African-American Youth in The Juvenile Justice System
African-American Youth in The Juvenile Justice System
African-American Youth in The Juvenile Justice System
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Types of Incarceration<br />
Some <strong>in</strong>mates of the juvenile system are or were "status offenders", children who<br />
committed acts that are not crimes for adults, but can get juveniles <strong>in</strong> trouble with the<br />
law. Status offenses <strong>in</strong>clude consensual sexual acts, truancy from school, smok<strong>in</strong>g<br />
cigarettes, curfew violations, dr<strong>in</strong>k<strong>in</strong>g alcohol, runn<strong>in</strong>g away from one's residence,<br />
chronic disobedience of parents, guardians, and/or other authority figures,<br />
waywardness, and ungovernability.<br />
Trends as of 2000<br />
Recently, forty-seven states have made it easier to be tried as an adult, call<strong>in</strong>g attention<br />
to the grow<strong>in</strong>g trend away from the orig<strong>in</strong>al model for treatment of juveniles <strong>in</strong> the justice<br />
system. A recent study of pretrial services for youth tried as adults <strong>in</strong> 18 of the country's<br />
largest jurisdictions found that the decision to try young offenders as adults was made<br />
more often by legislators and prosecutors (at a rate of 85%) than by judges, the people<br />
orig<strong>in</strong>ally endowed with the responsibility for such discretion.<br />
<strong>The</strong> decreas<strong>in</strong>g dist<strong>in</strong>ction between how youth and adults are tried <strong>in</strong> the crim<strong>in</strong>al justice<br />
system has caused many with<strong>in</strong> the legal system, as well as other activists and<br />
organizers, to criticize the juvenile justice system.<br />
<strong>The</strong> "tough on crime" attitudes of these recent legislative events reflect the stance's<br />
popularity <strong>in</strong> public op<strong>in</strong>ion. This is true of the majority of crim<strong>in</strong>al justice reform policies<br />
<strong>in</strong> the past couple decades, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g California's <strong>in</strong>famous Three Strikes Law.<br />
Reforms <strong>in</strong> crim<strong>in</strong>al justice reforms, and juvenile justice <strong>in</strong> particular, are often fought <strong>in</strong><br />
the court of public op<strong>in</strong>ion. <strong>The</strong> popular news media plays a crucial role <strong>in</strong> promot<strong>in</strong>g the<br />
myth of a new generation of young "super-predators" threaten<strong>in</strong>g the public. Despite<br />
documented decreases <strong>in</strong> youth crime, particularly <strong>in</strong> violent crime which <strong>in</strong>dicate a 68%<br />
decl<strong>in</strong>e <strong>in</strong> youth homicide <strong>in</strong> the 1990s, overall media coverage of youth crime is<br />
<strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>g. [10] Despite evidence to the contrary, 62% of respondents <strong>in</strong> a 1999 survey<br />
on youth del<strong>in</strong>quency believed that youth crime <strong>in</strong>creased. Advocates for juvenile justice<br />
reform focus considerable attention on amend<strong>in</strong>g public op<strong>in</strong>ion and adjust<strong>in</strong>g the gap<br />
between the threats people perceive and the reality of juvenile crime.<br />
Profiles of <strong>Youth</strong> <strong>in</strong> Custody<br />
A report by the federal Office of <strong>Juvenile</strong> <strong>Justice</strong> and Del<strong>in</strong>quency Prevention and U.S.<br />
Department of <strong>Justice</strong>, "Survey of <strong>Youth</strong> <strong>in</strong> Residential Placement: <strong>Youth</strong>'s Needs and<br />
Services", used data from more than 7,000 youth <strong>in</strong> custody gathered dur<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>terviews.<br />
<strong>The</strong> report's f<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>gs <strong>in</strong>clude: 70% of youth <strong>in</strong> custody reported that they had "had<br />
someth<strong>in</strong>g very bad or terrify<strong>in</strong>g" happen to them <strong>in</strong> their lives. 67% reported hav<strong>in</strong>g<br />
seen someone severely <strong>in</strong>jured or killed; 26% of those surveyed said felt as if "life was<br />
not worth liv<strong>in</strong>g", and 22% reported hav<strong>in</strong>g tried to commit suicide at some po<strong>in</strong>t <strong>in</strong> their<br />
lives; 84% of the youth surveyed said they had used marijuana, compared to a rate of<br />
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