Resentencing of Teen DC Sniper Faces High Court Scrutiny
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Monday to consider whether a teen who carried out sniper attacks in Washington, D.C., in 2002 should be resentenced.
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US Faces Judicial Broadside for Immigration Policy Shift
A federal judge roasted government lawyers Monday over the Trump administration’s undermining of a nearly 40-year-old program meant to protect young immigrants abused, abandoned or neglected in their birth countries.
Read moreNewsom Eyes Overhaul of Juvenile Justice in California
New California Governor Gavin Newsom announced plans Tuesday to overhaul how juveniles convicted of criminal offenses are treated by de-emphasizing adult-style incarceration and replacing warehouse prisons with programs where young people acquire skills and job training necessary for them to flourish as adults.
Read moreNew Guidelines Highlight Alternatives to Juvenile Lock-Up
Recent Supreme Court decisions regarding juvenile justice and emerging science on youth brain development led the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges to update its guidelines this week to call for alternatives to detention of youth offenders.
Read moreJuveniles Housed With Adults Bring Claims to Sixth Circuit
A class of former and current juvenile inmates housed with adults who say they are exposed to an increased risk of sexual and physical assaults argued before the Sixth Circuit on Thursday to revive their civil rights claims.
Read moreJudge Sets Juvenile Defendants Free After Election Loss
Made a lame duck by a Democratic takeover of Houston’s judiciary, a Republican juvenile court judge raised public safety concerns Wednesday when he released several youths from jail and reset their hearings for his replacement’s first week on the bench in January.
Read moreLA County Writes Off $90 Million in Juvy Fees
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to write off nearly $90 million in fees imposed on thousands of families with children in the juvenile justice system — the largest such write-off in history.
Read moreVirginia Finds No Misconduct at Jail for Juvenile Immigrants
Spurred to investigate reports that juvenile immigrants face systemic abuses at a jail in southwestern Virginia, state officials largely cleared the federally run detention center of wrongdoing.
Read moreOregon High Court OKs 112-Year Sentence for School Shooter
The Oregon Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a 112-year sentence of a young man who shot 26 of his high school classmates after killing his parents in 1998.
Read moreJuvenile Sex Offenders Get Registry Reprieve in NJ
Attuned to the risk that labeling a juvenile forever as a sex offender will stunt his rehabilitation, the New Jersey Supreme Court was unanimous Tuesday in curbing the landmark registry legislation known as Megan’s Law.
Read moreJuvenile Sentences
A federal judge in Michigan struck down a state law that took away good-behavior credits for inmates who were sentenced to life in prison as minors, before being resentenced to lengthy terms after the U.S. Supreme Court found life without parole unconstitutional for juveniles.
Read moreWisconsin Settles Suit Over Suicide Attempt at Juvie
Wisconsin approved an $18.9 million settlement Tuesday for the teen who suffered severe brain damage after trying to kill herself in a juvenile prison cell.
Read moreNRA Florida Suit Revisits Age-of-Majority Question
A federal lawsuit filed by the National Rifle Association claims that Florida’s new law raising the legal age to purchase firearms imposes an “unequal and impermissible burden” on the constitutional rights of young adults.
Read moreReport Finds Racial Disparity in Youth Confinement
Black boys make up nearly half of all male juveniles in confinement despite the fact that less than 14 percent of minors in the U.S. are black, according to a report from a Massachusetts-based prison reform advocacy group.
Read moreChild Abuse
Three disabled Kern County, California, teens claim in a federal class action that juvenile-detention staffers abused them with pepper spray, prolonged solitary confinement, excessive force, painful prone restraint holds and denial of education.
Read moreKentucky Shooting Suspect Ordered Held in Juvenile Court
Authorities are gathering evidence for a grand jury, hoping to discover why the 15-year-old suspect fired into a crowd of his classmates.
Read moreOhio Teen Shot and Killed in Courthouse Clash
A 16-year-old was fatally shot by a sheriff’s deputy Wednesday after a fight broke out involving the boy’s family at the Franklin County Courthouse in downtown Columbus, Ohio.
Read moreJudge Says US Can’t Block Immigrant Teens’ Access to Abortion
A federal judge rejected the government’s argument Monday that it can delay, or prevent entirely, abortions for two unaccompanied immigrant teenagers in federal custody.
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Iowa Officials Accused of Mistreating Juveniles at Boys’ Home
Three juveniles claim in court that Iowa’s Boys State Training School violates the rights of offenders with mental health problems by providing grossly inadequate health care and subjecting them to physical restraints and solitary confinement.
Read moreUS Must Hold Hearings for Detained Immigrant Teenagers
The federal government can’t ship immigrant minors suspected of gang involvement to far-off detention centers without giving them due process hearings first, a federal judge ruled this week.
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