Law symposium examines sentencing youth as adults
Event Information (passed)
The University of Cincinnati College of Law will host the daylong symposium “Youth Tried as Adult” on May 3, exploring the questions surrounding when and why young people should be treated as adults in the criminal justice system.
The symposium will be held 8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. in Room. 107 B&C (Student Union) of Northern Kentucky University. CLE/CEU: 6. Cost: $50; UC and NKY faculty, staff, students attend free. Registration available soon.
In February 2019 a 14-year-old girl from Fort Worth, Texas was found guilty of murdering her best friend. She was immediately sentenced to 25 years in prison. Lawyers for one of two Wisconsin girls convicted in the so-called Slenderman stabbing are appealing her conviction, claiming she should not have been tried as an adult.
Despite the formation of a separate juvenile justice system over a century ago, youth are routinely charged and prosecuted in the adult criminal justice system. Between 1990 and 2010, the number of juveniles in adult jails went up by nearly 230%, according to The Sentencing Project. And according to the Centers for Disease Control, young people who are charged as adults are nearly 25 percent more likely to be re-arrested than those who are tried as juveniles.
Join the College of Law for the symposium “Youth Tried as Adults,”as we explore a wide-range of data-driven perspectives on questions such as: Should youth be sentenced as adults? If so, when and why? How can one tell whether someone can be rehabilitated? What should the proper course of action be for youthful offenders who have committed truly terrible crimes?
This interdisciplinary symposium is sponsored by the Glenn M. Weaver Institute for Law and Psychiatry at the University of Cincinnati College of Law, the Institute of Health Innovation, and the Chase Law School at Northern Kentucky University.
Presenters include:
- Ira Chasnoff, MD, Pediatrics, University of Illinois College of Medicine
- James Garbarino, PhD, Clinical Psychology, Loyola University
- Jennifer Kinsley, Chase College of Law, Northern Kentucky University
- Valerie Gray Hardcastle, PhD, Institute for Health Innovation, Northern Kentucky
- District Court Judge Karen A. Thomas, 17th District Court, Campbell County, KY
Tags
Related Stories
On track: Hoffman Honors Scholar studies public transit
April 2, 2026
Public transit is where Zane Sawyer’s lifelong passion for travel meets his commitment to making an impact. The University of Cincinnati first-year geography major in the College of Arts & Sciences and member of the second cohort of Hoffman Honors Scholars (HHS) has hit the ground running, designing a research project intended to capture both how public transit works and how its users perceive it.
UC names Suzanne Judd, PhD, as inaugural director of new Center for Public Health
April 2, 2026
Following an extensive national search, the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine has appointed Suzanne E. Judd, PhD, as the inaugural director of its newly established Center for Public Health. Judd, a renowned epidemiologist and interdisciplinary scholar, will lead the center’s mission to transform community health through innovative research, education and strategic advocacy.
A defining moment for the University of Cincinnati and College of Law
April 1, 2026
The name of retired Cincinnati attorney and philanthropist, Donald P. Klekamp, will grace the name of a University of Cincinnati college. The UC Board of Trustees approved the name, Donald P. Klekamp College of Law, on March 30.