Department of Juvenile Justice

Human Rights Watch (HRW) continues to back legislation that gives youthful offenders a second chance at life after committing serious crimes. Most recently, law changes in California have allowed offenders who were under age 25 when they committed the crime to seek a sentence review after serving between 15 and 25 years— depending on the category of crime. HRW is now working on new legislation geared to stop offenders 16 years old and younger from ever being sent to adult prisons. Currently, when an offender under age 18 is sentenced as an … [Read more...] about New bill keeps youth offenders out of adult prisons