An in-depth investigation by the Department of Justice into the St. Louis County Family Court found it "fails to provide constitutionally required due process to children appearing for delinquency proceedings" and especially discriminates against black children, officials announced Friday.

The DOJ's Civil Rights Division, headed by Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, carried out the investigation.

"The findings we issue today are serious and compelling," she said in a statement.

She added that Missouri once led the nation in juvenile justice reform when it transitioned to employing a "smaller, treatment-focused system," and that the DOJ is "hopeful" that it will reestablish its place at the helm of that effort.

Some of the issues included a "staggering caseload of the sole public defender assigned to handle all indigent juvenile delinquency cases in the county, an arbitrary system of appointing private attorneys for children who do not qualify for public defender services, the flawed structure of the family court, and significant delays in appointing counsel to children following detention hearings."

The court also coerced minors into self-incrimination, as it requires them to admit to allegations against them in order to receive an informal processing of their case. The DOJ found that this practice "potentially forces a child to be witness against himself in subsequent proceedings."

"The organizational structure of the family court is rife with conflicts of interest," the statement read. "The roles of judge, prosecutor and probation officer are blurred, and positions traditionally held by members of the executive branch are filled by employees who answer to the court's judges."

These conflicts of interest, the DOJ found, don't give children the right to due process.