NATL: CDC Says Adult System Bad for Youth
December 6, 2007 - 9:11am
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently released a report stating that treating juveniles as adults in the criminal justice system is bad for young people and bad for public safety.
"Not only does it not deter youth crime, it actually makes them more violent.” This statement was made by Robert L. Johnson, a member of a task force assembled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to review the research into what happens to youth who are tried in adult courts and serve time in adult prisons.
The task force reviewed six studies of youth in the adult criminal justice system. One study found that young people who spent time in the adult system had 34% more felony arrests after incarceration than similar young people in the juvenile system.
Different states treat young people in the criminal justice system differently, but the trend since the 1990s has been for more states to treat young people as adults for certain crimes.
This news brief is based on a story in the Washington Post, Adult System Worsens Juvenile Recidivism, Report Says. If the link is broken, check the newspaper’s archives.
"Not only does it not deter youth crime, it actually makes them more violent.” This statement was made by Robert L. Johnson, a member of a task force assembled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to review the research into what happens to youth who are tried in adult courts and serve time in adult prisons.
The task force reviewed six studies of youth in the adult criminal justice system. One study found that young people who spent time in the adult system had 34% more felony arrests after incarceration than similar young people in the juvenile system.
Different states treat young people in the criminal justice system differently, but the trend since the 1990s has been for more states to treat young people as adults for certain crimes.
This news brief is based on a story in the Washington Post, Adult System Worsens Juvenile Recidivism, Report Says. If the link is broken, check the newspaper’s archives.
