COLLEGE PARK, MD (October, 2013) Professor Peter Leone has spent much of his research career looking at the education needs of a very special population: inmates and residents of youth prison systems. For the past 20 years, he has been regularly called upon to work with civil rights groups such as the ACLU and serve as an expert to the Court in federal class-action lawsuits.
Earlier this year, he was appointed as one of three expert in a lawsuit brought forth by the ACLU of Illinois on the claim that the states youth prison system was violating the constitutional rights of inmates by failing to provide adequate mental health care and education and by unnecessarily keeping youths in solitary confinement. Dr. Leone examined the education program in the prisons and found, Most students do not receive services to which they are entitled under federal and state laws and regulations.
Dr. Leone spent six months visiting five of the six facilities operated by the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice. His assessment of the education programs in the youth prisons is based on student and staff interviews, classroom observations and review of documents.
In his report to the court, Dr. Leone concluded that the Illinois education program operates far below minimally accepted standards at comparable facilities across the country, does not appear to meet minimal standards for education as specified in the Illinois School Code, does not meet the needs of students with disabilities, and appears to violate both State and Federal legislation.
The case is still in the early stages, but Dr. Leone will be continuing to work with the States education and prison system leadership to provide feedback on potential reforms in the facilities.
For more information on the case, read the article in the Chicago Tribune here
-end-
For more information on the College of Education, visit: www.education.umd.edu
or contact
Halima Cherif, Director for Communications, at: hcherif@umd.edu