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St. Clair County is piloting teen court — a justice program that allows first-time non-violent offenders to come before a peer jury after admitting guilt.

If a student happens to have been born black, he’s three times more likely to be suspended or expelled than his white classmates. That statistic comes from the U.S. Department of Education, and it’s often repeated by people who favor changing the way students are disciplined. But as with all averages, it obscures the rough edges that become apparent only when looking more closely at the numbers, and Illinois has some of the roughest edges around.

Forty years after its birth, the landmark federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act could be reauthorized by Congress this year.

The protests in Ferguson, Mo., have captured the attention of the nation, focusing on the injustice and racial disparities in the justice system — in Ferguson.
The issues raised by the Ferguson protests are complex, but the frustrations with the disparities in our justice system

“In Their Own Words” examines how young people convicted of serious offenses perceive the criminal justice system, from arrest to prison. The study grows out of a pilot project we have developed to improve the criminal justice system’s response to young people who are prosecuted as adults in Cook County, Ill.

Chicago Bulls star Joakim Noah says he can’t sit by idly and watch the devastating violence in Chicago that recently claimed an innocent child sitting inside her home about to make s’mores.