While commentators led by no less than President Obama have blamed violent crime on “the entire generation of young men in our society” and have warned us to fear young black men in particular, those Americans more thoughtful than politicians running for office, exploitative interest groups, sensationalist reporters, and racist fear-mongers know that “entire generations” don’t commit violence; individuals do. If the individual approaching you is a black teenaged male, how much more likely are…
Blog Apr 2, 2012
Who has the right to “stand your ground”?
Florida teenager Trayvon Martin had been dead for a month and the national furor over his shooting by vigilante George Zimmerman was into its third week before anyone, to my knowledge, asked that fundamental question. Law enforcement officials, experts, and commentators across the spectrum had assumed that the only issue was whether Zimmerman was entitled to use Florida’s “stand your ground” law to justify shooting Martin. MSNBC commentator Melissa Harris Perry finally declared what the…
On Wednesday March 28th, the Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Public Safety heard testimony on Governor Brown’s proposal to close California’s remaining youth correctional facilities. The Legislative Analyst’s Office, Department of Finance, and California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation presented preliminary testimony, while CJCJ, the Ella Baker Center, Chief Probation Officers of California, and Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office provided additional testimony in a second…
On Thursday, the Senate Budget Subcommittee on Public Safety heard testimony on Governor Brown’s proposal to close California’s remaining youth correctional facilities and shift supervision of the remaining 985 youth to the county-level. Strong public testimony was offered by the Department of Finance, the Legislative Analysts Office, the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice (CJCJ), and the Commonweal Foundation arguing for complete juvenile realignment from a variety of angles. Dan…
Blog Mar 20, 2012
School Discipline and the Prison Pipeline
A New York Times story cites research by the Department of Education that concludes that “Although black students made up only 18 percent of those enrolled in the schools sampled, they accounted for 35 percent of those suspended once, 46 percent of those suspended more than once and 39 percent of all expulsions” during the 2009/2010 school year, based upon national data. Not surprisingly the story drew more than 400 comments from readers. A few readers asked the very important question of…