Juvenile crimes treated harshly in Colorado

Miles Moffeit and Kevin Simpson of The Denver Post found Colorado has one of the harshest systems in the country for handling juveniles in the adult criminal justice system, in a four-part series looking at teen crimes. Prosecutors, wielding broad discretionary powers found in only 14 other states, convicted kids in 1,244 cases since 1998. "Lawmakers equipped prosecutors to put increasing numbers of teens on a path to prison while slashing juvenile programs geared toward rehabilitation." The investigation found that between 2001 and 2005, funding for state juvenile justice programs was cut by nearly $30 million. The paper's reporting restarted an investigation into a murder allegedly committed by a 14-year-old boy.