Criminal Justice
Punished: Louisville Teens Charged As Adults Are Almost Always Black
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Of 126 individuals charged as “youthful offenders” in Jefferson County, 117 of them — 93 percent — were black.
Criminal Justice
State: We Can’t Afford To Run Louisville’s Juvenile Jail
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If Louisville’s detention center closes at the end of the year, Louisville youth will be sent to facilities throughout the state — an outcome that families and city officials have feared will make it harder for youth to see family and attorneys and get services.
Criminal Justice
Proposed Budget Cuts Bring Fears About What’s Next For Louisville’s Jailed Youth
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If Louisville closes its juvenile jail, it’s still unclear whether the state would open a new facility or send Louisville youth to other regional detention centers.
KyCIR Amplify: Demontrea and Amari, Louisville Teenagers Who’ve Been Locked Up
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Our investigations seek to protect society’s most vulnerable citizens, expose wrongdoing and increase transparency. Amplify brings you the voices of the Kentuckians who feel the effects of the failures we reveal and secrets we expose.
Criminal Justice
3 Of Every 4 Jailed Louisville Youth Are Black. Who Can Change That?
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Though black youth are less than 27 percent of Louisville’s youth population, they represented more than 75 percent of the youth bookings in Louisville’s secure detention center last year.
Featured in Series
Kentucky Reformed Juvenile Justice, And Left Black Youth Behind
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When a youth is accused of a crime in Kentucky, an adult has to make a choice in nearly every step that follows.
Allow the youth to avoid a formal charge, or bring the case to a judge? Send him home or to sleep in a cell? Put another way: Offer another chance, or deny it?
Disproportionately, the Kentucky youth denied that second chance are black.
Criminal Justice
Youth Detention Center Fails To Provide Basic Services, Report Says
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The consultants raised questions about whether the detention center’s understaffed school violated federal laws, and said having no qualified mental health professional on staff “jeopardizes the safety of young people with mental illness.” A physician is only on site two mornings a week, and nurses give most of the medical care.
Criminal Justice
Critical Safety Issues Plague Kentucky’s Juvenile Detention Centers, Report Says
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Kentucky’s juvenile detention centers overuse isolation rooms and lack basic mental health care for the thousands of youths that cycle through the system each year, a state consultant has concluded after an eight-month review.
Criminal Justice
Two Plead Guilty To Misconduct In Gynnya McMillen Case
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Two former employees of the juvenile detention center where Gynnya McMillen died in 2016 pleaded guilty Wednesday to official misconduct. Victor Holt and Reginald Windham were each sentenced Wednesday in Hardin County District Court to pay a $200 fine, plus court costs. Judge John Simcoe did not assign any jail time, although the charge could have brought up to 90 days. Holt and Windham were indicted last March on the misdemeanor charge after investigators determined that they and other Lincoln Village Regional Detention Center employees skipped bed checks and falsified logs. Gynnya, 16, was found unresponsive in her room at Lincoln Village on the morning of Jan.
Criminal Justice
State To Close Detention Center Where Gynnya McMillen Died
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Recent reforms have lowered the number of youth in facilities like Lincoln Village, which is operating with less than half of its 44-bed capacity.
Hi, I’m Jasmine Demers, a reporter for KyCIR covering issues related to youth and social services. I’m also a corps member with Report For America, a national program that places journalists into local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities.