Previous research on discrimination against immigrant youths in the German criminal justice system has focused mainly on the early stages of the criminalization process. Most authors assume that discrimination is found when Germans report crimes to the police as well as in police investigations, whereas it is assumed that public prosecutors and judges act in accordance with the rule of law and exhibit little discriminatory behavior. Yet, the notion of the formal blindness of justice that is at the core of such reasoning is not tenable as far as criminal law is concerned. An empirical investigation of juvenile court cases demonstrates that immigrant youths from Turkey and, possibly, also from (former) Yugoslavia receive harsher treatment than do German youths. The public debate, which is largely restricted to the problem of "immigrant crime" should be alarmed at the possibility of discrimination against non-Germans by the courts.

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