The state of Illinois was once called the “false confession capital of the United States,” according to the Innocence Project. It was after many false confessions came to light in high-profile exoneration cases. "In Illinois alone, there have been 100 wrongful...
juvenile offenses
Supreme Court backtracks on life sentences for juveniles
In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling in Miller v. Alabama that seemed to hold life sentences without parole for juveniles unconstitutional. The court found that locking a juvenile away for life without the possibility of parole was cruel and unusual...
Evers pushes juvenile justice overhaul, legislature may push back
In 2018, former governor Walker and lawmakers agreed in principle to shut down the Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake youth prisons, which have a history of abuse. The idea was to replace them with several new facilities, including a new state prison for serious juvenile...
Criminal restitution orders leave juveniles languishing in debt
When we think of people being ordered to pay restitution to the victim of their criminal act, we typically picture that victim being an ordinary person who lost valuables in, say, a burglary. We imagine the restitution is directly tied to the criminal behavior, with...
Let’s eliminate juvenile life without parole in the federal system
In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Miller v. Alabama that sentencing juveniles to mandatory life sentences without the possibility of parole violates the 8th Amendment's mandate against cruel and unusual punishments.This is because mandatory life without parole...
Judge: Cruelty, isolation at WI juvenile prisons must change
The federal judge hearing the case on Wisconsin's juvenile prisons commented that Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber, suffers less restrictive solitary confinement than do the juveniles confined at the Lincoln Hills School correctional facility in Irma.Youthful offenders...
Juvenile justice often at odds with our knowledge of development
In Wisconsin as in other states, there is a lot of controversy about the ways in which juvenile offenders are prosecuted. The age of adulthood in most of the country is 18, and in Wisconsin an offender can be tried as an adult at age 17. What most people never really...
Milwaukee sisters face possible charges after alleged thefts
Children make mistakes, but some mistakes can lead to challenges. Research has shown that children lack maturity in avoiding risky behavior. However, some decisions leading to juvenile offenses can affect a child for the rest of his or her life. Recently, police say...
Wisconsin passes law increasing police access to juvenile records
In an effort to curb crime in Wisconsin, lawmakers have signed into law a series of bills that some feel are overreaching. One of the bills gives law enforcement, including officers, judges and prosecutors, greater access to the criminal records of juveniles. This...