The New York Times said that black juvenile prisoners in the United States have been released due to the recent outbreak of the Corona virus, in much lower proportions than their white counterparts, and that the difference in release rates between the two groups was almost twice during the epidemic.
The newspaper reported that a report by the American "Annie E. Casey Foundation", which deals with children's rights, revealed that the Corona virus exacerbated discrimination against black children in the American juvenile justice system.
The report, which was based on a survey of 33 US states, stated that many black children between the ages of 10 and 17 were left in prison.
He pointed out that the rate of release of white juveniles last February, that is, before the widespread outbreak of the Corona epidemic in the United States, was 7% higher than the rate of the release of their black counterparts, but this gap increased to 17% by last May.
Lise Ryan, president and CEO of Youth First Initiative, a civil society organization fighting youth incarceration, says: “It is clear that the American juvenile justice system does not value the lives of blacks, even in light of a global public health crisis. The failure of juvenile detention agencies during this crisis exacerbated racial disparities within prisons, which is completely irresponsible and shameful.”
The organization also recorded a significant decrease of 27% in the number of young detainees since the start of the epidemic, as rates of detention decreased proportionately among blacks, whites and Hispanics, but those of African descent remained more represented in prisons, due to the partial cessation of release rates in their ranks, Especially since last April and May.
"In the months following the outbreak of the epidemic last March, discrimination against black juveniles worsened, especially with the start of their release at slower rates than whites," the report said.
The report did not include explanations as to why some detainees of African descent were being held, but judges and law enforcement officials who opposed their release demands justified their positions that some of the “less serious” misdemeanors they committed do not reflect the fact and nature of their actions, and many of them - According to them, they are in a better position in the detention centers, instead of risking them being returned to their unstable surroundings, and to their insecure neighborhoods.
But those responsible for the "Youth First Initiative" deny these allegations, stressing that there is no reason to believe that the juveniles present in prisons are in them for "major misdemeanors", especially at this moment in which the United States lives "an increased awareness" of the need to address the problem of racial inequality Between whites and other minorities.
According to data gathered by the "Sentencing Project", a program that seeks to establish a "fair and effective" criminal justice system in the United States and to address the racist practices that surround it, the number of Coronavirus infections has increased steadily among juveniles in the United States during the past weeks.
The project stated that since last March, it had recorded 1,000 and 310 HIV infections among the arrested youth, and 1,500 and 550 among the staff of the detention units.
"We must be happy with the release of many young people who were not originally supposed to be there. I do not want to downplay the fact that white youth are benefiting from the current situation, but the data speaks for itself clearly: All of our children are not treated equally. "