The Division of Juvenile Corrections (DJC) has released a report in response to 2011 Act 32 in which they were directed to gather information about juvenile justice expenditures and services throughout Wisconsin, including both expenditures by the DJC as well as by counties, related to intervening in juvenile crime.Variations in how...
Youth Justice
The Supreme Court bans Mandatory Life without Parole Sentences for Youth
While most attention on the Supreme Court is around their decision on health care, today the court ruled 5-4 that statutes requiring the mandatory sentencing of youth under the age of 18, even youth who commit a homicide, to life without the opportunity for parole (LWOP) are unconstitutional. The circumstances of the two cases brought...
Is it Working for Kids for Juvenile Justice and the Safety of Our Communities
Like other states, Wisconsin has seen significant declines in juvenile crime over the past decade or more, as measured by the number of youth arrested, the number of delinquency charges filed in court, and the number of youth placed in institutions. WCCF previously documented these changes in a Fall 2011 report, “The State of Juvenile...
No harm, no foul! An interesting case of questionable, at best, practice regarding waiver to adult court.
Now, here’s an interesting (and seemingly improper) practice – inviting the prosecuting attorney to a human services (Walworth County) department staff meeting to discuss what the department’s recommendation should be related to waiver to adult court for a youth. The Wisconsin Supreme Court just issued an opinion in a case (State of WI...
Is the Juvenile Arrest Decline Slowing Down?
Based on preliminary data (subject to revision) the over fifteen-year decline in the number of juveniles arrested in Wisconsin continued to decline in 2011, although the “pace” of that decline slowed a bit and was less universal. The number of youth (note: this includes 17-year olds who are still reported as juveniles for purposes of...
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