Lie detector tests and juveniles: Blonde teen boy in white shirt sitting in chair with lie detector wires wrapped around his chest

Mostly banned from adult courts, polygraphs also shouldn’t be used against juveniles

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In 1998, the U.S. Supreme Court banned from courtroom evidence most results from lie-detector tests because those polygraph exams are scientifically flawed and unreliable, a ruling the American Psychological Association concurred with. However, in juvenile courts, where judges still have the discretion to allow or ban such so-called evidence, polygraphs have been used to coerce some juvenile sex offenders into making what researchers concluded were false confessions. The misuse doesn’t end there.

Juvenile solitary: Close-up of legs and hands-in-lap of black person wearing over-sized navy pants sitting on edge of built-in cement bench with metal toilet in background.

Despite outcry over seclusion at juvenile detention centers, Tennessee lawmakers fail to pass oversight bill

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Children in Rutherford County,  have been arrested and jailed at rates unparalleled in the state. This story reports on an investigation of why that is happening — and other ways the justice system there singles out children. A bill that would strengthen oversight of Tennessee’s juvenile detention centers has failed, despite a concerted push for reform after multiple county-run facilities were found to be locking children alone in cells.

Parents of teen charged in school shooting to stand trial: middle-aged white man and woman in facemasks sit at hearing

The parents paying for their children’s crimes

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In separate trials earlier this year, Jennifer and James Crumbley became the first parents in U.S. history to be convicted of involuntary manslaughter for a mass shooting committed by their child. They were each sentenced to 10–15 years in prison, the maximum penalty for the crime. Prosecutors argued the Crumbleys ignored urgent warning signs that their son Ethan was having violent thoughts, and that the parents provided access to the gun he used to kill four classmates and injure seven other people at his school in November 2021.

Prison No Education: Black man in dark winter jacket, hat and pants stands leaning against front of bright red semi-truck parked next to a white semi-truck on asphalt parking lot under gray, rainy sky

Many states don’t educate people sentenced to life. Now some are coming home.

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When Yusef Qualls-El was 17, a judge sentenced him to life behind bars. It was the mid-1990s, an era when the U.S. prison population exploded. Thousands of minors like Qualls-El received sentences of life without parole and entered prison at an age when their peers were going to college or starting their careers. But inside, education is often reserved for those who will soon return to society. As a result, those who were seen as the least likely to get out had the fewest opportunities.

Juvenile detention populations low: Young black teen lies on bed with legs propped up on wall on cot in empty room with grey cement floor and white walls

Tennessee lawmakers want more oversight of juvenile detention. The Department of Children’s Services is pushing back.

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The commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services publicly said this month that the agency was working with lawmakers to address oversight gaps at juvenile detention facilities across the state. But behind the scenes, the department is working to water down a bill that would do just that, according to one of the bill’s sponsors and others working on the legislation.

Disabled students at higher risk for arrests, dropping out: male detention worker walks a black juvenile offender down a hallway

Juvenile justice staffing crisis: Time to reimagine our approach

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We recently conducted a survey of juvenile justice agencies on their staff hiring and retention challenges. Over 200 individual state and local juvenile corrections and probation agencies representing 37 states and over 190 counties reported that they are facing greater staffing difficulties than at any time in the past 10 years.