Section I: Crime & Punishment in the U.S.

Juveniles & the Criminal Justice System

• Percent of juveniles taken into police custody, handled within department and released, 1971: 45.0%
• Percent of juveniles taken into police custody, handled within department and released, 1999: 22.5%
• Percent of juveniles taken into police custody and referred to criminal or adult court, 1971: 1.3%
• Percent of juveniles taken into police custody and referred to criminal or adult court, 1999: 6.4%

• Number of states where defendants aged 16 or older are automatically handled by the adult criminal system: 3
• Number of states where defendants aged 17 or older are automatically handled by the adult criminal system: 10
• Number of states that allow at least some defendants under 18 to be handled by the adult criminal system: 50

 

• Number of persons under 18 held in State adult prisons, 1997: 5,400
• Number of persons under 18 held in local jails, 1997: 9,100
• Number of persons under 18 held in juvenile facilities, 1997: 86,010

• Percent of state prisoners over 18 who are African-American: 46%
• Percent of state prisoners under 18 who are African-American: 60%
• Mean sentence to be served by persons under 18 sentenced to a state prison, in months: 44-82

• Percent of released prisoners who were sentenced to an adult prison before they were 18 who are released without a 9th grade education: 26%
• Percent of released prisoners who were sentenced to an adult prison before they were 18 who are later released without a high school diploma or GED: 90%

This page is an excerpt from The Prison Index: Taking the Pulse of the Crime Control Industry (2003) by Peter Wagner, published by the Western Prison Project and the Prison Policy Initiative. You can see the Table of Content for the Prison Index here. Footnotes for all facts are available in the print version available for online order at the Prison Policy Initiative website.