The Drug War: More Unequal Treatment for Youth of Color

Engaging Your Community

Overview:

• The devastating consequences of these laws falls almost solely on youth of color. For example, one study showed that under Illinois' youth drug transfer laws, 99% of the youth sent to adult criminal court under these statutes are youth of color;
• Youth of color are more negatively impacted, despite the fact that research shows that white youth use and sell drugs at the same or higher rates;
• Youth of color receive disparate treatment under the justice system. While white youth are much more likely to receive rehabilitative treatment and services - if they are prosecuted at all - African-American and Latino youth are more often sent to the adult criminal court where they receive no rehabilitative treatment and services, and a criminal record which often deprives them from employment and educational opportunities, such as from receiving federal student financial aid.

Here's what you can do to engage your community:

1) Get the Facts

• Almost every state has documented racial disparities for youth in the justice system, and in many states, the worst disparities are related to drug offenses.
• To find out the facts on your state, visit the Building Blocks for Youth initiative's website to obtain reports, fact sheets, and state-by-state information: http://www.buildingblocksforyouth.org.

2) Put together a basic fact sheet and spread the word

• After you've assembled the facts or gathered new facts on the Drug War's impact on youth in your state or local community, put these facts on a basic fact sheet. The fact sheet can be used to spread the word about what's happening.
• We've attached a fact sheet, "The "Drug War" in Illinois" as a sample. This fact sheet is available online at: http://www.jjustice.org/Campaign/fact_sheet_drug_war.html.
• Spread the word by:
• Sending out an Email Alert
• Providing the fact sheet at community events
• Including the fact sheet as an insert in local newspapers (community-based, ethnic press, and student newspapers)

3) Do a "basic facts" report

• If the data for your state is old, or you need more specific data on how your local community is impacted, invite researchers at your university/college to work with you in analyzing the impact of current state drug laws on youth.
• Connect with youth and youth groups to conduct data collection, obtain anecdotal information (such as case stories of the differential treatment of white youth and youth of color), and monitor data collection efforts.
• Do the research on your own, as part of course work, and get course credit for it. Localize the research to your campus (e.g. campus arrests for certain behavior, drug and alcohol arrests, review for racial bias).
• Use the Building Blocks report, "Drugs and Disparity" to develop a similar report for your community. The report is available on line at: http://www.buildingblocksforyouth.org/illinois/illinois.html
• Use the report to educate your community on what's happening and share the report with the media and urge them to write stories and editorialize on the issue.

4) Host a "Teach-In" to educate your community

• Host a "Teach-In" at your college or university to provide a forum for learning more about what's happening to youth in your community.
• Use the fact sheet you've developed as part of your invitation to attend.
• Invite experts from the community to talk about how the War on Drugs is impacting youth in your community, such as youth who have been impacted by these laws, Public Defenders, Researcher at your university or college, Law School Professors or Law Students specializing in juvenile law, and juvenile justice advocates. For an example of a community forum, visit the ABA Juvenile Justice Northeast Region Affiliate Center at: http://www.law.suffolk.edu/academic/jjc/policy.html
• Trouble finding a contact? Take a look at the Building Blocks for Youth website where you can obtain information on experts in your state at: http://www.buildingblocksforyouth.org/statebystate/
• Gear the event to a specific issue, such as a law or a high profile arrest.

5) Issue a "Call to Action" to your state's lawmakers

• Write up a list of demands for your state's lawmakers such as urging them to hold oversight hearings on the disparate racial impact of drug laws on youth of color.
• Use the Building Blocks for Youth "Calls to Action" as an example:
http://www.buildingblocksforyouth.org/ycat/action.html
http://www.buildingblocksforyouth.org/justiceforsome/recs.html

6) Visit youth at juvenile or adult correctional facilities and issue a report on your findings

• A site visit to meet and talk with youth at a juvenile or adult corrections facility will provide you a tangible opportunity to observe first-hand the impact of these punitive youth drug laws. Interview youth in the facility.
• Share your experience at the facility, visit with other students, at student forums, and with the media, and encourage other students and students groups to host site visits as well.
• For a step-by-step guide on how to organize a facility visit, take a look at this section in the "Community Guide for Youth Advocates" available online at: http://ojjdp.ncjrs.org/jcci/localkit.html

7) Conduct a Student Poll and publish the results

• Survey student attitudes on how the justice system should treat youth for drug offenses.
• Ask a college professor or researcher to work with you in developing the poll and in devising a plan to ensure accuracy and sound poll results.
• Talk with college newspaper editors and radio reporters about co-sponsoring the poll.
• Provide the poll at student events, in student newspapers and publications, through mailings and on the Internet.
• Share the poll results with state lawmakers.
• Release the poll results to the media.
• For an example of a student poll, students in Illinois, in conjunction with the Constitutional Rights Foundation, conducted a poll on youth attitudes on justice issues, including the impact of Illinois' youth drug transfer laws. The students put poll results on the internet and shared the results with state lawmakers and the media. For more information, visit: http://www.crfc.org/summit2001.html

8) Host a Student Speak Out

• Create a forum for students to speak out about their personal experiences in the justice system and their views on the racial disparities of drug laws on youth.
• Issue a 'hearing' notice to community leaders and ask several youth to testify as witnesses. Ask the local bar association to help draft the hearing notice.
• Invite community leaders to a Q&A session with youth on juvenile justice issues.
• Plan a mock trial with students participating in key roles and community leaders as juveniles. Ask a local bar association to assist you.

9) Start an Email Letter Campaign

• Draft an Email Letter to your state lawmakers with the basic facts, any new data or reports on the issue, include one or more of your 'Calls to Action', or include the results of your student poll.
• Send the Email Letter to all your email contacts with an "URGENT ACTION" alert.
• Be sure to include the email address or addresses of the lawmakers you want to receive the email.
• For sample letters, check out the Email Letter Campaigns for:
The Close Cheltenham Campaign, a campaign to close Maryland's worst youth prison:
http://www.closecheltenham.com/takeaction.html

The No More Oak Hills Campaign, a campaign to close the Oak Hill Youth Facility for DC's youth:
http://www.nomoreoakhills.org/sampleletter.html

• Keep track of how you are doing on the Email Letter Campaign by asking folks to "bcc" you on their emails.

10) Contact the Media

• Provide basic facts to the media, such as your one-page fact sheet on current state and/or local data. We've attached a sample for your convenience.
• Write an article for your local newspapers.
• Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper.
• Reach out to student media, youth media, community media and independent media
• Ask the media to conduct their own fact-finding and investigate the impact of current state laws and policies. Several good examples of investigative journalism include series in the Miami Herald and the Pittsburgh-Post Gazette available online at:
Miami Herald:
http://www.miami.com/herald/special/news/specialreport/kidsinprison/

Pittsburgh-Post Gazette:
http://www.post-gazette.com/regionstate/20000221juvhistorymainreg2.asp

• Link media with experts in your community. Provide media experts with a list of youth, community contacts, researchers, and juvenile justice contacts who would be available for interviews. Be sure to include youth and individuals who have personal experience with the juvenile justice system.
• Work with the media to give a more accurate picture of youth crime and engage the media in a dialogue about their coverage of youth, and juvenile crimes committed by white youth and youth of color.
• For an example of how to reach out to the media, visit the ABA Juvenile Justice Northeast Region Affiliate Center for a information on their efforts to increase and humanize media coverage of juvenile justice issues at: http://www.law.suffolk.edu/academic/jjc/policy.html.
• Need some tips on how to work with the media? For a step-by-step guide on how to work with the media on juvenile justice issues, visit: http://ojjdp.ncjrs.org/jcci/mediakit.html to obtain a copy of the "Media Kit for Youth Advocates."

11) Invite other student activists to join your efforts

• Many colleges and universities have local chapters of national organizations working on related human and civil rights issues, such as Amnesty International and the NAACP Youth and College Division.
• Additionally, you may think about contacting service sororities and fraternities, Black Student Unions, and political groups to share information, attend your events, and urge action among their members.

12) Stay involved and informed

• Stay involved and informed by subscribing to the Building Blocks monthly on-line newsletter to obtain updates on research, promising approaches, and constituencies for change around the country. To subscribe, visit: http://www.buildingblocksforyouth.org/contactlist.html
• Let us know what's happening in your community! Send Building Blocks an email at: info.bby@erols.com