WASHINGTON — In a piece for Governing, authors Liz Ryan and Vincent Schiraldi examine recent shifts in juvenile justice policy in the United States and argue that, despite significant progress, some states are regressing toward harsher practices.
Ryan and Schiraldi emphasize that, while the nation has moved away from its punitive roots, ongoing reform must remain grounded in evidence and research.
The 1990s were a “harshly punitive time” for youth justice, the authors note. But in the past two decades, the U.S. has seen a major transformation in how it handles youth crime.
“This era of tough-on-youth-crime hysteria was challenging for us as young advocates. But it was much tougher for the millions of young people and families affected by the system as youth suffered abuse and had their outcomes dimmed in our nation’s jam-packed adult and youth correctional facilities,” they write.
Research into the developmental differences between adolescents and adults prompted a shift away from punitive models. Policymakers began to adopt more rehabilitative, evidence-based approaches, recognizing that incarceration often harms young people more than it helps.
The results were significant. Youth incarceration and juvenile arrest rates dropped.
“Only 8 percent of arrests for serious violent crimes in 2020 were of juveniles — the rest were of adults,” the article notes.
Despite these improvements, recent developments indicate a return to punitive policies in some states. In the wake of a post-pandemic crime spike, lawmakers are pushing for stricter consequences for young offenders. Two states have recently passed laws making it easier to incarcerate minors.
“Prosecutors in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Oakland, Calif., have all vowed to try more young people as adults,” they write.
In Maryland, one of the states with the highest youth incarceration rates, a bill to end the practice of charging juveniles as adults failed in committee without ever reaching a vote.
The authors argue that sensationalist media coverage is fueling public fear and reviving outdated narratives, similar to the “superpredator” panic of the 1990s.
They assert that the data is clear: a more humane and effective juvenile justice system is not only possible but proven. But achieving this requires rejecting political posturing and emotional rhetoric.
Leaders must stay grounded in facts, they conclude, and commit to policies that reflect what we know—not what we fear.
