion of youth in confinement and the minority proportion of youth in the general population. However, as described in Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 1999 National Report, the following key terms are often used when examining this issue and are key to understanding this occurrence:

• "Overrepresentation" exists when, at various stages of the juvenile justice system, the proportion of a certain population exceeds its proportion in the general population.
• "Disparity" refers to a situation in which different groups have different probabilities that certain outcomes will occur. Disparity may in turn lead to overrepresentation.
• "Discrimination" refers to differential decision-making among juvenile justice professionals affecting different groups of juveniles based on their gender, racial, and/or ethnic identity.

The Arrest

Decisions by law enforcement are pivotal in determining the profile of cases formally involved in the juvenile justice system. At arrest, a decision is made to either send the matter further into the justice system or to divert the matter, usually into alternative programs. In 1997, about two-thirds of all juvenile arrests were referred to juvenile court, one-quarter were handled within the department and released, less than one in 10 were referred to adult court, and the remainder were referred to another agency.

United States law enforcement agencies made an estimated 2.6 million arrests of persons under age 18 in 1998 (Table 1). Less than 5% of those arrests were for Violent Crime Index offenses, and less than one tenth of 1% were for murder.

The majority (71%) of those arrests involved White youth. Still, African American youth were overrepresented in most offense categories. Some have argued that this overrepresentation of minority youth in the justice system simply is a result of minority youth committing more crimes than White youth. However, a fair analysis is much more complicated. Thus, it is not clear whether this overrepresentation is the result of differential police policies and practices (e.g., targeting patrols in certain low-income neighborhoods, policies requiring immediate release to biological parents, group arrest procedures); location of offenses (minority youth using or selling drugs on street corners, White youth using or selling drugs in homes); different behavior by minority youth (e.g., whether minority youth commit more crimes than White youth); differential reactions of victims to offenses committed by White and minority youth (e.g., whether White victims of crimes disproportionately perceive the offenders to be minority youth); or racial bias within the justice system. In addition, in a meta-analysis of studies on race and the juvenile justice system, researchers have found that about two-thirds of the studies of disproportionate minority confinement showed negative "race effects" at one stage or another of the juvenile justice process.

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