Exploring the scale of Philly’s juvenile detention problem Cities nationwide are turning away from juvenile institutions, noting widespread abuses. Philly has fallen behind.

Compared to cities of a similar size, Philadelphia has one of the highest juvenile detention rates in country.

Dain Saint and @samanthamelamed.bsky.social explore the scale of this issue, the system's racial disparities, abuse allegations, and a high rearrest rate.

www.inquirer.com/crime/inq2/j...

Philly locks up kids at one of the highest rates anywhere, despite widespread abuse in juvenile institutions Pennsylvania leaders have acknowledged the harms and abuses in juvenile institutions. Yet Philly remains a national leader in using them.

After years of reducing youth incarceration, the numbers have been climbing—and more kids are jailed on adult charges than when Krasner took office, amid an increase in gun arrests.

The upshot: Philly has become an outlier among big US cities and in PA.

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For example: One 16-year-old spent months in custody awaiting trial as an adult on a gun-related case—though no gun was found and no shots fired. He denies a gun existed—but pled guilty in return for going to juvenile court. “It’s not my job to determine the truth,” a judge concluded.

Philly backslid on juvenile justice reform as prosecutors took up a practice DA Krasner called ‘coercive’ Five years ago, Philly DA Larry Krasner announced a policy overhaul, while city and state leaders proposed sweeping youth justice reforms. Those calls have faded and some policies appear forgotten.

Philly DA Krasner pledged to transform juvenile justice and said his would stop “coercing” kids charged as adults to plead guilty in return for moving their cases to the juvenile system.

Now, critics say those policies have been quietly abandoned.

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200 years of locking up children in America: A system to save youth often put them in harm’s way From the start, the stated goal was to offer treatment and achieve rehabilitation. But, throughout, there have been allegations of abuse.

The history of abuse in juvenile institutions goes back almost since the system’s birth 200 years ago—as a “child saving” apparatus in which minors had few rights and could be confined until they reached adulthood (sometimes even longer).

Exploring the scale of Philly’s juvenile detention problem Cities nationwide are turning away from juvenile institutions, noting widespread abuses. Philly has fallen behind.

The racial disparities are striking: Philly’s Black teens are 9 time more likely than white teens to be charged, 13 times more likely to be detained and 20 times more likely to be sentenced to residential institutions

www.inquirer.com/crime/inq2/j...

Philly locks up kids at one of the highest rates anywhere, despite widespread abuse in juvenile institutions Pennsylvania leaders have acknowledged the harms and abuses in juvenile institutions. Yet Philly remains a national leader in using them.

Abuse scandals have been a constant in PA juvenile institutions, leading bipartisan leaders to call for less reliance on youth incarceration.

Despite local efforts, Philly remains an outlier—locking up kids more than other big cities, and other PA counties.

www.inquirer.com/news/philade...

Philly teens are regularly subjected to illegal lockdowns in detention, city watchdog finds Minors held in juvenile detention in Philadelphia are routinely locked in their rooms for days on end, in violation of state laws, the Philadelphia Youth Ombudsperson found.

THREAD: I am appalled to learn that young people at the Philadelphia Juvenile Justice Services Center (PJJSC) have reported being subject to seclusion for as much as ten days at a time. (1/5)

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Philly judge accused of bias is cautioned by state judicial board, but will avoid sanctions The board’s confidential decision closes the case against Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge Anne Marie Coyle without any charges in the Court of Judicial Discipline.

Those screenshots are from this Phila. Inquirer article by @samanthamelamed.bsky.social.

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I don’t understand why judicial misconduct complaints in PA are publicly dismissed—with the judge getting a letter without the public being told—“when there was a violation, but there are mitigating factors” like “long tenure on the bench without complaints, or a judge’s efforts to rectify errors.”