Why does the U.S. lead the world in youth imprisonment? What should a truly effective juvenile justice system look like? How can the media stay ahead of the story?
On April 23-24, 2012, 30 journalists from around the nation joined some of the country's most prominent juvenile justice experts, practitioners and advocates to explore those questions at a special symposium at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, organized by John Jay's Center on Media, Crime and Justice with the support of the Tow Foundation and in cooperation with John Jay's Center for Research and Evaluation.
The 30 journalists, selected as Reporting Fellows, examined current sentencing and detention practices, the impact of race, treatment of mental health and substance abuse, and the role of police, courts, schools (and parents) in the so-called "school to prison pipeline." The year-long fellowship also includes the establishment of a "juvenile justice news network" for reporters to assist them in following trends in this area, and new research--with the aim of providing the tools that can help foster informed public debate at local and national levels in 2012 and beyond.
The symposium entitled Kids Behind Bars: Where's the Justice in America's Juvenile Justice System, Covering the Juvenile Justice Reform Debate in 2012 featured keynote speeches from Gail Garinger, The Child Advocate of the State of Massachusetts; attorney Bryan Stevenson who argued the Supreme Court case related to juvenile Life Without Parole; and Mike Bocian, Pollster & Founding Partner, GBA Strategies.
Panelists included: Vincent N. Schiraldi, Commissioner, New York City Department of Probation, James Bell, Founder and Executive Director, W. Haywood Burns Institute, C. Jama Adams, Professor and Chair of John Jay College's Africana Studies Department and Joseph Gaudett, Chief of Police, Bridgeport, Connecticut.
Proceedings of the conference, including podcasts, research materials provided by speakers, are covered below. For a full list of speakers, panelists and the agenda click here.
NOTE: this page will be updated regularly with articles by Fellows and other information as it becomes available.
Shelby County Juvenile Court officials in Memphis went on the defensive at a public meeting yesterday, clashing with parents and community leaders questioning them about racial disparities, reports the Memphis Commercial Appeal. Youth advocates from Nashville, with the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth, organized the information session to discuss a new Memphis-based project to reduce the number of minorities brought to court. Residents instead wanted to discuss a report released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Justice, which cited a pattern of rights violations and racial discrimination in the local juvenile justice system. Dwight Montgomery, head of the Memphis chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, said his efforts to keep youths out of gangs and other trouble have been stymied by a lack of response by police and court officials.
John Hall, head of both the statewide and Shelby County task forces, cited improvements in the local system. The Shelby County Juvenile Detention Center, once brimming with a population that required extra cots, is now typically less than half full. He and the state youth commission called the meeting to explain that Memphis has been chosen for a new project by the Annie E. Casey Foundation -- a multibillion-dollar organization formed in 1948 by Jim Casey, one of the founders of UPS, and his siblings and named for their mother. The foundation has gained a national reputation for promoting programs that provide alternatives to lockup for juvenile offenders.
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By Cara Tabachnick
Journalists and juvenile justice experts gathered on day two to discuss covering the juvenile justice reform debate in 2012 at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
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By Cara Tabachnick
Journalists and juvenile justice experts gathered to discuss covering the juvenile justice reform debate in 2012 at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
Read full entry »An administrative law judge Monday will hear arguments in part of a wide-ranging dispute about whether Florida is forcing counties to pick up too much of the cost of juvenile detention, reports the News Service of Florida. Okaloosa and Nassau counties are challenging the way the Department of Juvenile Justice is carrying out a law that requires counties to pay detention costs before court "disposition" of juveniles' cases. The challenge is part of a string of related legal disputes involving at least 10 counties --- and deals with issues that the Florida Association of Counties says have long been a priority for its members.
Gregory Stewart, an attorney for Okaloosa and Nassau counties, said the primary problem is that the "system is rigged to pass costs to the counties." But the Department of Juvenile Justice said in legal documents that the rules are a valid way to determine how detention costs will be shared by the state and counties. The issue, which stems from a 2004 law, involves complicated questions about how much of the detention tab counties should pay. Okaloosa County, for example, is disputing nearly $1.1 million in costs from the 2009-10 fiscal year, while Nassau takes issue with about $97,000. Other counties involved in pending cases include Bay, Broward, Hernando, Lee, Miami-Dade, Orange, Pinellas and Seminole.
Read full entry »A Florida appeals court panel says an 80-year term is too long for someone who committed armed robberies at age 17, reports the Associated Press. A three-judge panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal said uncertainty will continue over compliance with a U.S. Supreme Court opinion that rejected life sentences for juveniles who haven't killed anyone. The Florida court said an 80-year term is the functional equivalent of life without parole.
Judges across the U.S. are struggling with the high court's decision, which doesn't limit sentence length but says juveniles must get a meaningful opportunity to seek release based on maturity and rehabilitation for non-homicide crimes. The Florida case involves Antonio Demetrius Floyd, now 31, who was among 220 inmates sentenced to life in Florida for non-homicide crimes while they were under 18.
Read full entry »A push to reform juvenile justice in Georgia failed over finances in the state legislature, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The 246-page proposal was a rewrite of the entire Georgia Code that deals with children, including incarceration, foster care and termination of parental rights. It was the result of five years of work and assurances that reforming the juvenile justice system would save money and young lives that otherwise would be lost to the criminal justice system. But the would-be reforms died over concerns that local governments would have had to cover millions in costs, and the state would have to come up with more money. The bill had passed the House but didn't get on the Senate's final calendar.
"The governor knows we need significant reform in our juvenile justice system," said Brian Robinson, Gov. Nathan Deal's spokesman. "He agrees with the direction of the legislation, but right now, there are too many unknowns about the costs involved. Estimates vary widely, but we do know that it comes with a hefty price tag. The governor would like to see that issue resolved, so that we can move forward on these needed improvements." Douglas County District Attorney David McDade, who was among the prosecutors arguing against the bill, said, “The difficulty has been good government costs money, and if we’re going to have to implement that [bill], we need the resources. We support the bill as long as it’s fully funded.”
Read full entry »JM-4 in Washington, D.C.'s Superior Court isn’t your typical courtroom, says the Washington Post. No one is on trial. Defendants, called “respondents,” are surrounded by social workers, psychologists and, often, family members. There’s no mention of the criminal charges against them. It is the home of a 14-month-old juvenile court intended to help minors with mental health problems avoid the harsh consequences and limited rehabilitation opportunities in the juvenile system.
Known as the juvenile mental health diversion court, it is the latest stop for Magistrate Judge Joan Goldfrank, who has spent much of her career navigating the intersection of mental health and criminal justice. “The message I want to give them is that they are supported,” Goldfrank said. “The whole point of juvenile justice is rehabilitation. How could we not do it on the kids’ side?” The court, one of about a dozen similar courts around the U.S., is part of a broader movement toward “problem-solving” courts that try to tackle social problems such as drug use and prostitution without incarceration. The D.C. Department of Mental Health said 56 juveniles were enrolled in diversion in 2011. Eight, or 14 percent, were re-arrested, compared with 40 percent in regular court. Nationally, the re-arrest rate is 60 percent.
More than 2,000 young people in Pennsylvania are trying to put one of the nation's worst juvenile justice scandals behind them, NPR reports. It's been a year since a former judge was convicted in a "kids for cash" scandal. New rules intended to protect the rights of children took effect this week, but questions about Pennsylvania's juvenile justice system remain. Judge Mark Ciavarella was convicted of racketeering and conspiracy for taking nearly a million dollars from the developer of two for-profit prisons. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court vacated 2,251 convictions from his courtroom.
"This was a huge black eye," says Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Ron Castille. "That barely describes the enormity of what was going on up there. Because of that we made a lot of changes in juvenile rules." The changes are supposed to prevent another "kids for cash" scandal. For one thing, the use of shackles is now strongly discouraged. Starting this month, defendants in juvenile court will not be allowed to waive their right to counsel, except in rare cases. That's a big step forward, says Marsha Levick of the Juvenile Law Center in Philadelphia, which helped bring the Ciavarella case to light. Levick says Pennsylvania is one of a handful of states that do not provide money to counties to defend those who can't afford a lawyer. "That means that we really have justice by geography here," Levick says. "Kids in smaller counties, in poorer counties, will often get very poor representation."
Read full entry »Los Angeles County Juvenile Court will be opened to media coverage regularly, with certain exceptions intended to protect the interests of children, reports the Los Angeles Times. Judge Michael Nash said he wanted to open the proceedings because secrecy had allowed problems to fester outside of the public's view. Without access to the courts, news organizations have been forced to rely on incomplete case records released months or years after decisions were made.
Nash's ruling applies to the dependency side of Juvenile Court, which largely means child abuse, foster care, and adoption proceedings. The order does not apply to the delinquency side, which handles crimes committed by children. Under state law, Juvenile Court judges are able to open a proceeding if a news organization makes a persuasive argument for it. The media virtually never prevail. Nash's order shifts the burden of proof from news organizations to the parties involved in the proceedings. A Juvenile Court proceeding will now be open to reporters unless a compelling case is made to close it in the best interest of the child or children involved. Leslie Starr Heimov of the Children's Law Center of California, which represents a majority of children in the Los Angeles dependency system, said her firm was considering an appeal to the order.
Juveniles are more likely to commit crimes, especially drug offenses, if they live in crime-heavy neighborhoods, found researchers from Temple University in a recently published study.
Read full entry »Families, or the lack of them, loom large in the following writings from teens in juvenile detention. They are participants in The Beat Within, a national writing workshop, which allows the imprisoned teens to express themselves in a safe place.
The New York Times profiles Washington, D.C.'s Youth Court, one of 1,000 such institutions around the nation. The capital's youth court heard 675 cases in the last fiscal year. About one fifth of juveniles arrested in the city are sent to the court, which tends to work with older teens and more serious offenses than do other youth courts. The court is designed to give first-time non-violent offenders between 12 and 17 a way to stay out of the formal juvenile justice system. Cases are heard by juries composed of the offenders’ peers: other teens who have been through the same process — some as recently as the week before.
Local judicial officials must agree to divert an arrested teen to the court. It can’t investigate guilt or innocence, so teens who don’t admit responsibility stay in the formal system. In Youth Court, a teenager can be sentenced to write essays, make apologies, attend boys’ or girls’ discussion groups, or pay restitution; almost everyone is sentenced to serve on the Youth Court jury. Teens who don’t complete the requirements in 120 days go back to a real judge. “The idea is to take that first encounter with the law, especially for minor things, and use it to put them back on the right track, turn it into something positive,” said Carolyn Dallas, the court's director. Since 2003, the one-year re-arrest rate for people who come through Youth Court is 11 percent, compared to the formal juvenile justice re-arrest rate of about 25 percent.
Read full entry »New York State has long dealt with 16- and 17-year-old defendants more severely than almost every other state, trying all of them as adults in criminal courts. Now, state chief judge Jonathan Lippman is calling for a less punitive approach that would focus on finding ways to rehabilitate them, reports the New York Times. Lippman wants the state to send 16- and 17-year-olds accused of less serious crimes to family courts, which have more social services, continuing to prosecute the most violent juveniles as adults.
The plan reflects an emerging consensus in many states that troubled teenagers have been mishandled by the adult court system. If the state adopts the plan, it most likely must allocate more money for social services and for the court system, which is overburdened. The roles of judges, prosecutors, correction and probation officers and many others would change. “I think it’s complex but feasible,” said Edwina Richardson-Mendelson, administrative judge for New York City Family Court, which would have to handle tens of thousands more cases each year under the plan. Lippman’s idea needs legislative and gubernatorial approval.
New research on California's Proposition 21, which allows prosecutors to try juveniles in adult court without judicial permission, shows vast disparity in how counties have used the law.
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