Dear John, Like you I woke up this morning exhausted by the racism that permeates the United States - in our communities and institutions. Yesterday’s verdict out of Wisconsin in the Kyle Rittenhouse case reinforces for many observers the inequality and the disparate treatment experienced by Black and white Americans, including children, in the criminal legal system. The Sentencing Project is committed to finding solutions that end violence, erase racial disparities, advance justice, and build communities where all children thrive. Kyle Rittenhouse was 17 years old when he fatally shot Joseph Rosenbaum and Kyle Huber and injured Gaige Grosskreutz. In Wisconsin’s criminal legal system, this means he was automatically seen as an adult. Pretending he was an adult denied him access to age-appropriate interventions, like mental health counseling and opportunities for rehabilitation and restoration. In the adult system the options are solely punishment or exoneration. His age didn’t protect him from entering the adult system, but his whiteness protected him from its consequences. Black children are more likely to be arrested, prosecuted, waived to adult court and placed in custody than white children in almost every state, and Wisconsin’s disparity is among the worst anywhere. These unjust disparities cause extreme harm to children and communities of color, including Latinx and Tribal youth. I urge you not to forget the uneasiness or anger you feel right now about the harm this country inflicts every day on predominantly Black and Brown children. This injustice must advance our movement for justice. Demand that kids not be thrown away despite the hurt they may have caused, that all children are seen as children, that we hold the courts, media and ourselves accountable to anti-racism practices and policies, and that public resources prioritize growing healthy children. We can’t do this alone; we need you with us to transform these broken, unfair systems. The Sentencing Project will work to make that change happen. |
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