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Juvenile Justice System Failing Ohio's Children, Investigation Finds (2/10/2009)
A report card issued by the the ACLU, ACLU of Ohio, Children's Law Center, Inc. and the Office of the Ohio Public Defender, finds that the Ohio juvenile justice system is failing the state's children by permitting children to be routinely shackled, mandating that children accused of certain crimes be charged as adults and by not ensuring that all children accused of crimes get lawyers.
> Report Card: Evaluating Juvenile Justice in Ohio
> Press Release

> ACLU press release > Boston Globe: Justice by the Numbers (6/1/08) > Boston Globe: Children Go to Jail, for Lack of Options (5/12/08) > 2003 Report: Disproportionate Minority Confinement in Mass.

Settlement Approved in Case Alleging Discrimination Against Native American Students in South Dakota (12/10/2007) On December 10, 2007, a federal district court judge approved a settlement in a class action lawsuit alleging discrimination against Native American children enrolled in the Winner School District. The Winner/Ideal Native American community and the District reached an agreement to settle the case in June of 2007. > Learn more about the case RESOURCES: >In re Spears: Ensuring Pre-Trial Right to Counsel for Juveniles > J.P. v. Taft: Fighting for Incarcerated Minors' Access to the Courts > Other Efforts to Ensure Adequate Access to Counsel Ensuring Access to Counsel in Ohio In 1967's In Re Gault, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that children under 18 have the right to counsel to assist with charges against them. More than forty years later, the ACLU is working to defend the legal rights of youth in Ohio. We have petitioned the Supreme Court to make it more difficult for juveniles to waive their right to an attorney, launched a public education campaign to inform young people of their legal rights, and are currently monitoring the State to make sure that incarcerated youth have access to the courts. > Learn more about the ACLU's work to defend Ohio youth's right to counsel

Supreme Judicial Court Strikes Down Criminal Provisions of Lowell Juvenile Curfew (09/25/2009)
BOSTON -- The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court today struck down the criminal provisions of a Lowell ordinance that made it illegal for kids under 17 to be out between 11pm and 5am. The law allowed police to arrest youth who were out late, even if they were not doing anything wrong. The kids could then be found delinquent, leading to confinement at the Department of Youth Services and a juvenile criminal record.

ACLU Protects Teenager's Right To Keep Hair Style (09/18/2009)
New Orleans, LA – Today a Louisiana appeals court sided with the ACLU in ruling that a judge in Orleans Parish Juvenile Court had overstepped his bounds when he ordered a young man on probation to either cut his hair or go to jail. A.B., a juvenile, was in full compliance with all terms of his probation, including attending school and testing negative for drugs. At a probation hearing on August 29, 2009, he appeared, in the company of his mother, with his hair in dreadlocks. A.B's family is from Jamaica, and all wear dreadlocks. His father is deceased, and A.B. was growing his dreadlocks in anticipation of meeting his father's relatives in Jamaica on an upcoming visit.

ACLU Drops Community Education Partners From Federal Lawsuit After Atlanta Severs Contract (07/30/2009)
ATLANTA – After the Atlanta Independent School System (AISS) severed its contract with Community Education Partners, Inc. (CEP) to run the city's alternative school, the American Civil Liberties Union today dropped the private, for-profit company from its federal lawsuit challenging the inadequate education provided by the school to its students. AISS declined to renew its $7 million annual contract with CEP to run the school – one of the most dangerous and lowest performing in the state – after the ACLU and the ACLU of Georgia filed a lawsuit last year against CEP and AISS for violating students' constitutional rights.

U.S. Supreme Court Declares Strip Search Of 13-Year-Old Student Unconstitutional (06/25/2009)
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Supreme Court today ruled that school officials violated the constitutional rights of a 13-year-old Arizona girl when they strip searched her based on a classmate's uncorroborated accusation that she previously possessed ibuprofen. The American Civil Liberties Union represents April Redding, the plaintiff in the lawsuit, whose daughter, Savana Redding, was strip searched by Safford Middle School officials six years ago.

House Subcommittee Considers Bill To End “Life Without Parole” For Children (06/09/2009)
WASHINGTON – A key House Judiciary Subcommittee held a hearing today on a bill to help end the practice of sentencing children to life in prison without the possibility of parole. This legislation, known as H.R. 2289, the Juvenile Justice Accountability and Improvement Act of 2009, would deny funding to states that refuse to offer a parole option to juvenile offenders and authorizes state grants to improve legal representation for youths charged with life sentences. The hearing was conducted by the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security.

Policing In Schools: Developing A Governance Document For School Resource Officers In K-12 Schools (08/24/2009)

An ACLU White Paper.
K-12 public schools across the country have begun to deploy law enforcement agents on school grounds in growing numbers. Without addressing the question of whether police officers should be deployed to schools in the first instance, this White Paper posits that if they are deployed, they must be provided with the tools necessary to ensure a safe school environment while respecting the rights of students and the overall school climate.

Missing the Mark: Alternative Schools in the State of Mississippi (02/24/2009)

The Right to Education in the Juvenile and Criminal Justice Systems in the United States (02/05/2009)
On December 31, 2008 the Dignity in Schools Campaign and six organizations -- including the ACLU -- submitted a report on the right to education in U.S. juvenile and criminal justice facilities to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education, Mr. Vernor Muñoz. The report documents the school to prison pipeline; demographic and educational characteristics of the juvenile and adult incarcerated populations; the lack of adequate access to quality education programs in juvenile facilities and state and federal prisons; and examples of youth detention facilities in New York, Texas, and Louisiana that violate the rights of youth to education and to be treated with dignity. The report was submitted to the Special Rapporteur, who is currently preparing a report to the United Nations Human Rights Council about prisoner education worldwide to be released in June 2009.

(A Special Rapporteur is an independent expert appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council. The Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education is called upon to examine, monitor, advise and publicly report back on the status of the human right to education in countries around the world.)

A Looming Crisis (12/18/2008)
The secure detention of youth after arrest and before arraignment in facilities administered by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security.

A Call to Amend the Ohio Rules of Juvenile Procedure to Protect the Right to Counsel (03/09/2006)
A Briefing Paper by the ACLU, Children's Law Center & Office of the Ohio State Public Defender

D.P., et al. v. City of Southaven, et al. - Complaint (04/09/2009)

Observations and Supplementary Brief in Petition Before the Inter-American on Human Rights Alleging Violations of the Human Rights of Juveniles Sentenced to Life without Parole (12/11/2008)
Observations on the response of the United States regarding juveniles sentenced to life imprisonment without parole and supplemental submission in support of petition alleging violations of the human rights of juveniles sentenced to life without parole in the United States.

ACLU recommendations for “A Call to Action for Juvenile Justice” (10/21/2008)
On behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), a non-partisan organization with hundreds of thousands of activists and members and 54 affiliates nationwide, we are recommending actions that the new president and the next Congress must take to reform the nation’s broken juvenile justice system.

Agreed Supplement Order (07/07/2008)
On July 7, 2008, the Court filed a supplemental order, detailing remaining issues to be resolved between parties. >>Click below to read the official Order

Complaint in Harris et al v Atlanta Independent School System (03/11/2008)

ACLU Letter to House of Representatives on Juvenile Justice Accountability and Improvement Act of 2009 (06/18/2009)
On behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), a non-partisan organization with more than half million activists and members and fiftythree affiliates nationwide, we write to express our strong support for H.R. 2289, the Juvenile Justice Accountability and Improvement Act of 2009, which would restore discretion to judges and juries by denying funding to states that refuse to offer a parole option to juvenile offenders and allow states to improve the quality of legal representation for youths facing potential life sentences.

Coalition Sign-on Letter to Department of Justice Urging Support of Reauthorization of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) (04/06/2009)

ACLU Letter to Senate Urging Support of Youth PROMISE Act (02/26/2009)
On behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), a non-partisan organization with more than a half million activists and members and 53 affiliates nationwide, we urge you to cosponsor the Youth Prison Reduction through Opportunities, Mentoring, Intervention, Support, and Education (“Youth PROMISE”) Act, recently introduced by Senators Robert Casey (DPA) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME). This bipartisan legislation seeks to address youth violence by providing resources to communities to pursue comprehensive, evidence-based prevention and intervention strategies to decrease juvenile delinquency and criminal street gang activity.

ACLU Letter to House Urging Support of Youth PROMISE Act (02/26/2009)
On behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), a non-partisan organization with more than a half million activists and members and 53 affiliates nationwide, we urge you to cosponsor the Youth Prison Reduction through Opportunities, Mentoring, Intervention, Support, and Education (“Youth PROMISE”) Act, recently introduced by Representatives Robert Scott (D-VA) and Michael Castle (R-DE). This bipartisan legislation seeks to address youth violence by providing resources to communities to pursue comprehensive, evidence-based prevention and intervention strategies to decrease juvenile delinquency and criminal street gang activity.

ACLU Legislative Priorities for the 111th Congress (01/13/2009)

Report: Locking Up Our Children (05/14/2008)

Profiles of Kids at Risk - Atlanta, GA (02/26/2008)

Profiles of Kids at Risk - Winner, SD (03/28/2006)

Disproportionate Minority Contact (03/28/2006)

Ensuring Access to Counsel in Ohio: Ohio Juvenile Justice Overview (03/09/2006)
A Fact Sheet by the ACLU, The Children's Law Center & The Office of the Ohio State Public Defender

What Is The School-to-Prison Pipeline? (06/06/2008)

School to Prison Pipeline: Discussion Questions (06/06/2008)

School to Prison Pipeline: Fact Sheet (PDF) (06/06/2008)
This fact sheet describes the basic steps on the path from school to prison.

School to Prison Pipeline: Talking Points (06/06/2008)

Harris et al. v. Atlanta Independent School System (03/11/2008)
A class action lawsuit against the Atlanta Independent School System and Community Education Partners (CEP) for violating students’ constitutional right to an adequate public education.

J.P. v. Taft (10/01/2007)
Protecting incarcerated juveniles' access to the courts in Ohio.

In Re Spears (09/27/2007)
Defending juveniles' pre-trial right to counsel in Ohio.

Antoine v. Winner School District (03/28/2006)
The ACLU recently settled this lawsuit, which alleged discrimination against Native American students in a mostly-white school district in South Dakota. The ACLU is now working with the community and the defendant school district to implement changes in the district's schools.