All in Juvenile Justice News

Obama’s New Juvenile Justice Rules: What To Know

The Justice Department last week published proposed new rules related to the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) that will require most states to make significant improvements or face the loss of federal funds at a time when the appropriation has dropped significantly.

The changes to the central mechanism for federal juvenile justice funding come amidst uncertainty about reauthorization of the bill, and after a decline in federal funding for the act.

Every state but Wyoming participates in the JJPDA...

'Slender Man' Trial: Why Trying These Girls as Adults Is Absurd

In two decisions released Wednesday, a Wisconsin appeals court upheld a decision to try the girls in the "Slender Man" case as adults. The two girls admitted as 12-year-olds in 2014 to having stabbed their friend in order to please "Slender Man," an Internet horror meme. (The victim luckily crawled to safety and survived.) The decision to try two children as adults – two children immature and mentally ill enough to believe in the literal existence of a fictional character – may seem inappropriate, to put it mildly. But legally it's a viable one – thanks to a terrible Wisconsin law with analogues in many other states.