Policy Center: Juvenile Justice

The end of an era?

A story in the Los Angeles Times caught my eye.  The title tells most of the story: “California to close its largest juvenile prison.” The institution is the Heman G.

Category: Public Policy

Treating kids under 12 as adults

A new study released by the Lyndon B.

Category: Public Policy

Juvenile Mental Health Outlook

Listen to Daniel Macallair, Executive Director of the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, speak on the Juvenile Mental Health Outlook on KCBS

 

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New California Crime Stats: The Good-Bad News

Just released Criminal Justice Statistics Center 2008 crime numbers and Center for Health Statistics 2007 death figures deal a double whammy to three decades of California’s criminal justice failure. But first, the ironies.

 

Category: Public Policy

Now the hard part of prison reform...

Last month, CJCJ released a detailed study documenting the feasibility, benefits, and cost savings of closing California’s juvenile prison system and transferring its dwindling roster of inmates to county detention facilities.

Category: Public Policy

Locking Up Teenage Vandals in Texas

I came across this article in the Corpus Christi paper about two teenage taggers who were arrested for a "vandalism spree."  For these crimes they were placed in a juvenile hall for three weeks and then released on house arrest with electronic monitoring. This presents a good example of why the United States leads the world in youth and adult incarceration.

Another troubling juvenile court case

Statements by prosecutors following the January 16 ruling by a San Francisco Juvenile Court judge that four “Potrero Hill gang members” committed first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder, and gang-related crimes in the 2007 shooting death of a 17-year-old woman and wounding of another teen outside a community center raise troubling questions about juvenile justice.

San Francisco perpetuates "dark ages" crime prejudices

Two statements-and some huge omissions-sum up the obsolete thinking that plagues development of a 21st century crime policy for San Francisco, an issue receiving more attention after new police reports show homicides have increased.

 

Category: Public Policy

Remembering Lloyd Ohlin

The death of Lloyd Ohlin in December 2008 was a great loss to the juvenile justice reform world because he was a scholar and a reformer.  A University of Chicago trained sociologists, Professor Ohlin was best known for his seminal work Delinquency and Opportunity, which he co-authored with Richard Cloward another prominent sociologist.   Published in 1960, the book is considered a classic be

Do Black Teens Need More Policing?

Why do the news media adore James Alan Fox?