“Terrence was 16 when he and three other teens attempted to rob a barbeque restaurant in Jacksonville, Florida. Though they left with no money and no one was injured, Terrence was sentenced to die in prison for his involvement in that crime.” —Cara H. Drinan, “The War on Kids”

“The War on Kids” by Cara H. Drinan shines a light on the reality of juvenile sentence practices in America. Drinan, a law professor at Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law, shares her passion for kids involved in the juvenile justice system by putting their stories front and center. While humanizing their experiences, she also educates her readers on the challenges of the current system, and adds insight and further considerations to the momentum for juvenile justice reform.

The book begins by providing an historical view of the juvenile justice system. The system was first designed to be sensitive to the needs of young people who committed crimes. Young offenders were given sentences that addressed the factors that caused them to commit crimes and were sentenced according to their ability to rehabilitate. In the 1990s and 2000s, tougher laws on crime caused the U.S. system to move away from the idea that kids can be rehabilitated. Young offenders are now being treated as adults in many cases and given sentences that are more appropriate for adult offenders.

[For more on this story by Elizabeth Santiago, go to https://jjie.org/2018/07/16/pr...-than-incarceration/]