While a large majority of American cities have juvenile curfews on their books, cities elsewhere in the world apply curfews only to serious offenders, not to youths committing no crime other than being young and in public. Americans seem eager to admit what should been deeply shameful: that we grownups have created urban areas so dangerous, and we are so frightened of our young people, that federal proposals for daytime and nighttime curfews would banish youths from being in public all but a…
Blog Aug 4, 2011
Counties begin the daunting task of realignment
As the October 1st deadline edges closer, California’s counties have started formulating their plans for how they will manage the new population of at the local level. Assembly Bill 109 defines the realignment, which was prompted by the May 2011 Supreme Court decision to reduce prison overcrowding in California. For information on the practical application of AB 109, read Emily Luhrs’ blog, Myths vs. Facts — Clearing up the realignment debate . The most significant change the bill…
Blog Aug 2, 2011
Conditions in California’s SHU
On July 1, 2011, eleven inmates in the Pelican Bay State Prison Security Housing Unit (SHU) began a hunger strike to protest the egregious conditions of their confinement. In particular, they objected to the lack of adequate food or programming and the lack of justification for indefinite SHU confinement. They demanded that CDCR comply with the US Commission on Safety and Abuse in America’s Prisons 2006 recommendations, and provide conditions comparable to that of solitary confinement units…
Blog Jul 29, 2011
Myths vs. Facts — Clearing up the realignment debate
As counties start preparing for the impact of criminal justice realignment (AB 109), it is important to clarify some common misconceptions about what will actually happen on October 1, 2011. Governor Brown’s realignment plan is directly tied to the May 23, 2011 Supreme Court decision to reduce prison-overcrowding, as it focuses on the same population of non-violent, non-serious, non-sexual offenders. Initial reactions to the decision were based in fear and uncertainty. For example, Justice…
The Second Chance Reauthorization Act of 2011 (S. 1231) was introduced in June by Senator Patrick Leahy (D- VT), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Senator Robert Portman (R‑OH), and is now on its way to the U.S. Senate for a vote. The Second Chance Act originally passed unanimously in 2008 and funded re-entry programs nation-wide in the areas of substance abuse treatment, employment and mentoring services, and family reunification programs. It has since improved ex-offender…