Forum at Morgan State illuminates race disparities among youths charged as adults - baltimoresun.com: Nearly every juvenile housed in Baltimore's adult prison last month was black, an issue that brought more than 300 stakeholders together Wednesday at Morgan State University to discuss racial disparity in the criminal justice system.
Lisa M. Garry, a project director for the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services, said the purpose of the Disproportionate Minority Contact Conference was to address the discrepancy in the number of minorities incarcerated, the societal consequences of inequity, and the actions needed to create safer communities while rehabilitating youth offenders.
"So much of the work is changing our behavior, changing our policies, our practices and expanding our options," said Garry, who leads agency reform projects. "The biggest enemy of any reform is the perception of public safety. We have this mindset that the kids we are encountering in our system are high-risk, felony-type offenders. We have this boogeyman, so to speak, that we're always fighting."
