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 Photo by Ashley Hunt |
Locking
children away in juvenile prisons steals a piece of humanity from all
of us. When we condone putting young people behind bars in desolate,
violent institutions far from their homes and communities, we are
complicit in the destruction of their childhood. Sadly, Louisiana has
one of the highest rates of juvenile incarceration in the country and
the overwhelming majority of the young people locked away are poor and
Black. Nearly two-thirds are incarcerated for nonviolent offenses and
many of the youth have special mental health needs that never received
treatment. JJPL believes all children deserve a real chance at life.
Placing young people in prisons not only deprives them of true
opportunities for growth and healthy change, but puts communities at
risk by failing to properly address why children are at risk in the
first place.
JJPL fights on several fronts to challenge the way the
state handles our delinquent young people, particularly those confined
in juvenile prisons. In 1998, JJPL filed a class action lawsuit
challenging the brutal conditions of confinement at the then
privately-owned Tallulah Correctional Center for Youth. About a year
later, JJPL filed another class action lawsuit
against the privately-owned Jena Juvenile Justice Center. As a result
of the litigation both the the Tallulah Jena facilities
were shut down. Together with the United States Department of
Justice, JJPL and private plaintiffs entered into a settlement agreement
addressing the multitude of issues raised in the lawsuits including:
abusive treatment of youth and ineffective reporting and investigations
of such abuse, lack of meaningful access to the courts, lack of medical
and mental health care, and lack of education and special education
services. Today, JJPL continues to monitor the conditions at Jetson,
Swanson, and Bridge City correctional center's for youth, seeking to
ensure that abuses are
immediately addressed and that children are appropriately cared for.
See Youth Prison Watch.
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