The January 31 Wisconsin State Journal story about Dane County Judge Juan Colás’ decision to keep 16-year-old Devante James in the adult court system illustrates one of the greatest injustices created by the legislature when changes were made to the juvenile code in 1996. Devante has been charged with being a lookout in a confrontation...
Too often our public policy and investments related to youth are informed not so much by fact as by myth, popular media, and catchy headlines. What we do know is that the vast majority of youth today are responsible, productive, pro-social, and engaged in the business of growing up to be contributing members of our communities. ...
The National Archive of Criminal Justice Data has recently released census information for 2010 of the number of juveniles placed in juvenile residential facilities in each state. The data can be reviewed through Easy Access to the Census Juveniles in Residential Placement 1997-2010, including data for both secure (juvenile corrections,...
As counties have developed more community-based programs and more cost-effective strategies for working with youthful offenders, we have seen a steady decline in the number of youth placed in secure confinement. Yet, another round of reductions to funding for juvenile justice programs, if approved, will hit counties hard as the...
Some of you will have followed the scandal that reached national notoriety in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania – where judges were ordering youth held in secure confinement in a private facility and money was being funneled back to them by the facility operators. Finally, at least some aspects of that have come to some closure with the...
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