Osorio v. Rios

OPINION

LEVIN H. CAMPBELL, Circuit Judge.

This class action is brought by certain juvenile offenders in Puerto Rico who were placed in adult jails by judicial, order. Plaintiffs contend that 34 L.P.R.A. § 2007(c), a statute allowing courts to put juvenile offenders in adult jails or prisons, violates the Constitution of the United States, and is therefore invalid. The challenged portion of the statute reads as follows:

“No child shall be held in a police station, lockup, jail, or prison, except that, by order of the Judge, setting forth the reasons therefor, a child over 16 years of age whose…