I Got Arrested! Now What?

  • Made By CUP With:
  • Community Partners
  • Tags:
  • Court System

A graphic novel that helps young people who’ve been arrested advocate for themselves

Advocates from the Center for Court Innovation's Youth Justice Board spoke at the project's launch event.

The juvenile legal system is a complex one. When a young person is arrested, no one tells them what’s about to happen to them, let alone how they can best advocate for themselves. The result is that many youth who enter the system end up with avoidable penalties, and on a path that very often leads back to the legal system.

The Center for Court Innovation proposed this poster as part of CUP’s Making Policy Public series because they wanted to create an outreach tool that would help young people navigate the maze of New York’s juvenile legal system, and they wanted to use a medium that would really make it accessible to youth. CUP collaborated with the Center and graphic novelist Danica Novgorodoff to create I Got Arrested! Now What?, a readable explanation of an incredibly complicated process.

Advoctes gathered for the launch of the project.
The Center for Court Innovation's Youth Justice Board celebrates at the launch event.

Check Out the Project

Two spreads from the project that show a young persons journey
through the legal system after getting arrested.

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Project Collaborators

Community Partners

The Center For Court Innovation
Linda Baird
Dory Hack
Colin Lentz

The Youth Justice Board
Ashley, Claudia, Imani, Joanelly, Johanel, Josh, Khaair, N’dack, Olivia, Phelipe, Ronique, Shahid, Shanna, Sunny, Zeinah


NYC Department of Probation

Stacye Spear
Eileen Donohue



Special Thanks

Angela Albertus, Liberty Aldrich, Raye Barbieri, Greg Berman, Matthew Canfield, Nancy Fishman, Melissa Gelber, Gineen Gray, Hon. Joseph Lauria, David Long, Valeria Mogilevich, Joseph Peña, Natalie Rodriguez, Jacqueline Sherman, Alfred Siegel, Robert Wolf, Rosten Woo, Hon. Nancy Bannon, Meredith Donovan, Hon. Monica Drinane, Hon. Lee Elkins, Rodolfo Estrada, Robert Feldstein, Gerald Foley, Dianna Guerin, Yasna Heravi, Hon. Fran Lubo, Edward March, Yumari Martinez, Angela Merrill, Shernette Pink, Miriam Simon-Henry, Samantha Sorwick, Nicole Spain, Tamara Steckler, Michele Sviridoff, Steven Wint

Product Details

8″ × 11″ color pamphlet; unfolds to 22″ × 32″ poster

Funding Support

This project was made possible by the Nathan Cummings Foundation; public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, and the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council; the North Star Fund; and the Union Square Awards, a project of the Tides Center.