Jeffrey Butts is director of the Research and Evaluation Center at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, and he’s worked with policymakers in 28 states, largely on youth justice. “It takes a high level of neglect for a long time for this stuff to emerge,” he said “It’s like black mold: It will grow if nobody is cleaning it up.” Continue reading Miami Herald — Lightning Blasted his Shoes off-and Illuminated a Pattern of Abuse by Staff

As juvenile justice experts around the nation were recommending smaller, more localized facilities, Wisconsin went in the opposite direction, consolidating operations in a remote setting. … “This is a 19th century or early 20th century model, where you have a large state-operated facility hours away from the urban centers,” said Jeffrey Butts, director of a research center at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. “It is profoundly ineffective and wasteful.” Continue reading Milwaukee Journal Sentinel—Crisis at Lincoln Hills Juvenile Prison Years in Making

Other sources of potential support faded away, explains Jeffrey Butts of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, due to fundamental misgivings with the quality of even the juvenile justice system and with the arbitrary choice of 18 as a magical birthday. Butts and others have advocated for a total overhaul of the system, so that it gradually escalates responsibility and adjusts services up to age 25. He said he told individuals within the Cuomo Administration of his concerns in 2014. “My advice was don’t do this,” he says. “Don’t waste the political capital on the Raise the Age debate because it’s a partial victory at the very best.” “Why would he want to be the 49th governor to raise the age to 18,” he continues, “when he could be the first governor to revolutionize the whole conversation?” Continue reading Gothamist—Why Is New York Still Prosecuting 16-Year-Olds As Adults?

Crime upticks from 2004 to 2006 generated similar concern after a decade of declines, said Jeffrey Butts, director of the Research and Evaluation Center at John Jay College. “Everyone started to panic, there was all sorts of speculation, and then it started back down again in 2007 and 2008, and it just plummeted from there,” Mr. Butts said of the overall decline in crime rates. “On a year-by-year basis, you can’t overreact or over-infer.” Continue reading Washington Times—FBI Reports Increase in Homicides, Violent Crimes