News21: Kids Imprisoned

‘A disjointed system’: Policing policies fuel criminalization of youth

By |

“I thought Des Moines, Iowa, was gonna be better. But, you know, if you don’t change something, you’re going to still fall into the same thing you’ve been doing.” Melvin Gaye, Iowa juvenile offender. The history of police in America is a story of repeated promises to change from its gatekeepers, yet people of color, adolescents and other vulnerable populations say they continuously bear the brunt of its shortcomings. This report is part of Kids Imprisoned, an investigation of juvenile justice in America produced by the Carnegie-Knight News21 program. For more stories, visit kidsimprisoned.news21.com.21 special report

Youth in America are criminalized every day, with racial and socioeconomic disparities further increasing their likelihood of being policed, arrested or killed by law enforcement.

racial disparity

Youth of color disproportionately represented in the justice system

By |

Teenagers and youth across the country commit the same types of crimes – carrying a weapon, drinking alcohol, smoking marijuana and fighting – but even as the number of incarcerated youth has declined, disparities affecting young people of color have continued to grow. This overrepresentation of minority youth is only half of the picture, a study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed, along with other reports. 

This report is part of Kids Imprisoned, an investigation of juvenile justice in America produced by the Carnegie-Knight News21 program. For more stories, visit kidsimprisoned.news21.com.21

Youth of color account for 28% of the U.S. population in 2017, according to a study from the Pew Research Center. However, they represented 67% of offenders in residential placement, according to Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. 

Joshua Rovner, a senior advocacy associate for the Sentencing Project in Washington, D.C., said there isn’t a significant difference between the crimes committed by youth of different ethnicities. The overrepresentation of youth of color in the juvenile justice system originates from systemic inequalities. 

“There are differences, but none of the differences are big enough to explain the differences in arrests,” Rovner said. 

He said the disparity gets worse at every step through the juvenile justice system. 

Nationally, Black youth are five times more likely to be detained or confined than white youth, the Sentencing Project reported.

Blog

Watch Beth Malicki’s KCRG-TV9 Feature on IowaWatch’s special report, ‘Iowa’s Opportunity Gap’

By |

KCRG-TV9 news anchor Beth Malicki interviewed IowaWatch Executive Director-Editor Lyle Muller about the IowaWatch collaboration with four newspapers, “Iowa’s Opportunity Gap,” for her Nov. 17, 2013, public affairs show, “To The Point.” The 2013 Iowa’s Opportunity Gap project examined gulfs that have grown during 50 years in the home ownership, income, education, jobs and crime rates among white, black and Latino Iowans. You can view the interview here:

Business & Consumer Affairs

Special Report: Iowa’s Opportunity Gap

By |

This IowaWatch collaboration with four Iowa newspapers, published in fall 2013, is particularly pertinent during the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday period. It tells you how and why gaps exist in home ownership, jobs and pay, education and crime exist among white, black and Latino Iowans.

Business & Consumer Affairs

Blacks, Latinos Falling Behind When It Comes To Opportunities In Iowa

By |

White Iowans have made strong gains in high school and college graduation rates, lowering poverty levels, median family income and home ownership since 1960. But black and Latino achievements have grown far more slowly, or in some cases declined, widening an opportunity gap among the races, an IowaWatch-led investigation with five other news organizations shows.