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It has become increasingly clear that minority youth are not subject to the same justice as their non-minority counterparts," remarked Congressman Scott. Youth Crime/Adult Time: Is Justice Served? analyzed extensive data from 18 of the largest jurisdictions in the country to find that: eighty two percent of the youth charged in adult court were minority youth and that African American youth involved with drug and public order offenses are overrepresented in the adult court system compared to their percentage in the felony arrest population. The report also indicated that African American youth were less likely to be represented by private counsel, and youth represented by private counsel were less likely to be convicted of a felony and more likely to be transferred back to juvenile court.
Representative Scott is the Ranking Democratic Member of the Crime Subcommittee on the House Judiciary Committee. He is also a member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. Both Committees have legislative jurisdiction for juvenile justice policy. Scott has consistently opposed prosecuting more juveniles as adults. "The nursery rhyme policy, 'you do the adult crime, you do the adult time', scores very well in political polls, but is actually counterproductive in its impact on crime. All studies have shown that children affected by this policy will be treated more leniently as adults than they would have been treated as juveniles. The information in this report should serve as a stern reminder to policymakers intent on prosecuting more juveniles as adults. Not only will this policy increase crime, it is unjustly applied and has a disproportionate effect on minority youth," stated Scott.
Building Blocks for Youth is an alliance of children's advocates, researchers, law enforcement officials, and community organizers that seek to protect minority youth in the justice system. They have partnered, in this initiative, with the Youth Law Center, the American Bar Association Juvenile Justice Center, and the Justice Policy Institute as well as several other national advocacy organizations.
Additional information regarding the Building Blocks initiative can be found on the World Wide Web at www.buildingblocksforyouth.org.