Richard Ross: Juvenile-in-Justice

Abstract

Boston College Law School hosted Richard Ross, Distinguished Professor of Art, University of California at Santa Barbara, award-winning photographer and author of Juvenile-In-Justice. The event took place on March 24th in the Law School's East Wing building.

The event, cosponsored by the Boston College Center for Human Rights and International Justice, the Boston College Arts and Social Responsibility Project, and the Citizens for Juvenile Justice (CFJJ) was closely connected to the release of two important reports on detention reform in Massachusetts that same week by CFJJ (cfjj.org). CFJJ advocates for a fair and effective Juvenile justice system in Massachusetts and is playing a significant role in raising the age of juvenile jurisdiction and in the Supreme Judicial Court decisions on finding life without parole unconstitutional for juveniles in MA.

Winner of the 2012 Best News and Documentary Photography Award from the American Society of Magazine Editors for a selection published in Harper's Magazine, the photographs in Juvenile in Justice open our eyes to the world of the incarceration of American youth. The nearly 150 images in this book were made over 5 years of visiting more than 1,000 youth confined in more than 200 juvenile detention institutions in 31 states. These riveting photographs, accompanied by the life stories that these young people in custody shared with Ross, give voice to imprisoned children from families that have no resources in communities that have no power.