Pubdate: Thu, 3 Jul 2008
Source: New York Times (NY)
Page: 22, Section A
Copyright: 2008 The New York Times Company
Contact:  http://www.nytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298

DON'T TEACH OUR CHILDREN CRIME

Under the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974, 
the states agreed to humanize their often Dickensian juvenile justice 
systems in exchange for increased federal aid. This promising 
arrangement collapsed in the 1990s during hysteria about an 
adolescent crime wave that never materialized. The states intensified 
all kinds of punishments for children and sent large numbers to adult 
jails where, research has shown, they are more likely to be battered, 
traumatized and transformed into hard-core, recidivist criminals.

Congress is in the process of reauthorizing the law, and it ought to 
bar the states from housing children in adult jails, except for the 
most heinous crimes. Sadly, the updated version of the law, recently 
introduced in the Senate, falls short of that goal. But it does 
include a number of farsighted measures that discourage the placement 
of children in adult jails during the pretrial period and expands 
protections for children charged as adults.

The need for these measures is alarmingly evident in a report issued 
last year by the Campaign for Youth Justice, an advocacy group. The 
report found that as many as 150,000 people under the age of 18 are 
held in adult jails in any given year. More than half of young people 
who are transferred into the adult system are never convicted as 
adults -- and many are never convicted at all.

The Senate bill takes a comprehensive approach to these issues. It 
would considerably tighten rules aimed at keeping children out of 
adult jails during pretrial periods. Children arrested for truancy, 
running away or other offenses that would not be criminal if 
committed by an adult would not be placed in juvenile jail unless 
absolutely necessary.

It also would require the states to work toward reducing racial and 
ethnic disparities in the juvenile justice system. It increases 
federal funding for technical assistance and for drug treatment, 
mental health care, mentoring and after-care programs that keep 
children out of the juvenile system in the first place. The bill 
advocates an evidence-based approach to hand out the money.

Jailing and criminalizing young Americans causes a lot more crime 
than it punishes or prevents. This bill represents an important step 
toward rational and compassionate justice for troubled children. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake