The March 2010, the American Constitution Society (ACS) released, “A Just Alternative to Sentencing Youth to Life in Prison Without the Possibility of Parole ” that provides three arguments against utilizing life without the possibility of parole for youth. The issue brief also recommends state policy reform options. Youth are different from adults. The Court recognizes that youth differ from adults biologically and should be treated as such. Scientists suggest that youth differ from adults…
Blog Apr 13, 2010
CJCJ Exposes Inaccurate Media Reports
Recently, CJCJ has cultivated many policy reports and articles surrounding issues within the juvenile justice system. Through these recent publications CJCJ exposes inaccurate media reports through the utilization of data and policy analysis. This month Executive Director Daniel Macallair was featured in both the LA Times and California Progress Report reflecting on California’s current budget crisis and the state’s inablity to continue to support a youth correctional system that has been…
Blog Apr 13, 2010
Model Community Mental Health Programming
The “Blueprint for Change ” report released by The National Center for Mental Health and Juvenile Justice in 2007 highlights the need to address mental health treatment from a unified approach that includes both the juvenile justice system and mental health agencies. The report mentions several important cornerstones in the treatment of youth with mental disorders. One of the key points is that all juvenile justice involved youth should be “systematically screened for mental illness”. …
Blog Apr 9, 2010
The epidemic of abuse continues
In my most recent post I said that I would continue my investigation of what I termed an “epidemic” of abuse inside juvenile institutions. This led me first to the state of Mississippi. In Mississippi the situation has become so bad that a special web site has been set up devoted to following the issue. It is called “A Mississippi Gulag .” Back in 2002 the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) began an investigation of the conditions inside the Oakley Training School in Raymond,…
Blog Apr 7, 2010
CJCJ Supports SB 399
Senate Bill 399 is the California Fair Sentencing for Youth Act introduced by Senator Leland Yee. Current laws allow youth as young as 14 to be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole (LWOP). The United States and Somalia are the only countries that allow children under the age of 18 to serve this harsh sentence; a sentence that provides no chance of rehabilitation and is a one-way ticket to death inside prison walls. SB 399 allows youths sentenced to LWOP the chance to contest…