Juvenile Justice Information Exchange (https://jjie.org/page/284/)
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 ...
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.
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.
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?
Every isolation cell in every juvenile detention center in the United States could be redesigned with calm muted paint colors, cushioned mattresses with soft sheets and blankets, and luxurious, private bathrooms but it wouldn’t matter. Their purpose would remain to isolate the youth from contact with others.
The U.S. Justice Department says it has asked a federal court to prevent the Ohio Department of Youth Services from unlawfully placing boys with mental health disorders in solitary confinement at the state’s juvenile detention facilities.
A measure restricting access to juvenile records passed the Washington state Legislature Wednesday.
When advocates ignore the fundamental role retribution plays in the juvenile justice system, we inadvertently help create an environment that leads to more hurtful and unnecessarily punitive laws, policies, and practices.
Read all of the Juvenile Justice Information Exchange's ongoing, in-depth coverage of disproportionate minority contact here.
We “know” teenagers act stupidly… compared to some ideal standard. But compared to adults?
A New York City diversion program teaches teen graffiti artists arrested for vandalism how to express their art without breaking the law.
The process of reforming systems is replete with metaphorical paradoxes, and juvenile justice as a system is not exempt. It generally begins with those who are "blind as a bat" and can't get to the "city on the hill" — a reduction in delinquency. They are blind not because they can't see the city, but because they're at the "fork in the road" and can't figure out which fork to take to get to the city. Everyone desires less crime, but not everyone agrees on how to make that happen. The greatest obstacle for those of us versed in the vast literature of what works in community corrections remains the still popular view that "getting tough," whether by use of detention or commitment to secure and residential facilities, is the “cure all” to reduce delinquency.