A Lonely Child Finds His Way Out of Abuse and Homelessness, It Lands Him Behind Bars First in a three-part series on a teenager with a tumultuous childhood sent to die in prison, and where his life would lead. The following narrative was compiled from interviews and court records. Sylvia A. Harvey
Louisiana Wants to Jail Kids at Angola Prison’s Old Death Row An upcoming court ruling could decide the fate of a plan to detain “problematic youth” at a facility that previously housed prisoners awaiting execution. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
Massachusetts Could Loosen Life Without Parole Restrictions For Young People Justices in the state’s highest court are weighing whether it is unconstitutional to sentence people convicted of murder and aged 18 to 20 to life without parole. Ella Fassler
Five Times Miami’s New Police Chief Got It Wrong on Public Safety Art Acevedo’s recent comments reveal an official who, despite his “good cop” veneer, has played fast and loose with the facts when it comes to addressing public safety. Eoin Higgins
Children Can Be On Their Own When Grilled By Police. The Push for Protection is Growing Several states, including Maryland, are considering bills to protect minors from abusive police interrogations. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
‘Hand of One, Hand of All’: 50 Years for a Teen Who Didn’t Pull the Trigger 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
D.C. May Give People Convicted As Young Adults A Chance At Resentencing 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
Shifting Incarceration Costs to Counties Could Mean Fewer People in Prisons and Jails, Study Suggests 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
Reform Advocates Want To Oust Illinois Judge Who Fought To Detain Young Children A coalition of organizations is hoping Michael Toomin, who is also unwilling to implement diversion programs, loses his retention election. Kira Lerner
Far From Being Beyond Saving, Prison Youth Deserve Every Opportunity For Meaningful Rehabilitation 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
Thousands of Children On Probation Are Incarcerated Each Year for Nonviolent, Noncriminal Behaviors 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
Michigan Judge Ends Probation For Black Teen Who Was Jailed For Not Completing Her Homework 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
After 78 Days, Michigan Teen Who Was Jailed For Failing To Complete Her Homework While On Probation Is Released 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
Mississippi Teen Who Has Languished In Jail For 17 Months Without An Indictment Is Just ‘One Of Thousands’ 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
Michigan Judge Refuses To Release Black Teenager Who Was Jailed For Not Doing Homework 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
A 13-Year-Old Shot and Killed His Brother. Pennsylvania Police Charged Him as an Adult. State law requires all murder charges be automatically filed in adult court, regardless of age. Joshua Vaughn
Sluggish LA County Courts Are Leaving Young People Locked Up During the Pandemic While adults in the county have been granted expedited release in groups, the juvenile court continues to review cases individually. LJ Dawson
Children in Residential Treatment Centers Are Especially Vulnerable to COVID-19 Tens of thousands of children are in congregate care settings around the country, and some have already started to get sick. Roxanna Asgarian
Coronavirus Prompts Urgent Calls For Minors In Detention To Be Released ‘Continuing to maintain these youths in this hotbed of contagion poses an unconscionable and entirely preventable risk of harm,’ one lawsuit states. Liz Robbins
In Oregon, a Hopeful Sign for Those Sentenced to Lengthy Prison Terms as Children 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
Family Sues Pittsburgh Public School For Handcuffing 7-Year-Old 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
Despite Flat Crime Rates, More Cleveland-Area Young People Are Being Tried As Adults 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
A Deadly Father-And-Son Bank Robbery Raises Questions About Culpability and The Adolescent Mind 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
Their Juvenile Records Were Sealed. Decades Later, They’ve Reappeared. 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. Tori Marlan
Alabama Sex Offender Registry Is Cruel and Unusual Punishment for Teenagers, Lawsuit Argues Young people convicted as adults face a ‘life sentence’ of registry restrictions, attorneys say. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
‘I felt it was my responsibility’: Why A Probation Commissioner Spent 25 Hours in San Francisco’s Juvenile Hall Vaidya Gullapalli
Report Praises High School in Jail But Fails to Ask Why Kids Are Locked Up at All A Pittsburgh public radio piece lacked critical reporting about the many problems with jailing children in adult facilities. Adam H. Johnson
Pepper Spray Is Toxic, Experts Say. So Why Is It Being Used on Children? 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
New York Law Removes ‘Unnecessary’ Step for Children Charged With Felonies 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
He Entered Prison As a ‘Whiskerless Kid.’ Will Oregon Ever Let Him Out? 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. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
Number Of Young People Charged In Philadelphia’s Adult Court Drops Sharply The decline under DA Larry Krasner, who took office in 2018, marks a significant change in juvenile justice in Pennsylvania. Joshua Vaughn
‘You Don’t Own Me’ 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
A Michigan Prosecutor’s ‘Mistake’ Becomes A Family’s ‘Nightmare’ 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
Sentenced to Life Without Parole at 17 and Denied Freedom at 52 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
New Orleans Youth Crime: The Epidemic That Wasn’t 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
Virginia Teen Was Detained and Prosecuted for Saying ‘Oink Oink’ to Cop 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
New Orleans’s Youth Jail Faces Overcrowding Crisis as D.A. Targets Kids The Orleans district attorney has said that violent youth are the city’s biggest crime problem. Kira Lerner
Chicago is Tracking Kids With GPS Monitors That Can Call and Record Them Without Consent Cook County has a new contract for juvenile ankle monitors that critics say are an invasion of privacy. Kira Lerner
When Running Away From Home Means Getting Locked Up 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
Sentenced To Life At 16 In Slaying Of Man Who She Said Pulled A Gun On Her 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
Memphis’s Juvenile Court Plagued By ‘Culture of Intimidation’ And ‘Blatantly Unfair’ Practices The Department of Justice is leaving Shelby County, but discrimination against Black children in court continues, a federal monitor says. Raven Rakia
Justice in America Episode 13: Juvenile Justice Josie and Clint interview Abd’Allah Lateef, Pennsylvania Coordinator for the Incarcerated Children’s Advocacy Network. Josie Duffy Rice, Clint Smith
New York Just Changed the Way it Prosecutes Kids, But Some Got Left Behind Under Raise the Age, ‘there are kids similarly situated who are being treated totally differently.’ Cassi Feldman
In a Pennsylvania County, Black Children Are Disproportionately Charged in Adult Court In 2016 and 2017, more than 80 percent of children charged as adults by the Allegheny County district attorney were Black. Joshua Vaughn
When Stealing Legos Adds To A Lifetime of Consequences 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
Pennsylvania Case Challenges ‘Death by Incarceration’ for 18-year-olds 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
Moving Teens Off Rikers Island Was a Good First Step. Now Comes the Hard Part. The rocky implementation of New York’s Raise the Age law shows that young people in detention need love, not force. Rubén Austria
An Alabama Prosecutor Locked Up 4 Black Teens For A Murder They Didn’t Commit. Now He’s Trying 2 More. Two teenagers are facing life without parole sentences for capital murder, though it’s not clear they pulled the trigger. George Joseph
Curtis Brooks Didn’t Kill Anyone. So Why Is He Labeled A Murderer For Life? A man sentenced to die in prison is inciting debate over ‘felony murder’ rules in Colorado. Katie Rose Quandt
Ohio State Rep: If Police Tase or Shoot a Child, She Probably Acted ‘Stupid’ or Was ‘a Punk’ Rep. John Becker doubles down on his recent comments about the tasing of an 11-year-old for allegedly shoplifting. Melissa Gira Grant
Case Of Intellectually Disabled Teen Falsely Accused of Sex Offense Reveals Registry Flaws 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
California Bill Would Deem Children Under 12 Too Young for Court Legislation passed in Massachusetts and pending in California would set a minimum age for children to enter the juvenile justice system. Jeremy Loudenback
California County Law Enforcement Puts Kids On Probation for Bad Grades A new lawsuit says Riverside County’s probation officers threaten to prosecute kids for ‘pre-delinquent’ behavior. Carimah Townes
The Appeal Podcast Episode 6: The Unique Cruelty of Sentencing Children to Life Without Parole With journalist Victoria Law. Adam H. Johnson
Louisiana’s Love Affair With Locking Up Kids For Life Years after two landmark Supreme Court rulings, prosecutors in Louisiana are still overwhelmingly seeking life sentences for children. Victoria Law
High Schooler Faced 25 Years on the Sex Offender Registry–For Engaging In Oral Sex 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
Bill Challenging ‘Safekeeping’ of Tennessee Teens in Adult Prisons Could Soon Become Law Victoria Law
Louisiana Denies Parole to Man Behind a Supreme Court Ruling Limiting Life Sentences for Children Aviva Shen
Louisiana Denies Parole to Man Behind a Supreme Court Ruling Limiting Life Sentences for Children Aviva Shen
Tennessee Sheriff: Solitary Confinement for 16 year-old Girl is No Different Than a ‘Private Room’ Meaghan Ybos
Even With A Governor’s Pardon, Jesus Aguirre, Jr. Is Still a Gang Member According to Orange County Jessica Pishko
These NBA and NFL Stars Want Prosecutors To Stop Seeking Life Without Parole For Kids Anquan Boldin, DeAndre Levy, Tobias Harris, Anthony Tolliver, Stan Van Gundy In Justice Today
Baltimore’s Latest Plan To Clamp Down On Crime: Tricking And Trapping Youth Once again, police are vilifying kids. Carimah Townes
Cyntoia Brown Case Reveals Entrenched Problems with Tennessee Juvenile Justice State law makes it easier to throw Brown away than consider traumas youth face and offer them hope of rehabilitation. Demetria D. Frank
Federal monitors go where they’re not wanted: Juvenile Court Memphis critic says Juvenile Court Judge’s resistance to reforms has ‘emasculated’ Department of Justice Wendi C. Thomas
Contra Costa County will stop forcing families to pay for incarcerated kids The decision was unanimous. Carimah Townes
Louisiana mother faces jail time for her children’s alleged crimes A district attorney wants to solve crime by breaking up families. Carimah Townes
Life sentence for Louisiana man convicted for juvenile crime found to be unconstitutional Larry Hannan
Life sentence for Louisiana man convicted for juvenile crime found to be unconstitutional Larry Hannan
Marion County Attorney Ed Bull declines to turn a 14-year-old girl into a sex offender for “sexting” Carimah Townes
In Mississippi, a Lost Second Chance for Gerome Moore “You look like a cold-blooded monster.” Rebecca McCray
