Title
Authorizing the Committees on Legislative Oversight and Public Safety to hold public hearings examining abolition of solitary confinement for juveniles.
Body
WHEREAS, Juvenile justice is a major area of evolving constitutional jurisprudence and bipartisan reform at the local, state, and national levels; and
WHEREAS, That movement is the result of growing scientific and policy insights into the complex and vulnerable developmental status of youth; and
WHEREAS, juvenile detention practices have earned heavy scrutiny due to tragic accounts of justice-involved juveniles, such as Kalief Browder, whose experiences in the justice system have had devastating consequences, including suicide; and
WHEREAS, At any given time approximately 30 to 50 juveniles charged as adults in criminal cases are held in Philadelphia's adult prison system; and
WHEREAS, These juveniles are frequently placed in administrative segregation for protective purposes or are placed in punitive segregation for disciplinary purposes; and
WHEREAS, Female juveniles assigned for holding at an adult facility are automatically placed in administrative segregation due to lack of other available housing at Riverside Correctional Facility, Philadelphia's jail for women; and
WHEREAS, Almost all juvenile inmates in Philadelphia's adult prison system have not yet been convicted of a crime, but rather are being held in pre-trial detention; and
WHEREAS, A juvenile inmate in administrative segregation spends up to 23 hours per day in a cell; and
WHEREAS, A 2009 U.S. Department of Justice study found that half of suicides by incarcerated juveniles occur in solitary confinement; and
WHEREAS, In January 2016, then-President Obama abolished punitive use of solitary confinement for juvenile inmates in the federal system; and
WHEREAS, until 2001, all detained juveniles were held at the Youth Study Center, Philadelphia's juvenile detention center at that time; and
WHEREAS, pres...
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