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Making a case for juvenile imprisonment

By Douglas A. Berman

The punitive turn in juvenile justice is often criticized, but not often rigorously evaluated.  But this new piece available through SSRN, titled "Juvenile Jails: A Path to the Straight and Narrow or Hardened Criminality?," finds some notable good news when examing the move to incarcerate more juveniles.  Here is the abstract: Juvenile justice systems throughout the United States have become increasingly punitive since the 1970s.  Most states have passed legislation making it easier to transfer juveniles to the criminal courts.  Supporters of this 'get tough' movement argue, in part, that juvenile courts are ineffective in deterring young offenders.  This claim, however, is primarily based on poorly designed evaluations that do not account for the non-random nature of sentencing...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on October 18, 2008 (boomark / email).