Facebook Twitter Email
AUGUST 2, 2000

Disproportionate numbers of American Indian youth in the criminal justice system are the primary focus of a report issued last month by the Center for Juvenile Justice (CJJ).

The CJJ is a national non-profit organization responsible for providing training and assistance related to the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act. Passed in 1974, the Act, among other provisions, calls for the government to address over-representation of minorities in the justice system.

The CJJ report is based on two main sources of information. One is a 1999 Department of Justice report on national youth crime. The other is knowledge gleamed from a three-day conference on juvenile crime in Indian Country.

Indian youth ages 10-17 make up 1 percent of the total US population, according to the Justice report. In 1997, the report states that American Indian youth were 1 percent of all juvenile arrests.

Out of over 20 types of offenses, just four show over-representation by Indian juveniles: motor vehicle theft at 2 percent, driving under the influence at 2 percent, liquor law violations at 3 percent, and drunkenness at 2 percent.

How serious are these crimes? None of the four are considered serious offenses, which are reported in the violent crime index.

But the four are seen as "gateway" crimes, which tend to lead to more serious offenses later in life. Motor vehicle theft is reported in the property crime index, while the others are considered "nonindex."

The three alcohol-related offenses are addressed in part by the CJJ report. Attendees of the conference spoke about three main problems in Native communities: substance abuse, depression, and gang involvement.

Although there are no statistics to directly correlate youth arrests to these three social ills, the report cites them as the reasons why Indian kids are over-represented for particular offenses. It recommends understanding and addressing the relationship among the three in order to implement effective treatment services and strategies.

Contrary to prior published news reports, the CJJ study does not show that Indian youth crime is rising. Neither does the report address Indian youth in jail, although the Department of Justice reports those statistics.

The CJJ report also does not break down juvenile crime by state. States with significant populations of Native Americans, such as North and South Dakota, tend to show higher crime numbers, as reported by the Justice Department.

The CJJ also does not compare juvenile crime rates to adult crime rates. Adult crime was the subject of another 1999 Justice report.

The title of the Coalition for Juvenile Justice report is "Enlarging the Healing Circle: Ensuring Justice for American Indian Children."

Relevant Links:
The Coalition for Juvenile Justice - www.nassembly.org/html/mem_cjj.html
The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, US Department of Justice - ojjdp.ncjrs.org
The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act - www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/42/ch72.html
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 1999 National Report - www.ncjrs.org/html/ojjdp/nationalreport99/index.html
American Indians and Crime - http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/aic.htm

Related Stories:
New study focuses on jails (Tribal Law 07/10)
Tribes awarded key funding (Tribal Law 7/7)
Tribal grantees in Drug Court Program (Tribal Law 7/7)
DOJ: No California tribes applied (Tribal Law 7/7)
Violence in Indian Country (The Talking Circle 06/15)