Dr. Howell went on to dispel, through research and statistics, six common myths about
juvenile crime and the justice system, demonstrating that:
- juvenile violence is NOT the country’s top crime problem;
- juveniles are NOT the driving force behind the increase in violence in the United
States;
- predictions of a coming wave of "juvenile super-predators" are UNFOUNDED and
inaccurate;
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- the juvenile justice system CAN deal effectively with today’s juvenile offenders;
- juvenile gang drug trafficking is NOT the cause of the recent increase in juvenile
homicide; and
- transferring more juveniles to adult court will NOT reduce juvenile violent crime.
This general session was presented by a panel consisting of David Gamble,
National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges; Reginald Morton, Community Research
Associates,
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Inc.; Judge Kenneth
Fields, Maricopa County Superior Court; Luis Ibarra, Friendly House; Chief Harold Hurtt,
Phoenix Police Department; Richard Romley, Maricopa County Attorney; and Helene Abrams,
Maricopa County Public Defender’s Office. The presentations given by each panelist
provided the audience with a baseline of common understanding regarding the history and
issues related to disproportionate confinement of minority youth and the
over-representation of minorities in the juvenile justice system.
Reggie Morton began the panel by presenting background information on the definition
and causes of disproportionate minority confinement (DMC) and minority over-representation
(MOR). He discussed the federal DMC mandate passed in the 1988 and 1992 |
