Luis, a 15-year-old Latino with no previous
record, was arrested for possessing less than half an ounce of
marijuana. At his sentencing, the judge noticed Luis wasn’t looking at
him and ordered him to do so. Luis did, but later started looking down
again. The lack of eye contact led the judge to believe that Luis was
admitting guilt and being disrespectful, and he sentenced Luis to two
years in a juvenile facility. However, in Luis’ culture, looking down
isn’t an admission of guilt; it’s a sign of respect. When he was
growing up, Luis was taught that “staring down” authority figures
was disrespectful.
According to a new report, Luis’ situation is
not unusual. Cultural misunderstandings and insensitivities can result
in harsher sentences for Latino youth in the juvenile justice system.
The report, by the Building Blocks for Youth initiative, shows
that Latino youth are over-represented and receive stiffer penalties
than White youth. Disparities accumulate the deeper youth go into the
juvenile justice system. In Los Angeles, for example, while Latino youth
are arrested 2.3 times as often as White youth, Latinos are 12 times as
likely to be confined as a White youth with a similar history who are
charged with the same type of offense. Latino youth are also
incarcerated longer than White youth. When it comes to drug offenses,
Latino youth are incarcerated twice as long as White youth.
Disparities based on race or ethnicity may be
the result of bias from judges and probation officers. More often,
however, bias is built into the system through supposedly objective
criteria. Parental participation, gang involvement, and immigration
status are all “objective” standards that may fall more harshly on
Latinos in the absence of cultural sensitivity. Thus, a court may not
provide bilingual staff and services to an English-fluent youth, but
that child’s parents may need bilingual services to get involved in
their child’s case, rendering them unable to advocate for their child.
Gang association may be inferred from tattoos and ethnicity, not actual
behavior. Consideration of a youth’s immigration status can also lead
to harsher treatment.
The data collected by Building Blocks are
disturbing, but they don’t tell the whole story. Counties across the
U.S. do not use uniform definitions of race and ethnicity. In many
states, Latino youth are often lumped into the same category as White
youth, masking the extent of disparity by over-counting Whites and
under-counting Latinos.
Several counties have successfully addressed
structural problems facing Latinos in the juvenile justice system. In
Santa Cruz, California, Latino youth in juvenile detention declined by
22%. Similarly, after officials in Multnomah County, Oregon, focused for
several years on reducing disparities in their juvenile detention
system, the detention rates for youth of different races and ethnicities
are now the same, and the overall detention rate dropped by two-thirds.
Both counties built coalitions to address disparities in juvenile
justice, and successfully worked to reduce systematic bias. These
results show that built-in bias can change, if the political will
exists. We need to stand up for our children to live up to the promise
of equality under the law.
To obtain the executive summary, full report,
press materials, and action packet, visit the Building Blocks for
Youth initiative website at:
