Juvenile Justice

A lawsuit by nearly 100 former detainees alleges Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice officials allowed rampant sexual abuse in its detention centers between 1996 and 2017.

The juvenile justice framework intended for youth rehabilitation has caused frustration among those involved — including parents left to feel hopeless and in limbo.

The chief judge over the Franklin County Juvenile Detention Center in rural southern Illinois abruptly moved to close it as of Dec. 31, citing staffing shortages that made it difficult to meet new state standards governing the treatment of youth in custody.

In Missouri, the state’s Children’s Division is responsible for investigating abuse and neglect claims made through the state’s hotline.

State audits point to troubling conditions in juvenile detention centers, but no agency has strong enough oversight to bring about change.

At 18, Bobby Bostic was sentenced to 241 years in prison. Now out on parole, he’s sharing the healing power of writing in juvenile detention centers.

Bobby Bostic walked out of a Missouri prison in November. His freedom is roughly two centuries ahead of schedule.

Michael Politte was a teenager when he was convicted of murdering his mother, Rita. He has long insisted he did not do it.

Linda Dickerson-Bell said she believes Michael Politte is innocent of the murder of his mother, Rita Politte.

Michael Politte is serving a life sentence after a jury found he murdered his mother, Rita Politte, as a 14-year-old in Washington County, Missouri. On this special edition of "St. Louis on the Air," attorneys for the Midwest Innocence Project and the MacArthur Justice Center explain why he’s not guilty — and what investigators got wrong.