February 23, 2016

These Charts Show How the Criminal Justice System Targets Sexual Minorities

<a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-301128380/stock-photo-handcuffed-hands-denunciation-of-the-criminalization-of-homosexuality-discrimination-concept.html?src=4XnGy8BHci5mRXwk7zLapQ-1-0">Romolo Tavani</a>/Shutterstock

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We’ve long known that justice in America is not colorblind. Black men are imprisoned at about six times the rate of white men, while black women are twice as likely as white women to end up behind bars. Adding another layer to the conversation about criminal justice reform, a new report highlights how the criminal justice system also disproportionately targets lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people.

While only 7 percent of American teens currently identify as LGBT, around 20 percent of those in detention do.

According to the report, which was co-authored by the Center for American Progress and the Movement Advancement Project, LGBT people face higher incarceration rates than the general population. This is especially true for gay and lesbian teens: While an estimated 7 percent of American youth currently identify as LGBT or gender nonconforming, about 20 percent of those in detention do, according to one survey of seven juvenile detention centers.

“It used to be a crime to be LGBT in the United States, and while police are no longer raiding gay bars, LGBT people, especially LGBT people of color, are still disproportionately pushed into the criminal justice system,” Ineke Mushovic, executive director of the Movement Advancement Project, said in a statement.

What accounts for this disparity? The report authors point to several theories: Stigma in society, including in the workplace, puts LGBT people at increased risk for unemployment, homelessness, and involvement in survival economies like prostitution. State indecency laws and anti-prostitution laws may also target LGBT people, along with laws that seek to reduce the transmission of HIV by criminalizing certain actions by people who are infected. Discriminatory policing practices may lead to more interactions with cops, while bias during legal proceedings may lead to higher rates of incarceration. Once in prison, the report notes, LGBT people are more likely to experience sexual abuse and solitary confinement.

For a deeper look, check out the full report here.

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

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