All in Juvenile Justice News

Dozens of Prosecutors and Youth Corrections Officials Call to Close All Youth Prisons

From the Youth Correction Leaders for Justice: As prosecutors, youth correctional administrators, and other concerned individuals, we have too often witnessed the failures of our country’s system of youth justice. The United States has long been the global leader in youth incarceration, locking up young people at a far higher rate than other industrialized nations, resulting in further trauma and fraying family and social ties, rather than improving children’s lives. By any measure, our overuse of incarceration for youth is ineffective, inefficient, and inhumane.

CORONAVIRUS UPDATES IN JUVENILE JUSTICE

We’ve taken a break from posting during this unprecedented crisis but would like to provide the following list of articles pertaining to how COVID-19 is impacting the juvenile justice system nationwide. We will begin to post more regular updates in the near future.

Christopherson: Utah Has a Chance to Make the Juvenile Justice System More Compassionate

Nine in 10 children in the juvenile justice system report experiencing trauma of some kind, and 70% struggle with mental health disorders — rates much higher than the general population, though depression and anxiety, unfortunately, remain common among Utah kids. The high likelihood is that a child involved in criminal activity has already suffered far beyond their fair share. It seems obvious — and the continuing horrors of Trump’s immigration policies demonstrate — that the stress associated with prosecution and detainment can only serve to traumatize them further.