In the News

 June 27, 2024

JUVENILE CRIME, ADULT TIME

Harsh Florida law sees more Black kids tried as adults than white kids

Between 2008 and 2022, Florida charged around 20,500 kids in adult court. Around half were charged with only nonviolent offenses. Three out of four of the children came from minority communities. Many are still serving their sentences.

“It’s a terrible idea to put a juvenile in an adult institution," said Craig Haney, a psychology professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz, who has spent more than four decades studying the psychological effects of incarceration.

2/13/24 

A group called, PleadThe8th, which advocates for juvenile justice reform, is working to prevent cases like Graham's from happening again. 

Graham, who is from Jacksonville, spent almost two decades in Florida prison for crimes he committed as a minor. His case, which ended up before the U.S. Supreme Court in 2010, led to a landmark decision about the sentencing of juvenile offenders.

2/13/24

Jessica Richardson has always seen promise. She’s a social worker who founded the group PleadThe8th, the co-founder is Graham. 

The 8th Amendment to the Constitution states: “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.”

2/12/2024

HB1181 will also crack down on contraband. If passed, it would be a second-degree felony. 

“I'm not okay with children being sent to prison for a t-shirt or some food that's not okay,” Richardson said.

She said this bill doesn't address the root issue, preventative programs will. “90 percent of kids that go into the prison have some sort of mental health issue, trauma or abuse,” Richardson said.

2/13/24

Plaintiff in landmark case for juvenile offenders to enjoy freedom he gave others.

Terrance Graham, from Jacksonville, was the plaintiff in the Supreme Court decision that ruled children cannot be sentenced to die in prison for non-capital crimes.

Two former Pennsylvania judges who orchestrated a scheme to send children to for-profit jails in exchange for kickbacks were ordered to pay more than $200 million to hundreds of people they victimized in one of the worst judicial scandals in U.S. history.

July 31, 2023

Is extreme heat in Florida prisons a form of "cruel and unusual" punishment?

By Alex DeLuca

April 2021

Governor Roy Cooper announced the formation of the North Carolina Juvenile Sentence Review Board (“Review Board”). 

The four-person advisory board, established by Executive Order 208, will review certain sentences imposed in North Carolina on individuals who were tried and sentenced in adult criminal court for acts committed before turning 18. The Review Board will make recommendations to the Governor concerning clemency and commutation of such sentences when appropriate.

Arizona prison officials were deliberately indifferent to "grossly inadequate" medical and mental health care, violating inmates' Eighth Amendment rights, a federal judge ruled Thursday in a long-running civil rights lawsuit.