(The Root) — On Wednesday, less than two months after the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Mississippi officials for systematically incarcerating African-American children, the Senate heard its first-ever testimony about the “school-to-prison pipeline” — the label assigned to the nationwide pattern of young people being sent to police stations, courtrooms and juvenile-detention centers for minor or trivial offenses.
The hearing before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights, and chaired by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), was attended by students, parents, civil rights advocates and other community leaders.
