In the wake of George Floyd’s murder, a handful of school districts have rid themselves of police, but activists have been laying the groundwork for decades
Category: History
The myth that left a legacy for young offenders
In the 1990s criminologists predicted a new breed of children would grow up to be super-predators. While the myth was debunked, the legacy lives on.
What was lost in Brown v. Board of Education
The 1954 Brown v. Board of Education landmark Supreme Court decision desegregated schools, but it also laid groundwork for the school-to-prison pipeline.
Incarcerating Indigenous youth mirrors boarding school past
Experts on U.S. Indian policy trace the high number of incarcerated Native American youth back to U.S. policies of the 19th and 20th centuries, including forced boarding schools, that undermined Native American sovereignty.
Right to attorneys for children grew out of an Arizona case
The Supreme Court case In re Gault recognized that kids have the same legal rights as adults. But kids in the U.S. still don’t have adequate access to lawyers.