Children in Adult Jails

Children in Adult Jails

Factsheet

Incarcerating Youth with Adult Inmates Results in Tragedies

Research demonstrates that children in adult institutions are five times as likely to be sexually assaulted, twice as likely to be beaten by staff, 50 percent more likely to be attacked with a weapon, and eight times as likely to commit suicide as children confined in juvenile facilities.

Case examples:

In Ohio, six adult prisoners murdered a 17-year-old boy while he was incarcerated in the juvenile cellblock of an adult jail.

In Florida, a 17-year-old mildly retarded boy who had pleaded guilty to sexual battery was strangled to death by his 20-year-old cellmate. Both the youth's attorney and the sentencing judge had tried unsuccessfully to get the boy into treatment rather than prison.

In Ironton, Ohio, a l5-year-old girl ran away from home overnight, then returned to her parents, but was put in the adult county jail by the juvenile court judge to teach her a lesson. On the fourth night of her confinement she was sexually assaulted by a deputy jailer. More than 500 children had been incarcerated in the jail over a three-year period, many for truancy and other status offenses (which would not be crimes if committed by adults) (See Doe v. Burwell).

In Boise, Idaho, a l7-year-old boy was held in the adult jail for failing to pay $73 in traffic fines. Over a l4-hour period, he was tortured and finally murdered by other prisoners in the cell. Another teenager had been beaten unconscious by the same inmates several days earlier. More than 650 children had been held in the jail over a three-year period, 42% for traffic offenses and l7% for status offenses (See Yellen v. Ada County).

In LaGrange, Kentucky, a l5-year-old boy was confined in the adult jail for refusing to obey his mother. Soon after he got in the jail, he took off his shirt, wrapped one sleeve around his neck and the other around the bars of his cell, and hanged himself. Jail records showed that l,390 children were held over a four-year period, most for minor and status offenses (See Horn v. Oldham County).

In rural Glenn County, California, a l5-year-old girl was taken to the local jail for staying out past curfew. After several days, she had a detention hearing, but was not released. When she went back to her cell, she hanged herself (See Robbins v. Glenn County).

In Knox County, Indiana, a l7-year-old girl was held in the county jail for shoplifting a $6 bottle of suntan lotion. Despite a history of emotional problems, she was put in an isolation cell. Several hours later, she committed suicide by hanging herself (See Wilhite v. Kirkham).

Research Demonstrates That Prosecuting Children in Adult Court Doesn't Work

Recent research demonstrates that transferring children from juvenile court to adult court does not decrease recidivism, and in fact actually increases crime.

In a recent study comparing the recidivism of youths waived to criminal court with their matched counterparts retained in juvenile court, recidivism was worse among those who remained in criminal court. They were more likely to be rearrested and more likely to commit more serious new offenses. They also reoffended more quickly. While the youths tried in criminal court in this study received harsher punishment than those tried in juvenile court, the waived youths were 20% more likely to be released from secure custody prior to final disposition of their case. Of the released offenders, waived youths were more likely to commit further crime during the pre-disposition time period than non-transferred youths. Also, transferred youths exhibited greater repeat offending during the post-dispositional follow-up period.

A study of juvenile cases tried in adult courts in 18 of the largest urban jurisdictions in the country showed that many youth sent to the adult system were charged with non-violent offenses, many were released soon after their arrests, and many were not convicted at all or were transferred back to the juvenile justice system. Yet, two thirds of the youth who were detained before trial were held in adult jails, and one-third of those were held in the general population with adult inmates.

Two Florida studies found that youth transferred to adult prisons had approximately 30% higher recidivism rate than youth who stayed in the juvenile justice system. Not only were those transferred more likely to re-offend, but they did so almost twice as quickly, and were arrested for more serious offenses, than youth who were retained in the juvenile court system and provided some form of treatment services. In addition, The Miami Herald reports that youth in Florida's prisons are nearly 21 times as likely to report being assaulted or injured as teens in Department of Juvenile Justice custody.

A study in New York and New Jersey also found that recidivism rates were higher and rearrests occurred more quickly for youth prosecuted in adult court than similar youth handled in juvenile courts. This study, which compared youth in New York who were prosecuted in adult court to youth with similar charges and prior records in New Jersey who were prosecuted in juvenile court, demonstrated that convictions were no more likely in adult court, punishment was imposed less swiftly, incarceration was less likely, and sentences were nearly identical.

Protecting Youth from Adult Inmates

Separation and Jail Removal-The federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) of 1974 requires participating states to assure that youths under juvenile court jurisdiction are separated by sight and sound from adults at all stages of judicial processing and that youths who have not committed criminal offenses (such as dependent or neglected children, runaways, or status offenders) are not placed in secure confinement. As amended in 1980, the JJDP Act requires that states remove youths from adult jails-in response to studies which showed that despite the separation requirements of the original Act, almost half a million children were still housed in adult jails and lockups each year, typically isolated for long periods, without access to institutional programs and services. Thus, federal regulations permit children who are charged with delinquent offenses to be held in lockups for only a limited number of hours before and after court hearings;

The Act has been tremendously successful. Prior to the Act, states reported that as many as 500,000 youths were held each year in adult jails and lockups. That figure has been reduced to approximately 10,000 in 1995, with the two states that are no longer participating in the program accounting for over 7,000. Also, there has a substantial decline in the use of detention in status offense cases. In 1975, an estimated 143,000 status offense cases involved detention -in 1996, the figure was 39,000.

Sources:

Austin, J., Johnson, K., & Gregoriou, M. (2000). Juveniles in Adult Prisons and Jails. Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

Bishop, D., Frazier, C., Lanza-Kaduce, L., & White, H. (1996). The Transfer of Juveniles to Criminal Court: Does It Make a Difference? Crime and Delinquency, 42: 171-191.

Delguzzi, K. (1996, April 30). Prison Security Went Awry: Youth Killed When Adults Entered Cellblock. Cincinnati Enquirer, p. B1.

Fagan, J. (1996). The Comparative Impacts of Juvenile vs. Criminal Court Sanctions on Recidivism Among Adolescent Felony Offenders. Law and Policy, 18.

Fagan, J., Forst, M., & Vivona, T.S. (1989). Youth in Prisons and Training Schools: Perceptions and Consequences of the Treatment-Custody Dichotomy. Juvenile and Family Court Journal, 40.

Fixing a Broken System: A Review of the OJJDP Mandates. Hearing before the Subcommittee on Youth Violence of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, 105th Cong., 1st sess. (1997) (testimony of Shay Bilchik, Administrator, OJJDP)

Flaherty, M.G. (1980). An Assessment of the National Incidence of Juvenile Suicide in Adult Jails, Lockups, and Juvenile Detention Centers. The University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Greene, R., & Dougherty, G. (2001, March 19). Kids in Prison: Young Inmates Report Highest Rate of Assault. The Miami Herald.

Juszkiewicz, J. (2000). Youth Crime/Adult Time: Is Justice Served? Prepared by Pretrial Services Resource Center for Building Blocks for Youth.

Juvenile and Offenders and Victims: 1999 National Report. (1999). Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

Lyons, D.C. (1997, June 12). Teenage Rapist Dies in Prison. Ft. Lauderdale Sun Sentinel, p. 3B.

Myers, D. (1999, doctoral dissertation). Excluding Violent Youths from Juvenile Court: The Effectiveness of Legislative Waiver. University of Maryland, Baltimore.

Winner, L., Lanza-Kaduce, L., Bishop, D., and Frazier, C. (1997). The Transfer of Juveniles to Criminal Court: Reexamining Recidivism Over the Long Term. Crime and Delinquency, 43: 548-563.

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