Chicago Sun Times — Juvenile Incarceration — Galsworthy Criminal Justice Reform Program

Juvenile Incarceration

Nationally, on any given night, approximately 81,000 youth are confined to juvenile facilities and 10,000 children are held in adult jails and prisons. Approximately 1 in 10 young male high school dropouts is incarcerated or in juvenile detention. For African Americans, that number is 1 in 4. Research shows that just over two million youth under the age of 18 were arrested in 2008. Of these two million, about 95 percent had not been accused of violent crimes. In 2010, of the nearly 100,000 youth under the age of 18 who were serving time in a juvenile residential placement facility, 26 percent had been convicted of property crimes only, such as burglary, arson, or theft. Access to education both stems the tide of incarceration and improves inmates chances of re-acclimating to society after their release.

Four ways America gets it wrong in prosecuting alleged teen offenders

“Today, every developed nation has a separate court system for juveniles, based on concepts of rehabilitation, proportionality and confidentiality. It represents a second chance for young people, who are by nature more impulsive and prone to risk-taking. It is shocking, then, that over a century later the United States leads these nations in punitive, cruel and inhumane practices against children and adolescents who come into conflict with the law. A visiting judge from the Netherlands recently commented that she didn’t understand what went wrong.“

Chicago Sun Times

August 26, 2019

Juvenile IncarcerationPhillip ReevesAugust 26, 2019Chicago Sun TimesComment

Juvenile Incarceration

Galsworthy CJR Program

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