Gothamist—Why Is New York Still Prosecuting 16-Year-Olds As Adults?
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?
Wall Street Journal—Affordable Housing Coming to Jail Site in the Bronx’s Hunts Point
Jeffrey Butts, director of the Research and Evaluation Center at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said Spofford was modeled on big, centralized detention centers that were rooted in the 19th century, he said. It was part of an era when “detention centers had become a way of punishing people even before they went to court,” Mr. Butts said. Continue reading Wall Street Journal—Affordable Housing Coming to Jail Site in the Bronx’s Hunts Point
Racial Disparities Persist in Juvenile Court Placements
According to data compiled by the National Center for Juvenile Justice and disseminated by the federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), the court processing of juvenile delinquency cases has reflected persistent racial disparities since the 1980s. Continue reading Racial Disparities Persist in Juvenile Court Placements
Vox—Trump: Murder is at a 45-year High. Actual Statistics: That’s not Remotely True.
As John Jay College criminologist Jeffrey Butts put it to the Guardian, “You lost 50 pounds. You gained back a couple. You’re not fat. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t look at your behavior, because the trend is not good.” Continue reading Vox—Trump: Murder is at a 45-year High. Actual Statistics: That’s not Remotely True.
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