By ISAAC WOLF, Scripps Howard News Service

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. — On his 14th birthday, Owen Welty received an unexpected gift: a half-pint carton of milk and chocolate sheet cake for 40 -- enough to
share with all his fellow inmates and the guards at a Missouri jail.

For thousands of teens accused of crimes, punishment precedes any conviction in court. While awaiting trial and ostensibly presumed innocent, they can be held for months or even years in county jails for -- and sometimes with -- adult suspects.

Nine thousand times a year, U.S. judges move the cases of juvenile suspects into criminal court, opening the door to a stay in adult jail.

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. - On his 14th birthday, Owen Welty got an unexpected gift: a half-pint carton of milk and chocolate sheet cake for 40 -- enough to share with all his fellow inmates and the guards at a Missouri jail.

Even when jails reportedly uphold a federal rule to keep juveniles safe from adult inmates, federal authorities cannot always verify their claims.

Case in point: Cleveland's Central Prison Unit.

BALTIMORE - A plan to build a new jail here just for youngsters has come under withering criticism from community groups who want criminal justice reform -- not a new facility.

WASHINGTON - Congress will examine a federal policy that enables "vultures" to exploit dead children's identities and steal tax refunds, a key lawmaker said.

There's not much parents can do to prevent a thief from stealing their dead child's personal information.

WASHINGTON - Illinois Sen. Richard Durbin has become the latest lawmaker to criticize the Social Security Administration's broken death reporting system, asking the agency to explain why it mistakenly reports each month that nearly 1,200 living Americans have died.

WASHINGTON - The White House and congressional leaders are fighting over whether and how to raise the debt ceiling, as concerns mount that inaction will lead to a destructive financial riptide.