[Photos] Capturing Captivity From the Inside
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Today on Bokeh, photos taken by youth inmates in New Mexico with the Fresh Eyes Project. Is the system’s failure to help them improve their outcomes evident in the way they document their surroundings?
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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Texas prisons and jails are recruiting more teenagers to shore up guard shortage
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School violence: Mapping incidents in Georgia
[Photos] Capturing Captivity From the Inside
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If you give an incarcerated kid a camera, this is what they see.
In Wake of Missouri Special Session, Activists Weigh in on Placing Juveniles on Sex Offender Registries
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Attempts by Missouri legislators to override Gov. Jay Nixon’s veto of a bill that would have removed hundreds of individuals from state sex offender registries faltered earlier this month.
Merger of Adult and Juvenile Justice Divisions Has Some North Carolina Advocates Concerned
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Earlier this month, North Carolina’s Department of Public Safety announced the consolidation of its adult and juvenile correctional offices.
Effort Aims to Give Teens a ‘Second Chance’
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Wisconsin attorneys are pushing to undo a law -- enacted in the mid-1990s in reaction to a wave of juvenile crime -- that puts 17-year-olds in the adult criminal justice system. The State Bar of Wisconsin is one of the lead groups lobbying for the "Second Chance Bill," a proposal that would put first-time, nonviolent 17-year-old offenders through juvenile court rather than adult court, where offenders can be sentenced to jail or prison.
OP-ED: The Dream of Transformative Prisons
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The imagery conjured by the word prison is heavily influenced by Hollywood portrayals: razor wire, guard towers, bars, dank concrete cells, loud clanging and dangerous people.
Discovery Imminent in Mississippi School-to-Prison Allegations
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Official interviews and evidence gathering will start soon in Meridian, Miss., a year after federal officials accused several agencies of operating a schoolhouse-to-jailhouse pipeline.
Massachusetts Increases Juvenile Court Jurisdiction to Include 17-Year-Olds
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Massachusetts now includes 17-year-olds in its juvenile justice system. Only 10 states remain which place 17-year-olds under adult court jurisdiction.