criminal court

For three straight years now, a federally-commissioned study on the transfer of juveniles into the criminal court system has been delayed. But it looks like we might finally see this thing in 2017.

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.

If you had to sum up the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent history in cases related to juvenile offenders, one two-word phrase would suffice: What about…? 2007: What about juveniles sentenced to death?

How many juveniles are transferred to adult court? For what crimes? What was the outcome of the case? An attempt at a national study on the subject has continuously been waylaid since 2010.

Legislation in nearly one-third of states has passed since 2011 that prevent at least some juvenile offenders from involvement in the adult system, according to a report released today by the Campaign for Youth Justice (CFYJ).

Massachusetts has long had a good reputation for its low reliance on secure settings and for its development-minded approach to secure services. It will now include 17-year-olds, who have long been considered adults in the Bay State, in its juvenile justice system.

Liz Ryan, a prominent national juvenile justice advocate focused on the removal of juveniles from the adult criminal justice system, will step down from the helm of an organization she founded eight years ago in December.

In 2009, the Bureau of Justice Statistics solicited bids for the Survey of Juveniles Charged in Adult Criminal Courts, which was to assess several aspects of case processing for minors who were charged as adults for their crimes.