Time to end injustice in juvenile justice system

Maria Rivera was a single mother raising two boys in Orange County when her youngest got into trouble. In 2008, he became one of tens of thousands of youth — disproportionately black and brown — who are referred annually into the state’s juvenile justice system, where he spent more than a year in detention.
Then came the bills.
Ms. Rivera was charged $23.90 for every day her son was detained and $2,200 for his court-appointed lawyer. All told, Orange County said she owed more t