Ryan Schill

Ryan Schill is the editor of the Juvenile Justice Information Exchange. In 2012 he wrote a comics journalism piece about the ongoing U.S. immigration debate, published in partnership with Cartoon Movement. His 2011 story about a case of misdiagnosed child abuse won first place in the non-deadline writing category of the Society of Professional Journalists Green Eyeshade Awards for Excellence in Journalism. Ryan is completing his MA in professional writing at Kennesaw State University in Georgia, and has a BS in media studies. His research interests include experimental journalism forms, journalism ethics and philosophy, theories of literary journalism and the intersections of social justice and journalism.

The $1 Million TED Talk

By Ryan Schill | July 3, 2012

Bryan Stevenson didn’t want to go to TED, the genre-defying annual conference full of big thinkers and big ideas. He brushed it off, claimed he was too busy and, besides, he didn’t know anything about it. He was preparing for a big case that was just days away – one that could result in a total ban on juveniles being sentenced to life without parole. Winning the case is a cornerstone goal of a litigation campaign by Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), the Alabama nonprofit Stevenson founded to fight discrimination and injustice in the legal system. “Well, I have to say I wasn’t really interested in going,” Stevenson said in a recent interview.

BREAKING: Supreme Court Strikes Down Juvenile Mandatory LWOP

By Ryan Schill | June 25, 2012

Updated: 12:07 p.m. In a 5-4 decision issued Monday morning, the Supreme Court ruled the Eighth Amendment prohibits mandatory sentences of life without possibility of parole for juveniles (JLWOP). The decision stems from two cases—Jackson v Hobbs and Miller v Alabama—involving 14-year-olds convicted of murder and sentenced to mandatory life terms.

Justice Elena Kagan wrote the majority opinion, holding that mandatory JLWOP violates the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment, citing as precedent Roper v Simmons. “That right ‘flows from the basic “precept of justice that punishment for crime should be graduated and proportioned,” to both the offender and the offense,’ ” Kagan wrote. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the dissenting opinion.

United States Will Stop Deporting Young Undocumented Immigrants Under New Policy

By Ryan Schill | June 15, 2012

The Obama administration will no longer deport and begin granting work permits to young undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children, The New York Times reports. The policy change does not need Congressional approval. President Obama will discuss the plan at a press conference in the Rose Garden Friday afternoon. The policy change could affect some 800,000 immigrants who are younger than 30 and arrived in the United States before they turned 16, according to The Times. Additionally, they must have been in the country for at least five continuous years, have a high school diploma or GED earned in the United States, served in the military or have no criminal history.

Powerful Tool Shines Light on Secrecy in Juvenile System

By Ryan Schill | June 7, 2012

Traditionally, juvenile courts have protected children from lasting stigma and emotional trauma through aggressive secrecy, in contrast to their adult counterparts. But the anonymity provided by the juvenile system is a direct impediment to journalists and others charged with delivering information to the public. But a powerful new tool, published this month by the Reporters’ Committee for Freedom of the Press (RCFP), provides a state-by-state breakdown of access to juvenile courts. The report, funded by a grant from the McCormick Foundation, appears in the Spring 2012 issue of RCFP’s quarterly publication, The News Media & The Law. Each state is profiled in detail, describing which juvenile proceedings and records are available to the public and which require special permission.

Fake Pot Once Again for Sale in Georgia Despite Ban

By Ryan Schill | June 6, 2012

Packages of synthetic marijuana are once again available for sale legally, despite a law passed in March banning the drug, because manufacturers found a way around the ban, WSAV-TV in Savannah reports. As The Juvenile Justice Information Exchange reported last spring, synthetic marijuana, often known by the brand names K-2 or Spice, is created by spraying dried plant matter with a synthetic cannabanoid, a chemical that mimics the effects of THC, the psychoactive chemical that gives marijuana users their high. Lawmakers believed the legislation banning the drug—which made illegal the base chemical formula and any alterations of that formula—would close a loophole manufacturers of fake pot had used to skirt previous bans. "We identified the base formula,” state Senator Buddy Carter told WSAV-TV. “We said any deviation, any alteration of the base formula, would be illegal.

Facebook May Change Rules to Allow Children Under 13

By Ryan Schill | June 4, 2012

For the first time, Facebook is considering allowing children under 13 to join the social networking site, according to a story in The Wall Street Journal. But a study last year by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found Facebook is already full of children younger than 13. According to the report, 46 percent of 12-year-olds are already using Facebook despite the prohibition, either with their parents’ permission or by lying about their age. The Wall Street Journal reports Facebook is researching policies and new technologies that will keep young children safe while using the page. Possibilities include giving parents control over their child’s account by linking the parent and child accounts together.

Kids’ Food Drive Kicks Off Mother’s Day in New York City

By Ryan Schill | May 13, 2012

Mother’s Day marks the first day of the annual Feed the Kids food drive in New York City by City Harvest, a food rescue organization dedicated to feeding the city’s hungry. Feed the Kids brings together companies, organizations and individuals to collect kid-friendly, non-perishable food during the month between Mother’s Day and Father’s Day – May 13 to June 17, 2012. City Harvest is also partnering with the New York Mets through the team’s season-long hunger relief program, Feeding the Big Apple Presented by Hain Celestial. Students from P.S. 12 in Queens will be rewarded for collecting more than 2,000 pounds of food during the 2011 Feed the Kids food drive, more than any other school, when the Mets drop by their school at the end of May to play catch. The Feed the Kids campaign helps stock shelves at community programs during the summer so children who depend on meals at school will not go hungry.

Petition to Ban Shock Treatment at Mass. School Delivered to State Lawmakers

By Ryan Schill | May 11, 2012

A petition to ban the use of electric shock treatment in a notorious Massachusetts “special needs school” was delivered to state legislators Wednesday. Created by Cheryl McCollins, the mother of a boy who was given electric shocks in 2002 at the Judge Rotenberg Center in Canton, and Gregory Miller, a former teacher assistant who once delivered shock treatments to students, the petition has received more than 215,000 signatures. On April 24, a settlement was announced in a lawsuit brought against the school alleging malpractice by McCollins on behalf of her son, who was 18 at the time of the incident. The terms of the settlement were undisclosed, according to CBS Boston. After delivering the petition, McCollins and Miller met with four Massachusetts state lawmakers Wednesday, including Speaker Robert DeLeo, Rep. Kay Khan, Sens.

Young People “Checking In” Using Condoms With QR Codes

By Ryan Schill | May 9, 2012

Young people using social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and the location-based Foursquare are often criticized for posting photos from drunken parties or sharing mundane personal details such as what they ate for breakfast. Now, new geo-tracking condoms are taking the concept of over-sharing to a whole new level, encouraging young people to “check in” wherever they are having sex. Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest—serving Alaska, Idaho and western Washington, including Seattle—has been distributing to college students 55,000 condoms with QR codes (small, square barcodes that can be scanned by smartphones). Condom users scan the code, which takes them to a website called “Where Did You Wear It?” that allows them to anonymously post the location of their sexual encounter. The website asks for details such as age, sex and relationship type, and users can even rate how good the experience was.

Americorps Volunteers to be Honored for Service in Joplin After 2011 Tornado

By Ryan Schill | May 8, 2012

Only hours after a devastating tornado tore through Joplin, Mo., on May 22, 2011 killing more than 160 people, the first team of AmeriCorps volunteers arrived in the community. Ultimately, more than 300 AmeriCorps volunteers, lead by Kelly Menzie-DeGraff, director of disaster services for the Corporation for National and Community Service, would come to Joplin and help with everything from cleanup and rebuilding to serving meals to residents, all while coordinating more than 60,000 unaffiliated volunteers. In recognition of their efforts, the Partnership for Public Service named Menzie-DeGraff and her team finalists for the Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals honoring federal employees. Menzie-DeGraff, along with 32 other finalists, will be honored in Washington Wednesday as part of Public Service Week. The finalists are in contention for nine Service to America awards to be announced Sept.