Wednesday, April 26, 2000
Study reveals 'juvenile injustice'
Minorities are jailed more often
By Patrick Crowley
The Cincinnati Enquirer
COVINGTON — The justice system is harder on minority youths than it is on white youths, a study released Tuesday concludes.
A black youthful offender is six times more likely to be jailed than a youthful offender who is white, even if they commit the same crimes and have the same criminal backgrounds, according to the nationwide study. Latino youths are three times more likely than white youths to do time.
The odds don't improve much in the Tristate, according to figures for Ohio, Ken tucky and Indiana.
In Kentucky, African-Americans are four times more likely to be jailed. That compares with five times more likely in Ohio and four times more likely in Indiana.
“We find that this report leaves no doubt that we are faced with a very serious national civil rights issue, virtually making our system juvenile injustice,” said Hugh B. Price, President and CEO of the National Urban League.
The study, called “And Justice for Some,” was compiled by Building Blocks for Youth, a consortium of child advocacy and civil rights groups, including the National Council on Crime and Delinquency and the Children's Law Center of Covington. The crime and court data came from state and federal sources, including FBI statistics.
The study concludes that minority juveniles, particularly African-American males, are dealt with more severely than white offenders.
Even when facing the same charges, African-American youths are more likely than white youths to be formally charged, tried as adults and incarcerated, the study says.
It also says white youths are more likely to receive probation and to avoid being locked up.
The proof is in the percentages, according to the study. Nationwide, minority youths make up only 15 percent of the population under age 18, but they make up 44 percent of those detained for trial.
Included was a recently released survey of Kentucky juvenile crime statistics. Kentucky African-American youths are estimated to be 10 percent of the state's youths, but 41 percent of the youths detained last year, the study found.
Many of Northern Kentucky's judges and prosecutors said that, despite the report's findings, racial prejudice does not influence local courtrooms.
“My experience has always been, whether the defendant is white, black or whatever, race is not a factor,” said Campbell County Attorney Justin Verst.
“We look at the merits of the case, the seriousness of the crime and the background of the defendant in how we prosecute cases, and not the color of somebody's skin,” he said.
While the study's findings may be valid nationwide, “we don't see that here,” added Kenton District Judge Frank Trusty.
“If I thought for one minute that any of this was true, I would have said something about it a long time ago.”
John Delaney, a public defender who represents defendants in Kenton County, believes there is some merit to the study.
“I think it is true,” he said. “I don't necessarily know why, but my experience in juvenile court would bear that out.”
The Children's Law Center is hoping to work with the Youth Law Center of Washington, D.C., to figure out why these inequities are happening.
Kim Adams, a staff attorney at the Children's Law Center, said she has no idea why minority youths are treated differently, but she believes improvements probably could be wrought by educating police, court personnel and other law enforcement officials involved in arresting and detaining minority youths.
Perhaps, she said, those people need to know more about the socioeconomic factors that can accompany juvenile crime. They might also need sensitivity training, she said.
“We're trying to correct the problem as it exists in Kentucky,” Ms. Adams said. “We're hoping to head it off at the front end.”
Campbell County District Judge Michael “Mickey” Foellger agrees with that approach.
Judge Foellger said he does not see unfair treatment of minorities in Campbell County courtrooms. But, as head of the Kentucky District Judges Association, he does believe the justice system needs to focus more attention on the socioeconomic reasons, such as where and how a defendant is raised, as a means of understanding why a juvenile commits a crime.
And he has scheduled a session on cultural diversity for the district judges' association meeting in September.
“This study seems to be saying that the justice system as a whole is being prejudiced, which I believe is being done unconsciously, if at all,” he said.
“But our entire society creates those skewed numbers. You can look at what happens in a courtroom, but to really understandhow and why this is happening, you need to look at a kid's life long before they touch the justice system.”
The national study applauded Kentucky for developing a plan to address overrepresentation of minorities in Kentucky's juvenile justice system. Examples of Kentucky's efforts include:
• The state is spending $100,000 to study why minorities are treated differently in the justice system.
• State justice officials have formed a committee to address the inequities, and state Sen. Gerald Neal, D-Louisville, the only African-American in the Kentucky Senate, is pushing for legislative support of the effort.
• State agencies are trying to improve the tracking of data to better evaluate the problem.
Reporters Susan Vela and Jane Prendergast contributed.
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