What Happens to Kids Who Commit Crimes in the US? by Kristyn Komarnicki Last week many of you were troubled to learn about the detention of Palestinian youth by the Israeli police and military. And rightly so. But did you know that the US is one of only two countries in the world that have refused to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child? (Somalia is the other country.) That means, in part, that our justice system can legally sentence children to life in prison without parole. Right now, approximately 2,500 people in the US are serving life imprisonment without parole for crimes committed when they were under 18. Pennsylvania, where Evangelicals for Social Action is based, has 450, more than any other state. Low-income and minority children face greater challenges, at younger ages, and are at a much greater risk of coming into contact with the police and justice system than are middle-income and white children. This is illustrated in “An Epidemic of Expulsions,” from the Center for Public Integrity, which looks at the national debate over the costs of harsh school discipline. A recent story from NPR, “To Get Kids To Class, L.A. Softens Its Hard Line,” gives a hopeful glimpse of how some schools and police departments are waking up to the dangers of early police contact and trying new strategies to help kids continue their education and to provide adult mentors instead of punitive approaches. Across the country, young people are dying from senseless street violence and others are going to prison for perpetrating the violence. Many of their stories go untold, as do the solutions that could have saved their lives. But a new film called The Interrupters introduces three “violence interrupters” in Chicago who, “with bravado, humility, and even humor, try to protect their communities from the violence they once employed.” This month the filmmakers are encouraging citizens to bring these stories into our homes and communities to spark conversations about violence prevention and to encourage people to take action to pass the Youth PROMISE Act. Sign up to screen this powerful film as a way to gather people to reflect on what can be done, as well as to write post-cards and tweet to your Member of Congress to pass the Youth PROMISE Act. To learn more about the issues surrounding juvenile offenders and sentences, check out the following resources: The Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth is a national campaign working to end the practice of sentencing youth to die in prison.
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“Juvenile Injustice,” by Laura Coulter for PRISM Magazine, explores the harsh realities facing juvenile offenders in the US. Haunting photos by Joseph Rodriguez bring the problem into sharp relief. The Sentencing Project's new report, The Lives of Juvenile Lifers, investigates the life experiences of individuals serving sentences of life without parole for offenses committed as juveniles and presents findings from the first-ever national survey of this population. It provides a comprehensive look that offers new perspectives on people who committed crimes before the age of 18. Editor’s pick: In True Notebooks: A Writer's Year at Juvenile Hall Mark Salzman recounts how in 1997 he paid a reluctant visit to a writing class at L.A.’s Central Juvenile Hall, a lockup for violent teenage offenders, many of them charged with murder. What he found so moved and astonished him that he began to teach there regularly. An eyeopening, heart-softening read. Juvenile Justice is a Frontline PBS special that asks whether teens who commit serious crimes should be tried and sentences as children or adults. Sign a petition to stop shackling juveniles in the courtroom.
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