Boot Camp Guards Charged With Teen’s Killing

Membership Ticker

Monika Bauerlein,
CEO

Dear MoJo Reader,

Have you been following the news less? A lot of people have, and that can be good, but it can also spell trouble for those of us in the news business. We're about to find out, because Mother Jones has a $350,000 fundraising goal right now. In "Slow News Is Good News," I try to reset after several chaotic years and make a longer-lasting case for why our nonprofit journalism matters. I hope you'll read it and that you'll pitch in if you can.

Have you been following the news less? A lot of people have, and that can be good and bad. It's unnerving, because Mother Jones has a $350,000 fundraising goal right now. In "Slow News Is Good News," we try to reset after several chaotic years and make a longer-lasting case for why our journalism matters. Please read it—and please pitch in!

Fight disinformation. Get a daily recap of the facts that matter. Sign up for the free Mother Jones newsletter.

Eleven months ago, seven guards at a Florida teen-offender “boot camp” were caught on tape kicking and stomping a 14-year-old inmate – who died the next day. The incident led Governor Jeb Bush to dismantle the state’s military-style camps for young offenders, cost a top law enforcement officer his job, and have now culminated in manslaughter charges against the guards.

All of which marks the latest and perhaps most serious blow to the once-popular idea of reforming troubled teens in such places. It’s an issue Mother Jones highligted several years ago in a piece about the death of another teen in a different boot camp.