More on Juvenile Justice "Reforms"

USA Today actually does a very thorough job of detailing the whys and hows of that report on juvenile justice we ranted on yesterday that found that movement of juvs to adult prisons ends up creating more problems than it solves. It's a great sign of how starved we are for "reform" that the article can point to juvs going from life without parole to parole after 40 years in one state as progress. The best point is the realization that what "reform" has occurred has only done so in the absence of a new "teen crime wave," hype about "superpredators," or a horrendous offense making cable news 24/7. As the folks at the WA Institute for Public Policy can (and will) tell you, dollars invested in juvenile programs have among the highest returns in declining victimization of anything we can do, much more than what we spend on the adult level. It's good to see a national publication do such nice work on difficult issue. Go give them some love.