
John Legend Plays Backup at Panel on Mass Incarceration
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“We have allowed our most vulnerable children to be thrown away, to be traumatized, to be locked up in these jails and prisons and we have got to change this...
Juvenile Justice Information Exchange (https://jjie.org/page/117/)
In late September, Torri was driving down the highway with her 11-year-old son Junior in the back seat when her phone started ringing.
It was the Hamilton County Sheriff’s deputy who worked at Junior’s middle school in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Deputy Arthur Richardson asked Torri where she was. She told him she was on the way to a family birthday dinner at LongHorn Steakhouse.
“He said, ‘Is Junior with you?’” Torri recalled.
Earlier that day, Junior had been accused by other students of making a threat against the school. When Torri had come to pick him up, she’d spoken with Richardson and with administrators, who’d told her he was allowed to return to class the next day. The principal had said she would carry out an investigation then. ProPublica and WPLN are using a nickname for Junior and not including Torri’s last name at the family’s request, to prevent him from being identifiable.
When Richardson called her in the car, Torri immediately felt uneasy. He didn’t say much before hanging up, and she thought about turning around to go home. But she kept driving. When they walked into the restaurant, Torri watched as Junior happily greeted his family.
Soon her phone rang again. It was the deputy. He said he was outside in the strip mall’s parking lot and needed to talk to Junior. Torri called Junior’s stepdad, Kevin Boyer, for extra support, putting him on speaker as she went outside to talk to Richardson. She left Junior with the family, wanting to protect her son for as long as she could ...
“We have allowed our most vulnerable children to be thrown away, to be traumatized, to be locked up in these jails and prisons and we have got to change this...
In cities across the country we've seen regressive youth justice and education policies that are supported — and even driven by — media narratives that...
A man who was sentenced to life in prison for fatally shooting a Baton Rouge, Louisiana store owner when he was 15 in 1994 was resentenced to life in prison — but this time with the possibility of parole. Damien Riley’s case is profiled in our story here.
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