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Minority youths are more likely to face trial as adults A WHITE KID SELLS A BAG OF COCAINE at his suburban high school. A Latino kid does the same in his inner-city neighborhood. Both get caught. Both are first-time offenders. The white kid walks into juvenile court with his parents, his priest, a good lawyer-and medical coverage. The Latino kid walks into court with his mom, no legal resources and no insurance. The judge lets the white kid go with his family; hes placed in a private treatment program. The minority kid has no such option. Hes detained. There, in a nutshell, is what happens more and more often in the juvenile-court system. Minority youths arrested on violent felony charges in California are more than twice as likely as their white counterparts to be transferred out of the juvenile-justice system and tried as adults, according to a study released last week by the Justice Policy Institute, a research center in San Francisco. Once they are in adult courts, young black offenders are 18 times more likely to be jailed-and Hispanics seven times more likely-than are young white offenders. Discrimination against kids of color accumulates at every stage of the justice system and skyrockets when juveniles are, tried as adults, says Dan Macallair, a co-author of the new study. California has a double standard: throw kids of color behind bars, but .rehabilitate white kids who commit comparable crimes. | 
