Latino Juvenile Justice Network
Throughout the U.S., Latino youth are targeted for severe punishment at the hands of the juvenile justice system and in every stage of the system, including police stops, arrest, detention, waiver to adult criminal court, and sentencing. This unjust treatment creates a grim and devastating reality: broken youth, families, and communities. Disparate representation of Hispanic youth in the system is compounded by inadequate data collection and reporting, making Latino youth invisible in the system. These factors can result in unjust sentencing and unnecessary confinement when youth might be effectively diverted into community-based programs.
