‘Appalling’: Nearly all youth charged as adults in Jackson County are minorities
Da’Shaun Brown was 16 when he was arrested last October in Kansas City and then ordered to stand trial as an adult.
Youth of color make up an overwhelming majority — 95% — of those charged and tried as adults in Jackson County.
That rate “is especially appalling,” said Kate Burdick, senior attorney at the Juvenile Law Center, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit.
Nationally, Black and Hispanic youth account for 66% of the cases that are sent to adult court.
While awaiting trial, still presumed innocent, children as young as 12 in Missouri who are treated as adults can be sent to jail, where they may be forced into solitary confinement and have limited to no access to education. They are more likely to become victims of sexual abuse while incarcerated and more likely to reoffend once they are released from prison, according to the Juvenile Law Center.
Sarah Johnson is the director of juvenile defense and policy for the Missouri State Public Defender’s office.
“If we certify children to stand trial as adults, we are not giving them that opportunity to receive appropriate services and interventions to then be successful in the future,” Johnson said. “Every single child deserves the chance to be rehabilitated. And none of those children and I don’t believe any children are throwaway children.”
In August, Johnson testified in support of legislation that would have raised the age of certification eligibility to 16. The bill failed during the Missouri legislature’s special session on violent crime.
Samantha Edmunds, Brown’s mother, would also like to see the laws change.
“I think they should give every kid the chance to prove that they can be a better person,” she said.
Murder case
Now 17, Brown would have been a junior in high school, where he excelled at playing football. But he was arrested in connection with an Oct. 8, 2019, double shooting that ultimately left 20-year-old Cortez Nash dead. Brown is awaiting trial and has not been convicted.
He is the youngest of three co-defendants in the second-degree murder case.
For a few months, Brown was held at a juvenile facility where Edmunds said he had structure and access to school classes.
“He was becoming a person that was understanding the facts of life itself and was starting to grasp what he needs to do to get where he needs to be in life, and that’s school and respecting his elders and treating others like he wants to be treated,” she said.
Then Brown’s case was moved to adult court in a decision that Edmunds believes was racially motivated.
“I feel that they don’t look or try to hear or understand of an African-American’s point of view,” she said. “It’s all negative on the African-Americans.”
Brown was transferred Feb. 26 from a juvenile facility to the Jackson County Detention Center.
Missouri ranked 12th nationally for the most youth in adult jails, a study by UCLA’s School of Law found.
Some states, including Kentucky, New York, Vermont and West Virginia, have banned incarcerating juveniles prosecuted as adults in adult jails, the study said.
Still 16 at the time, Brown was kept in an area with other adolescents due to rules set out by the Prison Rape Elimination Act. But in some jails, that winds up meaning solitary confinement, according to Burdick.
“Solitary confinement can cause permanent, irreversible psychological damage to children and has been shown to lead to self-harm, psychosis and suicide even in healthy adults, and it’s particularly harmful to those who are already suffering from mental health issues including PTSD from childhood trauma,” she said.
When Brown turned 17 in May, Edmunds said, he was moved into general population.
Surrounded by negative influences, he has “become depressed, very angry and not looking at the point of anything positive,” she said.
Her son is also not getting any schooling.
Twelve inmates at the Jackson County Detention Center are age 17 and one is younger, according to Sheriff Darryl Forté.
Inmates under 18 are generally separated from the general population. However 17-year-olds may be placed in an area with older inmates to avoid conflicts with other juveniles or “to allow for group social interaction,” Forté said.
The jail does not have an accredited high school program. Efforts to start a remote program with the Kansas City Public Schools district have been hindered by the COVID-19 pandemic, Forté said, but planning is expected to continue.
An ‘inherently racist’ system
In 2018 and 2019, 19 juveniles were certified as adults in Jackson County. Fifteen were Black, three were Hispanic and one was white.
By state law, the most serious offenses require certification be considered. Children facing certain lesser felonies can also be charged as adults. A county or state juvenile officer makes a recommendation supporting or opposing the youth be certified as an adult.
Juveniles’ officers have been criticized for playing the role of both advocate and prosecutor, which can leave children and their families questioning if their best interests are truly being pursued.
A brief filed last year by a Kansas City public defender said juvenile officers “serve as a double agent.” That case, which raised several questions about the certification process, is pending before the Missouri Court of Appeals.
Juvenile officer Lori Stipp said their duties include rehabilitating juveniles, but they also have to take into account public safety and the victims of crimes. Some juvenile treatment programs can’t provide the level of security that a youth requires, she said. In other cases, a young person has been provided services and continues to commit violent crime.
“Unfortunately, not all juvenile offenders are appropriate for treatment in the juvenile system,” she said.
In Jackson County, “virtually every certification hearing is a mandatory hearing,” said Valerie Hartman, spokeswoman for the 16th Circuit Court.
Judges then evaluate the evidence and statutes, and issue a determination.
Missouri’s statute says racial disparities must be considered when deciding if a youth should be charged as an adult.
But cases are often assessed individually without looking through the lens of the whole system, Johnson said, adding that the system in place is “inherently racist and disproportionately affects children of color.”
Where Missouri stands
In recent years, courts have taken steps to recognize that the brains of juveniles are not fully developed.
“There are neurological and developmental differences in young people that impact their decision making, impulse control and susceptibility to peer pressure, especially negative peer influences,” Burdick said. “And while these differences don’t absolve youth of responsibility for their conduct, the United States Supreme Court has recognized that they’re categorically less blameworthy than their adult counterparts and more capable of change and rehabilitation.”
Psychologists are routinely called to testify about brain development during certification hearings, said Walter Stokely, the district defender of Kansas City’s children’s defense unit, who represents Brown.
But legislative reform has been slow in Missouri, which does not have any limitations on using solitary confinement or shackling juveniles, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. In 2018, Missouri became the 45th state to set the maximum age of juvenile jurisdiction to at least 17. However funding to implement the law on Jan. 1, 2021, is now in question.
And efforts to modify who can be charged as an adult in Missouri stalled over the summer in the legislature. In addition to raising the age for certification hearings from 12 to 16, the measure proposed courts find probable cause before proceeding with adult certification and educational services for jailed youth like Brown.
Johnson said she was disappointed the bill did not pass, but believes it started a conversation on what changes may be possible in the future.
While the number of Black youth sent to adult court has dropped across the state by 68% in recent years, a stark disparity continues to persist. About 12% of Missouri’s youth population is Black, but Black youth made up half of all certifications in 2018, according to the most recent report from the Missouri Juvenile & Family Division.
“These disparities can be substantially attributed to stereotypes, implicit bias of judges and structural racism related to racial segregation and policing of neighborhoods with high numbers of people of color,” Burdick said.
That leads to more prison incarcerations and lifetime felon status.
“Black children are not currently receiving equal protection under the law,” Stokely said.
Brown awaits a trial scheduled to start Oct. 19, according to court records.
