This week in the news: Children 6 and up taught how to reverse an opioid overdose, women receive harsher punishments in prison than men, 70 percent of the public supports “second look” policy, and more.
Friday News Roundup: Innocent Until Proven Guilty?
This week in the news: Witness mis-identification, discovery reform law helps defense fight fair, three reports offer a look at criminal justice by numbers, and more.
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Friday News Roundup: The ‘Defender General’
This week in the news: the federal government is suing over a state law banning private prisons, a look at policies for juveniles, a proposal for a ‘defender general’, a proposed expansion of mandatory minimums for drug crimes, and more.
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A Discussion on Raise the Age and Community Investment
In the past several years, policies have been put in place to help improve the juvenile justice system. The most recent of these policies is “Raise the Age.” While this is an important move forward, these policies often fail to address the root causes and the pathways into the juvenile justice system.
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Four Themes in Youth Recovery
September marks the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMSHA) 30th Recovery Month! In these past 30 years we have witnessed the expansion of evidence-based clinical drug treatment and a shift towards addressing substance use as a public health issue rather than an individual moral failing. With new evidence and approaches, policy makers, medical professionals, and social workers are combating a decades-rise of drug related deaths: due to the often cited opioid-crisis. But one group is often left out of the conversation: young people.
Innovation to Research – Why Court Teams Shouldn’t Be Afraid to Try New Solutions
‘Hey Matt, what does the research say about [X]?’
I relish this question, because I love helping practitioners turn research data into something they can apply to their courts. It’s my favorite part of my job.
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Building Blocks to Success – Celebrating Achievements in Your Drug Court
Almost seven years ago, New York Times columnist Allina Tugend wrote an insightful column on redefining success, quoting author Katrina Kenison: “There’s a beauty in cultivating an appreciation for what we already have.” This National Drug Court Month, I wanted to congratulate all Juvenile Drug Treatment Court (JDTC) practitioners on your tireless work and encourage you to cultivate an appreciation of what you have accomplished; to think beyond the traditional measures of success, specifically the expectation we place on our participants to graduate.
Almost every time I travel to work with a JDTC, I end up telling this same story. It’s not even my own, it’s Dr. Jaqueline Van Wormer’s, but it’s a good one, so I’m going to share it with you:
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Friday News Roundup: March 29, 2019
This week in news: Read about the need to focus on women when considering criminal justice reform and the benefits of expunging records for those who have served their time, hear from JPO Director Ball on treatment courts, find out about Ohio’s new sentencing proposals for drug possession, and more.
Examining the role of public defenders in disrupting racial injustice
Photo used with permission from Richard Ross.
www.juvenile-in-justice.com
Michelle Alexander wrote in The New Jim Crow: “The fate of millions of people—indeed the future of the black community itself—may depend on the willingness of those who care about racial justice to re-examine their basic assumptions about the role of the criminal justice system in our society.”
February is Black History Month. It’s a time for everyone to reflect on the legacy of progress that black leaders have left throughout history in the fight for liberation, equitable treatment, and empowerment. It is also a time for white allies to examine what they could be doing better to interrupt their own racism and that of others, what it means to support black leadership, and how our nation’s policies continue to oppress black lives. And indeed, it is a time for white allies to heed Alexander’s call to re-examine the role of the criminal legal system in society.
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Modest Reform: How JJDPA matters and why it is still not enough
On December 21, President Trump signed H.R.6964 – Juvenile Justice Reform Act of 2018. This law reauthorizes the Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) Reauthorization Act. First authorized in 1974, the act ensured certain minimum standards for the treatment of youth in the justice system, banning incarceration for status offenses (such as drinking, which is prohibited only based on the age of the accused) and adopting a requirement that youth incarcerated in adult facilities have sight and sound separation from adult inmates. Since 1974, reauthorizations of the law have included provisions that require states address racial and ethnic disparities in the justice system and incentives for states to use evidence-based interventions to reduce juvenile delinquent activity.
However, despite seeming longstanding federal commitment to the idea that all young people deserve a second chance, the JJDPA had languished, pending reauthorization, for more than ten years. So, when Trump signed the reauthorization act on the coattails of the much anticipated Second Chance Act, juvenile justice practitioners everywhere (myself included) were relieved and elated.
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