Petition to End the Incarceration of Juveniles in Adult Correctional facilities

I, Melissa Ortega, urge you to take immediate action to end the detrimental practice of incarcerating juveniles in adult correctional facilities. Apart from contradicting the ideas of justice and rehabilitation, this action seriously affects the lives of fragile adolescents.

One of the only countries that lets young people serve time in adult prisons, the United States exposes children to settings that compromise their emotional, psychological, and developmental well-being. Studies of young people's emotional regulation, decision-making, and understanding of long-term repercussions have repeatedly shown that they differentiate greatly from adults (Fagan & Maxwell, 2015). Housing young people in adult facilities ignores these developmental disparities and generates conditions that impede their progress and recovery.

Young people housed in adult prisons run more danger for psychological trauma, abuse, and exploitation. Studies have shown that rather than discouraging criminal behavior, these surroundings may encourage it, hence sustaining cycles of crime and recidivism (Schubert et al., 2017). Adult correctional facilities expose young people to hardened criminals rather than helping them to recover, therefore raising their vulnerability to antisocial influences and behaviors. Having a deep empathy for young people who make mistakes, I think every young person has the opportunity to learn from their mistakes and reconstruct their life.

Moreover, the effect of placing young people in adult correctional facilities disproportionately affects economically disadvantaged groups and racial minorities. Young people from Black and Latino origins are far more likely than their white counterparts to be subject to adult prosecutions and more severe penalties (Mears et al., 2016). These differences mirror systematic injustices in the criminal justice system, which has to be corrected if equal treatment for all is to be ensured.

Juvenile mental health issues in adult correctional facilities highlight even more the need of reform. Research reveals that young individuals in adult facilities are more likely to develop depression, anxiety, and PTSD, and they are five times more likely to attempt suicide compared to those in juvenile detention centers (Teplin et al., 2018). Lack of age-appropriate therapeutic and educational options aggravates these issues and renders these young people unprepared to reintegrate into society.

The juvenile justice system was developed to give rehabilitation first priority and acknowledge the particular requirements of young offenders. Young people housed in age-appropriate facilities are less likely to reoffend and more likely to successfully reintegrate into their communities per evidence (Schubert et al., 2017). Legislative initiatives like California's "Raise the Age" law show how successful policies targeted on rehabilitation instead of punishment are. These initiatives help to lessen general crime rates in addition to helping to cut rates of youth incarceration (Shaw & Greenberg, 2019).

This petition serves as a call-to-action to urge our leaders to increase the age of juvenile jurisdiction to guarantee minor offenders are not punished as adults, limit or forbid moving young people to adult courts, make investments in young detention centers ready to offer therapeutic, vocational, and educational programs catered to young offenders, require reviews of sentence decisions and give judges and prosecutors implicit bias training to help to address structural racial and socioeconomic inequalities, give juvenile offenders trauma-informed treatment, peer support groups, and easily available counseling sessions top priority for their mental health, because not only is it moral, but ending the incarceration of young people in adult jails is a practical step toward building a justice system that supports development, rehabilitation, and fairness. Giving juvenile offenders top priority will enable them to change their lives and start making positive contributions to society.

Together, let's take this important first step toward a day when justice, fairness, and compassion direct our care and treatment of young people who are vulnerable.

Sign this petition to support significant reform of juvenile justice.

Bibliography of sources used in this petition:

• Fagan, J., & Maxwell, C. (2015). The effects of adult prison on juvenile offenders: A developmental perspective. Criminal Justice Review, 40(2), 205-223. https://doi.org/10.1177/0734016814566332
• Mears, D. P., Wang, X., & Hay, C. (2016). Race, ethnicity, and juvenile justice: Examining disparities in juvenile transfers to adult court. Journal of Criminal Justice, 44(4), 341-349. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2016.06.001
• Schubert, C. A., Dore, T. A., & Martinez, M. (2017). Comparing outcomes of juvenile offenders placed in juvenile detention centers versus adult prisons. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 46(8), 1637-1650. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-017-0662-x
• Shaw, M. A., & Greenberg, B. (2019). Juvenile justice reform: Policies to reduce juvenile transfers to adult court. Journal of Juvenile Justice, 11(2), 23-34. https://doi.org/10.1353/jjj.2019.0030
• Teplin, L. A., Abram, K. M., & McClelland, G. M. (2018). The mental health effects of adult prison on juveniles: An analysis of PTSD and depression rates. Journal of Criminal Justice, 48, 42-53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2017.11.002