Philadelphia’s juvenile jail has been in crisis for months, and now for the second time, a Commonwealth Court judge has ordered the state to take custody of children to try to alleviate the facility’s dangerously overcrowded conditions.
The décor inside the Bernalillo County Youth Services Center (YSC) is more in line with the children’s wing of your local library than a jail built for kids. The walls and furniture are painted in bright colors and classrooms line a hallway just a short walk from a common room filled with therapeutic rocking chairs.
PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A Commonwealth Court judge’s order for the state to take custody of some of the young offenders who have been sentenced to its facilities may help relieve overcrowding at Philadelphia’s Juvenile Justice Services Center. However, that order doesn’t address another issue: The many extra months those young people have spent in Philadelphia before their sentence even starts do not count toward their sentence.
Ellie Rushing & Ximena Conde, The Philadelphia Inquirer •
A Commonwealth Court judge has ordered Pennsylvania officials to take custody of 26 young people living at Philadelphia’s juvenile jail to alleviate what the city has described as dangerously overcrowded conditions — but one youth advocacy group called the judge’s instructions a “disappointment” that will only “stop the bleeding” temporarily.
Sue Mangold & Anahi Figueroa-Martinez, The Legal Intelligencer •
Juvenile Law Center’s Youth Advocacy Program collaborates with youth to engage in advocacy and direct action that protects youth rights, ensures their well-being and advances freedoms so all youth can thrive. Each year, Juvenile Law Center works with approximately 25 youth and 20 program alumni.
PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A Commonwealth Court judge on Wednesday heard arguments in Philadelphia’s request that the state take juvenile offenders who’ve been sentenced to state facilities. The city is hoping to relieve overcrowding that is leading to dangerous conditions at the Juvenile Justice Services Center.
Pennsylvania is one of only 13 states with no limit on how young a juvenile can be tried in adult court and exposed to adult jails and prisons. In Lawrence County in 2009, for example, 11-year-old Jordan Brown was charged in adult court for the fatal shooting of his father’s fiancee. He was too young to shave but faced a mandatory life sentence.
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