Dear Restorative Justice: Our Student Isn’t Responding
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What do you do when someone is obdurate and has no interest in taking responsibility or admitting any guilt at all?
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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NewsMatch Fundraising Campaign for JJIE Begins
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The JJIE is eligible for a matching gift opportunity from NewsMatch, a national call-to-action that support nonprofits like us.
Restructuring of OJJDP Raises Questions: Business As Usual Or Change in Policy Focus?
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Since President Donald Trump appointed her to head the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Administrator Caren Harp has begun reshaping the office with a goal in mind: deregulation.
How to Overcome Staff, Stakeholder Resistance to Actuarial Tools in Juvenile Justice
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Over the last decade, jurisdictions across the country have increasingly implemented actuarial tools to aid decision making in the juvenile justice system.
OJJDP’s New Direction Is Juvenile Justice Policymaking By Erasure
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The Trump administration’s Department of Justice (DOJ) and Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) have instituted policymaking by erasure. These agencies are rolling back juvenile justice data collection, rescinding manuals on best practices and changing policy language.
Diversion Can Help Us Reduce Youth Violence By Aligning Caseloads With Risk Factors
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Juvenile probation professionals know better than most the multitude and complexity of issues our justice-involved youth are facing, and what puts these young men and women at risk for violence. Get IN Chicago, as a youth violence prevention funder working to support the most effective and promising interventions in Chicago, wanted to better understand the youth probation population to inform quality service provision.
Electronic Monitoring Hurts Kids and Their Communities
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The plague of mass incarceration in the United States has captured national attention, with substantial bipartisan support to resolve this crisis. Even as we recognize the problem, however, it is important to think critically about proposed alternatives. There is a growing consensus among developmental researchers and juvenile justice decision-makers that incarceration is particularly damaging to youth.
Number of Juveniles Held for Status, Technical Offenses Shown By State in Pew Graphic
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The highest proportion of juveniles since data collection began in 1997 are being held for status offenses or technical violations, according to the Census of Juveniles in Residential Placement from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.