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Youth should not be tried in adult court because it does not promote rehabilitation, does not deter youth crime, and imposes immense harm on children. The United States has a long history of over-criminalizing and policing youth, especially Black and Brown youth. Despite the formation of a separate juvenile court system specifically designed to “treat, rather than punish,” this over criminalization and policing has resulted in youth being pushed into the adult criminal system.

During this year’s YJAM (Youth Justice Action Month), I was drawn towards a re-read of Kristin Henning’s remarkable text: The Rage of Innocence: How America Criminalizes Black Youth.

Today Juvenile Law Center released a report on the use of harmful fees and fines assessed against children in the juvenile justice system. The report, Heavy Burdens: The Weight of Juvenile Fees and Fines in the Keystone State, explains what juvenile fees and fines are, describes how they are used in counties across Pennsylvania, and makes the case why the state must abolish them.

Casper teen’s lawyers say a judge gave him a 42- to 75-year sentence that’s out of line with constitutional provisions through a quirk in Wyoming law.

Yesterday Juvenile Law Center partnered with Temple Law Review for its Annual Symposium. This year, in celebration of 50 years of Juvenile Law Center, the theme was “Youth Justice in a New Era: Reflections on State Constitutional Litigation, Abolition, and Movement Lawyering." This blog reflects on the role of movement lawyering in pursuit of family preservation. April Lee of Philly Voice for Change participated on the movement lawyering and abolition panel discussion.

Today, the court-appointed monitor overseeing Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake submitted the first ever report that finds “substantial compliance” on all measures. The monitor’s appointment resulted from a class action lawsuit that ACLU of Wisconsin, Juvenile Law Center and Quarles & Brady LLP filed over eight years ago due to the conditions children faced at Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake.

Vast majority of youth strip searches reviewed by Child Protection Ombudsman found no contraband Staff at Colorado’s juvenile detention centers violated policies meant to protect youth during strip searches more than 1,000 times during nine months between 2023 and 2025, according to a new review by the Child Protection Ombudsman of Colorado released Tuesday.

This week, Juvenile Law Center and Temple Law Review are hosting a symposium reflecting on 50 years of children’s rights advocacy and how to use different strategies in the future. As we prepare for the symposium, I am sending an important message to law students – the future of the legal profession.

Jamie Silvonek, who admitted helping her soldier boyfriend murder her mother when she was 14, is seeking to have her 35-years-to-life sentence changed to a term that would allow her to leave prison much sooner. With every other appeal option exhausted, Silvonek, now 24, is seeking commutation, a process that could eventually end with the governor of Pennsylvania signing her release papers.