Deal Confronts Crime, Education and HOPE at Inauguration

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Governor Nathan Deal is making public safety and crime one of his top priorities.  The former Juvenile Court Judge from Hall County took the oath of office Monday afternoon, then launched into a get-tough talk.  “Presently 1 out of every 13 Georgians is under some form of correctional control,” he said. “It costs about 3 million dollars per day to operate our Department of Corrections.  And yet everyday criminals continue to inflict violence on our citizens, and an alarming number of the perpetrators are juveniles.”

The new governor warned that “breaking the culture of crime” is not just the role of law enforcement. “Parents must assume more responsibility for their children. Communities must marshal their collective wills.

Blueprint for Turning Schools Around Fast

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Dramatic and comprehensive change is the key to improving school performance, according to a new research paper. The School Turnaround Group at Mass Insight Education says bold strategies are the only way to narrow the achievement gap for low-income and minority students. This advice comes as school systems across the country are applying for the next round of Title 1 School Improvement Grants this year.  Researchers recommend that money should only fund bold and truly different programs. They discourage funding for schools that are using the same old strategies that contributed to their decline in the first place.  Some other recommendations:

Think Big
Relentlessly enforce accountability for student achievement
Encourage school districts to use partners in bold and innovative ways
Create district level strategies
Communicate with families

Deal Announces New Director for Georgia Division of Family and Children Services

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Rachelle Carnesale has been named as the next director of the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services.   Governor-elect Nathan Deal’s transition team put out the word this week. Carnesale replaces Mark Washington, who left the post in September to become COO of FaithBridge Foster Care, Inc., a non-profit family services agency in Alpharetta. Carnesale is a lawyer with a background as both a prosecutor in child abuse cases, and an administrator of a child welfare agency.  She is currently acting director of the Office of the Child Advocate. As deputy director of the OCA she ran the Child Fatality Investigation Program and developed the Child Abuse Training Academy.   She has also been a prosecutor in DeKalb and Cherokee Counties.

Alcohol Fuels Teen Brawl at Athens Nightclub

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Hundreds of teenagers were caught up in a drunken brawl that spilled outside a nightclub in Athens, Ga. More than a dozen police officers broke up the fights and shut down the party at El Paisano on North Street Wednesday night.  The Athens Banner-Herald reports that many of the teens were bloodied from fighting, including a 13-year old girl. They found cups of alcohol and a 16-year old boy holding a bottle of vodka. Three teens were arrested, including a 17-year old boy with a bloody nose, who was carrying a bag of fake crack cocaine. An off-duty Clark County sheriff’s deputy who was hired to provide security was apparently not in the club when police arrived.

Boy Busted for Using a Marking Pen in Class

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A 13-year old boy was hauled off to jail last week for using a permanent marker in his Oklahoma City middle school.  A seventh grade math teacher claims the boy tried to hide the marker when she asked him for it. Teacher DeLynn Woodside called police and signed a complaint, saying the child was “writing on a piece of paper, which caused it to bleed over onto the desk.” TheSmokingGun.com broke this story with a link to the arrest records. The teen is accused of violating Municipal Code Section 35-202, originally aimed at stopping graffiti on private property:
No person may possess an aerosol spray paint container or broad-tipped indelible marker on any private property unless the owner, agent, manager, or other person having control of the property consented to the presence of the aerosol spray paint container or broad-tipped indelible marker. The internet is buzzing about the story, which many consider outrageous. One website points out that the law should not apply in this case, because the incident took place in a public school.

Author of Pedophilia Guide Arrested by Outraged Sheriff 1,800 Miles Away

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When “The Pedophile’s Guide to Love and Pleasure” showed up for sale on Amazon.com in November, there was a flood of disgust and anger across the country. Facing threats of a boycott, the online retail giant dropped it. But the Sheriff of Polk County Florida did not. Sheriff Grady Judd used Florida’s obscenity law to get a warrant for author Phillip Greaves and charge him with a felony, even though Greaves lives 1,800 miles away in Pueblo, Colorado. Judd says Florida has an unusually detailed law that prohibits selling, giving or transmitting child pornography.

Fathers’ Rights Attorney to Head Office of the Child Advocate

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A Cobb County lawyer who represents fathers in divorce and custody cases will be the next Director of Georgia’s Office of the Child Advocate. Governor-elect Nathan Deal has named Tonya Boga as the state’s child welfare watchdog. Boga lives in Marietta and is a partner in the Boga & Edwards Law Group.  Her law practice promises “Advocacy for Fathers who want to maintain a strong healthy relationship with their children.”

According to Boga’s profile, she’s a Juvenile Court Mediator, Guardian Ad Litem, and a member of the National Association of Counsel for Children.  She is past president of the Cobb County Bar Association Family Law Section.  She has two law degrees, including a Master of Laws from Loyola University in Chicago, and the University of Tennessee. Boga is also active in Republican politics.

Letter from Juvenile Justice Commissioner Garland Hunt

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Commissioner Garland Hunt sent a heartfelt letter to his DJJ staff on Thursday.  The letter comes in the wake of news that he will not be reappointed to the post.  Governor-elect Nathan Deal has nominated Deputy Commissioner Amy Howell, who will be the first woman ever to run the Juvenile Justice agency. Hunt‘s letter, addressed to the “DJJ Family”, praises their work and resonates with sadness.  Here’s how it starts:
It is with much regret that I must inform you of the Deal Administration’s decision to not reappoint me as the Commissioner. In a very short time, I developed a sincere love for all of the young people that have been entrusted in DJJ’s care. I quickly realized that we must encourage and believe in them.  Our success as an agency is determined by their success in life. I would encourage you to always keep hope in your hearts for a change in their lives.

Deal Taps First Woman to Lead Ga. Juvenile Justice Agency: Amy Howell Named New DJJ Commissioner

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Governor-Elect Nathan Deal has nominated Amy Howell as the next Commissioner of Georgia’s Department of Juvenile Justice. She will be the first woman to ever lead the agency.  Howell is a DJJ veteran, an attorney who currently serves as Deputy Commissioner.  She is slated to replace Commissioner Garland Hunt in mid-January. DJJ Board members who must approve the appointment, got the word this morning by email. Howell is a long-time child advocate.  She was hired at DJJ by then-Commissioner Albert Murray, who promoted her within the agency. Amy Howell is an alumna of the Barton Clinic at Emory University, where she started in 2002 as an Equal Justice Works fellow, and became Managing Attorney of the Southern Juvenile Defender Center.  According to the Barton website, Howell helped develop protocols for pre-trial mental health assessment, detention alternative policies, and public education on the juvenile justice system.  She has written a manual called “Representing the Whole Child: A Juvenile Defender Training Manual.”

Howell is also past president of the Young Lawyer’s  Division of the State Bar of Georgia. Before she became a lawyer, Howell taught elementary school and worked with special needs and gifted children in North Carolina.  She got her BA from Connecticut College and her JD from Temple University.

DJJ Employee Accused of Stealing Gas

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A lieutenant at the Savannah Regional Youth Detention Center was caught using a state fuel card to buy gas for his own car, and he told the GBI he got away with it 40 times.  The Department of Juvenile Justice fired him last March.  The incident is revealed in a new report from the state Inspector General, obtained by Atlantaunfiltered.com.The report documents how the worker used employee identification numbers belonging to other people.  The IG says DJJ was slow to review fuel transactions and look for abuses. State procurement rules have changed since March.