Julie Reynolds Martinez

Juvenile Court Judge Katherine Lucero is leading California to its goal of eliminating youth prisons and shifting resources to healing.

In California, the Independent Forensic Gang Expert College is training courtroom specialists who were gang members in their youth.

As schools in California's Monterey Bay region have seen an uptick in student violence, some residents want police officers back on campus.

California Assembly Bill 417 would expand college opportunities for people who are currently or formerly incarcerated, if signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Programs like Ceasefire and Advance Peace are credited with keeping shooting numbers low in Salinas, California, even as violence has increased elsewhere in the state.

Restorative justice is now a standard offering across the U.S., increasingly used by schools and law enforcement to divert low-level juvenile offenders from the criminal justice system.

Corey Glassman spent decades in adult prisons for a murder he committed as a teen. To earn back his freedom, both he and the juvenile justice system had to change.

Corey Glassman of California was 16 years old when he murdered a fellow high school student. The changes he made that helped earn his freedom raise questions: How much do we as a society believe that violent young people are redeemable? Are they worth the risk of a second chance?

The small crowd carrying signs outside the county courthouse this week was classic funky Santa Cruz, folks milling about in T-shirts emblazoned with rasta and LGBTQ-themed logos, tie-dye and boho styles. But in this era of national protest over racial injustice, the protesters did not seek to reduce sentencing or end mass incarceration.