A Question of Justice - Juvenile Justice Gone Awry

Our daughter forwarded us an editorial in The New York Times on juvenile justice in the United States "12 and in Prison" (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/28/opinion/28tue1.html?scp=1&sq=12%20and%20in%20prison&st=cse) that notes that trying juveniles as adults is "terrible public policy." Children sentenced as adults are more likely to become repeat violent offenders and The New York Times calls for Congress to cause the States "to simply end these inhumane practices to be eligible for federal juvenile justice funds." The editorial could more simply advocate putting "justice" back into the nation's juvenile justice system.

This summer our daughter, a law student at New York University, interned in New Orleans helping represent children caught in the city's juvenile justice system. Some of the stories she tells are horrendous. Keep Reading