When Juvenile Court Judge Tarik Sugarmon ran against former Juvenile Court Judge Dan Michael, he promised to reform Shelby County’s juvenile justice system. “You have to be intentional about treatment and rehabilitation,” Sugarmon told MLK50. “(Judge Michael’s court) has not been.”
Almost three years later, Sugarmon’s court incarcerates more children than Michael’s, even though his court sees fewer youth charged with serious offenses. The court’s recently released annual report shows that 594 children were charged with serious offenses during fiscal year 2022, Michael’s last year in office. That number had dropped to 531 by fiscal year 2024. Over the same period, the number of youth admitted to Shelby County’s juvenile detention center, called the Youth Justice and Education Center, increased from 872 to 1,142.
The court is also jailing young people for longer periods. The average length of detention increased from 33.9 days to 43.7 days between FY 2022 and FY 2024. In FY 2022, the longest period a single child spent in detention was 341 days. But in FY 2024, at least one child spent 477 days in detention…