More from The Appeal:
At 15, Kenneth Lamont Robinson was convicted for murder under South Carolina’s accomplice liability law, despite not committing the shooting that killed Kedena Brown.
Robin Kaiser-Schatzlein Jan 07, 2021
The D.C. Council is set to vote on a bill aimed at giving people who committed serious crimes before their 25th birthday an opportunity to petition a judge for resentencing.
Meg O'Connor Dec 14, 2020
A new study suggests that if counties—rather than states—bear the cost of incarceration, they may be less likely to incarcerate people.
Joshua Vaughn Dec 09, 2020
A coalition of organizations is hoping Michael Toomin, who is also unwilling to implement diversion programs, loses his retention election.
Kira Lerner Oct 16, 2020
We should demand that prison officials and our elected representatives honor their constitutional obligation to promote and support youth healing, growth, and change.
Mark Wilson Sep 14, 2020
Experts say Black and Native children are disproportionately jailed either for status offenses or for technical violations of probation or parole—and that incarcerating them has far-reaching negative consequences.
Dawn R. Wolfe Sep 04, 2020
Judge Mary Ellen Brennan jailed the 15-year-old, known as Grace, for violating her probation by not completing schoolwork. Last month, the Michigan Court of Appeals ordered Grace’s immediate release, which Brennan said left her without the means to ‘issue consequences.’
Dawn R. Wolfe Aug 11, 2020
The Michigan Court of Appeals ordered her immediate release pending an appeal of a circuit court judge’s decision to jail the teen, known as “Grace,” in mid-May.
Dawn R. Wolfe Aug 03, 2020
Sixteen-year-old William Haymon has spent more than 500 days in an adult jail in rural Lexington, Mississippi. There are no state rules governing how long a person can be incarcerated without being formally charged with a crime.
Lauren Gill Jul 30, 2020
Judge Mary Ellen Brennan sent the 15-year-old, known as Grace, to juvenile detention in May for violating her probation by not completing online schoolwork. On Monday, the judge said Grace was ‘blooming’ in the facility, despite arguments by Grace that she is falling behind.
Dawn R. Wolfe Jul 21, 2020
State law requires all murder charges be automatically filed in adult court, regardless of age.
Joshua Vaughn Jul 20, 2020
While adults in the county have been granted expedited release in groups, the juvenile court continues to review cases individually.
LJ Dawson May 06, 2020
Tens of thousands of children are in congregate care settings around the country, and some have already started to get sick.
Roxanna Asgarian May 05, 2020
‘Continuing to maintain these youths in this hotbed of contagion poses an unconscionable and entirely preventable risk of harm,’ one lawsuit states.
Liz Robbins Mar 30, 2020
The state’s attorney general decided to support resentencing hearings in two high-profile cases, though she had fought appeals in the past.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Mar 12, 2020
In a lawsuit, the boy’s family said he was repeatedly suspended, secluded, and violently restrained before he was ever given a special education evaluation.
Roxanna Asgarian Feb 04, 2020
District Attorney Michael O’Malley’s 2016 election was viewed by some as a win for Black Lives Matter, but the number of children transferred to adult court in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, has increased more than 100 percent.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Oct 22, 2019
Christopher Lay grew up under the influence of a father who was mentally ill. Drawn into a crime at age 19, he’s now seeking a second chance that could help other young adults demand the same.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Oct 18, 2019
The Washington State Patrol has added thousands of old sealed juvenile records to a database it shares with law enforcement agencies across the country—erasing for many their chance of a clean slate.
Young people convicted as adults face a ‘life sentence’ of registry restrictions, attorneys say.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Sep 19, 2019
A Pittsburgh public radio piece lacked critical reporting about the many problems with jailing children in adult facilities.
California is one of only six states that allow staff in juvenile facilities to carry pepper spray. But LA’s coming ban is still facing pushback.
Charlotte West Sep 10, 2019
16-year-olds won’t have to reappear in adult criminal court if they’re arrested when youth court isn’t in session.
Lauren Gill Sep 03, 2019
Despite supporting Oregon’s new juvenile justice law, Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum is still fighting to keep people in prison who received life sentences as minors.
The decline under DA Larry Krasner, who took office in 2018, marks a significant change in juvenile justice in Pennsylvania.
Joshua Vaughn Aug 30, 2019
At 16, Larry Rosser was imprisoned for killing a woman who sexually and physically abused him. He served 22 years in the California prison system before being released in 2017, after parole commissioners became convinced he was a rehabilitated victim.
Aaron Morrison Aug 28, 2019
A 10-year-old was charged with assault for throwing a ball at a classmate. The case was dropped, but its effect is still felt.
Raven Rakia Aug 22, 2019
Richard Kinder thought he would die in an Alabama prison until the Supreme Court ruled mandatory juvenile life without parole unconstitutional. But last year, despite a judge concluding there was “uncontradicted evidence” that Kinder had worked to rehabilitate himself, the state parole board refused him release.
Lauren Gill Aug 07, 2019
In rhetoric reminiscent of the ‘superpredator‘ scare of the 1990s, the New Orleans District Attorney warned of ‘a brazen population of delinquent teens.‘ But advocates and crime analysts alike say the data doesn't support his fearmongering claims about kids and crime.
Mike Hayes Jun 27, 2019
Critics say that Arlington County Commonwealth Attorney Theo Stamos, who is being challenged in a June primary, has a pattern of treating children too harshly.
Kira Lerner Jun 04, 2019
The Orleans district attorney has said that violent youth are the city’s biggest crime problem.
Kira Lerner Apr 26, 2019
Cook County has a new contract for juvenile ankle monitors that critics say are an invasion of privacy.
Kira Lerner Apr 08, 2019
Washington detains more children for status offenses such as truancy and running away than any other state in the country. State lawmakers want to change that.
Charlotte West Mar 19, 2019
In 1996, Michele Benjamin was sentenced to life without parole for killing a man who she said solicited her for sex and menaced her with a weapon in New Orleans. A Supreme Court decision led her to be re-sentenced to life with a chance at parole in 2016. Today, a parole hearing brings the possibility of freedom.
Josie Duffy Rice Feb 11, 2019
The Department of Justice is leaving Shelby County, but discrimination against Black children in court continues, a federal monitor says.
Raven Rakia Feb 01, 2019
Josie and Clint interview Abd’Allah Lateef, Pennsylvania Coordinator for the Incarcerated Children’s Advocacy Network.
Trump didn’t start it, but we can end it.
Ethan Brown Jan 03, 2019
Under Raise the Age, ‘there are kids similarly situated who are being treated totally differently.’
Cassi Feldman Dec 04, 2018
In 2016 and 2017, more than 80 percent of children charged as adults by the Allegheny County district attorney were Black.
Joshua Vaughn Nov 27, 2018
A petition argues that people seeking to escape the sex offender registry, including those put on it as children, deserve more than a single shot.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Nov 19, 2018
Recent Supreme Court rulings have led to a review of life-without-parole sentences for crimes committed at age 17 and younger, but attorneys for Avis Lee say there’s no reason to stop there.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Nov 12, 2018
The rocky implementation of New York’s Raise the Age law shows that young people in detention need love, not force.
Rubén Austria Nov 01, 2018
Two teenagers are facing life without parole sentences for capital murder, though it’s not clear they pulled the trigger.
George Joseph Oct 04, 2018
A man sentenced to die in prison is inciting debate over ‘felony murder’ rules in Colorado.
Katie Rose Quandt Sep 18, 2018
Rep. John Becker doubles down on his recent comments about the tasing of an 11-year-old for allegedly shoplifting.
Melissa Gira Grant Sep 14, 2018
Before Edgar Coker was exonerated in a rape case, he underwent therapy meant to prevent sexual reoffenses. Thousands of kids involved in sexual offenses are forced into therapies like “relapse prevention” that experts say are ineffective.
Joseph Darius Jaafari Aug 27, 2018
Legislation passed in Massachusetts and pending in California would set a minimum age for children to enter the juvenile justice system.
Jeremy Loudenback Jul 17, 2018
A new lawsuit says Riverside County’s probation officers threaten to prosecute kids for ‘pre-delinquent’ behavior.
Carimah Townes Jul 10, 2018
With journalist Victoria Law.
Adam H. Johnson Jun 28, 2018
Years after two landmark Supreme Court rulings, prosecutors in Louisiana are still overwhelmingly seeking life sentences for children.
Victoria Law Jun 13, 2018
At a Pennsylvania school, an 18-year-old female student was arrested for a consensual sexual act with a 16-year-old boy.
Joshua Vaughn Jun 05, 2018
Anquan Boldin, DeAndre Levy, Tobias Harris, Anthony Tolliver, Stan Van Gundy
In Justice Today Dec 21, 2017
Once again, police are vilifying kids.
Carimah Townes Dec 08, 2017
State law makes it easier to throw Brown away than consider traumas youth face and offer them hope of rehabilitation.
Demetria D. Frank Dec 01, 2017
Matt Henry Oct 13, 2017
Memphis critic says Juvenile Court Judge’s resistance to reforms has ‘emasculated’ Department of Justice
Wendi C. Thomas Oct 05, 2017
The decision was unanimous.
Carimah Townes Sep 21, 2017
A district attorney wants to solve crime by breaking up families.
Carimah Townes Sep 06, 2017
Jessica Pishko Aug 17, 2017
“You look like a cold-blooded monster.”
Rebecca McCray Jun 22, 2017