In February, the state legislature gathered for a special session aimed at decreasing “surging” crime. Children were a specific target of this session, which saw a repeal of the Raise the Age law. Louisiana is now the first state ever to roll back this reform and return to prosecuting all 17-year-old children as adults.
When we first met “Amaya” as a high school sophomore, she had already been sentenced to 10 years in one of the state’s most infamous youth prisons. Our team knew that for her safety and well-being, we needed to get Amaya out of that facility. Here’s how we helped her on her journey to freedom.
For generations, the U.S. has overly relied on prosecution and incarceration as the primary forms of accountability, but with lackluster results. Given the high cost and poor track record of punitive punishments, LCCR and other advocates are pushing for alternatives to the traditional prosecution and incarceration routes. Today we explore the concept of Credible Messengers.
