And Justice for Some, Page 4

Youth in Adult Corrections

Recent legislative changes have enabled prosecutors and juvenile court judges to send more youth into the criminal justice system or to automatically exclude certain youth charged with certain offenses from the jurisdiction of the juvenile court. As a result, a growing number of youth are being sentenced to adult corrections such as state and federal prisons and county jails. In fact, the number of youth admitted to state prisons more than doubled between 1985 and 1997. 16 While the "sight and sound separation" provisions of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act prohibit youth under juvenile court jurisdiction from being within "sight or sound" of adult inmates, it does not cover youth under the jurisdiction of adult criminal court. Therefore, youth prosecuted as adults can be incarcerated with adult inmates in jails and prisons.

1. The National Perspective

Three out of four youth admitted to state prisons in 1997 were minorities.

An estimated 7,400 youth under the age of 18 were admitted to the nation's state prisons in 1997. The majority (75%) of these new commitments were minority youth--58% of these youth were African American, 15% were Latino, and 2% were youth of other races (Table 15). Between 1985 and 1990, the African American proportion of admissions grew from 53% to 61% while the White proportion declined from 32% to 21%.

Table 15: Racial Profile of State Prisoners Under Age 18, 1997

Admitted to Prison

1985

1990

1997

Total

100%

100%

100%

White

32

21

25

African American

53

61

58

Latino

14

15

15

Other

1

1

2

Source: Adapted from Profile of State Prisoners under Age 18, 1985-97, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2000.

Between 1985 and 1997 violent crimes grew from 34% to 54% of all admissions involving a White male while remaining relatively stable among African American males (Table 16). In contrast, drug offenses accounted for 15% of admissions involving an African American male in 1997, up from 2% in 1985. This proportion changed little among White males. The proportion of admissions involving a property offense declined between 1985 and 1997 for both racial groups.

Table 16: Offense Profile of Male Prisoners Under Age 18, 1997
  White Black
  1985 1997 1985 1997
Total
100%
 100% 100% 100%

Violent

 34 54 62 63

Property

 59 36 32 16

Drug

 2 5 2 5
PO 4 5 4 5
Note: Proportions are based on estimated data. Data were not disaggregated by Hispanic origin. Includes only those with a sentence of more than one year.
Source: Adapted from Profile of State Prisoners under Age 18, 1985-97, Bureau of Justice Statistics. 2000
2. The State Perspective

Overrepresentation of minority youth and underrepresentation of White youth were reported by nearly every state reporting data on admissions to adult prisons in 1996 (Table 17). While African American youth were generally overrepresented in all states, overrepresentation of Latino youth was most notable in New Hampshire and Utah and overrepresentation of Native American youth was most notable in Nebraska, Minnesota, and North Dakota.

Table 17: New Prison Commitments, 1996

State

White

African American

Latino

American Indian

Asian

Total

Alabama

24%

76%

0%

0%

0%

100%

Population

65

32

1

0

1

100

Arkansas

41%

59%

0%

0%

0%

100%

Population

75

21

2

1

1

100

California

11%

38%

50%

1%

0%

100%
Youth Authority

9

29

49

1

10

100

Population

42

7

40

1

11

100

Colorado

25%

26%

46%

2%

1%

100%

Population

73

5

19

1

2

100

Florida

27%

62%

11%

0%

0%

100%

Population

61

21

16

0

2

100

Georgia

17%

83%

0%

0%

0%

100%

Population

61

34

3

0

2

100

Illinois

24%

63%

12%

0%

0%

100%

Population

65

19

13

0

3

100

Minnesota

48%

37%

4%

11%

0%

100%

Population

88

4

2

2

4

100

Mississippi

20%

79%

0%

0%

0%

100%

Population

53

45

1

0

1

100

Missouri

48%

51%

0%

1%

0%

100%

Population

82

14

2

0

1

100

Nebraska

33%

27%

23%

17%

0%

100%

Population

87

5

6

1

1

100

Nevada

31%

28%

33%

6%

2%

100%

Population

66

8

20

2

4

100

New Hampshire

83%

0%

17%

0%

0%

100%

Population

96

1

2

0

1

100

New Jersey

10%

65%

22%

0%

2%

100%

Population

64

16

15

0

5

100

New York

12%

61%

26%

0%

1%

100%

Population

59

17

18

0

5

100

North Carolina

22%

74%

1%

3%

0%

100%

Population

67

27

3

2

1

100

North Dakota

40%

0%

20%

40%

0%

100%

Population

89

1

1

8

1

100

Oklahoma

33%

33%

7%

27%

0%

100%

Population

74

10

5

10

1

100

Oregon

 64%

12%

16%

1%

6

100%

Population

84

2

9

2

3

100

South Carolina

20%

78%

2%

0%

0%

100%

Population

60

37

1

0

1

100

South Dakota

45%

9%

0%

45%

0%

100%

Population

84

1

1

13

1

100

Utah

23%

9%

50%

9%

9%

100%

Population

88

1

7

2

2

100

Virginia

21%

77%

0%

0%

1%

100%

Population

69

23

4

0

4

100

Washington

48%

22%

19%

2%

8%

100%

Population

79

4

9

2

6

100

Wisconsin

31%

56%

7%

5%

1%

100%

Population

85

8

4

1

2

100

Note: This table reflects the racial proportions of youth in adult prisons when race/ethnicity is known. This information was known for 100% of cases in Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia, and the California Youth Authority. Data was missing for admissions in New York (1%), South Carolina (1%), Washington (1%), and Wisconsin (1%), Florida (3%), Nebraska (4%), North Carolina (6%), Minnesota (12%), and California (19%). Too few admissions contained this information to calculate reliable proportions in Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee.

Note: Details may not add to totals due to rounding.

Source: National Corrections Reporting Program, 1996. Bureau of Justice Statistics.


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