Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 22, 1995 TAG: 9511220081
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
The rate of confinement for black juveniles is almost three times the rate for whites, the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission found in a review of nearly 3,000 cases across the state.
Even when such factors as the nature of the crime and prior criminal records are taken into account, the study found that "race still appears to have a significant impact on the decision to use secure confinement."
In 1993, blacks made up about 64 percent of the 1,470 youths who were committed to state juvenile correctional centers. Blacks made up nearly 19 percent of the state's population in 1990.
While the study did not address whether the bias was intentional, the finding "clearly suggests that this is an issue which needs to receive attention in the system," JLARC director Philip Leone told a legislative panel Tuesday.
Del. Jerrauld Jones, a Norfolk Democrat and a lawyer who often represents clients in juvenile court, said the finding came as no surprise to him.
"As an African-American male ... I am troubled when I read about the over-representation of young black males in the detention homes of this state," Jones said.
"If there was one thing we learned from the O.J. Simpson trial, the factor of race is a very salient one in the criminal justice system," he said.
The JLARC study stated that some of the sentencing disparity "can be attributed to higher rates of serious crime for black youth and more extensive criminal records."
According to the study, judges in juvenile court order confinement for about 14 percent of the black youths they sentence, compared with a rate of 5 percent for whites.
The report quoted one unidentified judge as saying in an interview that "without mentioning specific names, I know that some judges take a more severe look at a case when minorities are involved."
Patricia West, head of the Department of Youth and Family Services, said Tuesday that the comment should be forwarded to the Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission, a state panel that investigates judicial misconduct.
"I feel very strongly that the only way we can deal with this issue is to expose it," she said. "I feel that it needs to be investigated."
But Sen. Stanley Walker, D-Norfolk and JLARC chairman, raised concerns that turning the comment over for investigation might have a chilling effect on the panel's ability to conduct fair and impartial reviews.
The report recommended a different approach to the problem: "Judges in the juvenile justice system may wish to consider a broad-based voluntary effort to define some general principles or guidelines for use in achieving the goal of race-neutral decision making."
With a commission appointed by Gov. George Allen calling for more incarceration of young offenders, the report noted, the issue of race "takes on special meaning" as the General Assembly begins to consider the recommendations.
by CNB