Press Coverage
July 18, 2002
Two items in the Star last week illustrate
how far this country must go to eliminate racism in the criminal justice
system.
One news report states that Hispanic youths
are treated far more harshly in the juvenile justice system across the U.S.
than non-Hispanic whites.
The other story reported the indictment of
the Inglewood policeman who was caught on videotape punching a handcuffed
black teen.
Now, we don't know if the Inglewood policeman
will be convicted of the assault charges he faces, but his indictment
certainly set the mood for the harsh news about Hispanics in the criminal
justice system.
More depressing than the treatment for
Hispanic youths is that the problem is getting worse, according to the study
from the Institute for Children,Youth and Families at Michigan State
University.
According to the report, most states detain a
disproportionate number of Latino youths before trial. Not only that, but
Hispanic youths in detention centers around the country rose by 84 percent in
the period between 1983 and 1991. During that same period non-Hispanic white
youths who were detained grew by 8 percent while the overall rate grew by 46
percent.
The indictment of the criminal justice system
is complete and irrefutable. "They are arrested more often, detained more
often, incarcerated more often and for longer periods of time," the
associate director of the institute said.
For instance, Hispanic youths with a clean
criminal record are 13 times more likely than non-Hispanic whites to be jailed
for drug offenses. And if convicted, they will spend twice as much time in
jail.
Now, we were ready to blame an economy that
has recently gone sour for most of these blatant inequities. During economic
downturns, crime rates go up. But the study reviewed data as far back as 1983
and included data during the most recent economic boom.
And while we know that a sluggish economy is
responsible for higher crime rates, there is no way to excuse the harshness
suffered by Latinos at the hands of the criminal justice system. The nation's
criminal justice system is a people-driven system that is practicing blatant
racism.
Because it is national and because it is
institutionalized, this problem calls for a national solution.
It screams for a thorough study by the
Department of Justice. And when the study is completed, it should be followed
by a national plan to find and eliminate the racism that treats Hispanics more
harshly than their non-Hispanic white counterparts.
