This is how pupils interact with criminal justice while they are still in school. The school-to prison pipeline also includes school discipline student handbooks, which outline rules and procedures for students who violate the school’s ethics code. This guidebook provides guidance for counselors and instructors on how to discipline misbehaving children. Sometimes, students who violate school rules are incarcerated along with the police.
Black students are three times more likely than white students to get penalized. Black children are more at risk of suspension or expulsion than students from other races. This is due to the institutional racism of school officials and teachers. Covid-19, which offers online education, has disrupted the school-to prison pipeline. This is especially true for minorities. Online learning allowed pupils to receive instruction from their school, which slowed down interaction with the school administration. This also protected many students who are at risk of being sent to school for drug-related crimes.
Rutherford Juvenile Justice System has been accused in a number of cases of detaining or imprisoning minors with illegitimate methods. Ten times more children are being held without charge than their parents. The county paid more than $11 million to settle a class action lawsuit brought by youngsters who objected to the arrests (Knight & Armstrong, 2021b). County’s first mistake was using an illegal detention strategy to prosecute youngsters. A second mistake was the fact that only one judge could handle multiple minor cases at the facility. Children had few appeal options. A third offense was committed by the Justice Department when it decided to investigate misbehavior in police under Trump’s administration. First, the Department of Justice should investigate student arrests that result from police misbehavior. The second is to make sure that students are charged under constitutionally sound rules. It is also a great idea to increase the number of judges in juvenile courts across counties.
Rutherford County (Tennessee) has been accused in a series of cases where it was alleged that Rutherford County targeted black children and kept them locked up for nonexistent offences. 38% of cases involved black children, even though they make up less than 10%. Inequality and discrimination against black youth is the first offense. A second error in the criminal justice system is the excessive charge rate for students of all races. Rutherford County had 48% of juvenile offenders in its custody, which is lower than the national average of just 5%. Rutherford’s choice to utilize a screening mechanism to hold suspected youngsters is the third violation (Knight & Armstrong, 2021a). It is best to ensure fair trials in which the race of accused is not considered in determining their guilt. Rutherford was an expert on the criminal justice system. He advocated for restorative justice, which reduces the likelihood of being imprisoned. To prevent recidivism, it is important that the state emphasize restorative justice while using objective standards for juveniles being charged.