COMING TOGETHER: Diverse Persectives on Automatically Charging Youth as Adults in Maryland (JUST KIDS)

COMING TOGETHER: Diverse Perspectives On Automatically Charging Youth As Adults In Maryland Click to enlarge On Thanksgiving people come together around the dinner table despite their differences. Last week Just Kids brought non-traditional voices to the table to share their diverse perspectives on the issue of automatically charging youth as adults in Maryland. Voices at the table included a Baltimore City Police Officer, a Juvenile Justice Professional, a School Police Officer, and a Former Education Administrator at a Juvenile Detention Center. Through their jobs, all came into contact with youth automatically charged as adults in different ways. With their varying professional perspectives, each voice brought unique insight into this issue. The School Police Officer commented,   “As a School Police Officer I have to ensure that everyone has access to justice. I don’t think anybody is a winner when we charge youth as adults. Neither society nor our kids benefit when our youth are sent away to adult jail and they come out with a criminal record. It takes them away from their families, they miss school and they can’t get jobs. These are the most formative times of their lives and when a youth is charged as an adult it prohibits them from realizing their full potential. They lose that, and we lose that.”   Multiple viewpoints are critical when discussing what is best for Maryland and our youth. This holiday season we hope you continue the dialogue by having conversations with those around you about this issue. Take action to tell Maryland to stop automatically charging youth as adults! SIGN THE PETITION and forward this email to your friends!  To hear more voices, please visit our Facebook page! Just Kids is a partnership between Community Law In Action, Inc. and the Public Justice Center.

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