In the winter of 2007, when I was 15 years old, a police officer called my home in White Haven, Pa. to inform me I was being arrested for creating a MySpace parody of my vice principal. The officer told my mother he would charge me with abuse of the internet and internet stalking — both federal charges — unless she agreed not to involve attorneys.
Young people caught up in the juvenile justice system are too often punished for being poor, saddled with paying excessive restitution that leaves them broke
Ten years ago, the Supreme Court issued its landmark decision in Miller v. Alabama. The Court held that mandatory life-without-parole sentences for children 17 or younger convicted of homicide were unconstitutional. We celebrated this decision, as it meant that hundreds of people sentenced as children to die in prison had a chance at redemption, and a chance for freedom.
This week, members of Juvenile Law Center’s Youth Advocacy group, Advocates Transforming Youth Systems (ATYS), partnered with coalition Philly Homes 4 Youth in holding a
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