Visualized: Who Says Yes to Marijuana Legalization?

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This story was produced by The Chicago Bureau

A lot of political, medical and legal chatter is firing around the tricky issue of decriminalizing the possession of marijuana, regulating its sale or maintaining the status quo. From Washington state, where it’s now legal to use, to Denver where they’re debating putting the drug on par with alcohol regulations, to Washington, D.C., where federal legislation to do something – anything – to create a nationwide approach or guide, it seems all are weighing in. Take doctors: Some say it’s unhealthy – addictive, even deadly; other physicians say it saves lives or at least makes the dying or suffering get through pain. But despite a federal hard line against the drug, results from a recent poll show that the American public approves marijuana legalization 51 vs. 44 percent.

Georgia’s Juvenile Code Rewrite Passes Senate

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Thursday afternoon, House Bill 242 — Georgia’s sweeping juvenile justice reform bill that would also re-write the state’s juvenile code — passed the state Senate vote with unanimous approval. Last week, HB 242 was mildly altered in a Senate Judiciary Committee session. The Senate version of the bill also includes several related legislative proposals, such as House Bill 219, which would give courts the ability to vacate delinquency convictions for underage youth charged with sex crimes in the instance the juveniles were the victims of sexual exploitation or trafficking. The 248-page bill not only impacts juvenile justice in the state, but also includes statute alterations to, among other issues, state laws regarding adoption policies, deprivation cases and parental rights. Rep. Wendall Willard (R-Sandy Spring), the bill’s primary sponsor, has said that the reforms included in HB 242  would ultimately end up saving the state $88 million over five years, primarily by diverting juveniles away from detention facilities and into community-based alternatives.

Reporter’s Notebook: DJJ Bill Could Seal Reports of Staff Misconduct

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Allegations of wrongdoing in the state’s juvenile prisons could be sealed from public view under a bill considered yesterday by a House subcommittee
Witnesses representing the state Department of Juvenile Justice, which requested the bill, said it was intended to protect children in custody from possible retaliation for reporting gang or other criminal activity. The current version of the bill, though, makes no mention of gangs or juvenile crime. Rather, it would exempt from disclosure “the information provided by children who report abuses or wrongdoing in the juvenile justice system,” unless the child or his or her representative consent in writing. An earlier version of the bill would have taken secrecy a step further, classifying “investigation reports and intelligence data” about alleged abuses and wrongdoing as “confidential state secrets” that would be exempt from the Open Records Act. Only the DJJ commissioner could declassify them.

Commission Report Critical of Conditions at West Virginia Youth Facilities

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West Virginia Industrial Home for Youth / Photo by WV Division of Juvenile Services
This week, West Virginia’s Adjudicated Juvenile Rehabilitation Review Commission approved a report citing numerous concerns about Division of Juvenile Service programs at the Industrial Home for Youth in Salem, W. Va., and the Kenneth “Honey” Rubenstein Juvenile Center in Davis, W.Va. Established in 2011, the Commission completed a full report on conditions at the two facilities last December. Initial Commission findings included cold cells, limited showering opportunities and “questionable quality and quantity of food.” Additionally, the Commission reported that residents had limited academic services, virtually no behavioral management unit services and no gender-specific programming in place for female detainees. The Commission was originally established to investigate the death of a resident at the Industrial Home for Youth in 2009. While an official cause of death was never determined by the Commission, investigators said that “it can be safely concluded that procedures were not followed” at the facility.

Interpreting the Juvenile Incarceration Drop

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On March 17, Nate Balis and Tom Woods from the Annie E. Casey Foundation responded to my JJIE opinion column from March 7 in which I cautioned that it was too soon to claim intentional reform as the cause of recent declines in juvenile incarceration. Nate and Tom argue that policy and practice reforms around the country have at least contributed to the decline. They cite specific examples of states where substantive reforms in juvenile justice were followed by marked shifts in juvenile incarceration. Nate and Tom make some valid points, and I'm willing to concede two of them. First, they chide me for writing that "incarceration numbers follow the crime rate," and they are right to do so.

2013 National Youth Violence Prevention Week Underway

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This week, the National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC) is celebrating National Youth Violence Prevention Week, which seeks to raise awareness of methods that may deter juveniles from engaging in violent activities. The weeklong observance is an initiative of the National Association of Students Against Violence Everywhere (SAVE). Each day this week, the SAVE Youth Advisory Board will highlight a specific youth violence prevention technique, which runs the gamut from promoting tolerance and respect in communities to conflict management strategies. Sponsors for this year’s event include the American School Counselor Association, theAssociation for Conflict Resolution, Youth Service America and the National Association of Youth Courts. On the official SAVE website, the organization lists numerous National Youth Violence Prevention week awareness activities, as well as strategies for building community coalitions.

50 Years On, Has the Gideon Decision Kept Its Promise of Legal Access For All?

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From the Chicago Bureau: Early Monday in Washington, the United States Supreme Court agreed to take up several cases ranging from liability in cases of generic drug makers and the freezing of defendant assets ahead of a case going to trial. At the same time, they shut down an appeal by financial giant Goldman Sachs Group, which according to the high court will have to answer investors in court about spiraling mortgage securities during the near-crippling financial crisis. Rewind 50 years, and a far different court in a far different time — economically, socially and legally — handed down one of the sentinel decisions in American criminal law: Gideon v. Wainwright. At the end of that day, March 18, 1963, a poor man named Clarence Earl Gideon — who was accused of attempt to commit petty larceny after a break-in and theft at aFlorida poolroom bar nearly two years earlier — had won the right to be represented by an attorney in court. It was a ruling based on the Constitution’s Sixth and Fourteenth amendments. A poor man had won in a rich country torn by race, income equity and on nearly every social and economic front, opening previously shut legal doors to the country’s most down-and-out citizens by guaranteeing the right to counsel in criminal cases.