April 06, 2012
Juvenile Justice in New Orleans: LGBT issues, School-to-Prison Pipeline and More
Juvenile Justice in New Orleans: LGBT issues, School-to-Prison Pipeline and More
On March 22nd, 2012, The Lens welcomed five panelists and over 100 attendees to its third salon at the Ashe Cultural Arts Center, which focused on the status of the juvenile justice system in the New Orleans area.
Panelists were queried by the moderator on issues surrounding the new French Quarter youth curfew, LGBTQ youth issues in juvenile facilities, the rebuilding of the Youth Studies Center, the school to prison pipeline, and the new Orleans Parish Prison. Audience members were then invited to pose their own questions to the panel.
December 09, 2011
US Supreme Court to rule on life sentences for juveniles
US Supreme Court to rule on life sentences for juveniles
Juvenile Justice Reform
- U.S. Supreme Court ruling on life sentences for juveniles could overturn law
The U.S. Supreme Court will soon decide whether juveniles age 14 or younger can be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for homicide. A ruling that such sentences are categorically unconstitutional could upend laws in 36 states, including Wisconsin. - Amnesty International calls on U.S. to stop jailing minors for life
In a new report, Amnesty says sentencing juveniles to life in prison without parole is incompatible with the basic principles of juvenile justice. Currently, more than 2,500 adults are in U.S. jails for crimes committed as a child and under current rules they will never be freed. - Bullying behind bars: Pennsylvania's juvenile detention centers fail to protect LGBT youth
National statistics show lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered youth in juvenile detention facilities fare worse than their heterosexual peers. - Attorney General Holder Convenes First Hearing on Children’s Exposure to Violence
Attorney General Eric Holder recently convened the first of four public hearings of the National Task Force on Children Exposed to Violence, a part of the Defending Childhood Initiative, which is gathering expert and community testimony on children’s exposure to violence.
Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment
- The National Mentoring Partnership, Global Youth Justice, and the National Partnership for Juvenile Services are conducting a survey to improve the design and delivery of mentoring services for youth at risk for delinquency, alcohol and drug abuse, truancy, and other problem behaviors.
- Dramatic rise in substance abuse treatment admission rates from 1999-2009
A new SAMHSA report shows that while the overall rate of substance abuse treatment admissions among those aged 12 and older in the United States has remained nearly the same from 1999 to 2009, there has been a dramatic rise (430 %) in the rate of treatment admissions for the abuse of prescription pain relievers during this period.
