Florida Case Stokes Debate About Juvenile Justice and More; News Roundup

Juvenile Justice Reform

• Florida Case Stokes Debate About Juvenile Justice (Wall Street Journal Law Blog)
  In Florida, a 13-year-old boy is being accused of killing one of his younger brothers and sexually-abusing a half-brother, stoking a debate there about how courts should handle juveniles charged with violent crimes, according to a story by the Associated Press.
• Judge Changes Plea Deal after teen Tweets Displeasure (Wave3.com)
  A teen's determination leads to changes in a plea deal in a sexual assault case. The judge who opened up her juvenile courtroom to the public after a Savannah Deitrich tweeted about the case announced changes late Friday afternoon.
• Senator Durbin Announces More Than $5.6 Million In DOJ Funding To Enhance Illinois Justice Programs (ENewsParkForest.com)
  U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today announced that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has recently awarded a total of $5,671,165 in grants to support the establishment or enhancement of several justice system programs in Illinois. These programs provide support and services to a number of Illinois communities through research and education initiatives, as well as legal assistance and support services.
• Solutions Sought for Disparity Among Shelby County's Youth in Juvenile Court System (The Commercial Appeal)
  It's not clear why the percentage of African-American youths referred to the juvenile court system in Shelby County Tennessee is 3.4 times the rate for white juveniles. Do they commit more crimes? Or does the way police apply their discretionary powers play a role?

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Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment

• Celebrating Young People in Recovery (WhiteHouse.gov)
  In this video, Ben, a recovering addict, talks about how alcohol affected his life. “I missed a lot of opportunities,” he said. “I got arrested a lot. I missed a lot of school.” He also threw away a promising athletic future. “I lost the things that I cared about—my friends, and eventually, my family.”
• Addicts Often Battle Mental Disorders, Too (Cleveland.com)
  The concept of dual diagnosis first gained attention in the 1980s, through the research of Dr. Robert Drake, a professor of psychiatry at Dartmouth Medical School in New Hampshire. Gradually, since then, it has become part of the treatment of addiction, at some, but not most, treatment centers or programs. But dual diagnosis is not as familiar to patients or their families as it should be, say experts.
• Study Links Mothers Who Let Kids Sip Alcohol and Children’s Reported Drinking (Drugfree.org)
  A new study finds a link between mothers’ belief that it is acceptable to let their children sip alcohol, and their children’s reported alcohol use. The study found one-quarter of mothers of young children believed allowing children to sip an alcoholic drink would likely deter them from drinking in the future.

David Backes writes the Friday news roundup for Reclaiming Futures and contributes articles about juvenile justice reform and adolescent substance abuse treatment to ReclaimingFutures.org. He has a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Santa Clara University. David works as an account executive for Prichard Communications.