By A. L. Carlisle
We applaud Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Sen. Grassley (R-Iowa) for their bipartisan leadership in reintroducing the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) on Dec. 11, 2014. Before the JJDPA was first passed, in 1974, many children who were arrested for juvenile offenses were detained or held in adult jails. All too often, boys and girls were placed in the same cells as adults, where they were subjected to both physical and sexual assaults. These young people were harassed and sometimes forgotten for hours on end. Many of them were there because they were charged with status offenses, acts which would not be illegal if committed by adults. They were detained in, and very often committed to, secure facilities for offenses such as truancy, running away from home, and other such acts.
