The League of Iowa Human & Civil Rights Agencies

The lawyer for a 31-year-old woman serving life in prison for a murder she committed as a teen called Tuesday on the Iowa Supreme Court to treat children differently under the state's sentencing laws. "It is our position that a judgment that there is no distinction between a child of 14 and an adult" is improper, said attorney Brian Stevenson of Equal Justice Initiatives, an Alabama-based juvenile-advocate group. "To say to any child of 14 that 'you're only fit to die in prison' is cruel and ...

Two significant changes to a massive Iowa government reorganization bill are already in the works. The news follows Gov. Chet Culver's call last week for lawmakers to pass a major reorganization of state government. "Real reform" is needed to move the state to a "smarter, more efficient government" that taxpayers deserve, he said. Lawmakers said they would move this week to strike a proposal to eliminate Iowa's Juvenile Detention Home Fund. The fund annually allocates nearly $4 million for co...

TYLER, Texas - A 16-year-old former juvenile detainee is accused of stabbing a high school teacher to death with a butcher knife. Another teen was convicted of killing a roofer during a 30-minute robbery spree. Both were released by the Texas Youth Commission because the agency wasn't equipped to treat their mental illnesses and had to let them go under the law. The cases highlight what some juvenile justice experts say is a loophole in the way Texas treats underage offenders with severe psyc...

ALBANY — New York’s system of juvenile prisons is broken, with young people battling mental illness or addiction held alongside violent offenders in abysmal facilities where they receive little counseling, can be physically abused and rarely get even a basic education, according to a report by a state panel. The problems are so acute that the state agency overseeing the prisons has asked New York’s Family Court judges not to send youths to any of them unless they are a signi...

WASHINGTON--States could improve public safety and save millions of dollars by investing in community-based alternatives, according to two new research briefs released today by the Justice Policy Institute (JPI). With states facing serious budgetary constraints, these reports offer policymakers more effective juvenile and criminal justice frameworks to guide them in making difficult budget decisions. "There's no magic formula for saving money and protecting public safety," said Tracy Velá...