Black youths are more likely to be tried as adults in St. Louis

African-American juveniles are more likely to be tried as adults if their alleged crimes are committed in St. Louis and St. Louis County. Jackson County, meanwhile, is “progressive” in its treatment of juvenile offenders, according to Judge Charles Atwell, who administered Jackson County’s juvenile court until recently.

A report in the St. Louis Beacon, a nonprofit online publication, outlines the disparities in the state’s juvenile justice system. In 2009, 64 percent of the juveniles who were prosecuted as adults were black.