Tag Archive for juvenile justice

George "Loki" Williams | April 3, 2013
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Signal Amplification: The National Juvenile Justice Network’s Leadership Institute seeking reformers.

The National Juvenile Justice Network’s Leadership Institute is looking for ten great reformers.

Picture somebody in your mind — someone you know — who wants to set the juvenile justice world on fire.  Someone who’s fed up with seeing kids get kicked out of school for minor misbehavior, locked up without due process, or any of a hundred other unjust, unfair things that can blight young people’s lives.

You can see this person in your mind’s eye, right?  You’re picturing someone who stands up, speaks out, and can work with others to reform what’s not working.   A person, in other words, who is ready to take the next step to grow as a leader.

Chances are this army-of-one you’re picturing in your mind is ready to apply to the Youth Justice Leadership Institute, a robust, year-long fellowship program run by the National Juvenile Justice Network that focuses on cultivating and supporting professionals of color. Our goal is to create the foundation for a more effective juvenile justice reform movement by developing a strong base of advocates and organizers who reflect the communities most affected by juvenile justice system practices and policies.

By the way, your force-of-nature will not need to quit his or her job. It does mean that he or she will join a hand-picked group of 10 fellows assembled from all over the country to learn about leadership, juvenile justice system policies and practices, theories of change, and how to develop their skills as advocates.  Plus, it’s free (or close to it). Travel and lodging are paid for; tuition is minimal when compared to other programs of this length and intensity.

Applications are due May 6, 2013.

Anyone who wants to apply for the Institute can:

 

This year, Diana will host two informational webinars for prospective applicants:

•           April 4, 2013, 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm EST (click to register)

•           April 10, 2013, 1 pm – 2 pm EST (click to register)

 

Please share this announcement with your networks!

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Category: Humane Exposures, Juvenile Justice | Tags: , , , , , , ,
Alan Waldman | March 22, 2013
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Texas Juvenile Justice Reforms Save Public Money and Make Secure Facilities Safer

texas our texas

texas our texas (Photo credit: jmtimages)

Nearly 100,000 children are caught up in Texas’s juvenile justice system each year—many of them suffering from severe trauma, substance abuse and mental health problems. While an increasing number of youth are being diverted to community-based supervision and treatment programs, others continue to be housed in county or state secure facilities.

These institutions are too large and too remote, resulting in staffing problems, low family involvement, high youth-on-youth violence and ineffective rehabilitation. And although county facilities are able to keep youth closer to family and community resources, research shows that for most youth, time spent in any secure facility harms rehabilitation. What’s worse, some kids as young as 14 are still sent to adult facilities.

In recent years, Texas legislators and policymakers have adopted reforms in the criminal justice system that move away from the expensive, marginally effective “lock-‘em-all-up” approach to punishment, toward a more sophisticated, effective one. State juvenile facilities used to be little more than preparatory academies for crime, but that is now changing.

Since shocking revelations in 2007 about mistreatment and sexual abuse of youthful offenders by the staff of the Texas Youth Commission (TYC), reforms been implemented that have made juveniles in state secure facilities safer and have reduced the institutions’ average daily population down from 3,642 in 2006 to only 1,221 in 2011.

Jim Hurley, spokesman for the Texas Juvenile Justice Department (formerly known as the TYC) reports:

Once insular and defensive, the agency appears now much more willing to listen to outside advice and opinions. The state has provided more training since juvenile justice reforms were implemented and the number and rate of youth-on-youth assaults has decreased at state secure facilities.

A recent survey of 115 detainees at the Giddings State School found that “youthful offenders feel safe and hopeful about their futures.” The interviewees called for even more training for detention facilities staff and moving kids from remote locations so as to enable greater family involvement.

Benet Magnuson, a policy attorney with the Youth Justice Project, explains:

The state is on the right track to keeping juvenile offenders closer to their homes. When kids are in their community and the county has invested in local programs, you’re going to see better outcomes in terms of safety, family involvement, rehabilitation and treatment.

According to the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, county-run secure facilities need grant funds, technical assistance, accountability standards and oversight to develop and effectively implement best practices to strengthen their diversion and treatment infrastructure. The Coalition stresses that all programming and services for juveniles must be age-appropriate and emphasize their unique needs.

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Category: Criminal Justice, Juvenile Justice, Texas | Tags: , ,
Alan Waldman | March 11, 2013
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Youth Incarceration Down in U.S., Colorado

Map of USA with Colorado highlighted

Map of USA with Colorado highlighted (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

U.S. juvenile detention has fallen to the lowest level in 35 years, due largely to the increase and growth of remediation programs. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Census of Juveniles in Residential Placement, 44 states have reduced their confinement of juveniles rates between 1997 and 2010, with declines of 66% in Tennessee, 57% in Arizona, 48% in California and 44% in Texas. On the other hand, incarceration rates rose over the period In Nebraska, Idaho, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and South Dakota. Over the same period, youth violence dropped significantly.

Bart Lubow, director of The Annie E. Casey Foundation, whose recent study is titled “Youth Incarceration in the U.S” states:

The decline is very significant because America for a long time did nothing but build up its incarcerated young population. But in recent years, there has been a radical sea change. It is a highly important social development that has largely gone on under the radar.

The findings reflect a trend toward less harsh treatment of youthful infractions. Scientific research shows that youths can more easily control destructive impulses as their brains mature.

Most juveniles are confined for minor offenses—such as violating curfew or running away from home—offenses that would not be considered illegal if committed by those 18 and older.

Juvenile justice systems still treat children of color much more punitively than Anglo kids—confining five times more African-American youngsters and two-to-three times more Latinos and Native Americans than Whites.

The Casey Foundation finds wholesale incarceration counterproductive and provides technical assistance to 200 jurisdictions attempting to reduce it.

According to Bartholomew Sullivan, writing in the Memphis Commercial Appeal:

 The Casey Report recommends five steps to accelerate the drop in youth detention, including restricting incarceration only to those “who pose a demonstrable risk to public safety” and upending the financial incentives for correctional placement.

The recent de-incarceration trend provides a unique opportunity to implement responses to delinquency that are more cost-effective and humane and that provide better outcomes for youth, their families and communities.

The number of juveniles committed to the Colorado Division of Youth Corrections has dropped by 44 percent in the past seven years, the result of programs that have put more focus on rehabilitation than detention. Declining populations at the facilities are a result of successfully combining front-end programs—designed to help adolescents before they enter the justice system—and efforts to stop released juveniles from returning.

Colorado Director of Youth Corrections John Gomez states:

Declining populations at our facilities are a result of successfully combining front-end programs—designed to help ad<olescents before they enter the justice system—and efforts to stop released juveniles from returning. We’ve continued to work at ensuring that we are providing the right services at the right time.

With fewer juveniles in detention, the Colorado Department of Human Services, which manages youth corrections, has asked lawmakers to move nearly $8 million from youth corrections to child-welfare services, including early-intervention programs for children and teens before they enter the juvenile justice system.

In the past year, Colorado has enjoyed a 13% drop in youth recidivism. And more juveniles being released from youth corrections are equipped with skill sets that will help them when they return home. While serving their commitments, juveniles can earn their GEDs or high school diplomas and work with their families before being released.

 

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Category: Juvenile Justice, Prison, Prison Reform | Tags: , , , , , , , ,
George "Loki" Williams | March 1, 2013
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A Bipartisan Victory in Georgia!

English: Great Seal of the State of Georgia

English: Great Seal of the State of Georgia (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“Why are they there? They are there because there are not programs currently in the community that judges can send them to,”

-Rep. Wendell Willard, speaking about the incarceration of juveniles for misdemeanor offenses or truancy charge (as reported in the Marietta Daily Journal).

It looks like that is about to change. In a show of bipartisan collaboration that is long overdue Georgia conservatives and their liberal counterparts have joined forces to fix their state’s juvenile justice system. A system that has done nothing but get consistently worse over the past two decades.

Melissa Carter at the Juvenile Justice Information Exchange writes:

Georgia leaders were recently confronted by compelling data showing that the state is expending considerable resources confining offenders who are mostly at low-risk to re-offend, and further, that these expensive and restrictive interventions are not effective. More than half of all Georgia young people in the juvenile justice system recidivate; that is, they are re-adjudicated delinquent or convicted of a criminal offense within three years of their release. This narrative is not unique to Georgia, and states recognize the need to be more effective and more efficient with their limited resources. A broader set of goals must be satisfied, including those promoting public safety, accountability, fiscal responsibility and positive outcomes for young people. Thus, now is the ideal time to correct the public policy course of the last two decades by making smart investments in our youth.

Georgia’s governor recognized this opportunity and has made juvenile justice reform a signature issue. The state is poised to enact a comprehensive statutory reform package (the state House passed the legislation last week) that includes proposals to treat status offenders through a more service-oriented Children in Need of Services (CHINS) approach, separate felonies into two classes based on the severity of the offense to allow for differentiated sentencing, mandate use of standardized assessment tools, and require improved data collection. The bill also contains a fiscal incentive program to create community-based alternatives to detention.

Programs like these are already showing results- improving outcomes for youth and their families, increasing public safety and reducing costs in five states. Seeing them implemented in a state notorious for its juvenile justice concerns is heartening. Even more important is the continuing trend of bipartisan agreement.

It is no secret that these are insanely polarized times, politically speaking. As a result collaborations across the aisle have become almost mythical. Just look at the “fiscal cliff” and the current brouhaha about sequestration. Yet on this issue there is no choice but bipartisan agreement, the numbers are that cut and dried. There are even precedents for it, as I noted here on this blog back in February of 2012 when I wrote about bipartisan progress being made in aphid and Michegan:

The idea of justice reform is often viewed as a province of the liberal left, however the current reality is that more and more conservatives are embracing it now that they are becoming aware of the harsh financial realities. Let us hope this trend continues.

We have the proof. Numerous studies over the past few decades show quite plainly that more community based approaches and rehabilitative programs are more effective at getting people out of the system, which thrills liberals. These same studies also demonstrate a much lower outlay of funds with a greatly increased return on investment, the goal of all true fiscal conservatives.

Let us hope that the common sense prevailing in Georgia leads even more states to do so. It is, after all, far more expensive to do nothing.

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Category: Juvenile Justice, Legislation, Prison, Prison Reform | Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
George "Loki" Williams | January 14, 2013
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Corrections.com takes a look at juvenile justice in 2013

Hiatt type 2010 handcuffs. Circa 1990s

Hiatt type 2010 handcuffs. Circa 1990s (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Terry Campbell, A professor at the Kaplan University School of Public Safety, just posted an article on Corrections.com about the big issues facing juvenile justice in 2013. In it, he denotes the five areas of emphasis for the coming year: fiscal considerations; juvenile sentencing; mental health and juveniles; juveniles and adult courts; and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) youth.

These are all topics we have tried to shine a light on with this blog, so it’s gratifying to see them acknowledged on a website that has evolved into “the single most recognizable brand online for the global community of corrections.” Hopefully it will create more awareness of these issues with the professional corrections community.

At one point, Campbell notes the intersection of rehabilitation and funding:

I shared with you some juvenile critical areas facing us in 2013. These selections are my opinions and views for each area. 2013 will continue to be an interesting year related to juvenile offenders. Agencies must be creative in still meeting offender needs while competing for dollars. According to fiscal managers, we still face a tough budget year ahead of us. The old adage; “Make do with less and continue services,” is present. From this administrators and staff are becoming stressed and pressured to provide services while maintaining safety and security. The last thing we need is a reduction in staff, yet some states are experiencing this.

We want to continue and focus on rehabilitation and recidivism. Yet, at the same time we must note: “Until offenders are willing to accept the responsibilities and consequences for their own actions, change is not going to occur.” (Campbell).

The programs, mentoring, reinforcement, and support must continue to be provided in an attempt for some of these juveniles to change. This is one of the last opportunities for youth to make a change before entering the big house. Are we going to save all? No. Can we save some and make a difference in some young lives? Yes. The dedication, professionalism of staff, and desire to assist these offenders are crucial. When we look at where some of these offenders came from and obstacles faced, it is truly amazing some are able to change. We cannot overlook that trust and respect are major components and not easily obtained. Many of our youth are able to make the necessary adjustments to turn their lives around while others continue to struggle and get caught in the revolving door. 2013 will be an interesting year.

There is no program or group of programs that can act as a panacea. That doesn’t mean the programs are worthless. Nothing in real life is one hundred percent. By the same token, proper rehabilitative approaches, combined with family or community support, can improve the lot of many– probably a majority– of cases.

Personally, I am very excited to see these topics brought forth on a website that ranks number one on Alexa and is in the top three Google results for “corrections”. With 2.5 million page views per month, they can do a far better job of getting these ideas across to decision makers and those who work in corrections-related jobs.

Let us hope that these areas see greater attention in the coming year, rather than being sidelined by short term fiscal maneuvering.

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Category: Juvenile Justice | Tags: , , , ,
George "Loki" Williams | January 7, 2013
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PAWS- Pairing Achievement with Service

doggie paws

doggie paws (Photo credit: whatchumean)

One subject I would like to see come up more often when we discuss juvenile justice is the rehabilitative use of animals. I’ve written before about programs that bring in animals to socialize inmates and teach them responsibility, I think they are important.

Having to care for an animal provides emotional support at the same time it teaches discipline – both essential elements for getting kids out of the cyclical behavior patterns that keep them behind bars. The Austin Statesman reports on the program:

Dog and girl are part of a little-known pet adoption program that celebrates its third anniversary this month. PAWS, or Pairing Achievement with Service, operates entirely within the tall security fences at the Ron Jackson Juvenile Corrections Complex in this West Texas city.
Officials say the program, the only one like it in the Texas Juvenile Justice Department’s six lockups, so far has helped turn around the lives of 41 lawbreaking teen girls and saved 67 dogs from a likely fate of being euthanized.

In all, eight offenders of the 97 at the state’s only lockup for girls participate in the 12-week therapeutic program that April Jameson, the facility’s interim superintendent, said has the lowest rates for misbehavior of any type. “We really don’t have any problems in the PAWS dorm,” she said.

Holli Fenton, a dog lover (she has six) who is the dorm supervisor and overseer of the program, said both the girls and the dogs are carefully screened for compatibility before they can participate. The dogs live in cages in each girl’s cell-like room, and the girls are responsible for feeding, grooming, exercising and training the canines for adoption. They even do a “re-entry” plan for their dog, Fenton said.

If the girls successfully complete the initial training program, they can ask to stay on as mentors to other girls.

‘We’re able to use a canine as an example for the girls,’ she said. ‘They have to have teamwork to accomplish things with the dog. They learn patience when they train it. They learn how to organize and redirect themselves.’

Any pet owner can tell you how much patience and discipline are involved in an animal’s care, traits that are vital for youth offenders to learn if they want to stay out of jail. Unlike many other programs designed to teach these traits, having an animal involved adds an element of emotional connection. The combination of the two makes for a potent tool. Just look at what the Texas Juvenile Justice Department says about the program on their website:

PAWS compliments CoNEXTions© because it teaches the youth empathy, compassion, responsibility, patience, accountability, and dependability. The relationships the youth form with their K9 companions help them develop skills that can be transferred to their relationships with others, thereby increasing their chances for success in the community.

Youth at TJJD have individualized case plans, with unique objectives. PAWS helps the youth achieve some of their objectives in creative ways ranging from youth researching their dog’s breed to writing autobiographies or community re-entry success plans for their dogs.

The TJJD therapeutic approach involves connecting youth with positive social forces and assets, drawing on community resources to engage youth, and engaging youth in pro-social activities and opportunities. PAWS is a natural fit.

Even if a reduction in dorm violence was the only benefit it would make this a program worthy of emulation, but it is not. Learning to care for a pet builds empathy, a trait often impaired in those whose upbringing has involved abuse, violence, or neglect. Forging a connection with another creature is the first step toward greater empathy for one’s fellows. It also introduces positive emotions and connections that have also probably been in short supply.

In addition to developing empathy and self esteem, the girls involved are also saving the lives of their four-footed companions. Each of the dogs involved faced a high probability of being euthanized before gaining a second chance through PAWS. From the canine perspective, as well as the human one, it is certainly a winning arrangement.

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Category: Juvenile Justice, Texas | Tags: , , , , , , , ,
George "Loki" Williams | October 17, 2012
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Hollywood Producer Re-envisions Juvenile Justice

Hollywood Producer Scott Budnick has spent a decade dedicating his energies to creating opportunity for incarcerated youth. It all started in 2002 when he became part of an innovative program called InsideOUT Writers.

The program conducts weekly writing classes within the Los Angeles County Juvenile Hall System. Classes that are taught by prominent writers, poets, screenwriters, journalists and educators. It is a combination of education and narrative, one that provides the inmates a forum in which to tell their personal stories and re-examine the past. Its goal is to help them write the next chapter of their own story, hopefully a better one.

Budnick is part a team inaugurated by Los Angeles Times staff writer Duane Noriyuki and Pulitzer Prize nominee Mark Salzman, two of the original teachers.

Fast forward to the present day. Here is an encapsulated view of how Budnick has taken his work on InsideOUT as the foundation for even more ambitious work along these lines. (Quoted from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation website.)

After volunteering with the InsideOUT program for several years, Budnick turned his attention to young adults in the state prison system.  He noticed that young adults moving from the Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) to one of the 33 adult institutions were not classified any differently than hardened career criminals. In 2008, Budnick approached CDCR Undersecretary Scott Kernan with the argument that the system was turning kids into worse criminals and it was time to try something new.

This alone is a breakthrough. Every reputable study out there supports the stance that adult facilities tend to simply be “crime school” for juveniles incarcerated within.

Budnick, along with Undersecretary Kernan and Tanya Rothchild of the Classification Services Unit, developed a pilot for the Youth Offender Classification Program at California Institution for Men (CIM) in Chino.  The program created a system that classified youth entering the adult prison system based on behavior, wants and needs rather than by age and offense.

The program was a success, with hundreds of young adults enrolled in college courses at several CDCR adult institutions in Southern California. The programs included mentoring and a college-dormitory environment more conducive to learning than a typical prison environment.

Due to CDCR’s inmate population reduction, CIM’s East Facility was converted from a reception yard to a Level III Sensitive Needs Yard (SNY) that includes inmates who have denounced gang affiliation and want to turn their lives around.  Budnick and CDCR officials envisioned the conversion as the perfect spot for a special program in which all of the inmates are enrolled in college courses.  Within a month of the conversion and the program start-up, there were 225 inmates enrolled in college courses.

Education is one of the leading ways to combat recidivism. It provides the tools needed to re-enter normal society by incubating job skills and discipline. Every step we can take to improve access to education is a step toward eliminating problems like homelessness and juvenile crime.

The program’s effectiveness in this regard is amply illustrated by it’s continued expansion and success.

To enhance the program further, Budnick contacted Professor Renford Reese of the political science department at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.  Reese engaged students at Cal Poly Pomona campus and now has about 80 students coming into the CIM yard on a weekly basis for tutoring, mentoring, life-skills presentations, presentations about their majors and inter-disciplinary studies.

Programs and strategies like this are proven to be effective. They allow juvenile inmates a much better chance of staying out of prison once released.

Curious about what these kids are writing? InsideOUT Writers publishes a quarterly literary journal of writings that is distributed to students and probation staff, a journal that is available for download on their website (click on Writing From the Inside).

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Category: California, Criminal Justice, Education, Juvenile Justice | Tags: , , ,
George "Loki" Williams | July 2, 2012
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Rethinking Juvenile Justice: The Supreme Court Decision

US Supreme CourtLast week United States Supreme Court declared it cruel and unusual punishment to sentence a juvenile offender to life without parole. As with all of their decisions, it was met by some with complete outrage and by some as a move long-needed.

This one is based on a growing body of research, one that has influenced court decisions since around 2005. Neurophysical examination of children and youths has shown that there are very direct and physical reasons that the prior approach to juvenile justice does not work.

Ethan Bronner of The New York Times provides a bit of historical background on these prior court cases:

“What we are seeing is a very stark and important rethinking of how we treat juvenile criminal offenders,” said Marsha Levick, who co-founded the nonprofit Juvenile Law Center in Philadelphia in 1975. “For years we were trying to convince the courts that kids have constitutional rights just like adults. Now we realize that to ensure that kids are protected, we have to recognize that they are actually different from adults.”

That sense of difference has fueled the Supreme Court decisions of the past seven years — first a ruling that barred the death penalty for juveniles in 2005; one that banned life in prison for juveniles convicted of crimes other than homicide in 2010; and now Monday’s ruling that rendered invalid state laws requiring youths convicted of homicide as well to die in prison. That decision will lead to resentencing hearings for about 2,000 convicts — some of them now well into middle age — in more than two dozen states.

All of the recent rulings placed emphasis on research showing that the less-formed brains of the young make them less morally culpable and more capable of change later. So condemning them to die in prison, advocates assert, ignores key advances in scientific understanding.

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In addition to the evidence provided by the physical sciences there is also the problem of cookie-cutter justice, a “one size fits all” approach that removes judicial discretion from the picture.

Conservative writer Elizabeth Hovd on Oregon Live casts things in terms of the rights that we as a nation choose to bestow and which to deny. It’s a very interesting exercise when you consider the ages involved.

Justice is better served by weighing individual considerations than by following mandatory sentencing laws that offer no opportunity to rehabilitate people or allow them to become contributing members of society some day. If we are comfortable claiming people aren’t old enough to fully consider who to vote for before age 18 or be responsible with a beer until 21, banning mandatory life-without-parole sentencing for juveniles makes sense. Parole can and should still be denied if a criminal seems unchanged or is considered a continued threat to society.

Hovd also invokes Christian charity along with a reminder that if you do actually read the decision you’ll discover that this is not an automatic out for everyone, merely the rectification of a poor approach – one that dispenses with actual justice far too often.

It is far more important that we do what is right by victims and offenders than that we copy other countries. I would remind fellow conservatives who are also Christians that ours is a god of second chances — a god of the mulligan. Isn’t it our job to show mercy to penitent men, just as God has shown mercy? Besides, punishment and revenge have never brought back a loved one.

This ruling doesn’t offer a get-out-of-jail-free card. It does stop the legal system from treating children like adults. Children aren’t typically ready to drive at 12 or vote at 14. And children don’t magically turn into adults when they commit a horrible act.

That last point is the one that most people miss: these are children. This is one of the reasons that we produced Born, Not Raised. People need to be exposed to the narratives of the kids lost in our system. It is these narratives that humanize them.

A problem becomes much harder to ignore once you put a human face on it.

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Category: Born Not Raised, Criminal Justice, Humane Exposures, Juvenile Justice | Tags: , , , , , ,
George "Loki" Williams | June 20, 2012
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LIttle Girls in Solitary

The Girl - High ContrastSolitary confinement. A harsh penalty, and purportedly one of last resort. The type of penalty reserved for hardened, adult criminals. Or so it seems on the surface…

How would you react if told that solitary is often used for the most minor infractions, and the recipients are all too often female juvenile offenders. This is the subject of a recent piece on RH Reality Check by Yasmin Vafa of the Human Rights Project for Girls:

There is a growing body of evidence that demonstrates the severe psychiatric consequences of placing individuals, and particularly children in solitary confinement.  Prisoners who have experienced solitary confinement have been shown to engage in self-mutilation at much higher rates than the average population. These prisoners are also known to attempt or commit suicide more often than those who were not held in isolation. In fact, studies show that juveniles are 19 times more likely to kill themselves in isolation than in general population and that juveniles in general, have the highest suicide rates of all inmates in jails.

Every year approximately 600,000 girls are arrested in the U.S. The majority of these girls are incarcerated for non-violent offenses  such as truancy, loitering, running away, alcohol use, or violations of prior court orders for non-violent offenses. Evidence demonstrates that 73 percent of these girls are victims of some form of physical or sexual abuse. Many of them end up in these exact circumstances.

Despite all these facts, when girls in the juvenile justice system express evidence of or the desire to self harm, the typical response is to put them in solitary confinement. While these girls are being placed in solitary for their own protection, there is no consideration given to the fact that such practices deepen existing trauma. When subjected to isolation, these youth are often locked down for 23 hours per day in small cells with no natural light.  This confinement can last several days, weeks or even months, which leads to severe anxiety, paranoia, and further exacerbation of mental distress. The ACLU has reported that in certain juvenile detention facilities, girls are restrained with brutal force and are ‘regularly locked up in solitary confinement — a punishment used for minor misbehaviors as well as for girls who express wanting to hurt themselves.’

This is an especially important topic because this week, the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Human Rights, and Civil Rights is holding their first-ever Congressional hearing on the issue of solitary confinement in U.S. prisons and jails. It is our distinct hope that we will see the subject of juvenile solitary confinement addressed in this hearing, as well as the other other issues faced by both juveniles and females incarcerated in the American prison system.

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Category: Born Not Raised, Criminal Justice, Humane Exposures, Juvenile Justice, Prison, Prison Reform, Women's Issues | Tags: , , ,
George "Loki" Williams | June 2, 2012
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Equal Justice Initiative Founder: ‘We Need to Talk About an Injustice’ TED Talk

TED2012 helped Bryan Stevenson raise more than $1 million following his impassioned plea for justice at the California conference last week. Stevenson, a human rights attorney and founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, spoke about the role of race in today’s justice system, including juvenile justice. You can watch his talk below.

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Category: Criminal Justice, Juvenile Justice | Tags: , , , ,
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