Blacks Represent 93 Percent of All Curfew Arrests in New Orleans

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Recent data released by the New Orleans Police Department reveal a staggering number of black young people have been arrested on curfew violations, with black males arrested at a rate 16 times higher than that of the city’s white young people. Nearly 93 percent of all young people arrested for curfew violations in New Orleans from 2009 until 2012 were black, The New Orleans Times-Picayune reported. In 2009,  98 percent of all youth detained for violating curfew laws were black. Of the 1,416 curfew arrests in New Orleans in 2009, just 26 of the young people arrested were white. In total, white males and females  represented about 7 percent of all curfew arrests over the three-year timeframe.

Virginia Officials Consider Reopening Closed Juvenile Detention Center

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Later this summer, officials in Richmond, Va., are considering reopening a juvenile detention center closed last year because of mismanagement, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported. The opening of the center hinges on whether Richmond’s Department of Juvenile Services (RDJS) can adhere to a set of 26 recommendations outlined in a City Audit Committee report last week. Among the city’s recommendations are the development of broader truancy programs, improved training for staff and better tracking of juvenile data regarding assessments and recidivism. The Richmond Juvenile Detention Center was shuttered last April, amid reports of staff misconduct, training document forgeries and recordkeeping oversights. Virginia’s Board of Juvenile Justice had placed the facility on probation twice since 2009, before it was eventually closed in 2012.

The Past Isn’t Past

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In prison it pays to be tough, or at least seem tough, and men will go to great lengths to disguise their pain and suffering. So my friend’s story, which he told while tears slowly leaked from his eyes despite his best efforts, stands out in my memory. His face was taut and his voice shook as he described being stripped naked by guards, forced onto a restraint table, and strapped down by five leather belts. Next they forced a modified football helmet onto his head, and then they left. He was riding the “motorcycle”, and he would continue to ride it for a few more days, periodically given water (but not food) and sprayed off with a hose when he soiled himself.

Michelle Obama to Speak on Youth Violence in Chicago

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When 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton was shot and killed at a Chicago playground just a few days after performing at President Obama’s inauguration in January, First Lady Michelle Obama flew to Chicago to attend Pendleton’s funeral. At President Obama’s State of the Union speech, Pendleton’s parents sat next to the first lady.  Now, Michelle Obama is heading back to her hometown to join Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, the president’s former chief of staff, in urging the city’s business and philanthropic communities to raise $50 million for community-based programs to help at-risk young people. She will speak at an April 10 lunch meeting called “Working Together to Address Youth Violence in Chicago,” which will be attended by members of several civic organizations, including the Commercial Club, the Economic Club, the Executives’ Club, and World Business Chicago, the White House announced yesterday. The meeting is the result of an initiative led by two CEOs, Tom Wilson of Allstate and Jim Reynolds of Loop Capital, according to Emanuel’s office.

Idaho JDC Wants Records Sealed

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The Associated Press reports that the Idaho Department of Juvenile Corrections (IDJC) is pushing to have all of its records — from juvenile offender files to personnel records — sealed from the public in the wake of a lawsuit filed by employees at a detention facility in Nampa, Idaho. Last year, the group filed a federal suit, alleging employee fraud and inaction on the behalf of managers to rectify unsafe policies or reprimand juveniles for inappropriate contact with one another. The employees also allege that at the Nampa facility, several staffers had sex with underage residents. The state’s Department of Juvenile Corrections recently asked the attorney of the employees that filed the suit to agree to a proposal that would keep the Department’s records confidential, even once the case is decided. The IDJC has informed Andrew Schoppe, the attorney representing the suits’ plaintiffs, that it will release certain documents about sexual abuse policies and material related to reported incidents of sexual abuse at the facility.

HB 242 Clears Final Hurdle, Awaits Signing from Governor

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On Monday, House Bill 242-- Georgia’s comprehensive juvenile reform and statute rewrite legislation -- was approved by the state’s General Assembly. Last week, HB 242 passed a Senate vote; earlier this week, the House unanimously approved the Senate’s changes to the bill, passing the legislation by a 167-0 tally. From its introduction to the House up until its latest General Assembly approval, HB 242 has passed through every full legislative and committee vote with unanimous approval from Georgia’s legislators. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Wendell Willard (R-Sandy Springs) and Sen. Charlie Bethel, a Republican representing Georgia’s 54th district, now heads to the desk of Gov. Nathan Deal -- an early proponent of the legislation -- who is expected to sign the bill into law. HB 242 would include more funding for community-based programs, prohibit the jailing of young people for status offenses and separate designated felonies into two different classes of offense, based upon the severity of the crime.

Overhaul of Nebraska Juvenile Justice System Takes First Step Forward

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Photo courtesy of Nebraska State Government
Last week, The Lincoln Journal Star reported that state senators in Nebraska gave unanimous approval to Legislative Bill 464 (LB 464), with the proposed legislation passing through the state’s single-house system with a 39-0 vote. If the bill becomes law, it would require that all criminal charges pressed against individuals ages 18 and younger in the state would have to be filed in a juvenile court. Currently, Nebraska allows juvenile cases to be filed in adult courts before being filed in juvenile courts. With prosecutors having vast authority to decide whether or not a juvenile is charged in an adult or juvenile courtroom, nearly half of the juvenile cases in Nebraska are prosecuted in an adult court. Under LB 464, cases may still be transferred to an adult court, however, pending both a motion by a prosecutor and a previous hearing in a juvenile court.

New OJJDP Report Shines Light on Demographics, Conditions for Youth in Placement

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Photo courtesy of Rutherford County Government
The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention(OJJDP) recently released a new report, titled Survey of Youth in Residential Placement (SYRP) 2003. The report, released via the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data, contains information culled from a national survey conducted a decade ago, involving more than 7,000 young people in almost 300 facilities. The report details, among other areas, survey findings about young people and their family backgrounds, their facility experiences and the quality of medical services they received while in placement. About three-quarters of survey respondents were young males, with Caucasian, African-American and Hispanic subjects making up fairly equivalent proportions of the total population surveyed. Regarding upbringing, about 80 percent of respondents said they grew up with a mother as their primary caretaker, with about half the number of respondents stating that they grew up with a father in the same role.