Family Court Judge John Hunt is accusing the city's Probation Department of gender bias, saying they routinely spare teenage girls from serving prison time even if they've committed the same violent crimes as boys. He cited the example of Stephen C. and Jennifer S., both teens who beat up a boy before stealing his iPod. However, the Probation Department suggested Stephen be put on supervised probation while Jennifer should have her case eventually dismissed. Hunt said, "The court could find no cogent reason why Jennifer S. should be treated differently than her accomplice." Except she is made of sugar, spice and everything nice.
He also claims that in order to keep the number of jailed teens to a minimum, the Vera Institute of Justice developed the computer-generated Probation Assessment Tool to score the teens. A low score means a recommendation of probation or lockup, and Hunt found that the PAT awards 14 points to girls just for being girls. However, a probation spokesman said, "It is an assessment tool. The court can always go against it. It is not set in stone."
Recently, a teenage girl was sentenced to 12-months in prison for filing a false police report, and the sentence was kicked up to three years when she "talked back" to counselors. However, she claims she was angry that day because she had been raped by her juvenile counselor, who later admitted to sexually assaulting her and two other girls.
