As the Montana Innocence Project expands its work on unjust incarceration, we’ll take a closer look at issues affecting the populations we’ve identified as priorities. Today, we’re looking at youth incarceration—an issue that raises important questions about accountability, human development, and what justice should look like for young people.
Our strategic plan identifies people who were sentenced before age 25 as one of our priority populations because we know that adolescence and early adulthood are unique periods of development. As our understanding of brain science has evolved, so has our understanding of how young people should be treated within the justice system.
To help unpack this issue, we wanted to share two new resources from the Sentencing Project: their recent report, Youth Courts vs. Adult Courts: Why the Juvenile Justice System Works Better, and a companion discussion featuring advocates from across the country.
Watch the Discussion
Click Here to Read the Report
Here are a few key takeaways:
Young people are different from adults. Adolescents are more likely to take risks, act impulsively, and be influenced by their peers because the parts of the brain responsible for judgment and long-term decision-making are still developing.
Confidentiality can lead to misunderstanding. Because juvenile court proceedings are generally confidential, many people don’t see how the system works or understand the range of services and accountability measures it provides.
Juvenile courts are built to respond to developmental differences. Rather than applying the same approach to every case, juvenile courts are designed to consider both the young person and the harm they caused, allowing for more individualized responses.
Juvenile courts are not “soft on crime.” They regularly handle serious and violent offenses and can impose significant consequences while still emphasizing rehabilitation.
Individualized decision-making is a strength of the juvenile system. By tailoring responses to each young person, courts have greater flexibility to promote accountability and support positive outcomes.
Discretion can also create inequities. While individualized decision-making is valuable, the report notes that it has also contributed to measurable racial and ethnic disparities, with youth of color often receiving harsher treatment.
Public perception doesn’t always match the data. Despite long-term declines in youth violence and arrests, many Americans continue to believe juvenile crime is one of the country’s biggest public safety challenges.
The juvenile justice system was created with a different purpose than adult court. Its goal is not simply punishment, but helping young people take responsibility while recognizing their unique capacity for growth and change.
Why This Matters in Montana
In Montana, some young people are still prosecuted and sentenced in ways that can take away the rest of their lives or leave little room for the possibility of growth and change, even though adolescence is a unique stage of development marked by learning, maturity, and an increased capacity for rehabilitation.
It’s important to acknowledge that crimes committed by young people can cause profound and lifelong harm to victims, their families, and entire communities. Accountability is as essential of an element to juvenile systems as it is in adult systems.
At the same time, our justice systems are intended to serve more than punishment alone. Systems should also promote public safety. As we continue to learn more about adolescent development, it’s worth asking whether a sentence that keeps someone incarcerated for the rest of their life is always necessary to achieve that goal. For many individuals, particularly those who commit offenses as youth, growth, rehabilitation, and accountability may mean they no longer pose the same risk decades later.
At MTIP, one of our priorities is representing people who were unjustly sentenced for crimes committed before the age of 25. We believe our justice system should recognize what science tells us about youth development while still ensuring accountability for harm. Understanding the differences between young people and adults is essential to creating a justice system that is fair, effective, and focused on long-term public safety.
We hope you’ll take a few minutes to read the report and watch the conversation. Together, they offer an important look at why growth and development matter in our justice system—and why ensuring fair, developmentally appropriate responses for young people is an important part of advancing justice.
As we continue exploring the priority populations in our unjust incarceration work, we’d love to hear your thoughts. Join the conversation by visiting our social media @BigSkyInnocence. Find our post about this report and share your perspective in the comments. We look forward to learning together and continuing this important discussion with our community.