The Chicago Reporter has conducted a terrific analysis of 17 year olds convicted of felonies in Illinois.  Here are some the key findings:

A majority, 54 percent, of 17-year-olds prosecuted in Cook County’s adult courts were convicted for drug deals and property theft alone, according to the analysis.

Of all the convictions, 58 percent were for nonviolent offenses. Include robbery without a gun, and nonviolent offenses are 71 percent of all convictions. The single largest number of convictions was based on low-level drug offenses.

An overwhelming majority of these 17-year-olds, like Reed, are black—77 percent. And most hail from just five impoverished areas, some of which are home to the highest long-term unemployment rates in the country—including Austin, Humboldt Park, North Lawndale, Roseland and West Englewood.

Once these teens were charged and their cases headed to court, the odds were they’d plead guilty and end up with an adult felony conviction, regardless of whether they had a private lawyer or public defender, according to the analysis. All this, well before they’re able to vote, buy a pack of cigarettes or join the military.

Of course once again we see disproportionate minority contact with the criminal legal system at work in these numbers.   Additionally, we are prosecuting 17 year olds as adults for mostly NON-VIOLENT crimes.  Our insatiable appetite for punishment knows no bounds especially is the targets are black and brown youth.

Here’s more from their research:

The Reporter analyzed what happened when a plea was entered and found that overwhelmingly, 99 percent of all 17-year-olds pleaded guilty. Only one percent—27 people—pleaded not guilty.

Once convicted, the teens weren’t given just a slap on the wrist for their crimes. More than half of them were sentenced to adult prison. According to the Reporter’s analysis, 882 of the 17-year-olds whose cases were opened since 2006 were sentenced to a combined 3,103 years behind bars in adult prison. More than half of those youth were sentenced to prison times of more than three years. Those remaining were sentenced to alternatives, including probation, community service or court supervision.

Read the entire series of articles from the current issue of the Chicago Reporter.  You will not be sorry.  The stories are compelling and the information is important.