rethinking juvenile justice and schools report: chalkboard graphic of student walking towards justice building instead of school

Council of State Governments re-issues guidance to help probation offices and educators avoid over-penalizing juveniles for truancy alone

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Based on a September 2020 analysis finding that South Carolina schools in 2018 referred almost 61,000 students to juvenile courts solely for being excessively absent from school, the Council on State Governments Justice Center recently re-issued guidance for changing juvenile probation protocols that aim to improve the students' educational prospects and classroom attendance.

South Carolina juvenile detention reform: Woman with long light brown hair wearing black and white striped top holding papers up with her right hand stands behind a wood and brass podium speaking into a microphone.

Parents and corrections officers fault South Carolina juvenile facilities before state senate

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Though technically it was against the rules, a juvenile corrections officer had been watching and chuckling along as a group of girl detainees enjoyed riding a foam mattress down a flight of stairs at a Union, S.C. detention facility in November 2020. Declaring the scene a riot, the supervising officer ordered his underlings to search the girls. In front of male officers the girls were forced to strip down to their bras and panties.

SC juvenile prison: Several workers in black pants and blue uniform shirts hold hand-printed signs and stand in protest of poor working conditions

South Carolina Juvenile Prison Workers Walk Out In Protest

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COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — About two dozen correctional officers and teachers at South Carolina's beleaguered juvenile justice agency joined an impromptu walkout Friday, protesting what they describe as low staffing, poor pay and mismanagement. The walkout from the agency's Broad River Road complex in Columbia follows weeks of legislative scrutiny into the agency after an  audit released in April found an uptick in violence, a failure to maintain adequate security staffing and many other deep-rooted problems.

South Carolina's juvenile prisons director: Sitting wearing dark suit, white shirt and glasses, South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice Director Freddie Pough testifies in front of state lawmakers in Columbia, S.C.

Lawmakers Grill South Carolina’s Juvenile Prisons Director

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COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina legislators are pushing to replace the director of the state’s embattled juvenile prisons, who stumbled through more than three hours of questioning last week.

Smiling little girl, 3 women, 1 seated, pose together.

Woman’s Death In South Carolina Prison Shines Light On COVID-19 Policy, Lack Of Transparency

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It was the fall of 1988 when Rose Wilson, then 33, was given a life sentence for murder in South Carolina. Her daughter, Kasi, was only 8 months old. Like many children of incarcerated parents, Kasi was raised by relatives — in this case her grandparents — but her mother was always in her life. “We made constant visits. We would go see her once every three or four months or so,” Kasi Wilson said.

South Carolina: Men standing seen from the back wearing orange uniforms with scdc inmate on back.

South Carolina Inmates, Families Charge They’re Not Being Protected From COVID

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Mark Trammell hadn't been a free man since he was a teenager, but this year he hoped that was about to change. 

Set for parole in February, Trammell was ready to go home to see his family. After more than 40 years for voluntary manslaughter and kidnapping in South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC) facilities, he wanted his last moments to be outside prison walls. His stage 4 liver cancer, the result of untreated hepatitis, would make him particularly vulnerable to diseases like COVID-19. Not only would he be denied parole, but by June 6 he would die in a Columbia, South Carolina hospital from COVID-19. Though initially his death was erroneously reported to his family as related to his cancer, Trammell would be one of the first reported COVID-19 deaths at an SCDC facility.

Food is Fundamental, Only Don’t Ask Newt Gingrich

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On January 21 Newt Gingrich won the South Carolina Primary. But he did it, in part, by using racist rhetoric, characterizing President Obama as "the best food stamp president in American history." Since then, he has continued to drive this distortion hoping it will somehow resonate with voters. It's not likely to work, because most Americans understand that food is fundamental. Presidents do not put people onto the food stamp rolls.

Taser Used on 11-Year-Old in School

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An 11-year-old boy was tasered in school while trying to get away from a police officer in South Carolina. According to an account in Colleton Today, two school officials radioed a resource officer to help contain a 6th grade boy at Colleton Middle School in Walterboro. When the officer arrived, the boy began to run. She asked him to stop and when he didn’t, she fired her taser. The boy was taken into custody and moved to an office where the taser prongs were removed.