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Zero Tolerance Policies: Criminalizing Childhood And Disenfranchising The Next Generation Of Citizens, S. David Mitchell Jan 2014

Zero Tolerance Policies: Criminalizing Childhood And Disenfranchising The Next Generation Of Citizens, S. David Mitchell

Faculty Publications

A juvenile adjudication of guilt has far more drastic consequences than existed just ten years ago ... Some of these consequences may not be apparent for a number of years, but their possibility should be anticipated, fully considered, and planned for, wherever possible. Under zero tolerance, students are suspended, expelled, or referred to juvenile authorities or some combination thereof for specified offenses. Zero tolerance policies punish students harshly regardless of the severity of the infraction, the existence of mitigating circumstances, or the context in which the conduct occurred. Part II discusses the origin and evolution of zero tolerance policies, as …


Symposium Foreword: Bombshell Or Baby Step? The Ramifications Of Miller V. Alabama For Sentencing Law And Juvenile Crime Policy, Paul J. Litton Oct 2013

Symposium Foreword: Bombshell Or Baby Step? The Ramifications Of Miller V. Alabama For Sentencing Law And Juvenile Crime Policy, Paul J. Litton

Faculty Publications

This short essay, which serves as the Symposium Foreword, argues that the rationale of Miller is incoherent insofar as it permits juvenile LWOP sentences and that the Court misidentifies the foundational principle of Roper. First, in banning mandatory juvenile LWOP sentences, the Court invokes Woodson, which bans mandatory death sentences. The Court maintains that Woodson, from its capital jurisprudence, applies because juvenile LWOP is “akin to the death penalty” for juveniles. But if the Court’s capital jurisprudence is binding based on that equivalence, Roper should imply that juvenile LWOP, like the death penalty, is unconstitutional for juveniles. This essay briefly …


School Bullying Victimization As An Educational Disability, Douglas E. Abrams Apr 2013

School Bullying Victimization As An Educational Disability, Douglas E. Abrams

Faculty Publications

Parts I and II of this essay urge school authorities, parents, and other concerned citizens to perceive bullying victimization as a disability that burdens targeted students. Since 1975, the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) has guaranteed “full educational opportunity to all children with disabilities” in every state. The IDEA reaches both congenital disabilities and disabilities that, like bullying victimization, stem from events or circumstances unrelated to biology or birth. To set the context for perceiving bullying victimization as an educational disability, Part I describes the public schools' central role in protecting bullied students, and then briefly discusses the …


Recognizing The Public Schools' Authority To Discipline Students' Off-Campus Cyberbullying Of Classmates, Douglas E. Abrams Jan 2011

Recognizing The Public Schools' Authority To Discipline Students' Off-Campus Cyberbullying Of Classmates, Douglas E. Abrams

Faculty Publications

The American Medical Association, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have identified bullying in the public elementary and secondary schools as a "public health problem". This article explains the schools' comprehensive authority, consistent with the First Amendment, to impose discipline on cyberbullies, by suspension or expulsion if necessary. Ever since Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969), the Supreme Court's First Amendment decisions have granted the schools authority to discipline student speech that causes, or reasonably threatens, (1) "substantial disruption of or material interference with school …


Reforming Juvenile Delinquency Treatment To Enhance Rehabilitation, Personal Accountability And Public Safety, Douglas E. Abrams Jan 2005

Reforming Juvenile Delinquency Treatment To Enhance Rehabilitation, Personal Accountability And Public Safety, Douglas E. Abrams

Faculty Publications

This article describes the widespread violence, beatings and other abuse the U.S. Justice Department has found in its inspections of several state juvenile detention facilities. The article then discusses Missouri's Division of Youth Services (DYS), which is widely considered the national model of sound practices. The article concludes with recommendations for national reform.


Lessons From Juvenile Justice History In The United States, Douglas E. Abrams Jan 2004

Lessons From Juvenile Justice History In The United States, Douglas E. Abrams

Faculty Publications

Properly understood, “juvenile justice” encompasses all four primary categories of juvenile court jurisdiction - - abuse and neglect, adoption, status offenses and delinquency. I will concentrate today on delinquency - - what states have done with * children found to have committed acts that would be crimes if committed by adults.