Recommendations for reform of juvenile justice include calls for less discretionary decisionmaking, coupled with more structured routine processing, and for gender-specific and culturally diverse programming. Studies have shown that racial minorities, especially males, are referred to court at higher rates and for more serious violations than other youth. Females are generally referred for less serious offenses and for victimization more often than their male counterparts. The findings are mixed on whether these disparities reflect true behavioral differences based on gender and race or differential treatment from community officials. There is some consistency across various studies, however: youth involved in similar offenses are treated differently by court officials, at least at some stages of the process, because of their particular race or gender. This article argues that no efforts to enhance equity in the juvenile justice process will succeed until the competing goals of parens patriae, due process, and just deserts punishment are resolved. Table, references