Juvenile Justice Reform

Next week, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in two separate cases regarding juvenile life without parole (JLWOP) sentences. The internet's been ablaze with legal briefs, searing critiques, compelling videos and strongly worded opinions.
Here's a few you may have missed:

• The ACLU urges the Court to reaffirm its belief in the redemption and rehabilitation of children.
• NYU Law School Dean Randy Hertz explains the legal case against juvenile life without parole sentences.
• Child psychiatrist David Fassler clarifies the differences between teen and adult brains.
• The Yale Undergraduate Law Review looks at the legal history of JLWOP.
• A former Massachusettes juvenile court judges says that young people don't deserve life without parole.
• Equal Justice Initiative's Bryan Stevenson urges us to talk about an injustice.
• The Sentencing Project releases a report looking at the lives of teen sentenced to life without parole.
• MSNBC asks whether 14 is too young to receive a JLWOP sentence and receives thousands of comments.
• Children's Defense Fund President Marian Wright Edelman asks for a second chance for kids with JLWOP sentences.
• For those visually inclined, Amnesty International has an infographic on JLWOP.

NYU's School of Law Dean Randy Hertz joins a growing list of legal scholars and youth advocates calling for an end to the practice of sentencing juveniles to life without the possibility of parole (JLWOP). 
Writing in The Nation, Hertz explains:

In Roper v. Simmons, which ruled out the death penalty for under-age offenders in 2005, the Court reasoned that “juvenile offenders cannot with reliability be classified among the worst offenders” because they are less mature and their sense of responsibility has not fully developed. They are more vulnerable to negative internal and external influences, including peer pressure. Unlike adults, they can’t control or escape dysfunctional homes and dangerous neighborhoods—two major contributing factors to youth crime. They also have a greater chance for rehabilitation. Thus, as the Court said, “from a moral standpoint it would be misguided to equate the failings of a minor with those of an adult.”
In 2010, the Court applied the same guiding logic in its decision in Graham v. Florida, concluding that children convicted of non-homicide crimes cannot be sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. As Justice Kennedy wrote for the majority, “Juveniles are more capable of change than are adults, and their actions are less likely to be evidence of ‘irretrievably depraved character’ than are the actions of adults.”
...
The recognition that children are different is supported by recent neuroscience and psychosocial studies that have shown adolescence to be a period of intense change in the brain. We now know that the parts of the brain that drive emotional reactions, impulses and reactivity to peers develop before those that control impulses and imagine consequences, and which enable adults to resist pressures, delay gratification and weigh risk and reward. Scientists who study the teenage brain describe it as akin to a car with a fully functioning gas pedal but no brakes.

About 80 percent of girls accused of misdemeanors in Maryland were committed to residential treatment centers compared to 50 percent of boys, according to statistics from Maryland’s Department of Juvenile Services (DJS).
The statistics, part of the Female Offenders Report, show more than two-thirds of girls sent to residential treatment centers were committed for offenses such as fighting and shoplifting or for drug offenses.
“That disparity between boys and girls is troubling and quite large,” Juvenile Services Secretary Sam Abed told Capital News Service. “It’s something I’m concerned about. It’s a very complicated question, but it’s something that merits explanation.”
The Maryland Legislature in 2011 passed a law requiring DJS to provide statistics breaking down services for boys and girls. Lawmakers grew concerned because DJS has the authority to make decisions about how youth committed to the juvenile justice system are treated.

Earlier today I created a word cloud to visualize the most common words and themes of this blog. This is what popped up:
 
What do you think? Is that an accurate representation of our discussions on this blog?

After the recent passage of House Bill 2707 that allows youth to be held in juvenile detention centers rather than adult jails while awaiting trial, the Campaign for Youth Justice and the Partnership for Safety and Justice released a report outlining the reasons Oregon should reassess its policies relating to Measure 11.
Measure 11 was originally marketed to Oregon voters as a way to deal with the state’s most serious youth offenders, but according to the report, the law hasn’t made Oregon any safer and has proven to have a detrimental impact on kids who commit less serious crimes. The study shows us that there are better ways to curb delinquency and increase the likelihood of young offenders becoming productive members of society.
In November of 1994, Oregon voters created new mandatory minimum sentences for a total of 16 crimes and required that teens charged with those crimes be tried as adults in the form of Measure 11. Those crimes included assault, arson, rape, kidnapping, manslaughter, robbery, sexual abuse, and murder. The state’s legislature followed suit and added even more crimes to the list. Today, the law requires youth who are 15 and older and charged with one of 21 crimes to be prosecuted automatically in the adult criminal justice system. If convicted of that crime, they are required to serve mandatory sentences usually reserved for adults. For instance, a conviction of robbery carries a minimum sentence of 70 months, regardless of age.

Juvenile Justice Reform

• Study shows youth law project “bridges gaps” for children in need
  Fosters
  An evaluation study recently completed by the University of New Hampshire reveals that services provided by the New Hampshire Legal Assistance's Youth Law Project result in an overall reduction of recidivism, a goal the agency strives for through providing support and resources alongside juveniles in the court system.
• Cook County must reform juvenile justice, national agency says
  Chicago Tribune
  Cook County should demolish its long-troubled juvenile temporary detention center and needs to address an array of problematic trends in how it detains youths, such as disproportionately high admission rates for African-Americans, according to a national criminal justice research agency report.
• Louisiana seeing reduced need for some juvenile justice facilities, chief says
  The Town Talk
  The number of referrals to Louisiana juvenile detention facilities is down, as are recidivism and funding, the head of the state Office of Juvenile Justice says, so daytime treatment services under her office can be eliminated.
• Funding cuts to youth centers would give minor offenders nowhere to go
  The Salt Lake Tribune
  Lawmakers in Utah are looking at cutting millions of dollars from Juvenile Justice Services, meaning that several rural youth receiving centers will shutter and others statewide will have limited operating hours.
• Most Texas juvenile prisoners have mental health problems
  CBS
  Some 52 percent of young people in Texas’ six youth prison facilities have moderate or high mental health treatment needs, the head of the state juvenile justice department says.
• Local juvenile drug court program is having a positive impact on Great Falls
  KFBB
  Judge Kenneth Neill was tired of seeing kids making bad decisions, so when the Juvenile Drug Court Program began in Cascade County 6 years ago, he saw it as a fresh start for teens who would otherwise be locked up.
• In Dakota County, jury of teenage peers offers alternative for juvenile offenders
  Pioneer Press
  A youth court in Minnesota is giving teens a second chance after learning from their mistakes.
• South Carolina bill to deny licenses to dropouts advances
  7 On Your Side
  Lawmakers are taking aim at South Carolina’s high dropout rate with a bill that would take driving privileges away from students who stop going to school.
• House passes overhaul of Georgia juvenile justice system with focus on treatment
  The Republic
  Juvenile courts would have to conduct an assessment of children's mental health needs before committing them into state custody as part of an overhaul of the juvenile justice code passed Wednesday by House lawmakers.
• What life is like for a 14-year-old killer tried as an adult in Indiana
  The Indianapolis Star
  Should a 12-year-old be tried as an adult? Paul Henry Gingerich was after he helped kill a man two years ago. He faces 10 more years in prison -- unless an appeal convinces a court he should have been tried as a juvenile.
• Q&A: James Bell on what to do with California’s youth prisons
  KALW
  KALW sat down with James Bell, Founder and Executive Director of the Burns Institute, to discuss disproportionate minority contact and realignment in California.
• Florida district seeks civil citation program for misdemeanors committed at school
  The Ledger
  Polk County School District officials said Tuesday they want to implement a civil citation program for students who commit misdemeanors at schools. The program would allow students of all ages who commit a misdemeanor on campus to receive a citation instead of possibly being arrested, run through the court system and possibly taken to jail.
• Legal loophole makes some Texas juvenile records public
  Houston Chronicle
  Personal information about thousands of Texas juveniles cited for truancy, disorderly conduct and other Class C misdemeanors is widely accessible to the public, despite privacy concerns from advocates and parents.

Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment

• Thousands of teens pick up smoking each day, new report says
  WBTV
  Every day in the U.S., more than 3,800 people under the age of 18 smoke their first cigarette. More than 1,000 of them become daily smokers. They replace the 1,200 people who die each day in the U.S. from smoking.

Florida conservatives support juvenile justice reforms, according to a recent poll by Florida TaxWatch and the Associated Industries of Florida. The poll surveyed 800 registered Florida Republicans who self identified as likely voters.
Among the findings:

• 83% agree that offenders under the age of 18 should be handled by the juvenile justice system
• 81% support evidence-driven, community-based alternatives to juvenile prisons

Full findings are available here.

In the second part of our chat, Bart Lubow (director, Juvenile Justice Strategy Group, Annie E. Casey Foundation) praised Oregon's Multnomah County for its efforts in diverting kids from juvenile hall. (See the first part of our chat, with Bart explaining the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative and why it improves outcomes and public safety.)
In his own words:

It's interesting to note that these simple innovations are actually keeping communities safer while providing alternatives to juvenile detention.

Last month, California's Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO), joined the growing momentum for Governor Brown's juvenile realignment proposal with a report explaining the potential financial incentives. While advocates and pollicy groups continue to call for realignment and the de-incarceration of the juvenile system, it's important to take a step back and hear from the families with children in the system. 

In an interview with Turnstyle News, Sumayyah Waheed, director of the Ella Baker Center's Books Not Bars campaign, explains why the current system is making it difficult for families to stay connected with their kids, which in turn makes it more difficult for the kids to rehabilitate:

"How can a judge turn a child into an adult?" That's a question lawyer Bryan Stevenson has spent years asking. Stevenson is the founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, a nonprofit group providing legal representation to communities that have been marginalized by poverty and discouraged by unequal treatment. 
Stevenson was invited to speak at TED2012, an annual conference showcasing big thinkers and doers throughout the world. He spent his 20 minutes discussing the power of identity, the dire need to reduce inequalities (including disproportionate minority contact), the injustice of juvenile life without parole sentences and mass incarceration. In his own words:

Here's an excerpt from the TED Blog: