CJJ Today

17
Jul

Juvenile Justice Reform Should Focus on our Communities

By Jerry Madden In the United States today, we have a problem with our prisons. We incarcerate our people at nearly six times the rate of most other industrialized nations, and yet we have higher rates of crime. While our crime rate has dropped substantially over the past 20 years, crime and our high level of incarceration continue to have massive social and economic costs to our nation.
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21
May

All of Our Children

By Angelo Pinto, Campaign Manager for the Raise the Age Campaign, The Correctional Associations of New York Governor Cuomo has announced the creation of a commission to Raise the Age of criminal responsibility in New York State. For many advocates this is a victory, however for many families and children this is a second chance at life. This is an opportunity for a system that is built on retribution and punishment to embrace the principles of forgiveness and compassion ultimately for the purpose of healing. The research has and continues to show that youth contact with the system is not an answer to public safety. It actually exacerbates crime, proliferates violence, reinforces hyper-masculinity, all the while making generations of youth (who are disproportionately black and brown and increasingly girls and non-gender conforming) disposable.
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02
May

OP-ED: Lions, Tigers, and Runaways – Oh My!

By Shawn C. Marsh, Ph.D., Chief Program Officer of Juvenile Law, National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges When it comes to inflation and trains, being on “runaway” status presents a major risk for disaster. The same is true for runaway children who come to the attention of juvenile and family courts. There is little doubt runaways are some of the most vexing cases judges face – particularly when the child is chronically engaged in this behavior, is resistant to intervention and presents at least some risk of harm to themselves or others. Historically, some courts have rationalized the use of detention in these cases as a means to teach the child a lesson, or because there are no other readily identifiable intervention options.
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09
Apr

The Right Message, the Right Mentor

By Dante Cottingham Like walking through a forest in the middle of a moonless night, unable to see properly I tripped and fell, made bad decisions, and took wrong turns throughout my childhood.
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