During the late 1980s and 1990s, Illinois’ youth prisons began filling up rapidly. The tough-on-crime approach that began in the 1960s was at the peak of popularity, and state law reflected it in mandatory minimum sentences and other provisions. From 1985 to 2000, the state’s population of incarcerated youth more than doubled, from 1,534 to […]
Betsy Clarke
Posted inNews
Juvenile prisons now safer and more effective
Conditions in Illinois’ juvenile prisons are improving, according to one watchdog group, but problems of overcrowding, lack of education and inadequate staffing linger. A report released Nov. 16 by the John Howard Association of Illinois, a Chicago-based prison reform group, shows the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice (IDJJ) has made improvements in safety and rehabilitation […]
