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.
“A sentence over 40 years is a de facto life sentence for juveniles, according to a new decision from the Illinois Supreme Court. The decision, released Thursday, offers hope of an earlier release for some people serving long sentences for crimes they committed as kids and bolsters the philosophy in the criminal justice system that kids should be treated differently than adults.“
WBEZ Chicago
April 18, 2019
Read More"The defendant, Keyon Harrison, argued his sentence of life with the possibility of parole was unconstitutional. Harrison's argument relied partly on a string of Iowa and U.S. supreme court decisions in recent years that have changed the way courts handle juvenile sentencing. In recent years, the Iowa Supreme Court has struck down life sentences without parole and mandatory minimum sentences for juveniles. But the court on Friday said Harrison's sentence does not constitute cruel and unusual punishment."
Des Moines Register
June 25, 2018
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