Models for Change

Public servants responsible for making laws and interpreting them, our legislators and judges, are prone to “rational lies” when there is an existing bent of mind on a particular subject. For some that disposition, if not the truth, will never be straightened out, regardless of how much truth is flung at them.

When this occurs, we abandon our own independent judgment to chase judgments that tend to promote our own self-interests, whether political, social, religious, economic or whatever. Among some of these public servants are those who have convinced themselves that their rational lies are the truth.

And when this occurs, the odds of reversing this disease I call “rationalitis” is almost nonexistent. There is no medicine for this disease. The reasons Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas, gives for being the sole dissenter holding up the passage of the Juvenile Justice Delinquency and Prevention Act reauthorization is a perfect example of rationalitis.

Truth About How to Reduce Juvenile Crime Is Not Political

Under pressure from the courts to reduce his state’s prison population, California Gov. Jerry Brown has thrown his support behind a plan that’s likely to slash the number of teens who get prosecuted as adults.

If approved by voters, the Public Safety and Rehabilitation Act of 2016 would block district attorneys from charging a suspect under 18 as an adult. Instead, a judge would decide whether teens accused of a violent crime should stand trial as an adult.

California Gov. Jerry Brown Backs No More Automatic Adult Charges for Teens in New Initiative Under pressure from the courts to reduce his state’s prison population, California Gov. Jerry Brown has thrown his support behind a plan that’s likely to slash the number of teens who get prosecuted as adults.

Fortunately, some young people impacted by the justice system have been able to overcome reentry barriers and succeed. Last year, Robert F. Kennedy Juvenile Justice Collaborative featured some of these young people at the Congressional Black Caucus’s Annual Legislative Conference with honorary host Rep. William Lacy Clay of Missouri on a panel where young women and men detailed perspectives and best practices. These panelists, leaders in their respective communities, identified key aspects of youth reentry, including access to education and financial aid; medical care, including behavioral healthcare; and opportunities for job training and employment in a diverse range of careers. In addition to these more obvious reentry resources, the young panelists also described the importance of having caring adults involved in their lives upon reentry. Fostering such connections are crucial as we continue improving reentry prospects for young people across the country.

Restoring Hope in the Juvenile Justice System Emphasizing the significant barriers confronting women and men returning to their communities from incarceration, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch des...