Human Rights for Kids

HRFK fought to protect children under 12 from the justice system. When the legislature pushed back, so did we. In Baltimore, that work protected a child.

When a 10 year old boy was taken into custody after crashing a stolen car, there was only one acceptable outcome: he went home. No charges. No court date. No criminal record before he has even finished elementary school.

That did not happen by chance. Advocates including HRFK fought to raise the minimum age for criminal prosecution in Maryland and held the line when lawmakers tried to reverse it. Children this young cannot form criminal intent. They deserve intervention, not incarceration.

This child got that chance. That is exactly what we work for.

Two headlines. Two states. One through line.

In Kansas, a court just ruled that prosecutors cannot wait until a child turns 14 to file charges for a crime they committed at 13, closing a loophole that could have sent two 13-year-olds into the adult system.

In California, a state appellate court reversed the murder conviction of Rafael Meraz, who was 15 at the time of a 2007 killing, ruling that he was entitled to a juvenile transfer hearing that never properly took place.

The law is finally catching up with what the science has always shown: children are not the same as adults.

Visit the link in our bio to learn more about our advocacy.

The evidence is in. It has been for a long time.

When young people are given access to diversion and rehabilitation programs instead of being funneled into the criminal legal system, they are less likely to reoffend. The data is not ambiguous.

At Human Rights for Kids, we fight for a justice system that reflects what the research already proves. Children deserve better than a system that defaults to punishment.