LAWS9155 · Law

The Cradle to Prison Pipeline

Boston College Law School

In 2012, the DOJ's Civil Rights Division formally accused the city of Meridian, Mississippi and the state's departments of youth & human services of operating "a school-to-prison pipeline". While it is rare that such explicit practices are alleged, the reality of the school to prison pipeline is well documented. However, the realities of systemic practices & policies that have fueled what Marian Write Edleman & others have characterized as the cradle to prison pipeline are now being scrutinized. The BBA's Cradle to Prison Pipeline Committee describes the process as the mechanism by which disparities in a wide range of arenas--including economic, health care, mental health, housing, child welfare & juvenile justice factors--"funnel" people of color, the poor, the LGBTQ+ community, & youth with disabilities into the system of mass incarceration. "Unpacking" this phenomena entails examining critical issues of race, class, geographical & educational segregation & implicates consideration of the larger frames that affect families in & out of courtrooms. As Jill Lepore notes in Baby Doe: A Political Tragedy, between 2010-12, 72% of the youth committed to the MA DYS had been involved with DCF & over half of that number has been the subject of abuse & neglect petitions. In exploring this terrain this course will consider the evolution of child welfare & juvenile justice systems, de facto v. de jure segregation & to encourage students to think about ways to chart a different course.