Court Costs Entrap Nonwhite, Poor Juvenile Offenders

Written by <a href="index.php?option=com_comprofiler&task=userProfile&user=24553"><span class="small">Erik Eckholm, The New York Times</span></a>

Thursday, 01 September 2016 13:20

Eckholm writes: "Fines, fees and restitution mandates are levied on juvenile offenders to varying degrees in every state, a new national survey of these practices has found. The effects are greatest on the poor and racial minorities, creating a two-tiered system of justice."

Dequan Jackson, 16, at his home in Jacksonville, Florida. After Dequan was charged with battery at age 13, he and his mother were unable to pay $200 in court and public defender fees, which extended his probation by more than a year. (photo: Charlotte Kesi/The New York Times)

Court Costs Entrap Nonwhite, Poor Juvenile Offenders

By Erik Eckholm, The New York Times

01 September 16

hen Dequan Jackson had his only brush with the law, at 13, he tried to do everything right.

Charged with battery for banging into a teacher while horsing around in a hallway, he pleaded guilty with the promise that after one year of successful probation, the conviction would be reduced to a misdemeanor.

He worked 40 hours in a food bank. He met with an anger management counselor. He kept to an 8 p.m. curfew except when returning from football practice or church.

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