epcadmin

A teenager who pleads guilty to a minor offense might end up facing a true jury of his or her peers, at least in St. Clair County. Teen court is entering its second year as a justice program to allow nonviolent first-time teen offenders to be sentenced by a peer jury. Teenage volunteers undergo training to learn how to hear evidence, deliberate and come to an appropriate sentence.

"Let me start by saying there's no question that bad people who do illegal things should be locked up. But I have two major problems with mandatory minimum sentencing. I think it's highly unlikely that threatening thugs with extra prison time will deter them from getting illegal guns and shooting up neighborhoods. […] Elizabeth Clarke, president of the Juvenile Justice Initiative, expertly explains my second problem with mandatory minimums. And that is the lack of discretion that it gives judges.

'The judge can't take into consideration things like the degree of culpability and the potential for change and rehabilitation for the individual,' she said. 'So people end up pleading to lesser offenses whether they're guilty or not because they're afraid of a mandatory minimum if they lose at trial.'"

There's good news and bad news about sentences in federal prison. The good news: Prison sentences are getting shorter. The bad news: Black defendants are still getting longer sentences than white ones for the same crimes — and the racial gap is actually growing.

Candice Jones, Director of the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice and Paula Wolff, Director of the Illinois Justice Project, write about the recent steps the state has taken to improve the lives of children and families touched by the juvenile justice system.

Kane County State's Attorney's Juvenile Justice Council is conducting an online survey of Kane County residents to help determine gaps in programming that can help keep juveniles from getting in legal trouble and ways to curb juvenile recidivism.

If you’ve got a kid in school, chances are you’ve got a handbook with a long list of rules and expectations. But data suggests that, in many schools, enforcement may be unequal, with black students getting more disciplinary actions than white students.

Paris Taborn chose to leave Springfield High.

“I kept getting in trouble at school. So like, I would get sent home, and stuff, every day. I would just come to school — oh, your shirt’s too short. Come to school — your bra strap’s showing.”

A former gang member, Cutberto Berto, 21, is now a clean-cut, good-looking college senior at Dominican University in River Forest, where he is student body president.

GALESBURG — Gov. Bruce Rauner signed legislation Tuesday that would effectively grant judges greater discretion in handling cases that involve transferring juveniles to adult court.