Site Network:Prison Policy Initiative|Prisoners of the Census

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, 1971161: 45.0%
  • Percent of juveniles taken into police custody, handled within department and released, 1999162: 22.5%
  • Percent of juveniles taken into police custody and referred to criminal or adult court, 1971163: 1.3%
  • Percent of juveniles taken into police custody and referred to criminal or adult court, 1999164: 6.4%
  • Number of states where defendants aged 16 or older are automatically handled by the adult criminal system165: 3
  • Number of states where defendants aged 17 or older are automatically handled by the adult criminal system166: 10
  • Number of states that allow at least some defendants under 18 to be handled by the adult criminal system167: 50
Of the juveniles in adult prisons, 60% are African American and 19% are White.
  • Number of persons under 18 held in State adult prisons, 1997168: 5,400
  • Number of persons under 18 held in local jails, 1997169: 9,100
  • Number of persons under 18 held in juvenile facilities, 1997170: 86,010
  • Percent of state prisoners over 18 who are African-American171: 46%
  • Percent of state prisoners under 18 who are African-American172: 60%
  • Mean sentence to be served by persons under 18 sentenced to a state prison, in months173: 44-82
  • Percent of released prisoners who were sentenced to an adult prison before they were 18 who are released without a 9th grade education174: 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 GED175: 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..