Recently, the Department of Juvenile Facilities (formerly known as the California Youth Authority) claimed to be in 85% compliance with the consent decree under the Farrell litigation. This percentage cultivates a skewed perception of the state youth correctional facility’s progress towards reforming into a rehabilitative environment. In April 2010, CJCJ’s Executive Director Daniel Macallair highlighted this issue in the California Progress Report . As DJF touts its progress it is important…
Blog Jul 3, 2010
BP Oil Spill — Where’s the Arrest?
Where is the arrest warrant? Where is the indictment? An ordinary economic crime — burglary, auto theft — gets immediate attention, cops putting handcuffs on suspects, booking at the local jail, an appearance in court. A crime of the magnitude as the gulf oil spill gets apologies, explanations, excuses, etc. along with checks for those who have lost homes and businesses, jobs, etc. But 11 people died and at least 17 have been reported injured. And the costs keep increasing. One …
Blog May 27, 2010
But We NEED Scapegoats!
Isn’t “Jew violence” a terrible plague? Dave “Son of Sam” Berkowitz whose serial slaughter terrorized New York City, or Joel and Hannah Steinberg’s brutal child murder? Or the “Moslem violence” that killed 3,000 on 9⁄11? The “Latino Violence” and “African Violence” that cause two-thirds of California’s homicides, robberies, and assaults? Shouldn’t we stand up to the “Christian violence” that occurs every time a Protestant or Catholic commits a brutality? “Queer violence”? What… you find…
Blog May 19, 2010
Fabricating Arizona’s “Immigrant Crime Wave”
Fox News Channel’s Bill O’Reilly (among others, including prominent Republicans such as Sarah Palin) has repeatedly blamed Arizona’s “500,000 illegal aliens” for (in O’Reilly’s words) bringing a crime wave in Arizona, particularly Phoenix, that is “overwhelming… dangerous… through the roof,” creating social chaos” so “desperate” and “dangerous,” that the state had to impose its draconian immigration crackdown law (Fox News reports of May 3, 4, 6, 13, and 14). “Arizona had to do…
Blog May 18, 2010
The Supreme Court and Life without Parole
On May 17, 2010, the Supreme Court ruled in a 6 – 3 decision that life sentences without the chance of parole for crimes (except murder) committed by juveniles was unconstitutional, in violation of the Eighth Amendment that prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. In the case before the court two juveniles — Joe Sullivan, who raped a 72-year-old woman when he was 13, and Terrance Graham, who committed armed burglary when he was 16 — were sentenced to life without the possibility of…