Youth Crime/Adult Time:
Is Justice Served?
Marion County, Indiana
The Building Blocks for Youth report, Youth Crime/Adult Time: Is Justice Served? released on October 26, 2000, reveals disturbing aspects of the prosecution of minority youth in adult court. Overall, the findings show over-representation and disparate treatment of minority youth, and raise serious questions about the fairness and appropriateness of prosecuting youth in the adult criminal system.
In Marion County, Indiana, findings show that:
- Nearly all the determinations to prosecute youth in the adult criminal court were made by judges (98%), and the remainder by prosecutors or legislators (2%).
- Overall, 65% of cases filed in adult criminal courts involved minority youth.
- Minority youth were disproportionately charged in adult criminal court. For example, African-American youth accounted for approximately 6 out of 10 felony arrests, but represented 7 out of 10 felony cases filed in criminal court.
- 100% of all youth who were detained pretrial were held in adult jails.
- White youth (20%) were 5 times as likely to be represented by retained private counsel as were African-American youth (4%). Youth who were represented by retained private attorneys were less likely to be convicted and more likely to be transferred back to juvenile court.
- African-American youth (11%) were less likely than White youth (39%) to receive a sentence of incarceration (as opposed to split sentences or probation).
To obtain the executive summary of Youth Crime/Adult Time: Is Justice Served?,visit the Building Blocks for Youth website at: www.buildingblocksforyouth.org.
For the latest Building Blocks for Youth initiative reports, fact sheets, and materials, subscribe to the on-line newsletter by sending an email to: info.bby@erols.com. For additional information, contact: Building Blocks for Youth initiative, Youth Law Center, 1010 Vermont Ave., N.W., Suite 310, Washington, D.C. 20005. Phone: 202/637-0377; Fax: 202/379-1600; Email: info.bby@erols.com.
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Building Blocks for Youth
For a fair and effective youth justice system
...a comprehensive effort to protect minority youth in the justice system
and to promote rational and effective juvenile justice policies...
