Stemming from one family’s individual case,
we launched the Campaign for Youth Justice
(CFYJ) five years ago to respond to a crisis throughout
the country: an estimated 250,000 youth under
18 are prosecuted in the adult criminal justice system
every year.
A spike in youth crime during the 1980s and 1990s
prompted state policymakers to expand laws to put
more children in adult court, implement mandatory
sentencing policies for certain crimes, and lower
the age at which a child could be prosecuted as
an adult. State policymakers
believed their efforts would
improve public safety and
deter future crime. However,
studies across the nation have
consistently concluded that
state laws prosecuting youth
in adult court are ineffective
at deterring crime and reducing
recidivism.
Four years ago we issued
our first national report, The
Consequences Aren’t Minor,
documenting the multiple
unintended consequences of
these laws. With the help of the National Council
on Crime and Delinquency and the Justice Policy
Institute, we analyzed all of the available research
and conducted interviews with dozens of incarcerated
youth in adult jails and prisons in states all
over the country.
We found that youth tried as adults face the same
punishments as adults. They can be placed in adult
jails pre- and post-trial, sentenced to serve time in
adult prisons, or be placed on adult probation with
few to no rehabilitative services. Youth also are
subject to the same sentencing guidelines as adults
and may receive mandatory minimum sentences including
life without parole. The only consequence
that youth cannot receive is the death penalty.
Read on...
This report is from the Campaign for Youth Justice. Tom
we launched the Campaign for Youth Justice
(CFYJ) five years ago to respond to a crisis throughout
the country: an estimated 250,000 youth under
18 are prosecuted in the adult criminal justice system
every year.
A spike in youth crime during the 1980s and 1990s
prompted state policymakers to expand laws to put
more children in adult court, implement mandatory
sentencing policies for certain crimes, and lower
the age at which a child could be prosecuted as
an adult. State policymakers
believed their efforts would
improve public safety and
deter future crime. However,
studies across the nation have
consistently concluded that
state laws prosecuting youth
in adult court are ineffective
at deterring crime and reducing
recidivism.
Four years ago we issued
our first national report, The
Consequences Aren’t Minor,
documenting the multiple
unintended consequences of
these laws. With the help of the National Council
on Crime and Delinquency and the Justice Policy
Institute, we analyzed all of the available research
and conducted interviews with dozens of incarcerated
youth in adult jails and prisons in states all
over the country.
We found that youth tried as adults face the same
punishments as adults. They can be placed in adult
jails pre- and post-trial, sentenced to serve time in
adult prisons, or be placed on adult probation with
few to no rehabilitative services. Youth also are
subject to the same sentencing guidelines as adults
and may receive mandatory minimum sentences including
life without parole. The only consequence
that youth cannot receive is the death penalty.
Read on...
This report is from the Campaign for Youth Justice. Tom
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