Remember Those in Prison
Before co-founding the women’s prison ministry Daughters of Destiny with her husband Mel, Annie Goebel was looking for a happy ending in all the wrong places.
Brandon was on fire for crime, until a robbery put him behind bars. In prison, he would search for truth and meaning for his life. But would he find it?
Nauschkoniwaheegh Hamilton followed his parents' example down a path of drugs and incarceration. Now he's a role model to the youth incarcerated with him.
The United States imprisons more of its people than that of any other nation. And the youth justice system is not immune.
Guest writer Scott Larson of Straight Ahead Ministries shares the needs of youths in the juvenile justice system and how we can help.
There's someone waiting for Pedro on the other side of the prison's walls. Someone he doesn't want to fail.
"I was certified as an adult when I was 17 years old and have been locked up for the last 15 years," Robert writes from the Minnesota Correctional Facility at Lino Lakes.
According to this article, it’s not uncommon for minors to be tried as adults in New Jersey. It’s even less uncommon for them to be a minority.
Here’s how it works:
If a young person—under the age of 18—commits a serious-enough crime, like robbery, drug trafficking, or murder, a county prosecutor can petition the court to try the minor as an adult.
Kevin Bethel was in charge of school police in Philadelphia when he started researching juvenile crime.
“I was shocked to see we were locking up 1,600 kids a year,” Bethel tells Philly.com. “And I was shocked to see the offenses kids were being locked up for.”
For Prison Fellowship Vice President of Advocacy and Public Policy Craig DeRoche, justice reform is more than a job, it’s a passion developed from personal experience.
At the age of 34, DeRoche was elected Speaker of the House in the Michigan State Legislature—the youngest person to ever hold that position.