We are a program of the W. Haywood Burns Institute that is committed to the empowerment of children, youth, families and communities by promoting the availability of effective, culturally appropriate interventions to detention and incarceration. CJNY identifies, promotes and helps expand the work and capacities of its community-based member organizations that serve children in trouble with the law. CJNY also works to develop and expand its network of 130+ members so that they can effectively influence public policy that adversely impacts youth of color. Our goal: Stop the Rail to Jail!
ACTION ALERT: Tell Congress to Restore Federal JJ Funding!
Written by Shadi Rahimi
Monday, 28 June 2010 11:55
On Tuesday, June 29 at 3:30 p.m., a U.S. House Appropriations subcommittee is scheduled to mark up the FY 2011 Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) appropriations bill, which will provide funding for all federal juvenile justice programs.
It is imperative that we contact the members of the CJS Subcommittee and ask them to restore juvenile justice appropriations to at least their FY 2002 levels. See suggested talking points below.
Suggested Talking Points:
• Over the last 35 years, we as a nation have learned a lot about what works, and what youth, families and communities truly need, to prevent delinquency in the first instance and respond in effective and age-appropriate ways when it occurs.
Join us for an evening exploring how we can transform the juvenile justice system.
This free event is hosted by the W. Haywood Burns Institute (BI) and includes a reception with refreshments, a screening of our promotional DVD, "Working for Justice," and a panel discussion with esteemed experts in the field of juvenile justice and civil rights.
Guests will receive a copy of the DVD and our new publication. Seating is limited. Please RSVP.
Co-Hosts: Angela Glover Blackwell and Dr. Ernest Bates Panel Moderator: Bernardine Dohrn Performance: Destiny Arts Youth
Panelists:
Tony Cardenas (Los Angeles City Council)
Angela Oh (Civil Rights Attorney)
Lateefah Simon
(Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights)
Robert Phillips
(California Endowment)
RSVP by emailing
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, or on our Evite, or on Facebook.
"Face the Truth" hearing in Houston
Written by Shadi Rahimi
Tuesday, 08 June 2010 09:13
Racial and religious profiling is a pervasive problem that affects many communities across the country. While African American communities have struggled with the issue of racial profiling for generations, profiling also affects a broad range of communities, including Native American, Latino, Arab, Muslim and South Asian communities.
Please join Grassroots Leadership's Community Reconciliation Project and many local and national allies in the Houston area for a "Face the Truth" hearing in Houston this Saturday. The hearing will give community members a chance to provide testimony on how racial profiling has affected their lives.
What: Racial Profiling: Face the Truth Hearing When: June 12th, 2010 from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Where: SHAPE Community Center, 3903 Almeda, Houston, TX 77004
Hearing commissioners will include: Margaret Huang, Executive Director of Rights Working Group, Thomas A. Saenz, President and General Counsel at the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF), Dr. Christine Kovic, Associate Professor Anthropology and Cross-Cultural Studies, Maria Jimenez, Special Projects Coordinator of CRECEN/America Para Todos, and Ester King, Community Activist.
Sincerely,
Tarsha Jackson Community Organizer for the Community Reconciliation Project Grassroots Leadership
Give Youth a Second Chance at Life
Monday, 07 June 2010 11:23
Posted by Lauren Jones on June 7th, 2010
When Tedi Snyder was 15-years-old, he was arrested in Los Angeles and charged with attempted murder in an incident where no one was killed. Now Tedi faces 80 years to life in prison. His first parole date would be at age 95.
Tedi’s case illustrates much of what is unfair about our nation’s juvenile and criminal “justice” systems. For one, a youth’s right to a “speedy” trial often means years of waiting. Snyder was 15 when he was arrested. He is now almost 20 and is scheduled to be sentenced this August.
The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled it unconstitutional to sentence a minor to life in prison without the possibility of parolein cases where no one is killed. But what about the youth who are facing exorbitant sentencing for the same types of offenses? To us, this is also "cruel and unusual” punishment. Youth like Tedi continue to face lengthy sentences that take most of their lives away, offer no hope of redemption, and equate to a life sentence.
In 2004, California had over 180 youth serving life without parole — a number that was the fifth highest in the country. The Youth Justice Coalition in Los Angeles estimates that today California has more than 200 youth serving such sentences. YJC points out that such sentences do not have a deterrent effect; California’s arrest rate for violent crimes by youth is higher than some states that do not sentence children to life without parole.
California also has the worst racial disparity rate in the nation: Black youth are sentenced to life without parole at 22 times the rate of White youth.
YJC, which is advocating fair sentencing for Tedi, has been calling for an overhaul of the juvenile justice system. Currently, prosecutors are allowed to stack the odds against youth. For example, when it comes to gang-related cases, one-sided testimonies come from law enforcement, not outside gang experts. Prosecutors play on the public’s fear of gangs to push for extreme sentences for youth. District attorneys have the power to file cases directly in criminal courts; a tactic that takes away a juvenile court judge’s ability to determine whether a youth would be more fairly judged in juvenile court.
During trials, the complexities of human relationships are replaced by black and white arguments. The truth is rarely revealed, and a child’s life is stolen.
The juvenile justice system was founded for the purpose of rehabilitation, not punishment. A poll conducted of Americans living on the West Coast found that 86 percent disagree with the idea that children and youth who are convicted of crimes are beyond redemption.
Just take a look at the stories below from youth involved in the system. They are much more complex than their case would allow you to see. They, and all other children, have the potential for rehabilitation.
Jessilyn, 16
I started getting in trouble in middle school. I was hanging out with people who were a bad influence or were going through things. I think it comes from my mom getting locked up when I was young and my dad was involved in gangs. I was trying to not follow in their steps but there was nothing better to do. I grew up in foster care until I ran away. I was staying with my aunt until I had to leave because I was doing things I wasn’t supposed to in her house. I went to live with my other aunt, then my cousin, and then my other aunt. When my mom got out I didn’t really know her, so communicating was hard.
I’ve gone to three different high schools and then I went to Camp Scott, an all-girl camp after we went on a joy ride. I got grand theft auto. Camp Scott was bad. It’s kind of like out here everyone has drama, but you can get away from it. There you’re just stuck. It’s lonely, they ’re really strict, it’s really bad. I don’t remember how long I was there; I just let time pass me. I keep in touch with one friend at Camp Scott but she is sentenced to 40 years and will be transferred to an adult facility when she turns 18.
Now I’m back in school and I’m graduating this June. I’m torn in deciding whether I should go to school or work. I’d like to go to school but my mom just lost her job, so I kind of feel like I should stay and help her. I’m still working on good communication with her. I’d like to study sociology and possibly become a lawyer. I’ve never been out of L.A. but I’d like to travel and I’m sure lawyers get to travel all the time. So, I’d like to do that. I think the Supreme Court decision was good because kids deserve a second chance. It’s one step at a time – this is a right step.
Carver, 21
On the Supreme Court decision, I think it’s good. I would be a completely different person if I had to stay for life. I would’ve had to be my own one-man army. I really don’t know what I would be like, but I think I would’ve flipped out a long time ago if I were still there.
I started getting into trouble when my parents kicked me out. I started tagging on everything, that’s when everything changed. I just kept getting into more and more trouble. I was hanging with the wrong people. Their minds weren’t really on school. They just wanted to hang out, go to the beach, and being with them made me forget about what I need to do. I dropped out.
Most recently, in January, I was writing in the streets. This lady was following me, but I didn’t know it and she had a camera. She was taking pictures of everything I was doing. A couple hours later, I saw three cop cars and just kept going on about my business. But then I saw her go up to the cops and show them the pictures and then she pointed at me and I knew right away. I was like this is not happening. Then the lights from their guns, the little red lights, I saw them on my shirt and then I was like this can’t be happening. They took me to jail.
Right now I’m trying to get back in school to get my diploma. I want to show everyone that I’m not just some little punk. I want to be able to be a role model for my younger sister. I want to move out so I can show my parents that I can do this on my own. I want to discipline myself. I want to be involved in art and music, but I think I want to be a pilot. After I get my diploma I’ll either try to go to college or the Air Force. It would be nice to just fly away.
Chase, 24
I think the court’s decision is good. There are some people getting 100 years for just a robbery case. Everyone deserves a second chance.
I grew up in the system. I was taken from my mother at four-months-old. She was on drugs and my dad was in jail so I went into foster care. At three, I went back to my mom, and when I was four she passed away. I went back in to the foster care system.
At age five or six I was kicked out of a foster care program because I guess I was just too bad. My childhood was filled with being bounced around. Never felt settled, never really formed any strong relationships with anyone. At age 12, I was out on my own and I was shot twice. At age 14, I had my first encounter with jail. I went to CYA for seven years, for attempting revenge on the person who shot me the year before. I got out at age 21. I call jail/prison a crutch. I’ve been in and out 15 times and I’m not even 30. I’ve gone for lots of things, robbery, gang affiliation, etc.
In juvie, the girls are separated from the boys. You go to school in the morning and then the rest of the day you’re just with your unit, which most likely means you’re in your room. Once a week they let us go outside for exercise. Sometimes they show us movies, sometimes we can write letters, but we have to ask for everything, showers, bathrooms, everything. Since being out I’m more calm. I don’t get agitated as easily. When I was there I was a Crip so I had to fight. There was a fight everyday. I was told when to eat, when to sleep. But now it’s like I’m free.
I’ve been out for a year now and I‘m doing good. I’ve got two little girls and it’s not just about me anymore. I’m living for them. I’ve checked back into school. I already have a college degree in history, I’m trying to get my high school diploma now. I want my girls to have a better living style. I want to put them through college. There was no one to put me through school, so I want them to have that. I would still like to be a history teacher, but I know that my record will most likely cause problems for me as far as employment. I just want to make my daughters happy and give us a better lifestyle. I’ll probably try to become a security guard or something like that.
Lauren Jones is a Communications Assistant at the W. Haywood Burns Institute.
Suicides by troubled teens expose safety breakdowns behind bars
Thursday, 27 May 2010 11:23
By Steve Mills and Louise Kiernan, Chicago Tribune May 27th, 2010
Sometime before 3:09 a.m. on Sept. 1, 2009, Jamal Miller began to tear the bedsheet in his room at the Illinois Youth Center in St. Charles.
The stocky 16-year-old tied the sheet to a sock and tied the sock around the metal bar at the top of his bunk bed. He attached three notes to the cinder-block wall with toothpaste and placed another piece of notebook paper in the narrow window of his door.
Since he first threatened to kill himself at age 8, Miller had been hospitalized half a dozen times for psychiatric problems and made at least four suicide attempts. By the time he ended up in the state's juvenile justice system, he had been shuttled in and out of juvenile detention and treatment so often that his mother couldn't remember the last time he celebrated a holiday or birthday at home.
Officials had placed Miller in a corrections facility for mentally ill inmates. But in August, after a psychologist concluded that his primary problem was "criminal thinking," he was transferred to a general-population institution in St. Charles. Less than four weeks later, he placed the torn sheet around his neck and hanged himself from his bed.
Miller's death was the seventh suicide in the state's juvenile correctional facilities in the past decade. Those deaths, as well as 175 serious suicide attempts during the same period, reflect a breakdown in the system that is supposed to rehabilitate and protect some of the state's most troubled and vulnerable young people, a Tribune investigation found.
Department officials estimate that about two-thirds of the 1,200 inmates in the state's eight juvenile justice facilities have been diagnosed with a mental illness and that half the young men and nearly all the young women have thought about or attempted suicide before they enter the system.
While it may be impossible to eliminate all suicide risks behind bars, the state has failed to take simple steps to protect these teenagers from themselves.
The type of metal-frame bunk bed that Miller used to hang himself, which has a sturdy bar across the top, had been involved in three other suicides since 2000 and in at least 21 attempts. But until Miller's death, a lack of urgency and political will kept the bunk beds from being removed. Although officials are now moving to replace them, metal-frame bunks still make up nearly 60 percent of the system's beds.
Other equipment and furnishings pose similar, overlooked hazards. Since 2000, three inmates have hanged themselves from air vent covers, the most recent case involving a model the department considers safe. At least three inmates since 2006 have tried to hang themselves from ceiling light fixtures at the youth center in Harrisburg. Another inmate tried to hang himself from a wall-mounted television stand at the Kewanee facility in February.
Investigations into the seven suicides have left key questions unanswered and failed to resolve inconsistencies in accounts of the deaths, interviews and a review of documents show. Not once did these investigations find fault with current procedures or staff, the Tribune found.
Nationally, suicides in juvenile institutions are relatively rare, but experts say it's crucial to take the threat seriously.
"You need to approach everyone in your care as though the risk of suicide is very, very significant," said Melissa Sickmund, who has studied the issue as chief of systems research at the National Center for Juvenile Justice.
"Yes, you can say that a kid who is determined to kill themselves will do it," Sickmund said. "But it shouldn't be that easy in prison."
Malachi Larrabee-Garza speaking out against Arizona's SB1070. Sign the petition at altoarizona.com and come to the National Day of Action in Phoenix, AZ on May 29, 2010
On Friday, April 23rd, Governor Jan Brewer joined the ranks of George Wallace and others like him who sought to gain political advantage by encouraging hatred and bigotry. And while Brewer and Sheriff Joe Arpaio may have written themselves into the history books by supporting this repugnant law, they will appear as nothing more than a footnote. Indeed, this chapter of history will be written by the millions of immigrants who assert their place in the American story like all others who came before them. This chapter will be written by a new generation of fearless leaders, like the thousands of high school students who walked out in Phoenix and Tucson, and the nine brave leaders who sacrificed their freedom to prevent and protest the enactment of an unjust and unconstitutional law. It will be written by all of us.
Arizona's immigrant community is organizing and preparing to mount the political, legal, and economic pressure needed to restore constitutional protections to the state. They need the nation's help to change the federal policy that allowed for the formation of SB 1070. The simple fact is that the President of the United States has the moral authority and legal obligation to intervene and put an end to SB 1070.
LAUREL, Md. — In the lobby of the New Beginnings Youth Development Center stood the figure of a man sculpted from steel, his body fashioned from the barrels and bullet chambers of illegal guns seized by police. Modern-day swords, the guns were beaten into plowshares by the same young men who used them to commit crimes.
Washington, D.C., a city with a long, sad history of failing its youth, has achieved a rare victory in dealing with troubled kids. On a swath of federal land in suburban Maryland, the District of Columbia has transformed its juvenile lockup. What was once a filthy prison for boys is now a new, campus-like setting where the city's worst young offenders work their way through a heavily structured program of individualized education, group therapy, behavior modification and unusual programs such as "Guns to Roses," the art project that turned 28 illegal weapons, melted down by police, into sculptures.
Washington based its $46 million facility — built as part of a court-ordered agreement from a 25-year-old lawsuit over its treatment of juvenile offenders — on programs used for decades in Missouri, the state with the lowest rate of juvenile repeat offenders in the nation.
New Beginnings, a 60-bed lockup that opened in June, is the most prominent example of increasing interest from other states and cities in the "Missouri model" for turning around deeply troubled, and troublemaking, young people.
The attention to Missouri's measurable success is prompted by money, frustration and federal edict.
Budget deficits are forcing states to rethink juvenile incarceration. States are looking for more cost-effective methods than spending more than $200,000 a year per child — the cost in New York, according to a recent state juvenile justice task force — to lock up the same violent kids over and over. U.S. Department of Justice investigations over abusive treatment of youths in state care are forcing change to old models of reform schools.
But remaking juvenile custody along Missouri's guidelines is a difficult and expensive road to follow — and one that gets rough when youths are charged with serious crimes.
This month, three young men under the supervision of the Washington juvenile agency have been charged with the murder of a popular middle school principal, putting the agency under intense scrutiny.
A sharp contrast to the boot camps and scared-straight approaches of the 1980s and 1990s, the Missouri model puts delinquent youths into small residential settings, where they get intense peer and professional counseling.
Unlike state "training schools," which are sometimes hundreds of miles from the youths' homes, the facilities are closer to the communities where the kids live. Physical restraint, which federal investigations have found to be common in some other states, is used sparingly. Empty hours spent in isolation have been replaced with non-stop group activity.
"We know, after a couple of hundred years, that the large institutions just don't work," says Edward Loughran, executive director of the Council of Juvenile Correctional Administrators, a national association of agency heads. "They're impersonal, youth fall through the cracks, abuses creep in very easily."
Missouri's approach not only seems more humane — "it feels good," says former Washington, D.C., juvenile agency head Vincent Schiraldi — it appears to succeed at preventing kids from becoming career criminals.
Fewer than 10% of the youths who go through Missouri's juvenile program are recommitted within two years of leaving, according to the state Department of Youth Services. Recidivism rates are difficult to compare, because juvenile justice systems and definitions of repeat offenders vary from state to state.
Yet by their own measures, other states have far less success than Missouri.
Action Alert: Tell the Senate: Put Juvenile Justice Reform On the Senate Floor!
Written by Shadi Rahimi
Tuesday, 27 April 2010 09:07
During the next 90 days, the U.S. Senate will consider some major pieces of legislation and the Senate needs to hear that they need to be sure that S. 678, the Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention Act reauthorization legislation is on the Senate floor schedule so that it can be voted on this year by the full Senate! The JJDPA was first enacted in 1974 and provides federal funding to states that comply with a set of best practices aimed at avoiding the detention and incarceration of young people in juvenile and adult facilities. However, this law is three years overdue for reauthorization! The Senate Judiciary Committee has approved a JJDPA reauthorization bill (S. 678) but it is awaiting action on the Senate floor. It's a good law, and is needed now more than ever to end the over-incarceration of young people of color in the justice system and stop the inappropriate use of adult jails for warehousing children charged as adults.
If you believe that it is urgent to stop putting youth in adult jails and prisons, to end the over-incarceration of youth of color in the justice system, and instead to devote more resources to effective juvenile justice programs such as alternatives to detention and incarceration, contact the Senate now – even if you have contacted your Senators before -- and urge them to put juvenile justice reform on the Senate schedule for a vote! Actions you can take: (1) Call: Call your two Senators and urge them to cosponsor S. 678, the JJDPA reauthorization bill, and urge them to contact Majority Leader Harry Reid to urge him to put S. 678 on the Senate schedule for a floor vote as soon as possible. Let them know you’d like to get a response to your request in writing and provide them with your name and address. Find your Senator here: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm (2) Write a Letter: If you would prefer to contact your Senators in writing, click here to send a letter: http://www.change.org/campaign4youthjustice/petitions (3) Call Media: Contact your local media outlets and urge them to produce a news story on juvenile justice reform and interview your Senators to find out what they are doing to ensure that the JJDPA is voted on by the full Senate as soon as possible. If you would like the BI to assist you in producing a localized media list - contact Shadi Rahimi at
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with the region needed. (4) Join: Join the Act 4 Juvenile Justice campaign Fan page. (5) Share: Spread the word with your friends by sharing this Action Alert! For additional information including sample letters, visit: www.act4jj.org.
Idle Hands Should Not Be Punished as the Devil’s Tools
Written by Lauren Jones
Wednesday, 14 April 2010 09:46
Philadelphia’s “flash mobs” have been the subject of recent media frenzy. Teens organizing online or through text messages have been gathering on South Street and in shopping malls to hang out. A small number of them have violently acted out.
Most recently, a young man at work was attacked by a mob of teens trying to enter a pizzeria. Before that, 100 teens rampaged a Macy’s store. The incident was dubbed “Macy’s Mayhem” by news media.
Of the thousands of teens in any town there are bound to be a few a violent ones that exploit large gatherings – but in Philadelphia, one judge has been using his power to punish adolescents far beyond the extent of their actions. In an exchange with one 15-year-old boy, Judge Kevin Dougherty reportedly threatened a year in the juvenile justice system for every “lie” – what he characterized explanations by youth who said they had gone downtown to go shopping or meet girlfriends.
“By the time the boy was taken away in handcuffs, he had received three years,” a reporter observed. “Despite getting the information he wanted, Dougherty seemed determined to send a message about the flash mobs.”
It is not a juvenile court judge’s job to send a message about a citywide problem that points to the boredom or frustration of its teenagers. Some of Philadelphia’s teens behaved recklessly. But because mob acts are drawing negative attention to the city, the initial response has been to round up youth for harsh punishment. We know that punishment won’t prevent teens from getting into trouble. That is the very nature of adolescence. Few of us did not make any mistakes as teens.
Instead of contemplating such issues, Philadelphia police are on high alert and Mayor Michael Nutter is promising that he will “ruin” the lives of teens caught in flash mobs. His threats also include tighter curfews and limited access to downtown by minimizing the hours teens can use free transit passes. And the arrest of anyone caught in flash mob. All this in an effort to “get tough on young people.”
The more punitive that Philadelphia city officials get, the more they are negatively impacting these youth’s futures. They are catapulting them into a downward spiral.
The curfew, which will be decided at a later date, would allow police officers to arrest school-aged minors who are not in school between the hours of 8 a.m. and 2:30 pm. The curfew only targets youth in the City of Richmond, where 80 percent of the population is people of color.
The Police Department’s proposal states that such “truants” will be taken to a police-run attendance center, where the youth will be held until their parents can pick them up, or until school hours are over. The penalties for truant youth include citations and fines up to $500. Youth caught being truant more than three times in one year face further penalties, like a misdemeanor charge and government intervention in their home.
Police Chief Fred Deltorchio was quoted saying that making truancy part of the municipal code, rather than relying solely on state educational code, adds teeth to the law. But why do we want to figuratively chew up our children?
When youth rebel, the adult impulse is to suppress the rebellion. Repressive tactics might work temporarily, but it’s only a matter of time before the problem once again rears its ugly head. This proposal is a response to a serious situation, and yes, truant children should be in school. But criminalizing them is not the answer.
In this situation, an increased number of juvenile delinquents will only perpetuate Richmond’s reputation as a crime-ridden city. If the curfew passes, juveniles would be delinquent based on their inability or refusal to pay a court fine or by ditching school again, perhaps to make a stand about what they perceive as an unfair punishment. Such actions may seem defiant and silly, but when you’re a teenager, adolescent actions are your way of making sense of a world in which you have little say.
The CJNY's primary function is to be a support network for organizers and practitioners who are on the ground working with youth who are at risk or already involved in juvenile justice systems. We are also on:
The Community Justice Network for Youth (CJNY) is a program of the W. Haywood Burns Institute. This program is comprised of community-based programs, grassroots organizations, service-providing agencies, residential facilities and advocacy groups that focus their work on youth of color.
Join us for an evening exploring how we can transform the juvenile justice system.
