Source
Summary
“The extensive negative impact on children from our practice of transferring them into the adult criminal justice system and treating them as if they were adults has been well-documented by state and federal government agencies, researchers, advocates and the press. What has not been documented to date, is the extent of the impact of these policies. This report provides the first ever snapshot and national estimate of the number of people in our prisons who have been there since they were children.
We gathered data from 45 states on every individual currently incarcerated who was under the age of 18 at the time of their offense. Our findings revealed that U.S. prisons are filled with at least 32,359 individuals whose crimes were committed as children. While the policies that enable this inhumane treatment of children are morally compromised, they are also in flagrant violation of international law.”
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[Related story: Human rights group urges resentencing of tens of thousands who, convicted in their teens, have spent decades behind bars]
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