NCJ Number
180493
Date Published
1998
Length
98 pages
Annotation
Amnesty International reports that thousands of children experience violations of their human rights protected by international law when they enter the juvenile justice system in the United States.
Abstract
Within the juvenile justice system, children's well-being is often placed at risk rather than being protected. Many children are placed in custody when other action could or should have been taken, many juvenile facilities are seriously overcrowded and are not able to provide adequate mental health and other services children need, and staff often subject children in custody to brutal physical force and cruel punishment. At every stage of the juvenile justice system, racial and ethnic minority children are present in numbers greatly out of proportion to their numbers in the community. In this context, the human rights of children accused or convicted of violating criminal laws are examined. Consideration is paid to international human rights standards, international treaties ratified by the United States, other international standards, U.S. resistance to international human rights commitments, and U.S. laws and standards. In addition, the report includes a discussion of the death penalty for juveniles and offers recommendations on how the human rights of children can be protected. Further information on the treatment of children in adult correctional systems is appended. 200 references, 2 tables, and 2 photographs