TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Julia Wilburn on Mar 16, 2023

The Daily Memphian reports that officials are working to increase transparency about juvenile crimes as the nature of those crimes becomes more serious. However, state laws restrict what information is allowed to be shared with the public in an effort to shield juveniles from the same level of public scrutiny that adult criminals receive as efforts to rehabilitate those youths are in progress. Juvenile Court Judge Tarik Sugarmon says the court is “transparent to the extent we are allowed to (be) ethically and statutorily.” He also stresses that protecting juveniles as they go through rehabilitation is paramount to their recovery. Officials are moving to establish online “dashboards” that will provide more information, or as much permitted by law, to anyone seeking it.