I recently wrote a blog called School Discipline and the Prison Pipeline which was a follow-up to a more detailed commentary on my web site . Recently there was a survey called “California Statewide Survey on School Discipline Issues” (conducted by Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz & Associates) which was based upon a telephone survey of a random sample of 803 California voters. About 80% of those polled supported reforms in the ways in which school discipline was practiced. For example,…
Entitled “Kids Behind Bars: Where’s the Justice in America’s Juvenile Justice System? Covering the Juvenile Justice Reform Debate in 2012,” the symposium will take place on Monday, April 23 and Tuesday, April 24, 2012 , at John Jay College (CUNY), in New York City. The event, which is supported by the Tow Foundation, will bring 25 of America’s leading juvenile justice journalists and editors together with juvenile justice practitioners, scholars, legal authorities, public officials,…
The Human Rights Commission hearing on the Human Rights Impact of the War on Drugs last week provided a broad spectrum of perspectives and information on how San Franciscans are affected by drug law enforcement. The hearing commenced with testimony from Alice Huffman, President of the California NAACP, who underlined the racially targeted history of the drug war, beginning in 1914 and including the 1920’s failed prohibition of alcohol. Following, Dorsey Nunn, Executive Director of Legal…
Apr 14, 2012
The Human Rights Impact of the War on Drugs
The Human Rights Impact of the War on Drugs sfgovtv.com, April 12, 2012
Apr 13, 2012
The Pacifica Evening News
The Pacifica Evening News KPFA Radio, April 12, 2012
Apr 13, 2012
Should We Rename It “Selma Francisco”?
Should We Rename It “Selma Francisco”? California Progress Report, April 13, 2012
Mercer: ALEC, influence and the ways of our Legislature Aberdeen News, April 13, 2012
Blog Apr 12, 2012
Adult realignment and the county jail building boom
Last month, the American Civil Liberties Union released an insightful, comprehensive report on county plans for a massive jail expansion using funding allocated through Assembly Bill 109 and Assembly Bill 900. AB 109 is the adult realignment bill that shifted responsibility for supervising low-level offenders (non-non-non’s) from the state to the county level along with $367 million for first-year implementation. Adult realignment in California comes at time when public opinion is shifting…
This Thursday, April 12th, 2012 , residents of San Francisco will have an opportunity to discuss the impact of the war on drugs in the city and make recommendations as to what should be done to address it. The San Francisco Human Rights Commission is holding a public hearing on The Human Rights Impact of the War on Drugs in City Hall room 416, at 5:30 pm to discuss the impact of drug policy on the city’s individuals and families. Interested members of the public are encouraged to attend…
On Thursday April 12, 2012, in City Hall room 416, at 5:30 pm , the San Francisco Human Rights Commission is holding a public hearing on The Human Rights Impact of the War on Drugs . CJCJ’s Selena Teji will be providing testimony on “Racial Disparities in Drug Law Enforcement in San Francisco” alongside Professor William Armaline from San José State University. The hearing will also be televised on http://www.sfgovtv.org/ . This hearing is designed to solicit feedback from people who have…
A new Pew research poll released last week shows that voters across the U.S. are overwhelmingly in favor of reducing prison spending and support shifting resources to community supervision rather than incarceration, specifically for low-level offenders. The national poll also shows that voters prioritize reductions in recidivism as the primary “end goal” of corrections, even if it means offenders spend less time behind bars and more time in rehabilitative programming. Public…
During the March 22 California Senate Budget Subcommittee on Public Safety , the Ventura Youth Correctional Facility was repeatedly discussed in testimony and public comment. For many of California’s reform-minded criminal justice advocates, the facility is both a paragon of dysfunction and demonstrates a need as well as an opportunity for meaningful change. CJCJ and others have previously condemned the institution for its inability to address inhumane living conditions, and a culture of…