the feminist librarian reads

In too many cases, the justice system already often treats children as adults. Zero-tolerance policies have created a school-to-prison pipeline—primarily for children of color, poor children, children with mental illness or developmental disabilities, and children with an LGBTQ sexual or gender orientation. The effects of early incarceration are usually far worse than the immediate consequences of the impulsive, juvenile behavior that can land a child in the penal system in the first place. Furthermore, in cases of more severely transgressive actions, white children who misbehave often receive counseling or rehab. Children of color, meanwhile, get jail time instead of the help or second chances that they, too, deserve.