Bridging justice between childhood and adulthood
|
|
EAJP Presentations, Convenings, and Reports: Highlights from Summer 2023 |
|
EAJP Director Lael Chester Presents a Master
Lecture in San Diego
|
|
On June 15, 2023, the Director of the Emerging Adult Justice Project at the Columbia University Justice Lab, Lael Chester, presented a “Master Lecture” at the 11th Conference on Emerging Adulthood, hosted by The Society for the Study of Emerging Adulthood (SSEA).
The goal of this conference is to bring together a multidisciplinary and internationally diverse network of scholars to advance the study of emerging adulthood (age 18-29). Lael described innovations in practices and policies and offered a candid critique of the burgeoning field of Emerging Adult Justice.
|
|
Meredith Hope, Conference Co-Chair and Assistant Professor of Psychology, The College of Wooster, and Lael Chester, EAJP |
|
Manhattan Felony ATI Event |
|
On June 22, 2023, the Columbia Justice Lab/EAJP and the Center for Justice Innovation (CJI) co-hosted The Felony ATI Court: Manhattan and Beyond. This half-day event at the Columbia Club convened diverse stakeholders involved in the criminal legal system. The group discussed opportunities to provide support and programming for system-targeted communities in order to reduce criminal behavior and incarceration.
Columbia Justice Lab Director Bruce Western began the event by sharing the research to-date. He prompted the group to consider the role of ATI in reducing the punitiveness of the system, and challenged them to consider the role of poverty in community safety.
|
|
Hon. Edwina Richardson-Mendelson, Deputy Chief Administrative Judge for Justice Initiatives, and member of the EAJP’s Learning Community |
|
A team from CJI - Joe Barrett, Project Director, and Michelle Pelan, Clinical Director, Manhattan Justice Opportunities, and Luis German, a former participant in the ATI Court - described central elements of the ATI Court, detailing a variety of available programs: drug treatment, counseling, housing assistance, and employment services. Lael Chester, Director of EAJP, and Judge Edwina Richardson-Mendelson, who participated in EAJP’s Learning Community, described the distinct needs of emerging adults and outlined efforts by the New York judiciary to support emerging adults’ healthy development, promote desistance, and increase public safety. Included in these efforts is the EAJP’s work to design a specialized track in the Manhattan Felony ATI Court.
|
|
The event featured a panel discussion including Judge Ellen Biben, Administrative Judge, New York County Supreme Court, Criminal Term; Alvin Bragg, Manhattan District Attorney; Kawan Clinton, Deputy Attorney in Charge of Manhattan Criminal Defense Practice at the Legal Aid Society; and Bridget Brennan, Special Narcotics Prosecutor. The speakers discussed their collaborative approach and shared goals, highlighting the critical role that these types of innovations play in building support for broader reform. As one of the speakers suggested, “wouldn’t it be great if diversion became the norm, and incarceration was the alternative?”
|
|
The event featured a panel discussion. |
|
Speakers gathered for a group photo during the event. |
|
Two reports were released at this event:
|
|
EAJP Co-Hosts a Special Event at the Joyce Foundation
in Chicago for the Release of the National Report
Time for Change on Hybrid Systems for Emerging Adults
|
|
On July 20, 2023, The Justice Lab’s Emerging Adult Justice Project co-hosted an event with the Joyce Foundation at its offices in Chicago for the release of a new national research report, Time for Change: A National Scan and Analysis of Hybrid Justice Systems for Emerging Adults. This first-of-its-kind report on hybrid justice systems (also known as “youthful offender” statutes) identifies and systemically analyzes seven hybrid systems for emerging adults in the country: Alabama, the District of Columbia, Florida, Michigan, New York, South Carolina, and Vermont. The report also includes a detailed model statute to serve as a guide for jurisdictions that are interested in implementing or improving a hybrid system.
|
|
The event included welcoming remarks from the Joyce Foundation's supportive Program Officer, Quintin Williams, a summary of the report’s key findings by lead author Selen Siringil Perker, Associate Director of EAJP, and an engaging panel discussion with four experts: Thomas Boyd, State Court Administrator for the State of Michigan; Marshall Pahl, Deputy Defender General and Chief Juvenile Defender for the State of Vermont; Jordan Toney, Poet Ambassador for Free Minds Book Club & Writing Workshop and recipient of District of Columbia’s Youth Rehabilitation Act; and EAJP’s Selen Siringil Perker. The panelists shared their expertise and insight on the importance of hybrid systems and how they can be improved. They also highlighted that hybrid systems and other systemic reform initiatives, such as “Raise the Age” or “RtA” (raising the upper age of juvenile court jurisdiction over the 18th birthday), can be mutually supportive. For instance, RtA can focus on youth up to age 21 and hybrid systems can apply to older youth ages 21 – 26, improving outcomes for both age groups.
The panel discussion was followed by a Q&A session during which a group of diverse attendees, including advocates, youth and adult correctional leaders, prosecutors, defenders, and representatives from community organizations asked about new innovations in the field, strategies for navigating today’s political climate, and other pressing questions about the emerging adult justice landscape. Finally, this event featured a poem-response section led by Tara Libert of Free Minds Book Club & Writing Workshop, in which panelists and attendees had an opportunity to read and respond to powerful poetry written by incarcerated youth in D.C.’s criminal legal system.
Please visit the interactive webpage of this national study to learn more about hybrid systems for emerging adults.
Below, please find links to the executive summary and the full report:
Executive Summary:
Full Report:
|
|
Lizzy Carpenter is a junior studying political science and public health at Columbia College. Over the summer, she conducted an independent research project that examines emerging adults’ attraction to gangs through the lens of the EAJ Developmental Framework. She also provided support with event planning, website updates, report editing, and this newsletter! Her favorite Justice Lab event was the Felony ATI event, where she enjoyed meeting so many wonderful people and hearing several different perspectives and opinions to ponder as she continues her research. She is thrilled to be continuing to work at the EAJP during this academic year as a Research Assistant. On campus, she is a scientific editor for the GYNECA Journal of Women's Health & Gynecology, the Event Coordinator for the Political Science Student Association, and an avid music lover and performer in Uptown Vocal, Columbia’s jazz a cappella group.
|
|
Daniela Palacios is a sophomore planning to major in political science, with a business concentration at Columbia College. She enjoys watching new Broadway shows and working on her bilingual children's book company, Para KIDS! She is interested in the intersections of education, social justice, and policy, so this summer her independent research project focused on better understanding the experience of college in-prison programs for emerging adults. Daniela created a guide of interview questions to better evaluate the personal experiences of emerging adults in post-secondary education programs and conducted in-depth interviews with people with direct experience and expertise. Daniela presented her work at Columbia’s fall Undergraduate Research Symposium on October 13, 2023.
|
|
The Sentencing Project Releases Report on
Life without Parole Sentences Imposed on Emerging Adults
|
|
Image Source: The Sentencing Project, Left to Die in Prison: Emerging Adults 25 and Younger Sentenced to Life without Parole (2023)
|
|
Among the many noteworthy statistics included in this report are: “two-thirds of emerging adults sentenced to life without parole are Black” and “the peak age at which offenders are sentenced to die in prison is 23 years old, well within the bounds of emerging adulthood… (when) they are uniquely amenable to rehabilitation.”
The authors of the report offer a clear recommendation: “Life sentences with no option for parole review should be struck down entirely for emerging adults and should be limited to a maximum of 15 years.”
|
|
New Waves of Emerging Adult Justice Reform in Massachusetts |
|
Suffolk County, MA, Announces Pre-Arraignment Diversion Pilot Program for Emerging Adults
The EAJP released its Promising Practices: Pre-Arraignment Diversion for Emerging Adults report at a special event at More Than Words bookstore in May, at which Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden announced that his office will launch a new pre-arraignment diversion program specifically for emerging adults (ages 18 - 25). Co-authors of the report, Noor Toraif (Senior Consultant at EAJP and Assistant Professor at University of Pennsylvania's School of Social Policy & Practice) and Lael Chester, Director of the EAJP, presented the key findings and reviewed the thirteen recommendations for pre-arraignment diversion programming informed by a critical analysis of existing systems. In producing the report, the EAJP collaborated with youth and staff at More than Words, the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, and the Committee for Public Counsel Services, a recent grantee recipient for the EAJP’s Developmental Framework Project. Suffolk County’s new program models many of EAJP’s recommendations in its report, with a particular focus on tailoring the program to individual needs.
Suffolk County’s new program will begin in Dorchester, but, Hayden hopes, will ultimately be implemented across the county. If successful, it may join Middlesex County, a neighboring county which created an emerging adult diversion program in 2019, in leading the charge for other jurisdictions nationwide.
|
|
Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden unveiled the new diversion program at a panel event at More than Words bookstore. EAJP Director Lael Chester spoke on the panel alongside other advocates. Image Source: Committee for Public Counsel Services via Twitter (2023) |
|
Boston Globe Editorial Board Advocates to Raise the Age in Massachusetts |
|
In an op-ed published in May, the Boston Globe Editorial Board advocated to raise the upper age of juvenile jurisdiction to include emerging adults. A decade ago, Massachusetts passed legislation extending the upper age of juvenile jurisdiction from 17 to 18, a reform which, though groundbreaking, nevertheless fails to include a category of still-developing and at-risk youth older than age 18.
The Editorial Board cites research finding that incarcerating emerging adults in adult jails and prisons is both ineffective and harmful, that youth aged 18-21 are still developing neurologically, and that racially marginalized emerging adults are disparately involved in the criminal legal system. Furthermore, raising the age has been shown to yield tangible positive impacts: arrests, arraignments, and detentions of juveniles, as well as first-time commitments to Department of Youth Services custody all declined significantly following the state’s prior expansion of the age of juvenile jurisdiction to include 17-year-olds.
State lawmakers are taking steps towards change. Bill H.1710/S.942, An Act to Promote Public Safety and Better Outcomes for Young Adults, would incrementally extend the age of criminal majority to 21 over a five-year period. The EAJP testified at a recent hearing held by the Joint Committee of the Judiciary on how raising the upper age of juvenile jurisdiction interacts with federal laws. For more information, please see the EAJP's Fact Sheet on the topic.
|
|
Connecticut Provides a Second Chance for Parole Eligibility to Those Who Committed Crimes as Emerging Adults Under Age 21 |
|
The Connecticut legislature passed S.B. 952, which enables individuals who committed crimes prior to their 21st birthdays and served portions of lengthy sentences to be considered for parole. Governor Ned Lamont signed the bill into law on June 28, 2023, and it goes into effect on October 1, 2023.
Under current state law, such provisions only extend to those who committed crimes prior to turning 18. In its original draft, S.B. 952 was intended to include those who had committed crimes as emerging adults up to age 25, but the bill was amended to age 21 prior to passage.
|
|
The Connecticut State Senate convening. Image Source: Hartford Courant, "CT Senate Votes to Expand Parole Eligibility for Young Adults" (2023) |
|
Connecticut joins California and Illinois in providing an opportunity for parole consideration after serving a partial sentence for crimes committed prior to ages 26 and 21, respectively. Other jurisdictions, such as DC, similarly offer a “second look” for those who committed crimes before 25, but with the opportunity for a sentence reduction, rather than parole.
These jurisdictions recognize the continuing brain development of emerging adults and their transformative capacity for maturation and change. Read the EAJP's fact sheet about specialized parole and resentencing laws here. (Note that the laws in some jurisdictions, such as DC, have changed since the writing of the fact sheet).
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
