The United States sentences more of its citizens under the age of 18 to life without parole than any other major developed nation, and American believers are increasingly viewing juvenile justice — or a lack of justice — as a critical challenge for faith groups. This edition of ReligionLink focuses on this controversial topic.
Background
The numbers offer a stark portrait. There were more than 92,000 juveniles in detention in 2006, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, and a 2007 report by the National Council on Crime and Delinquency found that these juveniles are more likely to be nonwhite and from low-income backgrounds, with African-American youths 4.5 times more likely to be detained than white youths for the same offenses.
Moreover, human rights groups say there are more than 2,500 inmates serving sentences of life without parole for crimes committed when they were juveniles, with some states charging minors as young as 10 as adults for serious crimes. That is far more than the numbers in the rest of the world combined, they say.
In May 2010, a divided Supreme Court ruled that juveniles who commit crimes in which no one is killed may not be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The decision, under the Eighth Amendment’s ban against cruel and unusual punishment, voided provisions for such life sentences in 37 states and the District of Columbia.
Only 129 juveniles were found to be incarcerated under those particular circumstances, but Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in the majority opinion that the practice “has been rejected the world over” and “the United States is the only Nation that imposes” the penalty.
The faith community — which, according to critics, has too long ignored this issue — has begun to reframe juvenile justice as a social justice matter. Some have started ministries to at-risk and incarcerated youths, while others are establishing programs based on “restorative justice,” the idea that brings together victims, perpetrators, the community and people of faith to “repair the harm” caused by young offenders. Many are working to support laws that would reform the way juveniles are treated by the courts.
Why it matters
Core teachings of traditional religions focus on mercy, justice and serving the least among us, and the fate of juveniles in trouble with the law is so problematic that a growing number of American denominations say the plight of these children cannot be ignored by people of faith. Juvenile detention centers in many states are also some of the most problem-plagued institutions in the corrections system.
Programs and organizations
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African-American Juvenile Justice Project
The African-American Juvenile Justice Project assists African-American children in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. It aims to hold “both the system and the African-American community accountable for the lives of our children.” Attorney Sherri Jefferson founded the project. Contact via her website.
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Breakaway Outreach
Breakaway Outreach is a faith-based nonprofit that works with young offenders in a juvenile detention center ministry. It was co-founded by Jimmy Larche, who says his life was changed by faith when he was a teenager in a juvenile detention center.
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Campaign for Youth Justice
The Campaign for Youth Justice seeks to prevent youths from being tried as adults. April Turner is the communications and media director.
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Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth
The Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth is “dedicated to reducing and abolishing the sentencing of any person below the age of 18 to life without the possibility of parole.” Karmah Elmusa is the communications director.
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Center for Juvenile Justice Reform
The Center for Juvenile Justice Reform is a project of Georgetown University that seeks to support and reform the current juvenile justice system through a cross-disciplinary approach. Shay Bilchik is founder and director.
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National Center for Juvenile Justice
The National Center for Juvenile Justice researches topics relating to juvenile justice. Melissa Sickmund is director.
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National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges
The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges is an organization of judges who seek to improve the quality of juvenile justice. Victor Leyba is the media and public relations specialist.
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National Juvenile Defender Center
The National Juvenile Defender Center has regional centers around the country and maintains state-by-state data on juvenile justice. Sarah Edwards is the development and communications director.
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Juvenile Justice Ministries
The Youth For Christ Juvenile Justice Ministries reaches out to youth in detention centers, group homes, correctional center and more to engage them in “relational outreach.” The ministry emphasizes spiritual, physical, mental and emotional growth. Contact Jake Bland.
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Catholic Charities USA
Catholic Charities USA works in various areas such as adoption counseling, disaster relief, poverty awareness and raising awareness of social issues such as human trafficking and racial inequality. It works to provide aid to people in need and to activate the Catholic population to action.
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Coalition of Prison Evangelists
Coalition of Prison Evangelists is a professional service organization for Christians ministering in the field of corrections. Contact through the website.
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Center for Public Justice
The Center for Public Justice is a Christian-democratic organization dedicated to public policy research, leadership development, and civic education.
Resources
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“Graham v. Florida”
Read a summary of Graham v. Flordia, a 2009 Supreme Court case that led to the ruling that juveniles cannot be sentenced to life in prison for non-homicidal offenses.
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“Juvenile Sentencing Decision”
Read a May 21, 2010, segment by Religion & Ethics Newsweekly about the Supreme Court decision against life sentences without parole for juveniles. The PBS program broadcast a number of reports leading up to the ruling.
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“Life Without Parole for Juveniles: Morally Wrong”
Read an April 13, 2010, post by Jesuit priest John Coleman at the blog of America magazine about the possibility of sentencing juveniles to life without parole.
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“Religion-Based Arguments in Juvenile Life Without Parole Case”
Read is a Nov. 12, 2009, essay about the religious element to sentencing juveniles to life without parole posted at Sightings by Joan Gottschall, a U.S. district judge for the Northern District of Illinois and a member of the Visiting Committee to the University of Chicago Divinity School.
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“And Justice For Some: Differential Treatment of Youth of Color in the Justice System”
Read the 2007 report by the National Council on Crime and Delinquency about the differing treatment of juvenile offenders according to race.
Legal resources
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Supreme Court of the United States
The official website of the Supreme Court of the United States posts background information about the court, as well as court decisions and arguments.
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United States courts
The website of the federal judiciary — which includes the U.S. Court of Appeals, district courts and bankruptcy courts — posts court records, judicial statistics and information on judges. Contact through the website.
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FindLaw.com
FindLaw.com post links to case law and texts. Contact through the website.
National sources
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Paolo Annino
Paolo Annino is a clinical professor at Florida State University’s College of Law and runs the Children in Prison Project at FSU.
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Shay Bilchik
Shay Bilchik is a research professor and the founder and director of the Center for Juvenile Justice Reform at Georgetown University’s Public Policy Institute. From 2000-2007 he served as president and CEO of the Child Welfare League of America. Before that, he was administrator of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
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Laura Farber
Laura Farber is chair of the American Bar Association’s Commission on Youth at Risk.
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Janet Harris
Sister Janet Harris is a Roman Catholic nun and a nationally recognized advocate for juvenile justice reform. She is the founder of InsideOUT Writers, a writers program for incarcerated juveniles in Los Angeles detention centers, where she was once a chaplain.
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Jake Horowitz
Jake Horowitz is a project manager of the Pew Center on the States and a public safety expert. He has a background in counseling juvenile offenders and served as a counselor in an alternative-to-incarceration program for young offenders.
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Scott Larson
Scott Larson is an adjunct professor of Christian ministries at Gordon College in Wenham, Mass. In 2009, Gordon became the first Christian college to offer a major in juvenile justice ministries. Larson is the primary instructor for the school’s juvenile justice ministries courses and the co-founder and president of Straight Ahead Ministries, a faith-based organization that works with juvenile offenders in 15 states and four other countries.
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Peter Leone
Peter Leone is a professor of special education at the University of Maryland and the project director of the National Center on Education, Disability and Juvenile Justice.
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Charles Ogletree Jr.
Charles Ogletree Jr. is a professor of law at Harvard Law School and chair of the American Bar Association’s Juvenile Justice Committee.
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Michael Rickenbaker
Michael Rickenbaker is the general chaplain of Christian Prisoner Fellowship in Hazelwood, Mo. The Pentecostal-based ministry has an outreach program to juvenile offenders.
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Robert Schwartz
Robert Schwartz is an attorney and co-founder of the Juvenile Law Center. In February 2010, he wrote an opinion piece for CNN.com against trying juveniles as adults.
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Shakeel Syed
Shakeel Syed is the executive director of the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California. In 2006, the council organized a meeting between hajj tour directors and imams leading the pilgrimage and U.S. Customs and TSA officials at Los Angeles International Airport. The council repeated the meeting in 2007 and 2012 as a town hall event open to prospective hajjis as well. They said they have heard from Islamic organizations in other areas interested in sponsoring similar events.
He participated in February 2010’s Juvenile Justice Week of Faith by visiting incarcerated youths.
Regional sources
In the Northeast
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Abby Anderson
Abby Anderson is executive director of the Connecticut Juvenile Justice Alliance, a community-based organization that seeks to reduce the number of youths who go through the juvenile justice system.
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Fred Anderson
Fred Anderson is a United Church of Christ minister in Massachusetts who serves on the UCC’s Restorative Justice Task Team. In 2008, he preached a sermon on restorative justice, which included a discussion of juveniles.
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Robert Listenbee
Robert Listenbee is chief of the juvenile unit of the Defender Association of Philadelphia and a member of Pennsylvania’s Interbranch Commission on Juvenile Justice. He is active in the West Oak Lane Church of God.
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Beth Navon
Beth Navon is executive director of the Lineage Project in Brooklyn, N.Y., which works with at-risk and incarcerated juveniles through a variety of programs, including yoga. Among its community partners is the Jewish Board of Children and Family Services.
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Laurence Steinberg
Laurence Steinberg is a psychology professor at Temple University in Philadelphia. His specialties include the adolescent brain and juvenile justice. With Alex Piquero, Steinberg conducted a survey that showed the public is willing to spend more on rehabilitation than on incarceration for juvenile offenders.
In the South
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Joe Benton
Joe Benton is a special assistant for faith-base initiatives at the 7th District AME Church of South Carolina. In 2005, the church and the state’s department of juvenile justice signed an agreement to work together to benefit children in the state’s juvenile justice system or at risk of entering it.
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Betty Gernert
Betty Gernert is a leader of Epiphany Ministry, a Christian ministry to incarcerated youths based in Danville, Ga.
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Tom Gillan
Tom Gillan is with the Office of Criminal Justice for Catholic Charities of Central Florida. He is part of a three-person team that conducts workshops on recognizing and combating human trafficking for NGOs and nonprofits in Central Florida. The local diocese operates a juvenile justice program through the office.
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Chuck Lawless
Chuck Lawless is founder of LifeChange, a Christian mentoring Bible study program for juvenile and adult offenders. It is based in Midland, Texas.
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Luceia LeDoux
Luceia LeDoux is program director of public safety and governmental oversight grants for the Baptist Community Ministries of New Orleans. She oversees this Christian nonprofit’s community grants that benefit young offenders and at-risk youths in the New Orleans area.
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Don Smarto
Don Smarto is chairman of the Juvenile Justice Ministries Network of Texas, an organization of Christian groups and individuals who work with juvenile offenders. It holds statewide roundtables on juvenile justice issues and is based in Dallas.
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Charles Staples
Charles Staples is an evangelical Christian and an attorney in Virginia Beach, Va., who deals primarily in juvenile justice and juvenile advocacy cases.
In the Midwest
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Lili Garfinkel
Lili Garfinkel is with the PACER Center’s Juvenile Justice Program, which works with Minnesota’s juvenile offenders.
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William E. Harris
William E. Harris is executive director of Restorative Justice Ministry, a program of the West Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church in Reynoldsburg, Ohio,
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Rep. Fred Kessler
Rep. Fred Kessler, D-Milwaukee, introduced a bill in the Wisconsin Legislature that would raise the age at which youths are treated as adults in criminal cases from 16 to 17.
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Milwaukee Christian Center
Milwaukee Christian Center was founded to help local immigrants. It provides programs for first-time juvenile offenders. Karen Higgins is executive director.
In the West
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California Church IMPACT
California Church IMPACT is the legislative advocacy arm of the California Council of Churches, which supported a state bill that it says would make sentencing for youths fairer. Email through the website.
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Dennis Gibbs
Dennis Gibbs is director of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles’ Prism ministry, which focuses on “restorative justice” for the incarcerated, including juveniles.
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Greg Kepferle
Greg Kepferle is CEO of Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County, Calif. He has testified before a subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives about maintaining and increasing funding for juvenile justice programs.
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Lutheran Social Services of the Southwest
Lutheran Social Services of the Southwest has several programs for at-risk youths and juvenile offenders. It is based in Tucson, Ariz. Connie Phillips is CEO and president.
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Sarup R. Mathur
Sarup R. Mathur is an associate professor at Arizona State University in Tempe and associate director of the National Center on Education, Disability and Juvenile Justice.
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Verne Rainey
Verne Rainey is the program manager for juvenile services for the King County Superior Court, which covers Seattle. Among services provided is a mentoring program pairing juvenile offenders with mentors from area churches.
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Javier Stauring
Javier Stauring is director of Faith Communities for Families and Children, which held a Juvenile Justice Week of Faith in Februrary 2010 with events across California.
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Kimo Uila
Kimo Uila is director of juvenile justice services for the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice in San Francisco. He has a background in faith-based juvenile justice advocacy in that city.
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Bradley J. Widstrom
Bradley J. Widstrom is an assistant professor of youth and family ministries at Denver Seminary in Littleton, Colo. The youth and family ministry department offers a master’s degree in youth and family counseling with a focus on at-risk youths.
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Shannon Wight
Shannon Wight is associate director of the Youth Justice Campaign of Oregon’s Partnership for Safety and Justice. The campaign is working to keep juveniles out of the justice system and to raise the age at which Oregon youths can be tried as adults in criminal matters.