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Intro
Disproportionate Minority Confinement (DMC)
DMC Charts by County
At each stage of the process, there's a slight empirical bias. And the problem is that the slight empirical bias at every-stage of the decision-making accumulates… By the time you reach the end, you have all minorities in the deep end of the system.
Jeffrey Butts, The Urban Institute
Intro
Nationwide, African-Americans represent 15% of the population, 26% of juvenile arrests, 44% of youth who are detained, 46% of the youth who are judicially waived to criminal court, and 58% of the youth admitted to state prisons.
Incarceration rates of African-Americans and other minorities are so high that criminal justice has become the civil rights movement of this generation.
Building Blocks for Youth, "And Justice for Some," April 2000
African American Youth with felony arrests are 4.4 times more likely than white youth with felony arrests to be sentenced to the California Youth Authority.
Hispanic and Asian Youth with felony arrests are 3.8 times more likely than white youth with felony arrests to be sentenced to the California Youth Authority.
Disproportionate Minority Confinement (DMC)
As identified by the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act, Disproportionate Minority Confinement is a condition that exists when the proportion of youths detained or confined in secure detention facilities, correction facilities, jails and lockups who are members of minority groups exceed the groups proportions to the general public.
The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act, passed in 1988, requires states to identify the extent to which Disproportionate Minority Confinement exists and create strategies to change it. This act was amended in 1992 to make it a “core requirement” that states demonstrate they are taking steps to reduce disparities.
Overrepresentation of people of color in the justice system exists in every state in the country and in every stage of the processing within the system. Racial and ethnic disparities are most pronounced at the initial intake, but they compound at each decision point.
According to data compiled from the 12 most populous counties in California (comprising 75% of the state’s population) in 2000: (see charts below)
- Black youth were 9% of the population, 43% of arrests,* and 35% of the CYA population.
- Hispanic Youth were 43% of the youth population, 19% of total youth arrests,** and 45% of the CYA population.
- White Youth were 35% of the total youth population, 25% of total youth arrests, and 15% of CYA commitments.
- Other Youth of Color were 13% of the Youth population, 13% of total youth arrests, and 5% of CYA commitments.
Data from Dept of Finance, Demographic Research Unit, Dept of Justice, and the California Youth Authority.
| *Arrests are a total of misdemeanors and felonies. Misdemeanor cases are much less likely to result in CYA conf
** Reported Hispanic arrests are much lower than actual because some counties (inc. San Francisco) have outdated intake systems that do not count Hispanic as a separate group. Therefore Hispanic arrests are included in other group’s numbers. These graphs reflect the current data as it is reported.
DMC Charts by County
Total of the Twelve Largest Counties in California
Los Angeles County
Orange County
San Diego County
San Bernadino County
Santa Clara County
Riverside County
Alameda County
Sacramento County
Contra Costa County
Fresno County
San Francisco County
Ventura County
Total of the Twelve Largest Counties in California
Los Angeles County
Orange County
San Diego County
San Bernadino County
Santa Clara County
Riverside County
Alameda County
Sacramento County
Contra Costa County
Fresno County
San Francisco County
Ventura County
Resources:
Building Blocks for Youth [http://www.buildingblocksforyouth.org/statebystate/california.html]
Building Blocks for Youth publications [http://www.buildingblocksforyouth.org/newsroom.html]
Good networking page [http://www.buildingblocksforyouth.org/statebystate/california.html]
Off Balance: Youth, Race, and Crime in the News
A study commissioned by Building Blocks for Youth finds that the media unfairly portrays people of color as violent and criminal.
[The Color of Justice]
A study commissioned by Building Blocks for Youth analyzes the juvenile adult court transfers in California and the effects on juveniles of color
Young African-Americans and the California Juvenile Justice
A Center of Juvenile and Criminal Justice Study
“Reducing Racial Disparities” Pathways to Juvenile Detention Reform Series, Annie E. Casey Foundation [http://www.aecf.org]
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Juvenile Offenders and Victims [http://www.ncjrs.org/html/ojjdp/nationalreport99/toc.html] 1999 National Report
Organizations working on Race and Juvenile Justice
Building Blocks for Youth, a project of the Youth Law Center, is a national multi-strategy campaign to reduce overrepresentation and disparate treatment of youth of color in the justice system. [http://www.youthlawcenter.com/htm/ylc-pubs.htm]
Prison Activist Resource Center is a network of criminal justice information and opportunities for activism. [http://www.prisonactivist.org]
Join an online discussion about race and the juvenile justice:
[http://www.prisonactivist.org]
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