U.C. Davis Campus Police Chief Suspended After Protestors Pepper Sprayed

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The University of California, Davis, campus police chief has been placed on administrative leave after a video showing campus police pepper spraying seated protestors has gone viral. Protestors have called for the resignation of U.C., Davis chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi, according to The New York Times. The video has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times. Speaking at a rally Monday, Katehi apologized to the protestors. “I feel horrible for what happened on Friday,” she said.

Razor wire fence borders the Metro Regional Youth Detention center in Atlanta, Ga. JJIE Staff, 2010. File photo.

Captain at YDC Suspended During Investigation Into Inmate’s Death

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A captain at the youth detention center in Augusta, Ga., has been suspended as part of an investigation into the death of a 19-year-old inmate Nov. 8, The Augusta Chronicle reported. Jade Holder died of blunt force trauma to the head after being beaten the previous day inside the YDC. Another inmate, 17-year-old Michael Jarod Everidge, was charged with Holder’s murder. Department of Juvenile Justice spokesperson Emily Gest told The Chronicle the captain was suspended with pay pending an investigation into possible misconduct.

U.S. Immigration System is Broken, Says Latino Community Leader

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The U.S. immigration system is broken and not in line with the nation’s values, said Jerry Gonzalez, executive director of the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials (GALEO), at an event Wednesday night. GALEO is a nonprofit organization seeking to increase Latino civic engagement. “We need to have a workable system that moves us forward and upholds our values,” he said. Addressing a small crowd of mostly Latino students at Kennesaw State University near Atlanta, Gonzalez said a top priority should be keeping families together. Under the current immigration system “some families have to wait 20 years to be reunited,” he said.

High Turnover Rate at Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice is Typical of State Bureaucracries

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With new Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) Commissioner Gale Buckner settling into her post, attention has turned back to the tenure of her predecessor. Former Commissioner Amy Howell was appointed to the DJJ’s top job by Gov. Nathan Deal in January and moved to her new post at the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities at Deal’s request on Nov. 7. At first glance it appears the DJJ lost a large number of employees in the last 10 months while Howell was commissioner. Between Jan.

Occupy Movement Camps in New York and Oakland Emptied by Police

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Encampments of protestors in New York and Oakland, both part of the Occupy Wall Street Movement, were raided by police Monday and cleared of demonstrators, tents and garbage. Officials in both cities said the camps posed health and safety concerns for the protestors and nearby residents. Police cleared the Occupy Wall Street camp in Lower Manhattan’s Zuccotti Park, birthplace of the Occupy movement, Monday. About 180 to 190 demonstrators in the park were arrested, according to The New York Times. At a news conference Tuesday, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the park needed to be cleared because “health and safety concerns had become intolerable.” Protestors have been camped out in the park for two months.

UC Berkeley Occupy Protestors Clash with Police, Call for Student Strike

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Occupy protestors at the University of California in Berkeley, birthplace of the Freedom of Speech Movement in the 1960s, twice clashed with police Wednesday while trying to establish an encampment on campus. As seen in the video below, campus police hit students with batons while attempting to disperse the crowd. The Demonstrators linked arms while police pushed them back. Protestors are now accusing police of using excessive force. Occupy protests are taking places in numerous cities in California, with the most violence occurring in nearby Oakland where protesters have clashed with police.

How Safe Are Georgia’s Youth Detention Facilities?

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The beating death this week of 19-year-old inmate Jade Holder at an Augusta, Ga., Youth Development Campus (YDC) is the latest in a series of incidents that have renewed focus on safety levels within Georgia youth detention facilities. Last week, for the second time in six months, county police were called on to quell a riot at the DeKalb County Regional Youth Detention Center (RYDC). In May, a murder suspect escaped from the DeKalb RYDC, only to be found and returned a few days later. And in July, the Eastman YDC was the scene of a fight that led to an investigation by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI). These incidents have all come after an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice over implementing changes at the facilities, something that was supposed to improve and stabilize the system.

UPDATE: 17-year-old Charged with Murder in Death of Inmate at Georgia Youth Detention Facility

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A 17-year-old has been charged with the murder of the 19-year-old inmate at the Augusta Youth Development Campus. Michael Everidge will be charged as an adult and is in the custody of the Georgia Department of Corrections. A statement released by Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal's office calls the incident  a "travesty." “The state will fully investigate this alleged crime and report back on the facts," the statement read, "but initial reports are disturbing. A new commissioner will take over Department of Juvenile Justice next week, and I will work with her to take swift and urgent action in this case.

Alicyn and Annise Mabry 1

Series Exploring Bullying to Air on Georgia Public Broadcasting Radio

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A collaboration between the Southern Education Desk and JJIE will air on Georgia Public Broadcasting’s 17 radio stations this week. The series, focusing on bullying, was written by GPB’s Maura Walz and JJIE’s Chandra Thomas. Below is a breakdown of the series’ schedule:

Tuesday, November 8 during All Things Considered (5:50pm) and Wednesday,
November 9 during Morning Edition (between 6:00-9:00am)


1. Georgia's Revamped Bullying Law Arrives In Schools (Maura Walz)

Description:  Public school students and parents are seeing some changes
this year in the way their schools handle bullying. That's because of a
law passed by the legislature last year that schools are now starting to
put into practice.

UPDATE: Gale Buckner Named New Georgia Juvenile Justice Commissioner

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L. Gale Buckner has been named the new commissioner of the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ). Buckner was a long-time agent of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and currently serves as Vice Chair of the Board of Pardons and Paroles. Current DJJ commissioner Amy Howell will join the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (DBHDD) as General Counsel at the request of Gov. Nathan Deal. In 2010, state and federal officials reached an agreement that places DBHDD’s focus on community-based care following a three-year investigation by the U.S. Justice Department into allegations DBHDD was violating patients’ civil rights.