Youth Justice Project

“This incident is more about how little this officer, and so many officers around the country, value black bodies, black health, black safety and security.”– Shaun King, NY Daily News, Jan. 4, 2017 Earlier this week, a Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) school resource officer (SRO) welcomed a student back from winter break by picking […]

For many of the students heading back to school this week, a new school year is an exciting time, filled with new outfits, new teachers, and new schedules. Unfortunately, for many students of color, a new school year can also be fraught with worry, as they enter an environment where they are more likely than […]

North Carolina is the only state that automatically processes every 16 and 17 year-old through its adult criminal justice system without an opportunity for the youth to appeal for a transfer to juvenile court.[1] In fact, juvenile court jurisdiction in 41 states and the District of Columbia extends to most persons under the age of 18.[2] The […]

Halifax County, NC is home to some of the lowest performing schools in the state.  One of the main reasons why they perform so poorly is rooted in the three separate school districts (two “black districts” and one “white district”) maintained within the county for roughly 7,000 total students.  This is a critical strain on […]

The Problem After taking a trip to Walmart, noticing a fashionable piece of clothing and making the bonehead decision to pull the security tag off and walk out of the store, a 15-year-old high school student will get charged with a Class H felony of larceny from a merchant by removing, destroying, or deactivating a […]

“We must make sure our students’ background or identity – including their race, ethnicity, or national origin; their sex; or whether or not they have a disability – neither limits their opportunity nor dims their horizon. Instead, we must achieve equity and excellence at every level of our education system, in every school, for every […]

Last week, North Carolina House Bill 2 became law and now, according to proponents of the bill, we can all breathe a little easier knowing that our children are safe to use the restroom. Well, that is, unless the child is transgender. HB 2’s reach extends far beyond its restroom provision, but the intentional targeting […]

Since 2008, I have worked as a capital defender in North Carolina. I work in an office that represents clients in potentially capital cases at the trial level. Frequently, guilt is not an issue, and our job as defense counsel becomes saving the life of our client facing a death sentence. Prior to my current […]

House Bill 879 (H879) proposes various reforms and technical changes to the Juvenile Code. The changes are designed to improve due process protections, prevent further entry into the delinquency system, and reduce confinement in facilities. Due Process Sections 1.1 through 1.4 of the bill address several points in delinquency procedures. Section 1.1 raises the age […]

There’s finally good news coming out of and bi-partisan cooperation in the North Carolina General Assembly. Earlier this month, Representatives Graig Meyer, Rick Glazier, Sam Watford, and Donny Lambeth filed House Bill (HB) 819, an act designed to dramatically improve the state’s school discipline data. Currently, North Carolina law requires the State Board of Education to report, by March 15 of each year, […]

North Carolina already has a massive school-to-prison pipeline and an alarming number of youth in the adult criminal system, and both crises may soon worsen. Rep. Jerry Tillman filedSB 343 (“Student Assault on Teacher/Felony Offense”) on March 19th. The bill would automatically make it a Class I felony offense for a student who is 16 years of age or […]

Last month, the North Carolina Department of Public Safety’s Center for Safer Schools (CFSS) released its 2015 North Carolina School Resource Officer Census. The Census defines school resource officers (SROs) as “law enforcement officers who are assigned to work within the school setting.” (p. 2). It “provides a snapshot of SROs in North Carolina schools in the 2014-15 […]

Across North Carolina and the nation, what’s often referred to as “the great equalizer” turns students away. Schools suspend students for not attending school. Yes, really. Students who miss too much school are told they must miss even more school. Does anyone really believe that less education is an effective strategy to help kids who already, […]

At a recent talk I gave on the School-to-Prison Pipeline, a school board member in the audience strongly objected to the metaphor and said he thought it wrongly blamed school boards and school administrators for a whole host of societal problems that weren’t theirs to solve. At one level, I accept his point: schools can’t […]

*Originally published in the News & Observer Incidents of school crime and violence, short- and long-term suspensions, alternative learning program placements and corporal punishment were all down last school year. The Department of Public Instruction and school districts have been quick to tout the progress. Teachers and administrators deserve praise for keeping more students in school […]

The recent horrific police killings of African-American youth in Ferguson, Cleveland, and many other places across the country are a depressing reminder of the urgent need to rethink the ways in which law enforcement officers have come to be present in the vast majority of public middle and high schools in North Carolina. Of course, not all officers assigned […]

The NC Legislature was in session from May 14 through August 20. Major issues in the 2014 legislative session included financing the $445 million state budget shortfall, teacher pay, Medicaid and coal ash ponds. Below are legislative changes that occurred within Justice and Public Safety. HB 725—Young Offenders Rehabilitation Act aka Raise the Age, which raises […]

In the 2012-13 school year, North Carolina students missed more than 750,000 school days due to suspension. Though suspension is the most widely used disciplinary technique in both general and special education, research has raised serious questions about its effects. First, evidence does not support the notion that suspension improves the behavior of the suspended […]