After years of sending youths to solitary confinement for days, weeks and even months at a time, the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice has taken drastic steps to reduce the…
Oct 26, 2017 1:44 PM CDT
Gov. Jerry Brown of California signed into law on Oct. 11, a sweeping package of criminal justice reform bills including a ban on the practice of billing parents for…
Oct 12, 2017 3:44 PM CDT
Judge Dwayne D. Woodruff, a former professional football player—and Super Bowl champion—Woodruff went to law school full-time while he played defensive back for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Now, after more than a decade on the court bench, Woodruff is running for a seat on the state supreme court.
Jun 1, 2017 4:00 AM CDT
Judge Dwayne Woodruff
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The parents of a suburban Chicago teen have filed a lawsuit blaming their son’s suicide on an 18-minute interrogation conducted by a police officer and dean at his high school…
May 25, 2017 7:00 AM CDT
The district attorney in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, is criticizing a judge who suggested a $1 fine for each inappropriate touch in a juvenile’s harassment case.
Mike Manko, a spokesman for…
May 5, 2017 10:13 AM CDT
Older teenagers in the state of New York will once again be tried as teenagers rather than adults, under budget legislation passed by the state last weekend.
The New…
Apr 14, 2017 8:00 AM CDT
Three states that have led a trend toward once again trying 16- and 17-year-olds as juveniles have seen falling juvenile crime and stable costs.
That’s a major finding of the…
Mar 10, 2017 10:00 AM CST
Since 2009, seven states have raised the age of adult prosecution to 18, and five more tried during their 2015-2016 legislative sessions. In 2017, advocates are expecting “raise the age” bills in at least five states—more if you count proposals to increase the age to 21. These aren’t bleeding-heart liberal states; one of the early adopters was reliably conservative Mississippi.
Feb 1, 2017 4:10 AM CST
Miguel Moll, who served time in adult prison as a teenager, co-founded Hyped About HYPE (Helping Young People Excel), an organization that speaks to kids in the juvenile justice system about making better choices. Associated Press.
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While juvenile justice advocates have been winning the battle to raise the age in courts that consider defendants as adults, they’ve also been winning a smaller but important reform: limits…
Feb 1, 2017 4:05 AM CST
Two justices dissented on Monday when the U.S. Supreme Court returned five cases to Arizona state courts to reconsider in light of Supreme Court precedent on juvenile sentencing.
The Supreme…
Oct 31, 2016 1:17 PM CDT
The ACLU of Missouri has sued the Kansas City Public Schools over a handcuffing incident involving an African-American 7-year-old boy.
According to the Kansas City Star, the second-grader was…
Sep 16, 2016 2:00 PM CDT
Juvenile judges in Louisiana imposed longer sentences in the week after an unexpected football loss by Louisiana State University, according to a working paper by two Louisiana State University economics…
Sep 8, 2016 8:00 AM CDT
A report says fines and fees for juveniles who get in trouble with the law trap them in debt and push them toward recidivism.
The report (PDF) was published…
Sep 2, 2016 4:00 PM CDT
For children with autism, social interaction, communication and behavioral development are common challenges. Those challenges are compounded when an autistic child gets wrapped up in the criminal justice system.
…
Sep 1, 2016 3:50 AM CDT
Tammy Hughes. Photograph by Chandler Crowell.
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