Blog Nov 11, 2009
Life sentences for kids?
The U.S. Supreme Court will once again take on the issue of excessive punishment for juvenile offenders. In 2005 they ruled that the death penalty for those under 18 was unconstitutional. This was the case of Roper v. Simmons where the court ruled that both the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments “forbid imposition of the death penalty on offenders who were under the age of 18 when their crimes were committed.” In the case before the court two juveniles — Joe Sullivan, who raped a…
Nov 5, 2009
Pot acceptable? Not for young and nonwhite
Pot acceptable? Not for young and nonwhite CNN, November 5, 2009
Nov 4, 2009
Making War on the Drug War
Making War on the Drug War California Progress Report, November 4, 2009
Daniel Macallair, Executive Director of CJCJ, presented to the Assembly Public Safety Committee on October 28, 2009. His presentation focused on marijuana arrest rates including demographic trends, imprisonment rates, and disparities between arrest rates within California counties. CJCJ’s recently released report, ” View Mr. Macallair’s testimony to the State Assembly by clicking on his image or view the full informational hearing on Marijuana Legislation below. Part 1 of 3 …
Historic Hearing on Marijuana Legalization in the California Legislature Drug War Chronicle, October 30, 2009
Oct 12, 2009
Youth Prison Model Sets High Bar
Youth Prison Model Sets High Bar Wall Street Journal, October 12, 2009
Blog Oct 12, 2009
Kids Die all but invisibly
I thought that after studying and writing about juvenile justice for more than 30 years nothing would shock me, that I had seen and heard everything. I was wrong. The title of a recent story in the Los Angeles Times gives a hint to what it is about: “Flawed county system lets kids die invisibly.” The story begins with the death of 17-year-old Miguel Padilla, who had run away from a “licensed group home” (Leroy Haynes Center in La Verne, CA) in April 2008. He didn’t get very far. “Unknown…
Marijuana Arrests and California’s Drug War
Blog Sep 24, 2009
Dropping Out and Crime
It has become a truism that there is a close connection between school failure and juvenile crime, as demonstrated by literally hundreds of studies over the past 100 years. As if to remind us once again, here comes yet another study, this one by the California Dropout Research Project at UC Santa Barbara. As reported in today’s Los Angeles Times , dropping out of school costs the state $1.1 billion each year and if we decreased the number of dropouts by half it would save $550 million per…
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Sep 8, 2009
Daniel Macallair: Federal Courts to the Rescue: Fixing California’s Broken Prison System
Read Executive Director Daniel Macallairs piece in BeyondChron on Federal Courts to the Rescue: Fixing California’s Broken Prison System
CJCJ is now accepting applications for volunteers and interns in the following departments: Supportive Living Program Juvenile Justice Services Sentencing Service Program Development Agency Operations If you are interested in volunteering your time under any of these divisions, please review the Thank you and good luck.