Juvenile Justice
Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA)
The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) was initially passed by Congress in 1974 to keep children from having contact with adults in jails and prisons and establish rules under which juvenile offenders can be detained.
- Advocates Call for Reforms of Juvenile Justice Law - 4/27/10
- Report Calls Upon Congress to Provide Fairer Treatment for Latino Youth in Justice System - 5/21/09
- Senate to Reauthorize the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act - 4/6/09
- Juvenile Justice And Delinquency Prevention Act Fact Sheet - Building Blocks for Youth
Resources
Breaking the School-to-Prison Pipeline - LCCR - 3/27/08. With a mounting number of youth facing time in detention centers instead of classrooms, civil rights advocates and legislators are beginning to think of ways to keep students in school and out of the criminal justice system.
Critical Condition: African American Youth in the Justice System (pdf) - Campaign for Youth Justice - 09/25/08. This report is a look at the current state of racial disparities for black youth in the juvenile and adult criminal justice systems. The brief analyzes demographic data, risk and protective factors, delinquency research, and justice-system data to provide a comprehensive overview of court-involved African-American youth.
Gang Wars: The Failure of Enforcement Tactics and the Need for Effective Public Safety Strategies (pdf) - Justice Policy Institute - 07/18/07. This report attempts to clarify some of the persistent misconceptions about gangs and to assess the successes and failures of approaches that have been employed to respond to gangs.
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report (pdf) - Office of Justice Programs--U.S. Department of Justice - 07/01/06. America's youth are facing an ever-changing set of problems and barriers to successful lives. As a result, we are constantly challenged to develop enlightened policies and programs to address the needs and risks of those youth who enter our juvenile justice system. The policies and programs we create must be based on facts, not fears. Too often, the facts are unknown or not readily available. This Report is designed to remedy, at least in part, that information gap.
The Rest of Their Lives: Life Without Parole for Child Offenders in the United States - Human Rights Watch - 10/24/05. Children can and do commit terrible crimes. When they do, they should be held accountable, but in a manner that reflects their special capacity for rehabilitation. However, in the United States the punishment is all too often no different from that given to adults.
The Use and Abuse of Juvenile Detention: Understanding Detention and Its Use (pdf) - Fact Sheet - National Juvenile Defender Center - 01/01/04. The placement of youth in secure detention facilities-- which deprives both adjudicated and unadjudicated youth of their freedom--often conflicts with the historical justification that secure juvenile detention should only be used: "(1) to ensure that alleged delinquents appear in court and (2) to minimize the risk of serious reoffending while current charges are being adjudicated."
