Options for Placing Juvenile Offenders
NCJRS: Juvenile Justice Corrections / Detention Publications and links from the federal government. (National Criminal Justice Reference Service)
Juveniles in Corrections A 2004 report. (OJJDP)
Prison Diaries A four-part series featuring diaries of five inmates, four correctional officers and a judge. (NPR)
Boot Camps for Juvenile Offenders (Text) (PDF) A 1997 report on boot camp programs. (OJJDP)
Juvenile Boot Camps A fact sheet on boot camps. (National Mental Health Association)
Juvenile Info Network News on juvenile justice corrections. (Corrections Connection Network)
Implementation of the Intensive Community-Based Aftercare Program Overview of intensive aftercare and description of its implementation in various sites. (OJJDP)
California Youth Authority The California Youth Authority is the largest youthful offender agency in the nation. It is now called the Division of Juvenile Justice.
A Review of the California Youth Authority’s Infrastructure A 2004 report on some of the challenges facing the Youth Authority. (California Legislative Analyst’s Office)
Books Not Bars: Downloads and Resources Reports and publications critical of the California Youth Authority. (Ella Baker Center for Human Rights)
General Corrections Review of the California Youth Authority (PDF file) A report by Barry Krisberg on CYA.
Restructuring Juvenile Corrections in California (PDF file) A Report to the California state legislature. (Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice)
Small Is Beautiful: The Missouri Division of Youth Services A report on the experience of Missouri after closing down its training schools. (Annie E. Casey Foundation)
Let His Children Go Review of Jerome Miller’s Last One over the Wall: The Massachusetts Experiment in Closing Reform Schools, his story of how he closed the large training schools in Massachusetts.
National Center on Institutions and Alternatives Founded by Jerome Miller, the former director of the Massachusetts Department of Youth Services, NCIA is an organization devoted to reforming American correctional systems.
The Pathways to Juvenile Detention Reform Series Publications on reforming the juvenile corrections system. (Annie E. Casey Foundation)
The National Council on Crime and Delinquency A non-profit organization that conducts research and promotes reform of the juvenile justice system.
The Impact of Teen Court on Young Offenders An analysis of the effectiveness of teen courts. (Urban Institute)
Problems With Locking Up Juveniles
Children in Adult Jails Examples of disastrous results of housing juveniles with adults. (Building Blocks for Youth)
Housing Juveniles In Adult Facilities is Dangerous A short report to the House Judiciary Committee.
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention The 1974 Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act created the OJJDP.
Associated Marine Institutes This non-profit specializes in marine- and wilderness-based juvenile rehabilitation programs.
Key Program This non-profit provides juvenile services throughout New England.
Transfer to Adult Court Excerpt from Juvenile Justice: A Century of Change. (OJJDP)
Should teens who commit serious crime be tried and sentenced as children or adults? A look at juvenile cases, statistics, and facts on this issue. (PBS Frontline)
Juvenile Transfers to Criminal Court in the 1990s: Lessons Learned Overview of waiver and the experience of different jurisdictions. (OJJDP)
ACLU Fact Sheet on the Juvenile Justice System An ACLU fact sheet arguing that the movement to erase any distinction between young offenders and adult criminals is misguided.
Delinquents or Criminals: Policy Options for Young Offenders An Urban Institute report on options for treating juvenile offenders.
Kent v. U.S. (1966) U.S. Supreme Court ruling that juvenile courts waiving jurisdiction must hold a fitness hearing.
Juveniles Facing Criminal Sanctions: Three States that Changed the Rules This report examines the use of adult criminal sanctions for juveniles by three states: Minnesota, New Mexico, and Wisconsin. (National Institute of Justice)
Criminal Children: The Lunacy of Leniency This 1997 CST News article by Dr. Don Boys favors treating juveniles accused of serious crimes as adults.
One-size-fits-all justice simply isn’t fair This 1998 article argues against waiving juveniles to adult courts. (Urban Institute)
Kids in Prison Part 1 Part 2 Two-part series on young people convicted as adults serving time in adult prisons. (Miami Herald)
Juveniles in Adult Prisons and Jails: A National Assessment (PDF) (Text) A Bureau of Justice Assistance study completed in 2000.
Christopher Simmons and the Death Penalty
Thompson v. Oklahoma (1988) U.S. Supreme Court case deciding that it is unconstitutional to execute anyone for crimes they committed when they were under the age of 16.
Stanford v. Kentucky and Wilkins v. Missouri (1989) U.S. Supreme Court cases upholding the constitutionality of the death penalty for those who committed crimes when they were over 16. The Supreme Court overruled these decisions in 2005 in Roper v. Simmons.
Juveniles and the Death Penalty Extensive information on this subject. (Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention)
Juvenile Death Penalty Resources & Information Statistics, facts, and links. (American Bar Association)
The Juvenile Death Penalty Today: Death Sentences and Executions For Juvenile Crimes A report on juveniles executed and under sentence of death. (Victor L. Streib, Professor of Law, The Claude W. Pettit College of Law, Ohio Northern University)
Juveniles, Capital Punishment, and Sentencing This site by the Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention addresses the issue of severe juvenile sentences, such as capital punishment or life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
Roper v. Simmons (2005) U.S. Supreme Court decision banning the execution of those who committed their crimes while under 18.
The Court, and Foreign Friends, as Constitutional Convention Article critical of the Roper v. Simmons decision. (National Journal)
Death Penalty: The International Context Links to reports and treaties banning capital punishment for crimes committed when an offender was under 18 years old.
Online NewsHour on the Simmons case:
NewsHour Extra: The Juvenile Death Penalty A lesson teaching students about the Eighth Amendment and how the U.S. Supreme Court makes determinations about what constitutes cruel and unusual punishment through the example of the death penalty for juveniles. (PBS)
Religion & Ethics: Executing Juveniles A report on the Simmons case and the debate over executing juveniles. (PBS)
Current Trends and Controversies
Challenging the Myths A critical look at common misperceptions of youth crime. (OJJDP)
Youth Violence: Perception Versus Reality This article argues that misperceptions of the juvenile crime problem have led to the implementation of ineffective policies and counterproductive reforms. (Urban Institute)
Juvenile Offenders and Troubled Teens This web site on juveniles involved with criminal justice agencies contains a glossary of terms in Juvenile Law and articles on juvenile ruthlessness, causal factors for juvenile crime, and how juveniles in trouble should be handled.
Disproportionate Minority Contact Publications, resources, statistics and analysis on the number of minorities in the juvenile justice system. (OJJDP)
Resources for Disproportionate Minority Confinement / Overrepresentation of Youth of Color Fact sheets, publications, links, and other resources. (Building Blocks for Youth)
Prevention of Serious and Violent Juvenile Offending (OJJDP)
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 1999 National Report This report by Howard N. Snyder and Melissa Sickmund offers a resource for informed policy decisions on the juvenile justice system. (National Center for Juvenile Justice)
Victims of Violent Juvenile Crime A 2004 report. (OJJDP)
