Dear John,

Tens of thousands of young people will face incarceration this year.

But I believe – and I hope you do too – that locking up our youth does not make communities safer or stronger.

When young people need support the most, they won't find it behind locked doors. Incarceration harms their health, impedes their success, and often exposes them to abuse.

That’s why The Sentencing Project advocates for better solutions – approaches that provide the tangible, targeted care our youth actually need.

Will you show your support for our youth justice advocacy with a gift today?

Through your generosity and care, we’ll seize urgent opportunities to end youth incarceration, keep youth out of the adult system, and advance racial equity and justice across our criminal legal system.

For instance, we’re bringing our policy, public education, technical assistance, and advocacy expertise to efforts that would:

Raise the age of juvenile court jurisdiction to 18,
Eliminate the automatic transfer of youth to adult court,
Encourage judges to remove mandatory minimums for children, and
End all extreme sentences for youth, including life sentences.

We all know youth incarceration is not the solution. I hope you’ll fight with us until it’s no longer considered an option.