“Talking Points” for Press
Interviews
Here are a few key points to use when you are
talking with the press about Latino and Latina youth in the justice
system:
Latino and Latina youth are overrepresented
in every stage of the juvenile justice system
Latino youth receive harsher treatment and
longer sentences than White youth charged with the same offense. For
youth charged with drug offenses, the incarceration rate for Latino
youth is 13 times the rate for White youth. Latino youth are
overrepresented in the juvenile justice system.
The data on Latinos and Latinas in
the juvenile justice system is inadequate and masks the full scope of
the problem
Since there is undercounting and
inaccuracy in reporting, it is difficult to begin addressing the
disproportionate representation and disparate treatment of Latino youth
in the juvenile justice system.
The juvenile justice system does not
provide uniform definitions for Latino and Hispanic and blurs the scale
of disparity
In some states, Latinos are counted as
White and in others, Latinos are counted as Black. As a result, the data
erroneously undercounts the degree of over-representation of Latino
youth and mistakenly overcounts the incarceration rates of White youth.
The juvenile justice system fails to provide
bilingual services to Latino and Latina youth.
As the Spanish-speaking population increases,
the need for bilingual services does as well. Non-English speaking
parents of detained youth need to have access to bilingual staff in
order to advocate for their child’s release. Communication barriers
also cause problems with treatment, counseling and aftercare services.
Immigration status of Latino and
Latina youth results in incarceration, deportation, and permanent
separation from families
On any given day, there are 5,000
Latino youth incarcerated for immigration issues and a vast majority are
detained and have not been charged with any crime.
Unequal and disparate treatment of
Latino and Latina youth can be reduced
Several communities have worked
successfully to address problems facing Latino youth. In Santa Cruz, CA,
juvenile justice officials worked hard to create a fairer and effective
justice system. Also in Multnomah County, OR, juvenile justice officials
succeeded in reducing racial disparities in their system and now
detention rates of Latinos, Whites, and African-Americans are equal and
overall detention rates have dropped.
