Juvenile Justice

Law Firm Fights Fla. Teen’s 30-Year Sentence for Deadly Driving

William Thornton IV was reportedly driving without a valid license when he skidded through a stop sign on a poorly lit road in Citrus County, Fla., in 2004. Both occupants of the vehicle he hit, who weren’t wearing their seatbelts, were thrown from their SUV and died. But Thornton, who…

Jun 5, 2008 3:23 PM CDT

Ohio Juvenile Judge Offers Sentencing Option of Blood Donation

Blood transfusions may have helped save the life of a Cleveland juvenile court judge when at the age of 17 he became paralyzed from the neck down in a trampoline accident. Now Judge Peter Sikora is offering juvenile offenders the chance to help others in life-or-death situations by allowing older…

Jun 4, 2008 7:19 PM CDT

Swayed by Defendant’s Testimony, Jurors Puzzle Lawyers With Verdict

Demetrius Carey was charged as a triggerman, at age 14, in an alleged robbery-gone-bad that resulted in the death of a 56-year-old South Florida woman on her front steps as she was returning from the grocery store. But the now-16-year-old defendant apparently may have saved himself from a potential life…

May 29, 2008 9:12 PM CDT

10-Year-Old Talks His Way Through Sea-Tac Airport Security

A 10-year-old boy who took a commercial airline flight to Texas, with a stopover and without a ticket last year, at age 9, has reportedly tried again. This time, Semaj Booker talked his way through the security screening at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport without a ticket, but was stopped as he…

May 28, 2008 6:12 PM CDT

Would-Be Suicide Bomber, 14, Explains Why

After his first (and only) four months of schooling, at an Islamic madrassa in Pakistan, Shauker Ullah was ready, at 14, to pursue what religious leaders reportedly told him was his true vocation in life: Becoming a suicide bomber. He didn’t know how to drive a car or read a…

May 27, 2008 6:46 PM CDT

Teen Violence Up in London; ‘Harry Potter’ Actor is Killed

It isn’t just in major cities in the U.S. that recent spates of violence, often attributed to teens and young adults, have sparked concern. A top official at Scotland Yard has warned British parents to find out whether their children are carrying knives, after attacks killed 14 teens in London…

May 27, 2008 5:24 PM CDT

Tenn. Judge Slapped for Harsh Treatment of Immigrant Juvies

Tennessee disciplinary authorities have censured a Tennessee judge for his conduct in cases involving children of illegal immigrants and children he thought might be in U.S. illegally. Dickson County Juvenile Court Judge A. Andrew Jackson faced discipline over his handling of three hearings in 2007, the Tennessean reports. In each…

May 19, 2008 4:30 PM CDT

Family Seeks $207M in Death Suit, $1M Per Minute of Suffering

The family of an East Baltimore teen who died in 2007 at a school for juvenile offenders while counselors attempted to restrain him have filed a wrongful-death suit seeking $207 million. The figure represents $1 million for every minute that Isaiah Simmons III, 17, allegedly suffered while counselors at Bowling…

May 16, 2008 1:59 PM CDT

Military Judge Threatens to Suspend Khadr Terror Trial Over Evidence Issue

A military judge has sided with the defense in pretrial proceedings in the the controversial terrorism case of a Canadian suspect captured by U.S. forces in Afghanistan at age 15. Unless the military turns over to defense lawyers by May 22 a prison log of Omar Khadr’s treatment at the…

May 8, 2008 10:17 PM CDT

Brain Research Raises Questions on Treatment of Young Defendants

Science on brain development is intensifying the debate over whether minors should be tried as adults for serious crimes. Recent research shows the brain’s prefrontal cortex governing reasoning develops more slowly than the limbic system governing emotions, the Washington Post reports. The two parts of the brain don’t begin working…

May 6, 2008 11:46 AM CDT

Md. Law Prof Turns Class Into Think Tank

So far lawmakers and law enforcers haven’t had much luck improving conditions in crime-plagued Baltimore. So University of Maryland Law Professor Orde F. Kittrie has put the challenge to his class. He’s asked the 13 students enrolled in “Crime in Maryland: Problems and Proposed Solutions” to spend the semester acting…

Apr 24, 2008 4:21 PM CDT

Supreme Court Rejects Appeal in Case of Boy Serving 30-Year Sentence

The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to accept an appeal that contends a 30-year sentence given to a 12-year-old boy amounts to cruel and unusual punishment. Christopher Pittman was convicted of killing his grandparents as they were sleeping. The South Carolina judge who sentenced him was barred by law from…

Apr 14, 2008 5:51 PM CDT

Lawyers Seek Dismissal of Charges in Playground Assault

Lawyers for two girls ages 10 and 11 say they will ask a Pennsylvania court to dismiss charges against them for a playground assault because they are too young to understand the charges. Chief Erie County Public Defender Tony Logue said he will ask a juvenile court to dismiss the…

Apr 10, 2008 6:11 PM CDT

Judge Opts to Keep Teen Off Ill. Sex Offender Registry

Taking advantage of a new law giving judges more discretion in Illinois, one judge, possibly for the first time, has opted to leave a youthful offender’s name off the a sex offender registry. Kane County Juvenile Court Judge Wiley Edmondson ruled last week that a college student, who was 13…

Apr 9, 2008 11:57 AM CDT

Arrested at 12 for 57th Time, ‘Crime Boy’ Never Had a Chance

Now an adult facing yet another criminal charge, Percy Campbell, as a preteen years ago, got the full benefit of all the services the juvenile system could offer. Arrested in 1993, at age 12, for the 57th time (it was his 39th felony charge), Campbell’s case attracted media attention and…

Apr 8, 2008 6:49 PM CDT