Pubdate: Sun, 21 Jul 2002 Source: Arizona Daily Star (AZ) Copyright: 2002 Pulitzer Publishing Co. Contact: http://www.azstarnet.com/star/today/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/23 JUSTICE AND RACISM Two items in the Star last week illustrate how far this country must go to eliminate racism in the criminal justice system. One news report states that Hispanic youths are treated far more harshly in the juvenile justice system across the U.S. than non- Hispanic whites. The other story reported the indictment of the Inglewood policeman who was caught on videotape punching a handcuffed black teen. Now, we don't know if the Inglewood policeman will be convicted of the assault charges he faces, but his indictment certainly set the mood for the harsh news about Hispanics in the criminal justice system. More depressing than the treatment for Hispanic youths is that the problem is getting worse, according to the study from the Institute for Children,Youth and Families at Michigan State University. According to the report, most states detain a disproportionate number of Latino youths before trial. Not only that, but Hispanic youths in detention centers around the country rose by 84 percent in the period between 1983 and 1991. During that same period non-Hispanic white youths who were detained grew by 8 percent while the overall rate grew by 46 percent. The indictment of the criminal justice system is complete and irrefutable. "They are arrested more often, detained more often, incarcerated more often and for longer periods of time," the associate director of the institute said. For instance, Hispanic youths with a clean criminal record are 13 times more likely than non-Hispanic whites to be jailed for drug offenses. And if convicted, they will spend twice as much time in jail. Now, we were ready to blame an economy that has recently gone sour for most of these blatant inequities. During economic downturns, crime rates go up. But the study reviewed data as far back as 1983 and included data during the most recent economic boom. And while we know that a sluggish economy is responsible for higher crime rates, there is no way to excuse the harshness suffered by Latinos at the hands of the criminal justice system. The nation's criminal justice system is a people-driven system that is practicing blatant racism. Because it is national and because it is institutionalized, this problem calls for a national solution. It screams for a thorough study by the Department of Justice. And when the study is completed, it should be followed by a national plan to find and eliminate the racism that treats Hispanics more harshly than their non-Hispanic white counterparts. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth