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Please apply today. The deadline to apply is March 3, 2017.
Weekly News Roundup
February 17, 2017 A sampling of recent news stories related to the prosecution of youth as adults. CFYJ in the News
New Poll Shows Widespread Support for Rehabilitation Over Incarceration – Juvenile Justice Information Exchange A large majority of Americans say the juvenile justice system must place more emphasis on rehabilitating youthful offenders and focus far less on punishment and prison, according to a survey released today. More here.
Author, Activist Dwayne Betts to Speak About Social Justice at University of Wisconsin – La Crosse – La Crosse Tribune
Reginald Dwayne Betts knows how hard it is to overcome the odds. They keynote speaker for the La Crosse Reads program participated in a carjacking at age 16 and landed a nine-year prison sentence. More here.
National News
Congressman Rally Behind Juvenile Justice Reform – Courthouse News Service In something of a departure for Capitol Hill these days, advocates of juvenile-justice reform faced little opposition Wednesday in pushing members of a House subcommittee to revive a bill that never made it out of the Senate last year. More here.
Session’s Hardline Stance on Youth Incarceration at Odds with Public’s View – The Guardian Last week, the new top lawman of the United States promised to forge an era of hardline “law and order” around the country, even as Americans across party lines support very different, less punitive approaches to questions of justice and young people, according to a new study. More here. How Our Roller-Coaster Juvenile Justice System Began – Juvenile Justice Information Exchange
Juvenile justice in America is akin to a roller coaster ride — when it goes up, it always goes down, and with kids screaming. Just when we learn how to better the system that will make kids better, something comes to tear it down. More here. State-by-State News California From Lock Up to Leaders: Formerly Incarcerated Youth Help Direct Juvenile Justice Policy in California – The Chronicle of Social Change When Juan Gomez first arrived at a notorious California youth prison in rural Amador County at the age of 16, he remembers an acute sense of powerlessness. Guards at the Preston Youth Correctional Facility patrolled the grounds with impunity, meting out beatings and macings to the youth locked up there. More here. Study Stresses Dangers of Trying Youth as Adults – Youth Radio Until November of last year, California prosecutors could bypass the juvenile justice system, charging minors in adult courts without any input from a judge. “Prosecutorial direct filing” is no longer legal after the passage of Prop 57 last November, and now a report from advocacy organization Human Impact Partners, published earlier this month, has made a case for why California should go further–and eliminate the practice of charging youth as adults entirely. More here. If Kids Ran Juvy: Suggestions from the People Who Know Juvenile Detention Best – The Marshall Project Every couple of years, California takes a close look at its rules governing juvenile detention centers. In determined bureaucratic fashion, officials convene, debate and ultimately agree on updates to the state regulations covering the facilities that house children. More here. Guam
Pesch: Law Helps Juvenile Defendants – Pacific Daily News
Those of us who have raised teenagers, or spent a lot of time around them, know that they can be very impulsive and sometimes make very bad decisions. At times these impulsive acts may amount to criminal acts. How many times have we read newspaper articles about rioting students, students coming to school drunk or kids caught shoplifting? More here.
Kentucky
Keeping Kids Out of Court: KYA Advocates for Age Appropriate Responses to Youth Behavior – Spectrum News Extremely young children can end up locked up in secure detention facilities in Kentucky, but legislation filed before the General Assembly is seeking to set a minimum age of criminal responsibility in an effort to keeps kids out of the justice system. More here.
KY Lawmaker Pushing to Eliminate Racial Disparity in Juvenile Justice System – WKYT The Fayette County Juvenile Detention Center has 36 kids locked up. "It's not uncommon to look at our 'pop' sheets and look at the kids who are in detention and it be 70, 80 percent African American," said Juvenile Justice Director Kristie Stutler. More here.
Louisiana
Offering a Valentine for Louisiana Children Facing the System Alone – Ebony
For many of us, thinking about Valentine’s Day conjures childhood memories of making an assortment of handmade cards that eventually were posted on the refrigerator by Mom. Or maybe our parents bought us those miniature Valentine’s Day cards to give out to all our classmates. More here.
Massachusetts
Bills Seek to Change Criminal Justice Age – Sentinel & Enterprise News Jeff Alvarez remembers how he often got into trouble as a teenager in Lawrence. He spent three months on the streets and later two years in an Essex County lockup. More here.
Missouri
Missouri Lawmaker Proposes Raising Adult Crimes Age – McClatchy DC Bureau
A Missouri representative has proposed a bill requiring raising the age of people tried in court as adults to 18 years. Republican state Rep. Wayne Wallingford's proposed measure would require anyone under the age of 18 to be prosecuted in juvenile courts, with the exception of 16- or 17-year-olds who have been certified as adults. More here. Schroer Seeks to Reform Criminal Justice by Raising the Age of Juvenile Jurisdiction – Missouri Times
In the state of Missouri, a 17-year-old cannot vote, join the army, buy cigarettes, gamble, or even serve on a jury, but they can be tried as adults in a court of law. Right now, Missouri is one of only seven states that automatically prosecutes 17-year-olds as adults. In fact, any juvenile between the ages of 12 and 17 who has allegedly committed a felony can be tried as an adult under current statute. More here.
Wallingford Wants to Raise Age of Adult Crimes to 18 – Southeast Missourian A 17-year-old cannot buy cigarettes, vote or serve on a jury in Missouri, but he or she can be tried in court as an adult. State Rep. Wayne Wallingford, R-Cape Girardeau, wants to change the law. More here. New York Senate Democrats Call for Real Action on Raise the Age, Don’t Want Half Measures – LongIsland.com
The Senate Democratic Conference today demanded real action to raise the age of criminal responsibility for non-violent, youth offenders. The Senate Democrats have led the fight to Raise The Age since 2012 when legislation was first introduced to address this crisis. More here.
Effort to Raise the Age for State Prison Sentences for Teens Convicted of Crimes – WXXI News Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie is pushing for a measure to stop treating 16- and 17-year-olds as adults in the state’s criminal justice system. Heastie said the proposals would take 16- and 17-year-olds out of the adult criminal justice system and treat them as juveniles in family court. Heastie, the first African-American speaker, said this is a personal issue for him. More here. Assembly Passes ‘Raise the Age’ as Budget Negotiations Continue -- timesunion
The Assembly is poised to continue passing Tuesday legislation part of a 12-point package that includes a bill that would raise the age of criminal responsibility from 16 to 18 years old. The Raise the Age bill was approved 81-40. More here. Senate Democrats Brace for Battle in Juvenile Justice Reform – Star Tribune
New York lawmakers are gearing up for another clash over state law that treats 16- and 17-year-olds as adults in the justice system. Senate Democrats on Monday called for the state to raise the age of juvenile jurisdiction to 18 next year and to avoid "watered-down" compromises from Republicans or Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo that could limit or delay the increase. More here. Young People Devoured by Jail – Daily News Opinion
This will be the third year that Gov. Cuomo attempts to convince the legislature to raise the age of adult criminal responsibility to 18, a reform whose chances have improved with the support of the breakaway Independent Democratic Conference that plays an instrumental role in the state Senate. More here. North Carolina
NC Should Keep Most 16- and 17- Year Olds Offenders Out of Adult Court – The News & Observer William Lassiter, North Carolina’s deputy commissioner of juvenile justice, made the case for raising the age at which a youngster can be charged as an adult with reason, facts and common sense in a recent speech at the John Locke Foundation. His recommendations, included in legislation that will go before lawmakers this year, are sound and rooted not in speculation but statistics and the findings of a cross-section of experts. More here. NC’s Juvenile Crime Chief Touts Merits of Raising the Juvenile Age – The News & Observer
The state’s deputy commissioner of juvenile justice told members of a conservative think tank that legislation set to go before the General Assembly this year to raise the age when someone can be charged with a crime as an adult would not apply to young people charged with violent felonies. More here.
Pennsylvania
What Juveniles Said About How They Landed in the Justice System – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Youth participants in the 100 Percent Pittsburgh study on the juvenile justice system were asked about circumstances that led them to get into trouble. Here are some of their comments:
“My mom tried to kill me, and I had to fight to survive, and I had to fight my mom, and then I got in trouble for fighting her.” More here. Study: Listening to Youths Could Improve Justice System -- TribLive
Allegheny County could improve its juvenile justice system — along with the lives of the region's poorest and most vulnerable children — by doing more to listen to juvenile offenders, identify disruptions in their home lives and incorporate their input into policymaking, a report published Monday found. More here. Rep. Jason Dawkins Calls for Task Force on Juvenile Lifers – The Philadelphia Tribune
State Rep. Jason Dawkins (D-179) along with state Rep. Seth Grove (R-196) will reintroduce a resolution to create a task force on juvenile life sentences. The resolution comes as the U.S. Supreme Court ruled life sentences without parole for people under the age of 18 are unconstitutional. More here.
Texas
Coalition Wants Minors Out of Adult Prison – The Baptist Standard
A broad-based coalition that includes the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission insists tough-on-crime Texas should get smart on crime by raising the age of juvenile jurisdiction from 17 to 18. Texas is one of only seven states where 17-year-old offenders are treated as adults. More here. Utah ACLU: Northern Utah Minorities More Likely to End Up in Juvenile System – Standard Examiner
Hispanics and other people of color in Weber, Davis and Morgan counties are more likely than whites to end up in the juvenile justice system, relative to their share of the population. More here. Editorial: Utah Juvenile Justice Reforms Should be Approved – The Salt Lake Tribune
The Utah Legislature has been handed another chance to spend some money now on a program that promises to save a lot more money — and a few lives — over the long run. More here. Sweeping Reforms Proposed for Utah’s Juvenile Justice System – The Salt Lake Tribune
The full House will consider a plan to make sweeping changes in how youth are treated in the state's juvenile justice system. Despite questions about the more than $9 million estimated cost and opposition from some Utah youth prosecutors, the House Judiciary Committee unanimously approved HB239, advancing it to a floor debate. More here.
CFYJ Blogs
The Power of Love – by Marcy Mistrett, CEO
As we celebrate Valentine’s Day this week, and as the Executive Director of a national organization that ends the prosecution of youth in adult court, I am urging us all to embrace ‘the Power of Love’. More here. New Guide Documents that Over Half of Girls in California’s Juvenile Justice Facilities Are LGBTQ or Gender Nonconforming – by The National Center for Lesbian Rights and Impact Justice
Today, the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) and Impact Justice announced the release of a trailblazing publication entitled “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Questioning, and/or Gender Nonconforming and Transgender Girls and Boys in the California Juvenile Justice System: A Practice Guide.” The guide, written by Angela Irvine and Aisha Canfield at Impact Justice and Shannan Wilber at NCLR, provides California probation officials with the tools to protect the safety and well-being of LGBTQ and gender nonconforming (GNC) youth in their care and custody. More here.
Campaign For Youth Justice
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