Campaign for Youth Justice

With fewer youth across the nation ending up in the adult criminal justice system, a report from the Campaign for Youth Justice (CFYJ) highlights ways to better serve youth charged as adults outside of detention.

The number of states where youth younger than 18 are deemed to be adults in the eyes of the law is now down to four. And the number of states where the juvenile age extends beyond 18 is now up to one.

Since 2015, more than one-third of states have taken legislative action, executive action or both to limit the number of juvenile offenders who are exposed to adult court or adult incarceration facilities.

Kids and the Constitution may complicate President Donald Trump’s executive order on immigration, which calls for the deportation of non-citizens charged with a criminal offense. While the order does not specifically address juvenile offenders, it broadly expands the definition of who is considered a deportation priority, likely including many juveniles convicted of crimes in adult courts.

This week marks the 10th anniversary of the Campaign for Youth Justice, an organization founded by Liz Ryan with help from the Public Welfare Foundation to directly take on the use of adult courts to prosecute juvenile offenders.

Youth Services Insider received a recent press release noting that March 3 was the launch of a new campaign called Youth First, an organization led by Liz Ryan that will focus on the closure of big and/or old youth prisons.

If you have not seen Netflix’s breakout documentary series “Making a Murderer,” there is a good chance every other person you know has. The series follows the intellectually challenged 16-year-old Brendan Dassey and his uncle as they are ushered through the Wisconsin criminal justice system.

Marcy Mistrett has been named the new chief executive officer of the Campaign for Youth Justice (CFYJ), a Washington, D.C.-based organization focused on ending the transfer of juvenile offenders to adult courts and facilities.