Presentation and letter-writing project based on the Richard Ross book. See: https://www.juvenile-in-justice.com/

1. Juvenile in Justice
Richard Ross, photographer

2. An Introduction

3. Your assignment
1. Where is the youth
being housed/held?
2. What is the age of the
offender? ACE points?
3. What was the offense?
4. What is the most
interesting detail (visual
or in the text) and why?

4. Juvenile courts in
the U.S. process…
approximately 4,600
delinquency cases
per day.

5. 1

6. On any given day,
approximately
70,000 young
people are in
juvenile detention...

7. 2

8. The cost for a typical
stay in a juvenile
detention facility is
$66,000 to $88,000
...for 9 to 12 months.

9. 3

10. Nearly 3 of every 4
youth confined...for
delinquency are not
in for a serious
violent felony crime.

11. 4

12. Two-thirds of males and
three-quarters of
females in the juvenile
justice system meet the
criteria for one or more
psychiatric disorders.

13. 5

14. Youth housed in adult jails
are 36 times more likely
to commit suicide than
youth housed in juvenile
detention facilities.

15. 6

16. Black youth are 9
times as likely to be
sentenced to adult
prisons as white youth.

17. 7

18. Children as young as
11 have been
sentenced to life
without the
possibility of parole.

19. 8

20. [Y]outh of color…receive
harsher treatment than
their white counterparts,
even...with identical
charges and offending
histories.

21. 9

22. America’s heavy
reliance on juvenile
incarceration is unique
among the world’s
developed nations.

23. 10

24. Research shows that youth
confined for longer
periods...are no less likely to
reoffend than youth
confined for shorter periods.

25. 11

26. 12

27. 13

28. 14

29. 15

30. 16

31. 17

32. 18

33. 19

34. 20

35. 21

36. 22

37. 23

38. 24

39. 25

40. 26

41. 27

42. 28

43. 29

44. Juvenile in Justice
Richard Ross, photographer

45. Write a letter.
“You are part of the World”

47. ADVICE:
(Asst. Super M. Byrd)
● Short letter/card
● Nothing personal
● Nothing provocative
● Use words of
encouragement
● Empathy for recipient
(PoC, urban, male)
“Hey Brother,”

48. ADVICE:
● Find a quote
● Handwrite
(if legible)
● Sign with a
single initial