Saggy Pants Ban: Will It Overload Dublin, GA Courts, Encourage Racial Profiling?

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By Chandra R. Thomas

Dublin, Ga. Juvenile Court Judge William Tribble, Sr. says he has plenty of work to keep him busy on the bench. Now’s he’s concerned that a new ordinance signed into law Tuesday banning saggy pants in the middle Georgia city might end up overloading an already jam-packed court docket. “I can just see my assistant district attorney prosecuting a case like that,” says Tribble, who claims he spotted a young man in sagging pants on the streets of Dublin during his phone interview. “We’ll have a robbery and child molestation cases to handle and then there will be 20 baggy (pants) cases that we’ve got to get rid of.

Cobb Alcohol Taskforce Targets Adults, Recruits 100+ Teens

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The Cobb County Alcohol Taskforce has a unique approach to curbing the number of young people who drink illegally – crack down on adults. “It’s about rattling adults out of complacency and rubbing the sleep out of politician’s eyes to get them to wake up to the problem of underage and youth binge drinking that affects thousands of youth everyday,” says Youth Council Manager, Afiya King. Unlike many organizations that tend to exclusively focus on discouraging youth from drinking alcohol, this one, formed in March of 2000 to address underage drinking conditions in Cobb, targets the actions or inaction of adults. “We’re not about changing kids, we’re focused on the adults,” explains Taskforce Communications Manager Alisa Bennett-Hart. “Adults enable kids to have access to alcohol knowingly or unknowingly; through commission or through omission.

DJJ School System Loses Out On Some Federal Money, But Is Preparing For Dual Accreditation

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By Chandra R. Thomas

Department of Juvenile Justice School System leaders are recovering from a major disappointment, but also celebrating other victories while working toward maintaining the system’s academic standing. First the bad news: The school system did not get any of the Race To The Top grant money received by 26 other school systems in the state. Last month Governor Sonny Perdue announced that Georgia was selected as a winner by the U.S. Department of Education for the second round of the grants. Georgia is projected to receive $400 million over four years to implement its plan to create conditions for education innovation and reform. The fund is a $4 billion grant opportunity provided in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to support new approaches to improve schools.

DJJ Unveils Severe Budget Cuts: Is There A Silver Lining?

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By Chandra R. Thomas

Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice Board members say there’s possibly a silver lining to the proposed 2011 budget cuts released today. They say despite the many challenges the cuts raise, there’s great potential for positive outcomes from the reductions recently mandated by Governor Sonny Perdue, but they’re mostly contingent on legislative support. Board members unanimously passed Deputy Commissioner Jeff Minor’s suggested budget changes Thursday during a meeting at the department’s Decatur headquarters. The reductions, some say, could ultimately force Georgia leaders – from the governor to state legislators – to reassess which young people get locked up and for how long. Such changes could eventually reduce the number of low-risk children being held in youth detention centers.

Sept. 1 Target Date for ABA “Collateral Consequences” Campaign Launch

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By Chandra R. Thomas

Many young people are ignorant of the penalties that they could face for breaking the law. American Bar Association (ABA) leaders, however, think that even fewer are aware of how those same penalties could affect their lives well after they’ve fulfilled their debt to society. The effects – everything from suspended voting rights and limited job opportunities to an inability to qualify for public housing or financial aid for school – are considered the collateral consequences of their actions. Well beyond the juvenile years, those repercussions may forever reverberate throughout the lives of convicted young people. In an effort to thwart them from committing crimes and to prevent those who do from accepting risky plea deals, next month the ABA is officially launching a national educational campaign.

Former DJJ Commissioner: “Shock Incarceration" Ineffective, Expensive

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Just over a decade ago former Juvenile Justice Commissioner Orlando Martinez, 70, was the highest-ranking Latino in state government. He resigned abruptly from his post in 2003 amid fallout over his decision to close a troubled Augusta youth prison. Now the Founder and Senior Partner of the Atlanta-based consulting firm, Martinez Tjaden, LLP keeps plenty busy consulting in both the public and private systems nationwide. In the second installation of a two-part interview series, he talks to JJIE.org’s Chandra R. Thomas about racial disparities in the criminal justice system, the impact of state budget cuts and what Georgia is doing right. What’s lacking from Georgia’s current system?

Former DJJ Commissioner: Stop “Wholesale Incarceration of Kids”

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Georgia’s former Juvenile Justice Commissioner has a lot to say about the state of the system. Orlando Martinez was once credited with helping to address what a federal report called "egregious" conditions in the state's juvenile detention system, but he resigned abruptly from his post in 2003 amid fallout over his decision to close a troubled Augusta youth prison. Although he no longer serves in an official capacity in Georgia, Martinez still calls the state home and he keeps a close eye on the system. In part one of a two-part series, he spoke to JJIE.org’s Chandra R. Thomas about all things juvenile justice in Georgia, including concerns about rampant racial disparities and the need for better mental health treatment. It’s a broad question, but how do you think Georgia is doing in general in the area of juvenile justice?

Future Uncertain for Child Sex Bill

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State Senator Renee Unterman of Buford already has the distinction of being the only female Republican in a male-dominated Senate, but she really became a standout during the last legislative session when she introduced a bill that asserted that young prostitutes in Georgia should be deemed victims, not criminals. In fact, she set off a firestorm of controversy with SB304, which declared that boys and girls under the age of 16 shouldn’t be charged with prostitution, but instead diverted to treatment or therapy. Child welfare advocates championed the move as a step in the right direction for sexually exploited young people in Georgia. Opponents, however, accused Unterman, of attempting to “decriminalize” prostitution. The age of sexual consent in Georgia only seemed to complicate the issue further.

Agencies Collaborate To Help Child Immigrants

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Collaboration -- how social service agencies and non-profits can do it more effectively -- was the prevailing theme Thursday at a U.S. Immigration Services (USIS) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) hosted training seminar aimed at helping to better protect endangered immigrant children. Georgia Division of Family Services employees, immigrant children advocates, social workers, community volunteers and others who work with immigrant children, came together for the three-hour session held at the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services offices near Northlake Mall. Organizers say the objective was to bring together representatives from local, state and federal agencies, along with non-profit organizations, to provide information and technical assistance. The goal was to inform staffers how to identify and assist abused documented and undocumented immigrant children who are victimized, neglected or abandoned. “It was an idea that was brought to us by DFACS (Department of Children And Family Services),” explains USIS District Director Denise Frazier.