State Attorney General Peter Harvey has ordered a
statewide study to determine whether police, prosecutors and the court
system treat young minorities more harshly than white youths. "We're
looking at issues like the decision points made in prosecutors'
offices, police stations and the streets," Harvey said. "We have to
make sure we're not making assumptions about minority kids that are
based on nothing more than prejudice." While minorities account for
about 34 percent of New Jersey's juvenile population, the state's
juvenile detention population is 82 percent minority, according to
state figures. Those figures are from 2002, the year Harvey has asked
county prosecutors to study because it is the latest year with the most
complete data. "We need to look at the high percentage of minorities in
juvenile justice facilities and to determine if there are inequities in
the processing of criminal cases," Harvey said. [more ]
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