The Color of Justice: An Analysis of Juvenile Adult Court Transfers in California

This research from Building Blocks for Youth examines how adult court transfers impact youth in California. The researchers found that minority youth are 8.3 times more likely than white youth to be sentenced by an adult court to imprisonment in a California Youth Authority facility.  

From the report: 

….At the present time, all 50 states have lawson the books allowing juveniles to be tried as adults.’  

There is a dearth of research analyzing the effects of this legislation on minority populations. Many critics charge that the growing numbers of youths being transferred to adult court for criminal prosecution are disproportionately minority, with African Americans and Hispanics receiving particularly discriminatory treatment. This contention is supported by studies showing that California’s harsher adult sentencing practices disproportionately affect minority groups. For example, a 1996 study by the Justice Policy Institute found that compared to whites (“whites” refers to non-Hispanic Anglos), African Americans were five times more likely to be arrested for felonies, seven times more likely to be sent to prison, and 13 times more likely to be sentenced under the State’s “Three Strikes” law.  

At a time when laws affecting the criminal prosecution of youths are being rapidly revised, it is vital to understand fully the consequences of these changes. This research examines the impact of adult court transfers and sentencing on minority youth in California, with a specific look at minority representation in waivers (transfers of juvenile offenders to adult criminal court) in Los Angeles County.