Professors Tiffany Williams and Harry Caldwell, "No Girl Left Behind: Girls Courts as a Restorative Justice Approach to Healing" -- Seton Hall Law Review (forthcoming)

Professors Tiffany M. Williams and Harry M. Caldwell have co-authored the article, "No Girl Left Behind: Girls Courts as a Restorative Approach to Healing," (SSRN) which will be published in the Seton Hall Law Review (forthcoming 2021). The article considers a gendered restorative justice approach to the juvenile justice system.

Abstract of "No Girl Left Behind: Girls Courts as a Restorative Approach to Healing"

This article examines the need for a gendered restorative justice approach to healing girls from the trauma, abuse, abandonment, addiction, violence and misdirection that many of them have encountered, as a result of the juvenile justice system's abandonment of its restorative justice roots and its failure to adequately account for gender distinctions between boys and girls. This article focuses on the vulnerabilities of girls of color who are at particular risk for spiraling from the juvenile courts into the adult criminal justice system which remains ill-equipped to meet the needs of incarcerated females. This article will also examine the burgeoning movement of restorative court interventions for delinquent girls reflected in the creation of specialized Girls Courts. This article will culminate in a proposed reformed template for Girls Court to expand girls' opportunities, particularly Black girls and other girls of color, to heal from trauma, addiction and broken family structures, and restore girls' ability to thrive in a meaningful life.