MJDA

National News

Jack a Car, Jack Up Your Life is a carjacking prevention campaign created by teens, for teens. We want our friends to think and talk about what can happen if you jack a car or ride along. We know our friends are "...trying to have fun... but you may end up killing someone in your car." --Nevaeh, 14, was incarcerated for 4 months for carjacking. Listen to what she has to say here. And if you have a friend that needs to hear it, then share it!

Sep 24

Sep 24 'Marshall Project' Report Highlights Racial Gap In Juvenile Detention Centers

Listening Recommendations

NPR's Ari Shapiro speaks to Eli Hager, a reporter for The Marshall Project, about his recent piece on the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

Sep 20

Sep 20 From Prison To The Workforce

Listening Recommendations

No one knows for sure how many Americans have been convicted of a crime. But the number is in the millions, making the formerly incarcerated a significant portion of the population. Once these men and women have served their time, they find their troubles aren't over. It's exceptionally hard for former convicts to get a job, which is bad news for those individuals, for society and for the economy.

Sep 20

Sep 20 There’s overwhelming evidence that the criminal-justice system is racist. Here’s the proof.

Ideas and Opinions

Of particular concern to some on the right is the term “systemic racism,” often wrongly interpreted as an accusation that everyone in the system is racist. In fact, systemic racism means almost the opposite. It means that we have systems and institutions that produce racially disparate outcomes, regardless of the intentions of the people who work within them.

Sep 20

Sep 20 Constantine unveils proposed $4 million budget for his Roadmap to Zero Youth Detention

Constantine reveals $4 million proposed budget to fund programs aimed at helping achieve his goal of 'zero youth detention.'

Sep 18

Sep 18 Conservatives Suddenly Realize Juvenile Offenders Deserve Leniency

Ideas and Opinions

Super-predator or statesman?

Sep 17

Sep 17 Legislators Introduce ‘Beyond the Box for Higher Education Act’

Juvenile Justice News, Criminal Justice News, National News

U.S. Sens. Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) introduced on Sept. 13, 2018, the Beyond the Box for Higher Education Act, new legislation that would encourage colleges and universities to remove criminal and juvenile justice questions from their admissions applications and give more Americans a chance to earn a higher education.

Sep 14

Sep 14 The Number of Youth in Juvenile Detention in California Has Quietly Plummeted

National News, Juvenile Justice News

Major portions of San Diego’s juvenile detention facilities sit empty. And it’s not just San Diego. Falling crime rates, combined with more money for prevention and a changing juvenile justice culture, have virtually emptied California’s juvenile halls.

Sep 13

Sep 13 Preteens accused of crimes won’t be locked up at Cook County juvenile center

Children under 13 who are accused of crimes will no longer be locked up in Cook County.

Under a law passed unanimously Wednesday by the Cook County Board of Commissioners, the county will find alternatives to detaining kids arrested in the county.

Sep 7

Sep 7 Giving City: Nonprofit launches an uncommon approach to child welfare

National News

Despite all efforts in Austin to provide mentors and support to our most challenged children, too many fall through the cracks. So a nonprofit new to Austin, Friends of the Children, aims to find those children and serve them with an innovative model its board chair calls “common sense, but not common practice.”

Aug 31

Aug 31 Does high-quality early education reduce interactions with the juvenile justice system?

We (The Incline) investigated this reader-submitted question to find out.

New Report, Getting to Zero: A 50 State Study of Strategies to Remove Youth From Adult Jails, pinpoints exactly where youth are held in jails and why

Aug 28

Aug 28 New Report, Getting to Zero: A 50 State Study of Strategies to Remove Youth From Adult Jails, pinpoints exactly where youth are held in jails and why

WASHINGTON (Aug. 28, 2018) -- With adult jails housing an increasing number of state prisoners, and the population within juvenile detention facilities shrinking, now is the time to reassess the way youth prosecuted as adults are incarcerated in America.

Aug 28

Aug 28 The Price of Justice: The High Cost of 'Free' Counsel for Youth in the Juvenile Justice System

Despite being eligible to have court-appointed attorneys at no cost, indigent juvenile defendants and their families are often charged for “free” counsel, a report from the Juvenile Law Center finds.

Aug 27

Aug 27 Youth Study Center still isn't as safe for children as it should be

Three new reports and interviews with former staff document overcrowding and severe staffing shortages at the Youth Study Center.

Aug 22

Aug 22 States are looking beyond the juvenile justice system to address school truancy

Across the country, jurisdictions attempt to get kids in school by punishing or fining parents, involving child welfare agencies, and punishing students themselves, sometimes sending them to court or juvenile detention.

Aug 22

Aug 22 Pitt Study Finds Link Between School Suspensions & Students In Juvenile Justice System

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – New research released by the University of Pittsburgh says there’s a connection between suspensions, grades and whether a child ends up in the juvenile justice system.

Aug 21

Aug 21 King County reaches deal to ban placing jailed juveniles in solitary confinement

Under the settlement, the county also will pay $240,000 to four juveniles who were held in solitary confinement at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent.

Aug 21

Aug 21 New Orleans becomes first city in South to axe court fees for delinquent youths

Concluding that they do more harm than good, Orleans Parish Juvenile Court has abolished court fees for juvenile delinquents.

Aug 17

Aug 17 State probe of Virginia detention center says immigrant teens strapped down, but not abused