| This descriptive analysis of Virginia juvenile justice depicts the characteristics of 135 children indicted and prosecuted as adults in large and small cities and counties, from 1/1/1993--12/31/2003. Seventy-one percent of the cohort consists of 96 African American teens including 88 males. Of 37 Caucasians (27.4%), 31 are male, and there are two Hispanic males (1.5%). Demographical and criminological attributes are portrayed through descriptive and social frameworks, with a focus on representation among ethnic groups.; Sample members were identified through articles published in the Richmond Times Dispatch, the Roanoke Times and the Virginian-Pilot newspapers. Thirty-one circuit courts are in the sample, and criminal histories were obtained from the Virginia Courts Case Information and the Inmate Status Information systems.; The mean age is 16 years, 1 month, and the number of defendants increased with age.; Female charges ranged between 0.7% and 2%, with none in 2000 or 1996. At 14% of the total, 1996 was the most accelerated year for males, whose charges fluctuated greatly from 2%--14%.; Sixty-percent of defendants of color used a firearm in the commission of their offenses, compared to 35% of Caucasians.; Findings in this study demonstrate that for every charge analyzed African American teens, 24% of Virginia's youth population, were overrepresented: capital murder at 71%, first-degree murder at 74%, second-degree murder at 53.5%, and assault related charges at 88%. There was also significant ethnic disparity in sentencing. At 65% of the commonwealth's youth population Caucasians were sentenced to 23 fewer years of incarceration, and 3.2 years less probation time.; Seven-percent of the cohort, all Black males, were acquitted or had their cases otherwise resolved. All other defendants were found guilty.; Sixty-eight percent of Caucasian youth were or will be released by 2019, compared to 45% of their peers of color. Whereas 30% of Black and Hispanic teens will be released between 2020 and 2089, only 13% of Caucasians will be held that long, with none scheduled for release after 2049.; Public policy, juvenile justice practice, and community responses have not fully re-evaluated the ethnic disparity indicated in the findings of this study. |
