Caught

Coming Soon: Mass Incarceration Starts Young

The United States locks up more people than any country in the world. That starts young: Roughly a million kids a year get caught up in the criminal justice system. In Caught, a new podcast from WNYC, we'll listen as some of those young people tell their stories over nine episodes. They'll help us understand how we got here--and how we might help, rather than just punish troubled youth. Welcome to Caught: The Lives of Juvenile Justice. Caught: The Lives of Juvenile Justice is supported, in part, by the Anne Levy Fund, Margaret Neubart Foundation, the John and Gwen Smart Family Foundation, and the Economic Hardship Reporting Project.

Episode 1: 'I Just Want You to Come Home'

Z had his first encounters with law enforcement when he was just 12 years old. Now, at 16, he’s sitting in detention on an armed robbery charge—his young life has been defined by cops and courts. Dwayne Betts is a poet and juvenile justice lawyer who, in his own youth, was deemed a “super-predator,” and spent nine years incarcerated. Both Z and Dwayne were guilty of the crimes for which they were charged; their stories are not whodunits. But together, they introduce the central questions of this podcast: What happens once we decide a child is a criminal? What does society owe those children, beyond punishment? And what are the human consequences of the expansion and hardening of criminal justice policies that began in the 1990s – consequences disproportionately experienced by black and brown youth. Caught is supported, in part, by the Anne Levy Fund, Margaret Neubart Foundation, the John and Gwen Smart Family Foundation, and the Economic Hardship Reporting Project.

Episode 2: 'They Look at Me Like a Menace'

In our first episode, we met Z. He's locked up because he and a group of friends robbed someone with a gun. But now that he's inside, his biggest problem is his temper. Z is a kid who's had mental health challenges since he was small, and when he's gotten the support he needs, he has thrived. Inside lock up, that support is complicated. It comes with a label. And like many kids in the system, he gets help mostly when he "turns up," which is just the kind of behavior that threatens his chance to go home.  Caught is supported, in part, by the Anne Levy Fund, Margaret Neubart Foundation, the John and Gwen Smart Family Foundation, and the Economic Hardship Reporting Project.

Episode 3: 'He Really Wants to Shoot Someone'

At age 15, Z received his sentence in adult court. The reason why dates back 40 years, to a child named Willie Bosket. His crimes changed everything for kids and criminal justice. In 1978, Bosket murdered two people on the New York City subway. Despite the severity of his crime, he received a sentence of just 5 years, and the tabloids went wild. The result: a new state law that has pushed thousands of kids into the adult system, an approach that’s been adopted by states across the country. We look back at Willie Bosket: his childhood, his extreme and atypical violence, and the specific challenges he presented to the juvenile justice system, even before he became a murderer. Caught is supported, in part, by the Anne Levy Fund, Margaret Neubart Foundation, the John and Gwen Smart Family Foundation, and the Economic Hardship Reporting Project.

Episode 4: 'Oh My God, What Have I Done?'

Honor has struggled for years with leukemia, homelessness and suicide attempts. On the anniversary of his leukemia diagnosis, he reached a breaking point: A terrifying eruption that he still refers to as only "the incident." Like many young people who struggle with mental illness, "the incident" pushed Honor into the criminal justice system. His story -- and his rare shot at a second chance -- challenges our understanding of justice for young people who commit violent crimes. Listen as and he and his family go through weeks of therapy in an effort to keep Honor out of prison. Caught is supported, in part, by the Anne Levy Fund, Margaret Neubart Foundation, the John and Gwen Smart Family Foundation, and the Economic Hardship Reporting Project.