Youth Justice News

Video - Youth in the Adult Prisons
A Campaign for Youth Justice documentary that sheds light on the growing problem of convicting youth as adults and sending them to the adult prison system. Young prisoners and moms tell the horrifying truth about how young lives are ruined in the adult system.
The Teen Brain: It's Just Not Grown Up Yet
When adolescence hit Frances Jensen's sons, she often found herself wondering, like all parents of teenagers, "What were you thinking?" "It's a resounding mantra of parents and teachers," says Jensen, who's a pediatric neurologist at Children's Hospital in Boston. (NPR)
Kids in Crisis (Behind Bars)
Over the years, I’ve written many columns about Guantánamo Bay, Abu Ghraib and torture, ... But I’ve never written about the horrors that unfold in American prisons — especially juvenile correctional facilities — on a far larger scale than at Guantánamo. (New York Times)
City Signals Intent to Put Fewer Teenagers in Jail
New York City plans to merge the city’s Department of Juvenile Justice into its child welfare agency, signaling a more therapeutic approach toward delinquency that will send fewer of the city’s troubled teenagers to jail. (The New York Times)
States rethink 'adult time for adult crime'
On a single day in 2008, more than 7,700 children younger than 18 were held in adult local jails and 3,600 in adult state prisons, according to a 2009 University of Texas-Austin report. (CNN)
Oregon Youth Charged with Measure 11, Creates Program for Youth
An Oregon youth who was charged with Measure 11, created the University of Hope for other incarcerated youth.
Youth Who Served Time for a Measure 11 Gives Back with Hope
An Oregon Youth who served 6 years on a Measure 11 charge, upon his release set up a program to help bring hope to other youth. He says, “Everybody has the capacity to change. I know that personally from my experience — I see it...The capacity to change is part of being human.”
Sentenced to Abuse
The Justice Department needs to act swiftly and decisively to protect young people who are being battered and raped in juvenile corrections facilities all across the country. (NYTimes Editorial)
Study Finds Youth Detention is Precursor to Criminal Behavior
Youth in the least restrictive environment like community service reoffended as an adult at a rate of 2.3 percent. However 38 percent of delinquent youth placed in juvenile facilities engaged in adult criminal behavior. (The Annie E. Casey Foundation)
Former Republican Senator Opposes Life Without Parole for Youth
Former Senator, Republican Alan Simposon opposed life without parole for youth based on his own experiences as a young person in trouble. Read his story, "A Sentence Too Cruel for Children" in the Washington Post.