Redefining Deviancy: 'Justice-Involved Youth'



In a recent press release describing the Justice Department’s efforts to provide housing for rehabilitated juvenile delinquents, the department described the demographic as “Justice-Involved Youth.” From the very fist line of its message, the Office of Public Affairs wrote, “In an effort to help young people involved in the justice system find jobs and housing…”

And this is how we’re introduced to the most recent example of the Left’s newspeak, a strain of our vernacular that George Orwell described as “largely the defence of the indefensible.” Obtuse phrases such as “justice-involved youth” hide the true meaning of what’s happening. Which side of the law are these individuals on? As Investor’s Business Daily facetiously asks, “If these young people are ‘involved’ in the justice system, doesn’t that mean they already have jobs? Like, say, as a trainee in the dispatcher’s office, or a desk clerk in the attorney general’s office, or maybe a janitor at the local courthouse?”

Using the Left’s phrasing, it’s hard to have an honest discussion about the Justice Department’s program. While returning to society after paying a debt to it by spending time in jail is often a difficult task, citizens have the right to know how “involved” these youth were in this nation’s justice system. Are we simply giving out taxpayer funds to hooligans who will turn around and contribute to insecurity and instability of our society? As long as they vote Democrat, yes.

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