juvenile justice

i posted a couple of days ago about the 8-year-old boy in arizona who is being charged with the premeditated murder of his father and another man. the case is generating plenty of press and discussion, but few people seem to be acknowledging that we saw a somewhat similar case in chicago a decade ago.

does anyone remember the case of ryan harris? the defendants in that case were two 7- and 8-year-old chicago boys. the police attained confessions from these two young boys for the muder of 11-year-old ryan harris who was killed while riding her bike in their neighborhood. the charges against the boys were finally dropped when semen was found in the victim’s underpants, and prosecutors were forced to acknowledge that it was unlikely boys so young could produce semen. so how much were those confessions really worth?

at the time, there were a lot of questions about the chicago boys’ confessions and how they were interrogated by police. while the police department denied misconduct or any wrongdoing, seven years later, the city of chicago settled wrongful arrest suits with the 7-year-old defendant for $2 million dollars, and with the 8-year-old defendant for $6.2 million.

it’s hard to imagine how much psychological damage such wrongful arrests and the ensuing publicity might cause. arizona police and prosecutors would be wise to think about the chicago case before placing too much weight on the confession of an 8-year-old child, attained by two female police officers without a parent or legal representative in the room.

seriously?  an 8-year-old boy in arizona has been charged with two counts of premeditated murder in the deaths of his father and another man.  i see all kinds of problems with this case — first, how do you prove intent and premeditation in one so young?  current research is suggesting that human brains aren’t fully developed until individuals are in their twenties, let alone double-digits.  can we really hold an 8-year-old fully responsible for this kind of crime?  second, police apparently questioned the boy without parents or legal representatives present.  assuming he did confess, how much is this confession worth?  wouldn’t anyone be terrified and overwhelmed under these terrible circumstances?  this case will be interesting to watch as it will test the boundaries of our beliefs about kids, crime, and the juvenile justice system.  stay tuned.

via sothea: a cnn report on abuses in juvenile institutions.

The U.S. Justice Department has sued nine states and two territories alleging abuse, inadequate mental and medical care and potentially dangerous methods like the use of restraints. The department doesn’t have the power to shut down facilities — states do — but through litigation it can force a state to improve its detention centers and protect the civil rights of jailed youths.

Arkansas
Georgia
Hawaii
Indiana
Maryland
Mississippi
New Jersey
Oklahoma
Texas
Puerto Rico
Northern Mariana Islands