A Road Scholar Program by Betsy Clarke

Raising the age of juvenile court is a current debate in the Illinois legislature and courts. The profound racial disparities in the justice system make this a particularly timely issue, as raising the age will expand the availability of diversion from formal court processing for low level offenses and thus will reduce the number of youth in the justice system.

This presentation will examine the impact of raising the age of juvenile court in Illinois to include seventeen-year-olds, and the projected impact of raising the age further to twenty-one.

In addition to research, the presentation will include national policy and legislative debates in support of expanding juvenile court jurisdiction and will review international trends in addressing young adults in conflict with the law.

This event is Free and Open to the public. For more information, please contact Laurel Schilling at schillingl@bellwoodlibrary.org.