Find Your State Contacts


Interested in taking action? Get involved in your state!

 

Below are contacts for organizations and individuals who are actively working on reducing the prosecution of youth in adult court. 

 

Don’t see your state listed? Start your own effort! Visit the “campaign tools” section of this website.

 



Arizona

Contact: Beth Rosenberg, Director of Child Welfare & Juvenile Justice Policy

Arizona Action for Children

Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Phone: 602-266-0707

Website: http://www.azchildren.org/

 

Arizona Action for Children is working to reduce the prosecution of youth in adult court in Arizona and is focusing on two bills during the 2010 session 1) SB 1088 which would allow for a “reverse remand hearing” to decide whether a case of a youth defendant should move from adult court to juvenile court; and

2) SB 1009 which clarifies the age of a youth who could be prosecuted as an adult.


Colorado

Contact: Sandy Mullins, Executive Director

Colorado Criminal Defense Bar

Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Phone: 303-758-2454

Website: www.ccdb.org

 

Advocates in Colorado are working to remove youth charged as adults from adult jails and to reduce the prosecution of youth in adult criminal court.


Connecticut

Contact: Abby Anderson, Executive Director

Say “Yes” Campaign at the Connecticut Juvenile Justice Alliance (CTJJA)
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Phone: 203-579-2727
Website:  http://www.sayyesct.org/

 

The Connecticut Juvenile Justice Alliance (CTJJA) launched a campaign to end the practice of automatically prosecuting all 16 & 17 year olds as adults.  On January 1, 2010, CT’s new law went into effect to remove 16 year olds from adult court.  CTJJA is working to ensure that the new law stays on track and that the January 1, 2012 deadline to remove all 17 year olds from adult court is met! Learn more about Connecticut's successful campaign on the Raise the Age: A Success Story Webpage.


District of Columbia

Contact: Daniel Okonkwo, Executive Director
DC Lawyers for Youth (DCLY)

Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Website: www.dcly.org

 

D.C. Lawyers for Youth (“DCLY”) is an organization founded by alumni of the Georgetown Juvenile Justice Clinic.  The purpose of DCLY is to improve the Washington D.C. juvenile justice system through advocacy, direct service, and the dissemination of information. 

 

Contact: Shani O’Neal, Director

Justice for DC Youth (JDCY)

Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Phone: 202-386-9809
Website: www.jdcy.org

Justice for DC Youth (JDCY) is working for a more fair and effective youth justice system in the District of Columbia. 


Illinois

Contact: Betsy Clarke, President & CEO

Illinois Juvenile Justice Initiative

Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Phone: 847-864-1567

Website: http://www.jjustice.org/


Illinois
has led the nation in reducing the prosecution of youth in adult court through changes to its state “transfer” law and by increasing its age of juvenile court jurisdiction.  The Juvenile Justice Initiative, a statewide advocacy coalition, has led these efforts to transform the juvenile justice system.   


Maryland

Contact: Laura Furr, Director of Advocacy Programs

Community Law in Action (CLIA)

Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Phone: 410-706-3940

Website: www.cliayouth.org

 

Maryland advocates led by Community Law in Action, the Public Justice Center and the Eric R. Villines Advocacy Institute are undertaking research to document the issue of youth placed in the Baltimore City Jail. 


Massachusetts

Contact: Lael Chester, Executive Director

Citizens for Juvenile Justice (CFJJ)

Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Phone: 617-338-1050

Website: http://www.cfjj.org/

 

Founded in 1994, CfJJ advocates for a fair and effective juvenile justice system.  CfJJ is undertaking research to document the prosecution of youth in adult court and recommend changes to MA’s law.


New York


Contact: Kyung Ji Kate Rhee, Project Director, Institute for Juvenile Justice Reform and Alternatives (IJJRA)

Raise the Age, Raise the Bar, Raise the Youth campaign at IJJRA

Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Phone: 718-804-8852

Website: www.ijjra.org


New York
is one of two states where youth ages 16 & 17 are automatically tried as adults.  The Institute for Juvenile Justice Reform and Alternatives has launched the Raise the Age, Raise the Bar and Raise the Youth campaign!


 North Carolina


Contact: Brandy Bynum, Director of Policy and Outreach
Raise the Age Campaign North Carolina at Action for Children North Carolina

Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Website: http://www.ncchild.org/

Phone: 919-834-6623 ext. 234


North Carolina
is one of two states where youth ages 16 & 17 are automatically tried as adults. The North Carolina General Assembly established a Youth Accountability Task Force in 2009 to make recommendations on how to implement changes to NC’s law by January, 2011.  The North Carolina Raise the Age Campaign is actively working to raise the age of juvenile court jurisdiction from 16 to 18.

Oregon

Contact: Shannon Wight, Associate Director
Youth Justice Campaign at the Partnership for Safety and Justice
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Website: http://safetyandjustice.org/
Phone: (503) 335-8449 ext. 210

Partnership for Safety and Justice (PSJ) believes that public safety is best served when youth in trouble are held accountable and given the services they need to succeed in the juvenile justice system rather than the adult criminal justice system. PSJ has launched the “Youth Justice Campaign” to combat the laws that automatically try, sentence and imprison youth in our adult system.

Virginia

Contact: Kate Duvall, Staff Attorney
Don’t Throw Away the Key Campaign at Just Children
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Website: http://dontthrowawaythekey.wordpress.com/
Phone: 434-977-0553 ext. 146

The Don’t Throw Away the Key Campaign is working to reduce the number of kids in the adult criminal justice system and end the placement of kids in adult jails in Virginia.

Wisconsin

Contact: Jim Moeser, Deputy Director
Justice for Wisconsin Youth at the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Website: www.wccf.org

The Wisconsin Council on Children and Families has launched “Justice 4 Wisconsin Youth” a statewide campaign with the initial goal of returning 17 year olds to the juvenile justice system.