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CHILDREN'S DEFENSE FUND
STATEMENT IN SUPPORT OF THE JUSTICE FOR ILLINOIS' YOUTH CAMPAIGN
The Children's Defense Fund strongly supports the Justice for Illinois' Youth public education campaign. We hope it will raise awareness about one of the nation's most racially biased youth drug laws. A recent report by Building Blocks for Youth showed the extent of the bias inherent in the state's automatic transfer law for drug crimes. The report found that 99 percent of the youth transferred to adult court for drug crimes in Cook County were youth of color, contradicting the National Institute of Drug Abuse survey, which found that White students use cocaine and heroin at least seven times as often as Black students.
"Where is the justice," asked Marian Wright Edelman, founder and president of the Children's Defense Fund, "when 15-and 16-year-olds are criminalized and stigmatized by the adult justice system for non-violent drug offenses? Why must Black and Brown children pay the price for a state law that is ineffective in addressing the crime of drug distribution and focuses on the location of the crime without considering the individual circumstances of each young person. The Illinois legislature needs to re-examine this unduly harsh and unjust law."
The mission of the Children's Defense Fund is to Leave No Child Behind - and to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start, and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities. CDF provides a strong, effective voice for all the children of America who cannot vote, lobby, or speak for themselves. We pay particular attention to the needs of poor and minority children and those with disabilities. CDF educates the nation about the needs of children and encourages preventive investments before they get sick, into trouble, drop out of school, or suffer family breakdown. CDF began in 1973 and is a private, nonprofit organization supported by foundation and corporate grants and individual donations. We have never taken government funds.
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