Drugs and Disparity: The Racial Impact of Illinois' Practice of Transferring Young Drug Offenders to Adult Court: Fact Sheet
Background
Illinois' automatic transfer laws mandate that 15- and 16-year-old youth charged with a drug offense that occurs within 1,000 feet of a school or public housing project are automatically tried in adult court. While White youth use and sell drugs at similar or higher rates than youth of color, the impact of the law has almost wholly affected Latino and African American youth.
The National Context:
Latino and African-American youth are arrested and imprisoned at higher rates for drug crimes
- Among youth admitted to a secure public juvenile facility for the first time, the rate of commitment for drug offenses for Latino youth was 13 times that of Whites, and for African-American youth was 48 times that of Whites.
- The mean length of stay in state correctional facilities for drug offenses for Latino youth was 160 days longer that that for White youth. The mean length of stay for African-American youth was 90 days longer than that for White youth.
The National Disparity in Youth Prosecution in Adult Court for Drug Crimes is Amplified in Illinois:
Regional and Racial Disparity
- Between 1985 and 1999,the number of juveniles arrested for drug offenses in Illinois tripled, and 61% of all juvenile drug arrests in the state occurred in Chicago.
- Ninety-two percent of all the youth automatically transferred to adult court in Illinois were from Cook County, and 88.2% of the counties did not automatically exclude any youth from juvenile court.
- According to the 2000 Census, 70% of all Latino youth in Illinois live in Cook County. Over two thirds of the state's total youth population is White.
Impact on Latino Youth
- 99.2% of the youth automatically transferred to adult court for drug crimes in Cook County between 1995 and 1999 were youth of color. Latino youth were 16 times more likely to be tried as an adult than Whites for all crimes.
- 99% of the youth transferred to adult court in Cook County in 1999-2000, for all crimes, were youth of color. Latino youth were 13 times more likely to be tried as adults for drug offense in Cook County.
- 99% of the youth transferred to adult court in Cook County for drug crimes in 1999-2000 were youth of color
- 99% of all the youth imprisoned for drug crimes from Cook County in 1996 were non-White.
An Adult Drug Conviction Robs Youth of Second Chances
For more information and sources, see Drugs and Disparity: The Racial Impact of Illinois' Practice of Transferring Young Drug Offenders to Adult Court.
- Most of the youth tried as adults for drug crimes did not have a chance to benefit from programs and services available in the juvenile justice system. Fifty-nine percent of the youth transferred for drug offenses from Cook County in 1999-2000 had no previous juvenile court contact.
- Most of the youth transferred for drug offenses received adult probation, which provides less supervision and rehabilitative services than in the juvenile justice system.
- An adult felony record will act as an economic and educational roadblock throughout their lives. This year, 20,000 may lose the opportunity for federal higher education financial aid after revealing that they have a drug conviction.
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