OP-ED: The Dangers of Criminalizing Childhood Scuffles
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Looking at the continuing criminalization of what was once seen to be normal child behavior.
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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School violence: Mapping incidents in Georgia
At ‘Wit’s End’: Scared Straight Programs Remain Popular Among Parents Despite Warnings
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"...Scared straight, on average, has a harmful impact.”
Easing Drug Laws the Answer to the Nation’s Drug, Prison Problem – Or Precursor to More Crime?
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Many drug laws have punishment lengths that do not fit the crime, some experts are saying.
OP-ED: The Uneasy Transition from Juvenile Hall to Life on the Outside
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Exhilaration jolted through my body when I stepped back onto the grounds of Central Juvenile Hall for the first time since my release. I finally knew what it felt like to come back as a free man and not as a detained juvenile. I cherished how different it felt.
[Photos] Bringing Hope and a Camera to Haitian Kids
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What happens when you put a camera into the hands of a Haitian child? Good things.
The Rapist and the Girl Next Door: The Paradox of Prosecuting Rape Cases in Haiti
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When the judge announced that Etienne Rene had been found guilty, Rene turned to Loutchama, the girl he had raped a year earlier, when she was just 12, and cursed her.
OP-ED: An Opportunity to Remake Juvenile Justice
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It's time to ask whether our costly juvenile justice system is accomplishing what we want it to accomplish.
Poetry and Progress at a New York Probation Office
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NEW YORK — In a probation office waiting room in the South Bronx recently-discovered poets performed to celebrate the second edition of Free Verse, a poetry journal consisting of the work of people from probation. The setting was fitting since the poets were first encouraged to write when they were sitting in probation office waiting rooms across the city. The madcap black, red and white-covered journals, titled “Free Verse 2,” brightened the gray walls of the waiting area. The journal, which includes poems of young people discovered in the probation office, was designed by Carin Goldberg, whose work includes album cover designs for Madonna and book covers for Kurt Vonnegut. This edition of the journal contains 80 poems selected from more than 400 submissions.