juvenile justice
Will America Stop Putting Kids in Solitary Confinement?
Long-term isolation is rapidly losing ground as an accepted practice in the world of juvenile corrections. But for youth advocates, ending solitary will take more work.
What Happens to Children Accused of Breaking the Law
A look inside one day at juvenile court in East Los Angeles, where kids charged with everything from smoking weed to attempted murder get to know the system.
They Told Me I Was Going to Die in Prison
I have cancer and wonder if I'll get parole before it's too late.
The 14-Year-Old Who Grew Up in Prison
In 1979, Ricky Olds watched his friend kill a man, then himself got sentenced to life in prison. More than three decades later, the Supreme Court has given him a shot at freedom.
How America's Criminal Justice System Traps Low-Level Offenders
I've seen firsthand how the system makes it difficult for jail inmates who have committed minor crimes to get out and stay out of a cell.
Why Is Texas Still Sending 17-Year-Olds to Adult Prisons?
Reformers argue that treating 17-year-olds differently from younger teens leads to higher sexual abuse and suicide rates, as well as costing the state money.
Is Texas About to Abandon its Juvenile Justice System?
A new study is expected to result in further cutbacks to the state's juvenile detention facilities, and could even spur lawmakers to abandon their reliance on the system entirely.
Silent But Deadly: School Cops Arrest Students for Talking Too Loudly, Graffiti, and… Farting
More than a third of American sheriffs' departments and nearly half of all police departments have officers assigned to local schools, according to the Department of Justice. Students today are arrested in school for offenses that include talking back...