ACLU says South Carolina Prosecutors and School Authorities Have Filled the Juvenile Jail with Blacks; 75% of the Children Locked Up are Black, Despite Being Only 28% of the State’s Youth Population
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From [HERE] A new analysis by the South Carolina division of the American Civil Liberties Union found vast disparities in the number of Black youth incarcerated in the state’s troubled juvenile justice system, even as the overall number of children in the system has fallen over the past decade.
The report, released by the advocacy organization Sept. 9, alleges that prosecutors and schools across the state have referred a significantly disproportionate number of Black children to the juvenile justice system over the past decade.
The most recently available data show Black youth making up approximately 75 percent of the current inmate population despite comprising just 28 percent of the state’s population aged 18 or younger.
“Racial inequality in the juvenile justice system is getting worse,” the ACLU wrote in its findings. “Solicitors and schools continue to refer a disproportionate number of Black youth to SCDJJ, and the agency detains a disproportionate number of them.”
Where Black children once made up about 65 percent of the total inmate population in 2015, the population now accounts for three out of every four children currently detained by DJJ, with large proportions locked up for violations ranging from serious violent crimes to more minor offenses like shoplifting or marijuana possession. [MORE]
South Carolina continues to lock up children for status offenses, or activities that are only illegal because of the offender’s age. South Carolina is the only state in America that sends minors into its juvenile justice system based solely on a status offense. In the 2025 fiscal year, 14% of SCDJJ referrals and 8% of detentions were for status offenses including truancy, incorrigibility, running away, and possession of alcohol while underage.
Racial inequality in the juvenile justice system is getting worse. Solicitors and schools continue to refer a disproportionate number of Black youth to SCDJJ, and the agency detains a disproportionate number of them. Black children comprise roughly 28% of South Carolina’s youth population, but more than 75% of the children detained by SCDJJ in 2025.
The S.C. Department of Juvenile Justice continues to place vulnerable youth in harm’s way. After years of rampant staff turnover, corruption, and multiple high-profile instances of violence at the hands of corrections officers and fellow youth, the agency still fails to protect traumatized youth from further traumatization while in its care.
