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Seeking a More Just Juvenile Justice System

Posted April 30, 2009

It broke my heart to learn recently that, according to the Equal Justice Initiative, the United States is the only country in the world that sentences 13- and 14-year-olds to life terms in adult prisons -- without the possibility of parole.

The initiative has documented 74 such cases across the country. In addition, the Human Rights Watch reports that thousands of adults remain in jail serving life sentences after having committed crimes as children. Some were not even convicted for violent acts; many were influenced by older perpetrators or by histories of abuse; and a disproportionately high number of these “child criminals” are people of color.

What kind of nation locks up its children and throws away the key?

Trying children as adults is especially disturbing in light of research done by the National Institute of Mental Health and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) showing that adolescent frontal lobes -- areas of the brain that regulate decision making -- are not fully developed. This does not excuse criminal behavior, but it does uphold the basic premise that children are different from adults, and therefore should be held at a different level of responsibility.

There is also the matter of safety. Children in adult facilities are particularly vulnerable to brutality, given their age and size. It is ludicrous to think that spending years among adult criminals and being subjected to their abuse will reform child offenders. Not surprisingly, the Campaign for Youth Justice reports that 49 percent of youth who receive adult sanctions commit criminal acts again after being released.

Amid all of the bad news is a ray of hope. I’ve written before about restorative justice, a holistic approach to juvenile justice designed to help victims, rehabilitate offenders and repair communities.

Restorative justice is based on common sense, the simple idea that by bringing everyone affected by a crime together and talking it through, you can reach a solution that holds youth offenders accountable for their actions without dehumanizing them or giving up on their potential to become productive adults. These conferences may also involve community service providers who can help young offenders overcome obstacles to rehabilitation like drug abuse and poverty.

Evidence of restorative justice’s efficacy is mounting; most studies point to recidivism rates of 15 percent or less for youth who have undergone restorative justice conferences. I think that youth offenders are deeply influenced by hearing their victims’ stories. What better way to reflect on your actions than gain empathy for the person your crime has affected?

I also want to emphasize that restorative justice is not just about youth offenders. Their victims and the communities where they live also benefit from restorative justice conferences, because solutions include restitution and a regained sense of community safety. Many victims also welcome the opportunity to address offenders and understand the question that haunts them: Why me?

For these reasons, American Humane is deeply involved in advocating for restorative justice. We believe that restorative justice for youth, compared to traditional approaches to juvenile justice, is:

• More comprehensive in its scope. Rather than defining crime only in terms of breaking laws, restorative justice recognizes that offenders harm victims, communities and even themselves.
• More inclusive. Rather than giving key roles only to government agencies and the offender, it includes victims and communities as well.
• More practical and productive. Rather than measuring how much punishment has been inflicted, it measures how much harm has been repaired or prevented.
• More collaborative. Rather than leaving the problem of crime to the government alone, it recognizes the importance of community, families, victims and offenders.

Read another blog post that details how restorative justice changed one young man’s life.

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