Does context matter in juvenile court intake? Findings from a rural state

Drawing on Sampson and colleagues' racial inequality theories, we examine how referral and county characteristics affect the handling of juvenile court caseloads. Specifically, we use data from Mississippi Youth Courts for the years 2016 through 2021 to conduct two‐level multinomial regression analyses examining the role of referral‐level factors (e.g., youth demographic and offense characteristics) and county‐level factors (e.g., court and community characteristics) on juvenile court intake decisions. Results showed that race influences intake decisions even after controlling for referral‐ and county‐level factors. Contrary to Sampson and Laub's conflict perspective, which posited harsher treatment of Black youth, Black referrals were treated more leniently than White referrals in that the courts were more likely to take no action or to divert Black youth from formal case processing. Results suggest that courts may be correcting for policing and school practices that disproportionately affect youth of color and responding to caseload demands in a practical manner given resource constraints.