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As counties prepare for criminal justice realignment, the disparities between counties’ sentencing practices become increasingly apparent. State-dependant counties, who have higher rates of state imprisonment, have been allocated substantially more funding than self-reliant counties. Rather than basing the funding allocation on county crime rates, the funding formula is based on the number of low-level offenders each county currently has in state prison. There is no doubt counties will need…

In my last two CA Policy blogs I discussed successful marketing strategies employed by special interest groups to thwart criminal justice policy reform. The two propositions I depicted as examples, involved sophisticated use of rhetoric and multimedia visibility. Both Proposition 66 and Proposition 5 were opposed by the California Correctional Peace Officers Association (CCPOA), whose influential role in the opposition campaigns is documented in CJCJ’s CCPOA Information Sheet . Here’s a…

Banning Youths From Streets May Make Us Less Safe: Mike Males Bloomberg Businessweek, August 312011

More juveniles in Santa Cruz County tried as adults than state average San Jose Mercury News, August 302011

Realignment is upon us. How will you respond? 

Two juvenile and criminal justice bills in the California legislature died last Friday due to lack of legislative backing. Senate Bill 9 would have granted youth sentenced to life without parole’ (LWOP) a chance to petition for parole after serving at least 10 – 25 years of their sentence. It failed by a close margin and will be reconsidered in the coming weeks. The second bill, Senate Bill 490 aimed to repeal the death penalty. Although it gained substantial media attention it could not…

Is Ventura Trying More Kids As Adults Than Any Other County… for the Money? Witness LA, August 262011

Few Monterey County minors tried as adults Monterey Herald, August 262011

Social network participants may be more prone to drug, alcohol use, study finds Montreal Gazette, August 252011

The Texas Public Policy Foundation cordially invited CJCJ’s Executive Director Daniel Macallair to present at a panel discussion on juvenile justice as part of the 19th Annual Meeting of the State Policy Network (SPN), on August 25, 2011 . Approximately 700 executives, scholars, researchers, and communications staff from the nation’s state-based free-market think tanks attend the conference, as well as representatives from national organizations such as the Heritage Foundation, Cato…

In my last blog , I discussed the effectiveness of a 3‑week media blitz that overthrew a California Proposition backed by significant financial investment, popular support, and academic research. This week’s blog will explore another example of the importance of a good marketing strategy when campaigning for criminal justice initiatives. California Proposition 5 (2008) Prop. 5 , known also as the Nonviolent Offender Rehabilitation Act (NORA), was a ballot initiative scheduled for the…

Teens on Facebook and Social Media Sites more likely to drink, smoke and use drugs: Study Huffington Post, August 242011