Missouri Juvenile Justice Reform Act of 1995: A Comparison of Case Outcomes for 1994 and 2000

• NCJ Number: 224174
• Journal: Criminal Justice Policy Review Volume: 19 Issue: 3 Dated: September 2008 Pages: 314-332
• Author(s): Jill D'Angelo; Michael P. Brown
• Date Published: September 2008
• Length: 19 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Analysis
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study evaluated the intended and unintended consequences of the Missouri Juvenile Justice Reform Act of 1995, which was intended to have a twofold effect on juvenile case processing: the elimination of racial and sex discrimination in sentencing and expanded eligibility for the transfer of juvenile offenders to criminal court.

Abstract

The current study focused only on whether gender and racial bias in sentencing was eliminated after the Reform Act. The findings show that gender and racial biases were not eliminated from sentencing decisions as a result of the Missouri Juvenile Justice Reform Act of 1995. In fact, there is some evidence that these biases became more prevalent under certain conditions. The data strongly indicate that when making sentencing decisions, especially when deciding between out-of-home placements (OHPs) and community placements or OHP and in-home placement with services (IHWS), sex and race interacted with several legal variables. Boys were more likely to receive a community placement in both 1994 and 2000; however, although girls were more likely to receive IHWS sentences in 1994, boys were more likely to receive IHWS sentences in 2000, after the passage of the Reform Act. White juveniles were more likely than non-White juveniles to receive a community sentence in 1994 and in 2000. There were indications that when legal variables did not clearly indicate the appropriate sentence, judges sometimes gave more weight to race/ethnicity and gender. Study data were obtained from the Missouri Department of Social Services. There were 11,479 cases formally processed in 1994 and 12,583 cases formally processed in 2000. Formal sanctions involved OHPs (placement with Division of Youth Services, foster care, or a relative) and two forms of community place (IHWS and in-home placement without services). These sanctions served as the dependent variable. 6 tables and 24 references