In July 2023, Erin Patterson invited her in-laws and estranged husband to lunch under the pretense of a made-up Cancer diagnosis. Supposedly luring the majority of guests with the shocking news, Patterson prepared a homemade beef Wellington for the upcoming luncheon. Now, in no way is the Justice Education Project an expert in cuisine. Yet, it’s important to assume Patterson’s beef Wellington was prepared in the classic manner —1 pound of thick beef tenderloin; Kosher salt ;1

“Doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results is often cited as the definition of insanity. By that measure, then, America’s approach to solving crime is as insane as it gets.” Three years later, this stark assessment from a 2022 Teen Vogue article by Olayemi Olurin remains frustratingly true. Despite mounting evidence of its struggles, the United States continues to double down on mass incarceration, while expecting different outcomes. Hence, our textbook

Many young people find themselves trapped in the prison system, stuck in an endless cycle of reoffending and reincarceration. Recidivism, defined as “the tendency of a convicted criminal to reoffend,” is a serious problem for incarcerated juveniles, who do not have the support systems and emotional stability necessary after prison to prevent them from falling back into criminal behavior (MST Services). According to research from Point Park University, some states had juvenile