COLORADO — A class-action lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union alleges Colorado is unlawfully keeping vulnerable children locked in juvenile detention centers for weeks and months after judges ordered their release, depriving them of their childhoods and placing them in conditions resembling adult jails.
The lawsuit urges the state of Colorado to release vulnerable children from detention facilities to community-based settings while they await decisions in their juvenile delinquency cases.
In a delinquency case, a Colorado judge ordered 12-year-old Tony S. to be released, yet he has remained locked up for six months and counting. Tony has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and an additional medical condition that causes cognitive impairments, developmental delays and behavioral issues.
Tony is scared to go to court in handcuffs and wants to be like other children his age, listening to country music and playing board games.
Tony is a named plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit filed in March by the ACLU of Colorado, the ACLU National Prison Project, advocacy organizations Children’s Rights and Disability Law Colorado, and the law firm Ropes & Gray.
For the hundreds of children like Tony, judges in their delinquency cases have explicitly stated that they should not be locked up in detention but instead released to foster placement or back home with services such as therapy. Yet these children languish for days, weeks or months in detention facilities simply because of Colorado’s failure to find another place for them.
Children with disabilities and children in foster care are at particular risk for this unlawful detention.
Colorado’s failure to release children from detention to more appropriate, community-based settings violates their constitutional and statutory rights, according to the lawsuit. For children with disabilities, keeping them in an institution when they could be placed in a community setting violates the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The Fourteenth Amendment also protects the right to be free from detention while a judge is deciding a case, a heightened protection afforded to children.
Conditions at a Division of Youth Services Residential Youth Center in Colorado resemble those of an adult jail, according to the lawsuit, with locked doors and barbed wire surrounding the facility. The cell-like bedrooms consist solely of a bed, a plastic chair and, in some cases, a desk.
The rooms have overhead lights that remain on throughout the night so staff can see through the window of each cell door.
Children are handcuffed when leaving the building, even when going to court. They are also subjected to strip searches and violent restraint tactics.
Education is minimal, with children ages 12 to 17 placed together in a single classroom.
Children describe their days as filled with despair, loneliness and boredom. During a video call, a different 12-year-old boy said he spent his spring break doing very little, with his primary activity being learning how to shuffle a deck of cards.
The break meant no classes, despite classes typically being the only structured activity of the day.
Any amount of time a child spends in detention can have long-term harmful effects. The harm is especially significant for children who spend extended periods in restrictive settings.
Research has shown detention harms children physically, psychologically, socially, neurologically and academically. Time in detention derails education, disrupts relationships, limits future opportunities and increases the likelihood children will remain involved in the juvenile legal system.
Colorado has repeatedly acknowledged the harmful effects detention has on children and has been aware of its failure to timely release children from detention to more community-integrated settings, as required by law.
Colorado is not alone. Many states have been accused of incarcerating children simply because detention is the easiest available placement option. Instead of investing in community-based services, states leave children in detention facilities, isolating them from their friends and families.
This month, U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff and Rep. Jen Kiggans issued a bipartisan congressional report documenting similar conditions across the country.
In April, lawmakers in Tennessee introduced a proposed bill that would allow foster children to be placed in detention facilities solely because of a shortage of foster homes.
The ACLU said its lawsuit serves as a warning to states nationwide, arguing that children do not belong in jail and deserve the opportunity to live normal lives.
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