Blog Jun 10, 2011
Goodbye Preston
In 1894, the Preston School of Industry opened its doors and begun a 119-year legacy of maltreatment. Located in Ione, Amador County, this archaic institution was built based on a 19th Century model of congregate reform schools. It soon developed a reputation for appalling physical conditions and extreme brutality by staff members. By 1895, allegations arose of ill-treatment, malnourishment and overworking of youth. In the early-1900’s, several newspapers reported foul and degrading…
Jun 9, 2011
Knockout King: Kids call it a game. Academics call it a bogus trend. Cops call it murder.
Knockout King: Kids call it a game. Academics call it a bogus trend. Cops call it murder. Riverfront Times, June 9, 2011
After eight years of ongoing attempts to bring California’s Department of Juvenile Facilities (DJF) up to constitutional requirements, the “DJJ continues to deprive youth of fundamental rights guaranteed them by State law and this Court’s orders.” The most recent document from the Farrell Litigation emphasizes that there are no longer viable excuses as to why these reforms have still not occurred. The Prison Law Office is set to hold the defendant [Matthew Cate, CDCR Secretary] in contempt…
Blog May 31, 2011
Corporate Tax Cheaters, Part II
My last blog concerned the subject of how corporations and the super-rich are constantly finding enough loopholes to avoid paying taxes. As I noted, I was barely scratching the surface for there is a lot more to the subject. Now it is time to dig a little deeper. In a recent commentary Chris Hedges wrote that: “A fourth of the country’s largest corporations – including General Electric, ExxonMobil and Bank of America – paid no federal income taxes in 2010. But at the same time these…
Blog May 27, 2011
Corporate Tax Cheaters, Part I
April 15 has come and gone and like most Americans I struggled to fill out all the elaborate forms and all the confusing formulas the IRS has for figuring out how much to deduct or how much to pay (e.g., multiply this figure by .02 or that figure by .065 or whatever). After all of that I ended up writing a check to the IRS. Which raised some obvious questions, such as: Where does this money eventually end up and why do so many corporations and the super-rich pay little or no taxes at all? A…
May 26, 2011
People age 40 and up buck tradition, commit more crime while felony juvenile arrests drop
People age 40 and up buck tradition, commit more crime while felony juvenile arrests drop Los Angeles Daily News, May 26, 2011
Blog May 26, 2011
California and the Prison Crisis
California has been facing a prison crisis for decades and it has been constantly flip-flopping. Back in 2007 Los Angeles Times writer George Skelton summed it up well saying that when it comes to crime both the politicians and the electorate “have demanded that California lock up the bad guys and keep ‘em there for a very long time. But they haven’t wanted to pay for it.” At that point in time (February) the prison population was around 173,000 yet the capacity was about 100,000. A…
Ending California prison overcrowding will be tall order San Jose Mercury News, May 25, 2011
Supreme Court Demands California Release 30,000 Inmates Colorlines.com, May 24, 2011
Having garnered the support for his realignment bill AB 109 to pass, the Governor is now faced with another obstacle: the Vehicle Licensing Fees (VLF) and sales tax extension will not be on the ballot in June. Republicans have blocked the ballot initiative and without the extension many have assumed that the Governor’s plans for realignment (which rely on those funds) are indefinitely halted, but why? Without the tax extensions, counties will be pushed to the limit. Approximately $500…
Blog May 17, 2011
Schools Still Safest Places for Kids*
Following the killings at Columbine and other schools around the country in the late 1990s, public officials reacted with a frenzy. It was a classic case of exception-based policies: a few, isolated cases that were clearly the exception rather than the rule became the basis for wide-ranging policies. One report noted at the time that “A moral panic swept the country as parents and children suddenly feared for their safety at school.” One middle-school principal claimed school shootings could…
(ISSN 1530 – 3012) From the editor Warehoused: The Plight of ‘Mad’ Youths in the Juvenile Justice System Race-Based Decisions: Traffic Citations and Municipal Court Dispositions Mass Shootings in Australia and New Zealand: A Descriptive Study of Incidence From War Zones to Jail: Veteran Reintegration Problems Does Age or Poverty Level Best Predict Criminal Arrest and Homicide Rates? A Preliminary Investigation From the editor By Elizabeth Brown, Ph.D. and Randall G.…