The Michigan Juvenile Detention Association will continue to be a national leader in promoting and sustaining of exemplary juvenile detention, residential treatment, and community based services for youth and their families.
The Michigan Juvenile Detention Association is committed to the highest standard of professional ethics, overall excellence in the care and custody of youth, and the provision of services to their families.
All in History of JJ
Punishment in the adult system can be for varied reasons — punishment as a consequence, as a deterrent or as rehabilitation. In the juvenile system, it’s all about rehabilitation.
Today, if you’re under 18 and charged with a crime, your case will likely be decided, and punishment meted out, through a legal system designed for minors. But until the beginning of the 20th century, kids under the age of 18 were tried — and jailed or imprisoned — alongside adults. That is, until the world’s first juvenile court was established right here in Chicago in 1899.
In the field of juvenile justice, Justice Kennedy is most recognized for his Eighth Amendment sentencing decisions. Principally, in 2005, he authored the opinion Roper v. Simmons, which abolished the death penalty for juveniles who committed offenses when they were “older than 15 but younger than 18” years old.
Today, George M. Rush Stadium on the San Francisco City College campus is the scene of nothing more violent than football games. But during the 19th century, one of the grimmest institutions in the city’s history stood near here — the Industrial School.
America incarcerates more juveniles than any country in the world.
In 2015, black children were five times more likely than white children to be incarcerated. So while 86 of 100,000 white children in the United States were behind bars, 433 of 100,000 black children found themselves locked up. To understand how we got here, let’s first examine the evolution of the juvenile justice system.
In partnership with WNYC, The Root presents Caught. Check out the #CaughtPodcast, and see the first of our three-part video series above.
