We are closing Guantanamo but we refuse to close our own abusive juvenile correctional facilities.
The juvenile-justice crisis in America can be illustrated by the recent Dickens-like scandal uncovered in Pennsylvania, where two judges ruling over juvenile courts were found to be taking kickbacks in exchange for committing thousands of juveniles into privately owned facilities. Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. and Michael T. Conahan took over a million dollars each to deliver “justice.” Many children with minor offenses were sentenced for years in private correctional facilities, without legal representation; one child spent a year in a center for stealing a bit of change. It took a constitutional challenge to set him free. Over 5,000 youths were affected by this ...
