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
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.
The number of young people detained at Philadelphia’s juvenile jail has reached “unprecedented levels,” with more than 30 children sleeping on floors and living amid
