According to a study prepared by the Berkeley Media Studies group and the Justice Policy Institute, media reports also fail to accurately reflect the true proportion of crimes committed by minorities.

The study, commissioned by Building Blocks for Youth, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that focuses on disproportionate minority confinement in the juvenile-justice system, included more than 70 content analyses of newspaper and television crime coverage.

The study found that youth are rarely reported in the news, but when they are, it is generally connected with violence and crime. The study further showed that minorities are overrepresented in crime stories.

Based on the study's findings, researchers concluded that exaggerated portrayals of America's youth as criminals has led to public policies that condemn young people to life sentences without parole.

A copy of the report is available on the Building Blocks for Youth website.

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