Angela Mapes Turner, writing for the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, reports that Indiana ranks 6th in the nation in terms of locking up kids.
Indiana ranks sixth among states with the most juveniles locked up, a grade that should prompt the state to re-examine its youth justice system, a report released today said.
The latest Kids Count Data Book shows an estimated 2,616 youths were in custody in Indiana on any given day in 2006, the latest year U.S. census data were available.
We average 183 kids locked up per 100,000 in the population. The average is 125.
I don’t know how much it’s related or how much it’s even true, but on a couple of occasions, my family law and criminal law lawyer friends have mentioned their feeling that we now use the legal system to deal with kids’ transgressions that used to be dealt with in a much less formal manner. Kids pull a prank and they’re facing charges instead of some sort of ad hoc discipline.
The report also suggests that once a kid gets into the system, he or she tends to remain in the system. Recidivism is apparently quite high.
Kids pull a prank and they’re facing charges instead of some sort of ad hoc discipline.
Couldn’t agree more. We don’t just have a nanny state. The nanny is a real mean bitch.
I don’t think that this should surprise anyone. Over time, more and more laws are being written. There were 700 bills put forth in the Indiana legislature alone this year.
Over time, more and more of our lives are being interfered with by the law. Should it surprise us that, say, the prison population is the highest it has ever been, or that more juvenilles are getting caught up in it? What the hell do you expect to happen when all these new laws come on the books?
But then you have a story like this, and I’m not surprised that the 15 year old offender is facing attempted murder charges. She should be.
I have one member that I have visited in juvie numerous times. He’s now over 18, and will end up in Lake County if he is not good. He’d do stupid stuff, like “borrow” his mom’s car and end up in juvie for months at a time.
In the meantime he was diagnosed as severely bipolar…which was the biggest part of his issues. And young men have a terrible record of remaining compliant with their meds…so this doesn’t look good for the guy I know.