I’m Proof Kids Don’t Need Extreme Sentences to Pay Debt
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By the time I was 12, I had been kicked out of two schools because of my violent outbursts. No one ever tried to find out why I was violent.
An 11-year-old denied making a threat and was allowed to return to school. Tennessee police arrested him anyway.
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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 ...
A campus shooting spurred her political awakening. Her whole family followed.
TUCSON, Arizona — Adriana Grijalva was getting ready to head to class at the University of Arizona in the fall of 2022 when she got a text message from her cousin telling her to stay put. The cousin, who works in maintenance at the university, had watched law enforcement descend on campus and reached out to make sure she was safe. A former student had just shot a professor 11 times, killing him.
Justice organization announces new youth restorative justice partners
Equal Justice USA (EJUSA) announced October 8 that it will partner with four new communities to build new restorative youth justice diversion programs. Restorative justice includes an accountability process that identifies root causes of youth criminal actions, while providing an opportunity for healing both for the person harmed and the person who has caused harm.
A Louisiana law meant to fight teen violence is sweeping 17-year-olds arrested for lesser crimes into adult court
Louisiana is the only state to pass and then reverse Raise the Age legislation. Louisiana’s criminal justice system now treats all 17-year-olds as adults. Is reversing Raise the Age making a difference in the number of violent crimes by 18-year-olds?
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Denver Group Wants School Discipline Records Automatically Purged
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In the push to get schools to stop releasing high school disciplinary records to colleges as part of the college admissions process, a Denver-based nonprofit called Padres & Jõvenes Unidos is on the front lines.
About Half of High Schools Release Discipline Records to Colleges for Admissions
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“There’s a bias effect,” Sinocruz said. “If I see a student has been disciplined three times for ‘insubordination,’ ‘disrespect,’ some of these categories that are overly vague and capture very minor incidents, it’s hard not to look at the students as somehow disrespectful, even if it was for a minor thing.
“A lot of times the categories that are used are much stronger, much more punitive-sounding than what actually happened.”
Reclaiming Futures Hosts Live-stream
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Learn how juvenile justice and child welfare policies and practices disproportionately affect young people of color, and how to combat structural racism in child serving systems, among other topics.
Arkansas Supreme Court Rules Miller v. Alabama Is Retroactive
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More than 50 people sentenced to life in prison in Arkansas when they were younger than 18 could get those sentences reconsidered, thanks to a new court decision.
The Arkansas Supreme Court ruled Friday that a U.S. Supreme Court decision three years ago applies retroactively in the state, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported.
‘Love Became a Weakness and Violence Equaled Respect’
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Who am I? I am but only one of thousands of people who was a child prosecuted as an adult — then sentenced to rot inside a living tomb until I die.
My name is Tony Farrell, and I am fighting for my life.
Justice Advocates Fight to Limit Shackles, Seclusion for Juveniles
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WASHINGTON — Shackling young people in court makes court proceedings less fair and also fails to make courtrooms any safer.
Finally, a Movie About Teens of Color I Want to Take My Son to See
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Through comedic hijinks and some explicit visuals of drugs, guns and a scantily clad woman, “Dope” opens the eyes of viewers to the challenging lives many of our urban youths experience while trying desperately not to get trapped in a waterfall of stereotypes and statistics.