Racial and Ethnic Disparities
“For decades, in the summertime, America has confined certain of its youth in what are essentially open-air heat camps. In city after city, camp-form is established through the enactment of warm-weather juvenile curfews which keep the youth at home or in state-sponsored centers during summer nights and, increasingly, during days as well. Local governments justify…
The Gault Center released an update on the state of youth defense in Kansas, which centers the perspectives and experiences of young people impacted by the juvenile legal system, through a collaborative effort with Progeny, a youth-adult partnership in Kansas, TerraLuna Collaborative, a research consulting group, and Mulberry Art Gallery, which focuses on supporting emerging…
This report highlights D.C. transfer laws and discusses the current U.S. Attorney’s argument that the District of Columbia should amend its law to transfer more young people to to adult court. The report compares D.C.’s transfer law to transfer laws across the country and highlights decades of research that has concluded transfer laws do not…
This issue brief by the Juvenile Justice Initiative provides an overview of transfer laws in Illinois. Additionally, the brief reviews demographic data on young people who are being tried as adults and identifies the ways that transfer fails children and public safety in the state of Illinois. The brief ends by calling for a return…
From the Discussion: “This study illuminates pathways for future research to explore facility closures. Such research should investigate the impact of specific drivers supporting completed closures of youth facilities, including the combination of stated reasons to appeal to different audiences. Notably, we only found 1 paper in our scoping review that explores the strategies used…
From the Introduction: “Following a 2024 County Council request, the Pierce County Performance Audit Committee contracted with the CoLab for Community and Behavioral Health Policy at the University of Washington to conduct an audit of the county’s juvenile justice system against national and research best practice. The assessment is intended to guide future county investments…
From the abstract: “The discipline of public health has begun to recognize the structural inequities of the carceral system as drivers of poor individual and population health. Thenumberofpeopleincarceratedandthelengthoftheirincarcerationdeterminethescopeandgravityoftheirexposureto these individual and public health effects. Plea bargains all but guarantee a period of incarceration, often for many years, because prosecutors have significant bargaining power against defendants…
From the introduction: “Although the Fourth Amendment grants the Supreme Court power over searches and seizures, it would be unrealistic to turn to the Court for help. In theory, the Fourth Amendment exclusionary rule shapes future police behavior by excluding evidence from trials if the police obtained it unlawfully. However, when it comes to racial…
From the conclusion” “Conclusion There is no question that the statistical picture of special education is bleak. But after its meeting of stakeholders, interviews with experts, and review of the research, NCD believes that IDEA and other related disability laws, with improved enforcement, can and should benefit at-risk students who are properly referred and served.…
The Sentencing Project released a report on adolescent gun possession cases, highlighting the harms of punishment and calling for comprehensive community-based initiatives to reduce gun violence. This report offers research on the reasons why youth carry guns, ranging from peer influence to past experiences of trauma and walks through how juvenile court systems typically respond…
The Annie E. Casey Foundation released its annual Kids Count Data Book, which offers a national analysis on four indicators of child wellbeing: economic wellbeing, education, health, and family and community. This report is part of the Kids Count Data Center, which provides demographic and wellbeing data on children and families. This report includes data…
From the abstract: “Hundreds of thousands of children are brought under the jurisdiction of delinquency courts every year in the United States. Despite the reality that most children engage in delinquent behavior during their adolescence, poor children, children of color, children with disabilities, and children who identify as LGBTQIA+ comprise a disproportionate number of those who become delinquency system-involved. These disparities exist…
From the introduction: “Youth justice advocates, including lawyers, organizers, and other youth and adult movement builders, want to replace the current damaging, discriminatory, and ineffective juvenile and criminal legal systems1 with better approaches. We envision approaches that support children, help them f lourish, and contribute to a safe, equitable, and healthy community. How do we…
Professor Kris Henning and Rebba Omer authored a law review article on decriminalizing normal adolescent behaviors, race, and disabilities. This article maps a way forward for all system actors in the juvenile legal system to mitigate and buffer against the harms of juvenile legal system involvement for youth with disabilities. Specifically, this article outlines youth…
From abstract: Over the past decade, dozens of state and local jurisdictions across the country and political spectrum have ended fines and fees in juvenile courts. One monetary sanction, however, is routinely left out of reform efforts: victim restitution. Unlike most fines and fees, youth restitution—paid to victims or harmed parties for economic loss or…
Following the 20th anniversary of the Roper v. Simmons decision that ruled the death penalty unconstitutional for youth under the age of 18, the Death Penalty Information Center released a report on the latest science of adolescent brain development and evolving societal standards that recognize the need for heightened legal protections for 18- to 20-year-olds.…
From the Abstract: In Maine, there is no such thing as a child too young to be prosecuted. Maine’s Juvenile Code grants the juvenile court jurisdiction over a child of any age, even one who would have been considered too young to prosecute in the fifteenth century. As of 2024, just over half of states…
