skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Report: 'Raise the Age' Law in MA Reduced Youth Detention

play audio
Play

Thursday, July 8, 2021   

BOSTON - The number of kids and teens detained in Massachusetts has decreased since the state started treating arrested 17-year-olds as juveniles rather than adults.

A new report from the Sentencing Project points out that prior to raising the age of criminal responsibility, it was expected to increase juvenile caseloads and overwhelm capacity in youth detention centers.

But Sana Fadel, deputy director of the Citizens for Juvenile Justice, notes that after a temporary increase in court caseloads, the numbers have gone down.

She said one reason is that the juvenile system has more of a focus on rehabilitation, and what she calls positive youth development.

"If you help young people mature," said Fadel, "you are much more likely to have them desist from crime and reoffending and actually having more positive outcomes. They need education, they need connection to family, they need skill sets, they need civic engagement and connection to society."

Since 2016, three years after the "raise the age" law passed, the number of detained youths in the Commonwealth has gone down more than 60%. And detention for 17-year-olds decreased by nearly 30%.

Fadel said a next step could be to raise the age even further.

Fadel said despite the progress, there are still stark racial disparities.

"We have our Black and Latino children much more likely to get deeper and deeper into the system than their white peers for similar behavior," said Fadel. "And as the system shrinks as the number of young people in the system shrinks, we see greater disparity."

Marcy Mistrett, senior fellow with the Sentencing Project, authored the report. She said advocates in several states are working to raise the age of criminal responsibility even higher than 18.

In Vermont, for instance, it is 19. Research has shown young people's brains are still developing until roughly age 25.

"With those emerging adults, we need to understand that young people are still very impulsive, still growing, still maturing," said Mistrett, "and they should get some of these protections extended to them."

The report notes that Georgia, Texas and Wisconsin are the only remaining states to automatically treat 17-year-olds as adults when they're arrested. It also recommends states and municipalities invest in community-based services rather than incarceration.



get more stories like this via email
more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …


Organizations fighting wage theft said it harms affected workers and surrounding communities because the money withheld is not being circulated through the local economy. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

Social Issues

play sound

A 2023 study from the University of Nebraska Medical Center concluded the number of Nebraskans with a mental health or substance abuse disorder has pr…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021