african american juvenile delinquents

"In 1985 in Gary, Indiana, a black teenaged girl kills an elderly white woman in a robbery gone wrong. The shock and awe of the case captivates the state, whose citizens cry out for vengeance. Soon after, Paula Cooper, the fifteen-year-old killer, is sentenced to death. Indiana's minimum age for the death penalty is, at that time, ten years old. [The author] tells the unforgettable story of this single act of violence and its stunning aftermath. The image of a teenaged girl on death row will reverberate miles from Gary and link a varied cast of characters: a female public defender from the northeast, two enterprising Italian journalists, a Franciscan friar with the ear of the Pope, and, in an unlikely twist, the grandson of the victim, who dedicates himself to saving Paula's life. As a girl waits on death row, her fate sparks a debate that not only animates legal circles but also raises universal questions about the value of human life: What is the purpose of criminal justice, especially its harshest penalties? Is forgiveness an act of desperation or of profound bravery? What extreme degrees of empathy might humans be capable of, if given the chance? [This book] opens with a murder and a death sentence, but it is above all about the will to live-to survive, to grow, to change-against the steepest odds. Tirelessly researched and told with intimacy and precision, it brings a haunting chapter in the history of our criminal justice system to astonishing life"--Provided by publisher.

"The author relates how her cousin was imprisoned at the age of fifteen for attempted carjacking and how she took him in upon his release, only to lose him to the deadly streets of South Central L.A."--OCLC.

The author describes his childhood of homelessness, poverty, and abuse; how he shot a woman in the face during a mugging; and how he was sentenced to life in prison at age fourteen. Details how his victim forgave him and advocated for his freedom which was obtained by the Equal Justice Initiative. Discusses the U.S. criminal justice system, the mass incarceration of youth of color, and the work of the Equal Justice Initiative.

Investigates the case of Michael Lewis, known as "Little B," who was convicted and sentenced to life in prison at the age of fourteen for shooting a man to death in "The Bluff" neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia, and attempts to understand why the city, and especially its African-American population, rushed to condemn the young man.