Blog Jan 12, 2011
Brewer, Barbour and Justice
It’s another year, but the same kinds of stories continue. Governors Jan Brewer (Arizona) and Haley Barbour (Mississippi) may be about 2000 miles apart but their conservative philosophies are about the same — and with similar results. Facing a budget crisis that plagues every state in the country, Brewer, like most other governors, has proposed huge cuts in human services, most notably in medical transplant coverage . This issue has received national attention as several residents face…
California avoids GOP wave, read one Washington headline after the November 2010 midterm elections; another accused our state of being “impervious to change.” Not true. There was big change here, with crucial implications for critically needed criminal justice reforms. California’s resistance to the right-wing wave was profound. Democrats captured eight state offices (up from five of eight in 2008) and held its U.S. senate post, usually by double-digit margins. The Democratic Party,…
Blog Jan 3, 2011
DJF Review: Six years later…
The Sixteenth Special Master Report, filed November 22, 2010, summarized the past and present status of DJF’s progress to implement Farrell reforms. Since 2004, when DJF signed the consent decree, it has made progress toward improving the previously atrocious care of its juvenile wards. For example, it no longer administers out-of-date undocumented medicine to its wards and it no longer uses cages to provide education, therapy, or exercise. The Special Master identifies several obstacles…
Blog Dec 20, 2010
Bringing the Missouri Model to California
The Missouri Model, focused on therapeutic rehabilitation, intensive supervision, and reentry support, has been touted for many decades as an exemplary approach to juvenile justice that puts the devastatingly archaic California style of congregate, institutional, and punitive care to shame. Advocates have frequently pushed for California to finally shed its demonstrably unsuccessful approach for the more enlightened, cost effective, and proven successful Missouri-style system. Critics have hit…
(ISSN 1530 – 3012) From the editor Psychotropic Control of Women Prisoners: The Perpetuation of Abuse of Imprisoned Women Prohibiting Registered Sex Offenders from Being at School: Assessing the Collateral Consequences of a Public Policy Parental Incarceration, Termination of Parental Rights and Adoption: A Case Study of the Intersection Between the Child Welfare and Criminal No-Woman’s Land? On Female Crime and Incarceration, Past, Present, and Future In Memory of John Irwin …
Blog Dec 11, 2010
Children Left Behind
I was browsing the Internet this morning and in the New York Times there was a blog posted by Charles M. Blow called American’s Most Vulnerable . He cited a report by Unicef (United Nations Children’s Fund) called “Children Left Behind.” The report was about “the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) International Coordinating Centre provided the statistical results for the analysis of inequality in children’s health.” It was based upon data collected by the “Organization for…
Blog Dec 7, 2010
Navigating Change with Gordon Graham
I recently attended a training presented by Gordon Graham on his new curriculum entitled “Navigating Change: Charting Your Course.” This three-hour introductory overview provided what he terms a common sense approach to making life changes and facilitating change in others. The training was engaging and particularly illuminating in its nuanced understanding of human experience. Easy to understand examples and anecdotes enhanced the materials and tools discussed and placed basic…
The case is Schwarzenegger v. Plata and it epitomizes the dire circumstances of the nation’s penal system. With more than 2 million locked up on any given day, including about 1.5 million in prison (not to mention the fact that more than 7 million adults are somewhere in the criminal justice system on any given day — jail, prison, probation, parole), the country has come face to face with the inevitable result of its incessant need to punish. Not only does the US have the highest rate of…
Publications Dec 1, 2010
The Prison Industry
The Prison Industry
Blog Nov 24, 2010
Lobbying in the Criminal Justice System
CJCJ’s brand new upcoming webpage “Interest Groups and Criminal Justice Policy” to be released in December 2010 represents the first attempt at exploring the influence of lobbying on crime-related policies in California. Among other topics we will provide detailed information on all the major lobbying organizations in California that have been involved in influencing criminal justice policies. Additionally we will examine the most important organizations in California that get involved in…
Thought provoking and powerful, Jerome G. Miller explores today’s American criminal justice system and its impact on young African American males in this book.
Nov 11, 2010
First of its kind: California Sentencing Institute
First of its kind: California Sentencing Institute, a project of the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice CJCJ has compiled a wealth of statistics detailing the radically different levels at which California counties send their residents to state prisons. Go to the recently unveiled interactive map under the