Teens should not be charged as adults because they do not know or understand the law or their rights," says Pincham. Justice Stephen White, from Pennsylvania says, "I do not believe a 7- or 8-year-old has the capacity to understand the nature and gravity of their offense. I do believe there are circumstantial facts that a state." Nick Pastore, a former police chief of New Haven, Connecticut now working for DC-based Criminal Justice Policy Foundation …showed first 75 words of 564 total…

…showed last 75 words of 564 total…youthful offenders receive educational, vocational and life skills training as well as substance abuse treatment. Segregated incarceration offers rehabilitation that teens need in order to have a second chance in society. The judicial system has a choice. It can continue to incarcerate children with adults--a choice that leads to high rates of rearrest and is blatantly racist--or it can implement segregated incarceration, an option that considers age and enables misguided youths to contribute to society.