OP-ED: Injustice in Connecticut
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She sits in solitary confinement 22 or 23 hours a day. She is 16, but has been involved with the system in one way or another since she was five.
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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Bill Seeks to Stop States’ Detention of Status Offenders
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Under a bill pending in Congress states would be forbidden to lock up juveniles for status offenses.
OP-ED: In California, an Effort to Stop Locking Up Truants
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California still allows kids to be locked up for not going to school. Here's why this needs to change.
OJJDP Grants Only Slightly More Transparent After 2008 Controversy
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Six years after a grant-awarding controversy shook up the federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention the legal mechanism that allowed such practices to take place has not changed.
Trafficked Boys Overlooked
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Males remain a largely invisible population within the dialogue on sex trafficking.
Q&A: Solitary Confinement and Teens Shouldn’t Mix
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Powerful Q&A with Dr. Bruce Perry, a child psychiatrist and senior fellow at the ChildTrauma Academy in Houston whose neuroscientific research has focused largely on the effects of trauma on brain development.
[Photos] The Courts at “Portland’s Projects”
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In one diverse community in Portland, Maine, the Kennedy Park basketball courts are a gathering space for folks of all ages, races and backgrounds in which to cooperate both in sport and community.
OP-ED: Don’t Forget, Violent Juvenile Crime is Actually in Decline
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Alex Hribal allegedly stabbed 22 people, including a security guard, at his high school in a Pittsburgh suburb. The story, admittedly sensational, has gotten a lot of press the last few days. A more interesting story, though one less likely to get as much attention, is the ongoing drop in juvenile crime, especially violent crime.