Today in Philadelphia, the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) is hosting the first in a series of Latino community forums on juvenile justice. The focus of the series are the disparities within the juvenile justice system including overrepresentation of Latino youths within the system, unjust sentencing, and unnecessary transfer of youth into the adult criminal justice system. The panels will have experts and real life testimonials from youth who were formally incarcerated as well as from employees of the juvenile justice system. Nicolas Torres, Executive Director of Congreso de Latinos Unidos, a NCLR Affiliate said through a press release:

It is unacceptable that Latino children receive harsher treatment than White children, even when charged with the same types of offenses. Change will only occur if we hold stead-fast to political accountability and advocacy on behalf of the Latino community.

Via / NCLR