Topic Archive: Conditions of Confinement (PREA, Isolation, etc.)

Federal Correctional Education Guidance:

What Juvenile Defenders Need to Know In December 2014, the U.S. Department of Education and Department of Justice released a Correctional Education Guidance Package, aimed at helping state and local agencies improve the quality of education for youth in secure confinement. While the guidance package is specifically designed for juvenile justice agencies overseeing secure care facilities,…

Special Initiative: Protections for Youth in Custody

Sexual assault in prison is devastating for all victims, but children are particularly susceptible and vulnerable to sexual abuse in confinement. The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) provides unprecedented and critical protections for youth in custody, and the accompanying national standards represent an important advocacy tool for juvenile defenders. In order to protect youth in…

In re A.J.

NJDC co-authored a brief with the law firm of Baker & McKenzie arguing to uphold the trial court’s determination that juvenile defendant, A.J., charged with a sex offense, was entitled to a jury trial. Amici argued that due process, the deplorable state of juvenile justice in Louisiana, and the rehabilitative goals of Louisiana’s juvenile justice system…

Conditions of Confinement

In the U.S. tens of thousands of youth are currently locked up in secure facilities. Too often, these youth are held in facilities where they are subject to physical and emotional abuse that threatens not only their immediate safety, but their long-term well-being. Standard 2.8 Obligation to Investigate and Address Custodial Mistreatment of the National Juvenile…

DOJ & Juvenile Court of Memphis and Shelby County

The Report In 2012, the Department of Justice issued a report finding that the Juvenile Court of Memphis and Shelby County (TN) failed to provide constitutionally required due process to children of all races and that the court’s administration of justice discriminates against black children. Further, it found that the court had violated the substantive…

In the Interest of O.S.

This amicus brief filed by Juvenile Law Center, NJDC, and other organizations, requested the New Jersey Court of Appeals finds that the Juvenile Court retains jurisdiction “to hear evidence regarding the status of young people committed to the custody of the State’s Juvenile Justice Commission and, when necessary and appropriate, to modify its own dispositional…

T.S. v. Gabbard

NJDC, along with several other interested organizations, signed onto an amicus brief filed by Juvenile Law Center to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit regarding the strip searches of juveniles in detention facilities. In this case, juveniles were arrested after attending a middle school graduation party, charged with underage drinking, detained…

Parsons v. Ryan

NJDC, along with several other juvenile justice and child welfare organizations, signed onto an amicus brief filed by Lowenstein Sandler LLP, in support of class certification in a prisoner’s right case against the Arizona Department of Corrections (AZ DOC). Although the instant case does not directly involve juveniles, the Ninth Circuit decision on whether to…

State Assessments

A cornerstone of the National Juvenile Defender Center’s work is to understand how juvenile defense is delivered around the country and to support excellence in the provision of those services. As part of that work, NJDC conducts state-specific assessments of youth access to, and the quality of, juvenile defense counsel when they come in contact…