abolition

Instead of prisons, I propose programs that won’t focus on punishment, but rather divert children onto the right path, writes Thalia Bernal.

Children who are placed in prisons are being traumatized when they should be receiving rehabilitation and education, writes Jessica Castillo.

In her most recent book, Dorothy Roberts says the child welfare system must be abolished and replaced, not reformed.

On Jan. 13, federal authorities carried out the execution of Lisa Montgomery, who was convicted in 2007 of killing Bobbie Jo Stinnett. Stinnett was pregnant, but her baby survived the brutal attack.

The killing of George Floyd, and the summer of protests that followed this tragedy, spurred new conversations about the appropriate role of law enforcement. Child welfare systems, which lack the lethal force component of law enforcement but do police communities with the ability to break up families, got no amnesty from the discussion.