Recent news

A growing body of research shows that juvenile offenders are immature and impulsive. But in spite of landmark Supreme Court rulings, many so-called juvenile lifers are growing old behind bars.

Richard L. Berkman, retired Dechert LLP partner and longtime civic leader, and Toni Seidl, longtime advocate for children and social justice, have made a landmark series of charitable contributions totaling $900,000 to three leading legal nonprofits in Pennsylvania: the Public Interest Law Center, Education Law Center-PA, and Juvenile Law Center. These gifts will fuel critical work on behalf of children, youth, and communities facing systemic injustice. 

Juvenile Law Center has been a national leader advocating for the rights of young people in the justice system for 50 years. One of the ways in which Juvenile Law Center is unique, however, is in the role it has played shaping international law, policy and thinking on juvenile justice and in inspiring those who advocate for justice for children. This has happened in three principal ways.

Pennsylvania lawmakers are debating juvenile justice reform proposals aimed at improving Pennsylvania’s approach to supporting youth offenders and holding providers and public officials accountable.

Young people also shared their report Broken Promises: Futures Denied, which details the harms of the Commonwealth’s juvenile detention system

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Ian Manuel, sentenced to life in prison in 1991 for attempted murder in a downtown Tampa botched robbery at 14 years old, is now sharing his story as an adult. Manuel is advocating against solitary confinement, where he says he spent 18 years within the Florida Department of Corrections (FDC).

And it’s turning over geolocation data to law enforcement, no warrant required. Kids in Philly call it being “on the band.” In recent years, the city’s juvenile justice system has rapidly expanded its use of GPS-equipped ankle monitors to enforce curfews and house arrest.

Google “disparities in the juvenile system” and you’re likely to land on the federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) website with the note: “No information is available for this page.” Earlier this year, the site provided robust data demonstrating that, despite years of reforms, the juvenile legal system reflects deep inequality.