THE APPARENT DEATH of Harmony Montgomery following her placement with her father in New Hampshire has fueled emotionally charged discussions regarding what happened in court, legal questions about the Interstate Compact on Children, the role of the state Department of Children and Families, and recommendations regarding systemic reform in the pursuit of preventing this kind […]
Jay Blitzman
Posted inOpinion
We need truth and reconciliation
MASSACHUSETTS IS NOT IMMUNE from the pandemic of systemic racism. Recent reports document that racial and ethnic disparities persist at every level of our juvenile and criminal systems. In November 2019, the Juvenile Justice Policy and Data Board noted that, in spite of decreases in arraignment, racial and ethnic disparities persist at every systemic level […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Opinion
Legislature must seize the opportunity for ‘expungement’ reform
BRYAN STEVENSON, the renowned attorney and civil rights activist, says that “each one of us is more than the worst thing we have done.” This is especially true for adolescents. No adult is the same person he or she was as a teenager. Yet years later many youths who enter the juvenile system are haunted […]
Posted inOpinion
It’s time to raise the age
IT’S TIME TO BREAK the logjam on Beacon Hill and raise the age of juvenile court jurisdiction above 18. Racial and ethnic disparities exist in both the juvenile and criminal systems, but, according to a 2016 Prison Policy Initiative study, African Americans are six times more likely to enter Massachusetts jails and prisons than whites. […]
Posted inOpinion
Police aren’t needed in schools
IN THE AFTERMATH of George Floyd’s killing, Minneapolis has canceled its contract with city police to patrol its schools. Portland and Denver have acted similarly. As we engage in conversations regarding structural reforms to dismantle American apartheid, we have to consider not only how police should be used in schools, but confront the more fundamental […]
Posted inOpinion
Where you live matters
THE PANDEMIC HAS UNMASKED the reality of the separate and palpably unequal worlds we inhabit and implicates critical issues of race and class. Given our history, this “reveal” should not have been so revelatory. We have learned that African-Americans comprise almost 70 percent of the Covid-19 deaths in New Orleans, Chicago, and Los Angeles; 71 […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Opinion
All kids deserve a second chance
“DO YOU BELIEVE in second chances?” That is the most commonly asked question I receive when I speak to students as part of judicial-school outreach. My answer is always the same: “Yes.” I believe anyone who works with adolescents or has ever been a parent would provide the same response. The concept of second chances […]