The Realities of Juvenile Justice in Wyoming

Of the 249 juveniles incarcerated in Wyoming in 2011 (the most recent year with data available), 42, or 16.9 percent, were jailed for offenses that are not considered criminal in any other state. Rather than being jailed for violent crimes, such as assault and battery or robbery, or property crimes, such as theft, these youths have been incarcerated for status offenses. The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) defines a status offense as: a "non-delinquent/non-criminal offense; an offense that is illegal for underage persons, but not for adults". Examples of these behaviors include underage drinking, curfew violations, and tobacco consumption.

An even larger percentage (31.3 percent) of Wyoming juveniles incarcerated in 2011 were jailed for technical violations, which are not crimes in themselves but indicate a failure to comply with or complete the conditions of probation or a court order. Examples of technical violations include missing a scheduled meeting or failure to pay restitution as ordered by a court.

The following chart illustrates national and Wyoming juvenile incarcerations for 2011 categorized according to juvenile statistics available through the OJJDP.

Wyoming, illustrated in green, has low levels for what most people consider serious crimes such as violent crimes, crimes against persons,¹ and property crimes while the bulk of Wyoming's juvenile incarcerations are for the less serious categories of status offenses and technical violations, which are much less frequent causes for incarceration nationally.

While it is good news for our communities and state and that so few of our juveniles are committing crimes that are considered serious, it is concerning that the Wyoming juveniles who are incarcerated with such frequency for actions considered non-criminal in other parts of the country. It is important to realize that the outcome for juveniles jailed for status offenses is that they receive the same criminal records, and stigma, as the juveniles committing far more serious offenses in the rest of the country.

A December 2013 article from the Wyoming Tribune Eagle in Cheyenne proclaimed "Wyoming's juvenile justice system sees progress". A close read of this article, however, contradicts the optimistic title despite reassuring words from Donna Sheen, Director of the Wyoming Children's Law Center. The study mentioned in this article examined juvenile incarceration between the years 2001 and 2011 and categorized states according to the progress that they had made.

"The report offers six policy reforms that can help. These include increasing alternatives to confinement, closing or downsizing youth confinement facilities and not allowing incarceration for minor offenses.

Several states, such as Texas and California, are called "Comeback States" because they have adopted at least four of the six policies.

The study also identified "Coming-From-Behind States," those that have made some progress but could do more. Those include Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming.

'We're hopeful this will spur further reform in states like Wyoming that have just started down this road,' Levin said."

Marc Levin, co-author of the study further states "…many juveniles in Wyoming are going to adult courts for minor offenses or are being confined for status offenses. These are offenses only illegal for juveniles, such as underage drinking."

Wyoming needs to begin recognizing the difference between youths committing serious crimes and youths making youthful mistakes. Juveniles are affected by having a criminal record whether that record is for a status offense or an assault. These convictions affect college acceptance, federal and state financial aid, potential employment, background checks, and many other life altering situations.

It would be heartening to believe that Ms. Sheen was correct in her assertion that the picture for Wyoming juveniles has significantly improved since 2011. Unfortunately the facts do not appear to support this optimism.

¹ Crimes Against Persons include criminal homicide, robbery, simple assault, violent sexual assault, harassment, coercion, kidnapping and reckless endangerment. See definitions at http://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/ezacjrp/asp/glossary.asp