Black teens are more likely to be charged as adults than white teens

According to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), Black teenagers are significantly more likely to be transferred or charged in adult court than white teenagers. Source

According to an analysis by The Marshall Project, several systemic and behavioral biases drive these disparities: source

Legal personnel and judges sometimes perceive Black children as physically older, more dangerous, and more culpable for the same actions. Source

Prosecutors are more likely to refer young Black suspects to adult court for identical offenses. Source

Do black teens commit more crime than white teens?

Black youth experience higher rates of arrest and incarceration than white youth, but criminologists and advocacy groups emphasize that these figures reflect deep disparities in the justice system rather than proportional differences in actual behavior. Source

Regardless of criminal history:

Federal juvenile-court data show that Black youth are transferred to adult criminal court at higher rates than White youth. In 2022, Black youth represented about 37% of delinquency cases but 59% of judicial transfers to adult court, while White youth represented 43% of delinquency cases but 26% of judicial transfers. Source

Research using 124,075 Florida juvenile cases found that Black defendants became increasingly more likely than similarly aged White defendants to be transferred as age increased. Source

The available national OJJDP statistics do not provide a simple nationwide comparison of Black vs. White youth with identical criminal histories. Source

A OJJDP-sponsored longitudinal study examined 1,216 adolescents after their first arrest and reported that Black youth were more likely to undergo formal processing even though the Black youth in that study reported fewer prior offenses than White youth. Source

Other research finds racial differences in adult-court processing even after accounting for the seriousness of the offense. One study reported that African-American youth had greater odds of adult-court transfer than White youth after controlling for felony-level violent crime. Source