THE COLOR OF TEXAS JUSTICE

Fifteen-year-old Johnny wields a Saturday night special and holds up a
convenience store to finance his drug habit. He's arrested for robbery. What
happens next in this scenario may well be determined by skin color.

If Johnny is black and has a prior criminal history, he is nearly twice as
likely to be certified to stand trial as an adult as a white youth who
commits a similar felony. Johnny also is more likely to do time, according
to figures compiled by the Texas Criminal Justice Council.

That scenario plays out each day in Texas' criminal justice system. And
unless you buy the theory that African Americans are genetically more
predisposed to crime than Anglos, then racial bias, along with social and
economic factors, seem the obvious culprits in explaining the disparity.

Last week, Austin American-Statesman reporter Mike Ward focused on new
figures that raise questions about whether the criminal justice system
treats offenders equally or applies harsher judgments to people of color.
Certainly when juveniles or adults of any race commit crimes, they should
pay the price. Some crime experts say the numbers are self-explanatory:
African Americans commit more crimes, and therefore, go to prison in greater
numbers. But that does not fully explain why African Americans are stopped
more frequently by police or why they don't get a fair shake in alternatives
to prison, such as probation.

Our nation's Constitution guarantees each citizen equal treatment under the
law. In Texas, that right has been bent -- if not broken -- for African
Americans. A massive prison buildup during the 1990s seems to have
compounded the problem, producing a criminal justice system that is highly
punitive to all citizens. But it is particularly harsh -- and perhaps
unequal -- to its darker people:

a80A2 One of every 20 adults in Texas was in prison or jail or on
probation or parole during the past decade.

a80A2 Nearly one in three young African American men (ages 21 to 29)
inTexas is under some form of criminal justice control -- either in prison,
jail or on parole or probation.

a80A2 Black people in Texas are seven times more likely than white people
to be incarcerated. Incarceration rates for black Texans were 63 percent
higher than the national average.

Those figures were compiled by the Washington-based Justice Policy
Institute, a think tank that advocates rehabilitation programs. Texas
policy-makers and leaders have not disputed the data, collected from the
Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Texas State Data Center, the Texas
Commission on Jail Standards and the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics.

The Washington institute found that while African Americans were
overrepresented in prisons and jails, they were underrepresented in
alternatives to prison, which judges can order instead of jail time.

African Americans account for 44 percent of the total prison rolls, but only
about 21 percent of the probation population and nearly 27 percent of those
in a drug treatment program that can be mandated by judges for convicted
felons as an alternative.

It's a different story for Anglos. They make up 30 percent of the prison
rolls, but 45 percent of probation caseloads and 43 percent of the drug
program's.

At a time when the nation's attention is on Texas because its favorite
son -- Gov. George W. Bush -- is the GOP presidential nominee, those
disparities loom large. Bush has made magnanimous efforts compared to his
Republican predecessors to reach out to minority voters and has pushed
racial equity as a theme in his campaign. The question of whether African
Americans are being treated fairly in the criminal justice system on his
watch is a valid one.

Though the spotlight has fallen on Texas prisons, where racial disparities
are hard to ignore, the problem really begins earlier. It starts with the
police officer who is more likely to stop Johnny or Juan; the judge who is
more likely to certify Johnny as an adult; and the jury, which is more
likely to send Johnny to jail or prison.

``We in the prison system don't have a thing to do with who walks in our
front door each day,'' said Glen Castlebury, a spokesman for the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice.

When the Texas Legislature convenes next year, it should pass legislation
proposed by the American Civil Liberties Union, requiring state and local
law-enforcement agencies to keep and report statistics by race, gender and
age on traffic stops -- typically first contact between adolescents and
police.

Such legislation will help ensure that the doors of justice swing equally
for all.