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"You Have The Right To… Wait, Are You White?" Islam Online, Chicago In this time of "secret evidence" and "profiling," it also seems appropriate to discuss the issue of how juveniles are handled in the criminal justice system. Just as we are concerned about the unfair treatment of Muslims under these regulations, it is equally, if not more, worrisome to witness the disadvantage that minority youth face. The overcrowding of jails has long been an issue in the United States, as well as the overrepresentation of minorities in those jails. As a Muslim community we have seen the use of practices that target minorities. However, all these discussions have focused on the adult population. A recent study from Building Blocks for Youth, an alliance of researchers, law enforcement and advocacy groups, shows that it is happening to our youth as well. "The disproportionate representation of racial/ethnic groups is not limited to adult prisons and jails. It is also found among youth confined in secure juvenile facilities."* Disproportionate minority confinement refers to the situation where the minority population detained or confined exceeds the proportion of these groups in the general population. Minority groups in America have faced this problem for some time. While public attention has focused on the numbers of inmates, the problem of minority overrepresentation usually begins at much earlier points in the process of actions. What this means is that it is not merely an issue of more minorities being at a disadvantage when it comes to actual detention - the problem is one that minorities encounter at every point from suspicion, to arrest, to sentencing. Many feel that higher numbers of minorities in jails simply means that there are more crimes committed by minorities. A just examination of the situation shows a much less complicated, and somewhat disturbing, phenomenon. It remains unclear exactly what the real culprit is. The overrepresentation of minorities might be a result of a number of problems within the juvenile justice system.
One fact has been proven in numerous studies - research on overrepresentation of minority youth in confinement shows negative "race effects" at at least one point in the juvenile justice process.
The injustice of this negative effect on minorities is at its most
potent in the earliest stages, when local police or other officials decide
whether on not to even make a case. As the case progresses through the
system, these disadvantages compound themselves, forcing minorities into a
vicious cycle that is very difficult to overcome. Although a troublesome
youth is deserving of a just punishment, the issue of what is "just" can
be argued here. It is hard to find any justice in a process that
systematically singles out those youth to happen to be of a minority race
or religion
*All source information for this article can be attained through | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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