Juvenile justice is a hot topic in every city across the U.S. it seems, but lately, Denver has seen more than its normal share of juvenile crime. According to the Colorado Division of Youth Services, there was a 10-percent increase in violent crimes by young offenders from 2019 to 2020.

Due to this jump in youth-perpetrated crimes in such a short period, advocacy groups are asking Denver courts to help

The idea behind the criminal justice system as a whole is to rehabilitate criminal offenders, preventing them from reoffending in the future. Unfortunately, this is much easier in theory than in practice.

In fact, an enormous proportion of former offenders commit new offenses and end up right back in Colorado state prisons. This problem is known as recidivism and is complex.

The Colorado juvenile justice system has a unique opportunity