Recent news

This year, Juvenile Law Center will honor Elizabeth Scott and Laurence Steinberg as joint winners of the 2024 Leadership Prize. Scott and Steinberg have co-published critical papers on adolescent development and brain science that have inspired lawyers, judges, and lawmakers across the country to re-examine their pre-conceived notions about adolescent development, children’s rights, and the possibility of envisioning a more developmentally-appropriate approach to youth crime and delinquency.

“This ban’s broad prohibitions are particularly dangerous for an especially vulnerable population – youth experiencing homelessness, who are disproportionately youth of color, LGBTQ+ youth, and youth with foster care experience.”

In April of 2007, I was sentenced to a youth forestry facility for mocking my vice principal online. I was sentenced by the now infamous former judge Mark Ciavarella, who is now serving a lengthy prison sentence for his role in the construction of a for-profit juvenile detention center.

Angel Rodriguez has served as the co-founder and Executive Director of Avenues for Justice (AFJ) for forty five years. AFJ is a community-based organization in New York City that provides alternatives to incarceration to 500 justice impacted young people, ages 13-24, each year.

Governor Youngkin vetoed legislation that would give judges the ability to waive certain driving fees, understanding the harm of fines and fees assessed to youth

Bryan Stevenson is the founder and Executive Director of the Montgomery, Alabama based Equal Justice Initiative. He is a multi-award-winning lawyer, author, public speaker, and advocate for justice system reform, and has argued five cases in front of the Supreme Court - winning favorable judgements in all but one.

As a teen, Delvin Reddick faced a choice between pursuing a degree in social work or hitting pause on his education to pay off court debt stemming from a theft charge.