By Quentin Young | editor
“Transfer of youth to adult court is bad public policy … It causes more harm and does not lead to better outcomes for young people or communities.”
- Mary Ann Scali, executive director of The Gault Center
Barbed wire and fences surround the Charles H. Hickey Jr. School, a juvenile detention center in Maryland. The state’s recent changes to its juvenile justice laws aim to reduce the number of young people entering the adult criminal justice system while expanding rehabilitative services. (Photo by Amanda Watford/Stateline)
By Amanda Watford
A teenager charged with the same crime can face dramatically different consequences depending on where they live. In one state, a young person accused of a serious offense may be sent to a juvenile facility focused on treatment and rehabilitation. In another, they could face adult criminal proceedings, a permanent record and the possibility of an adult prison sentence. Colorado Democratic Gov. Jared Polis signed into law in March a measure that, when it takes effect in August, will overhaul parts of the state’s youthful offender system by requiring trauma-informed care, individualized treatment plans, therapy and reentry-focused programming.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche appears at his confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill July 15, 2026 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Eric Lee/Getty Images)
By Ashley Murray
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche vowed Wednesday to lawmakers on Capitol Hill that if he is confirmed for the top post, the Justice Department would not oppose an effort in Congress to permanently ban a controversial “anti-weaponization” fund. Blanche also said he would consider any new information brought forward to the government about deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his ring of powerful associates. Multiple Epstein abuse survivors attended the Blanche confirmation hearing, some wearing t-shirts depicting the black bar redactions contained within the released files.
A photo shows the tent city founded by striking Colorado miners at Ludlow, north of Trinidad, before the camp’s destruction on April 20, 1914. (Courtesy of Denver Public Library Special Collections, Z-193)
FIFTY FOR 150
By Chase Woodruff
Supported by the United Mine Workers of America and national labor leaders like Mary Harris “Mother” Jones, workers with Colorado Fuel and Iron Company began a strike on Sept. 23, 1913. Expelled from their company towns, workers and their family members founded tent cities, including one near Ludlow, a railroad stop 10 miles north of Trinidad, where roughly 1,200 residents would spend the ensuing winter and spring. Though the strike began peacefully, Tensions boiled over on the morning of April 20, 1914.
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