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In Florida, Your Kid’s Chance of Arrest at School Depends on Where You Live

After a student was caught cutting class at Seminole High School’s ninth grade center in April 2019, a trio of Sanford police officers told the girl to get in a golf cart so she could be taken back to campus. She refused. “I’m…
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A 6-Year-Old Had Her Hands Zip-Tied at School. Florida House Passes on Setting a Minimum Age for Arresting Kids

Florida likely won’t be setting a minimum age for arresting children, despite national outrage over a 6-year-old who had her hands zip-tied at school after she threw a temper tantrum. The Florida House took up the issue…
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Florida’s Flawed Baker Act Rips Thousands of Kids from School

Over the past seven years, children have been taken from public schools in Tampa Bay more than 7,500 times and temporarily placed in mental health facilities. They often leave campus handcuffed in the back of police cruisers. Some are as…
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School Cop Arrested After Video Shows Him Grabbing Girl by the Neck and Slamming Her to the Floor

A school resource deputy was arrested Tuesday on a child abuse charge after he was seen on school surveillance video grabbing a 15-year-old girl by the neck and slamming her to the ground. Deputy Willard Miller, 38, turned…
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Un-Making a Murderer, Exclusive Interview with Brendan Dassey and Laura Nirider

This special edition of ​ Wrongful Conviction ​ features Jason Flom’s exclusive interview with Brendan Dassey from behind bars—the only interview ever conducted with Brendan. The case against Brendan, and his uncle Steven Avery, is the…
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Fired Orlando Cop Who Arrested 6-Year-Olds Has Discipline History That Includes Excessive Force, Profiling Claim

The Orlando police officer who was fired Monday for arresting two 6-year-old students at their school has a disciplinary history that includes an incident in which he stunned a trespassing suspect with a Taser five times and an allegation…
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Florida Man Sues After School Resource Officer Taunts Autistic Son

Evan Dowdey was 13 years old and had the cognitive ability of a first-grade student when he threw a book at a teacher in 2017. School resource officer Ural Darling reportedly told Evan that he would be confined to a mental…
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Meadow Woods Middle Resource Deputy Disciplined for Kissing Student on Cheek

A former Meadow Woods Middle School resource deputy was suspended last year after an investigation found he kissed a female student on the cheek and repeatedly allowed another girl to skip classes so the two of them could talk, records…
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The Criminogenic and Psychological Effects of Police Stops on Adolescent Black and Latino Boys

Proactive policing, the strategic targeting of people or places to prevent crimes, is a well-studied tactic that is ubiquitous in modern law enforcement. A 2017 National Academies of Sciences report reviewed existing literature, entrenched in…
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Orange Cops Relying More on Citations, Not Arrests, for Juveniles — But Still Lag Other Urban Counties, Report Finds

Police and deputies in Orange County are giving teenagers in trouble more civil citations instead of arresting them for misdemeanors, but other urban counties in Florida still give citations instead of arresting minors in a far higher share…
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All Orange Elementary Schools Now Have Deputies on Campus, Sheriff Says

All of Orange County’s traditional public elementary schools now have an armed officer on campus, the sheriff announced this week. The Orange County Sheriff’s Office had struggled since the start of the school year to provide enough deputies…
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This Week in the Florida Legislature, January 7-11

This week, the House Criminal Justice Committee held their inaugural meetings for the 2018 Legislative Session. The meeting began with a presentation on juvenile civil citation and direct file by the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ),…