Maryland Gov. Not Backing Proposed Juvenile Detention Facility in Baltimore

By |

The proposed state budget released by Gov. Martin O’Malley last week indicates that Maryland will not be funding the construction of a controversial youth detention facility in Baltimore. The Baltimore Sun reports that O’Malley’s 2014 FY capital spending plan does not include funding for a proposed 120-bed, $70 million youth jail in Baltimore City. Originally announced in 2008 by Gov. O’Malley, construction plans for the Baltimore City New Youth Detention Facility -- at one point, expected to house 180 inmates at a construction cost of $100 million -- has been in limbo for the last five years, with the Maryland House Appropriations Committee declaring the project suspended in April 2012. Even so, the Baltimore Sun reports that the state has already allocated $14 million for the planning and design of the youth detention facility and an additional $17 million for first phase construction costs. The planned facility has been met with criticism and protests from several groups and organizations, with a white paper released by the National Council on Crime and Delinquency arguing that such a large project was unneeded, considering the city’s decreasing crime rates.

Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice Prepares for Transformation

By |

Georgia’s DJJ boss tells state lawmakers that his department must be transformed to handle the burdens a class of inmates that’s older and more violent, and high employee turnover and low morale, just as the governor pushes a large package of reforms.

For the sake of the safety of inmates, staff and the public, “we must change the culture of the juvenile justice system,” said Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice Commissioner Avery Niles, at state budget hearings on Jan. 23. His fix involves a “realistic approach” and embracing options that include both sanctions and rehabilitation. “I’ve made this a top priority,” said Niles, who has been in office since the beginning of November. The average young person in DJJ custody is older, more aggressive and staying longer than a decade ago.

The Battle Lines Over Guns Often Drawn by Funding

By |

Story produced by the Chicago Bureau. President Barack Obama delivered his second inaugural address Monday, promising to focus on climate control and pursue greater equality for gay Americans. Those issues, however, are just the beginning of the challenges he must face as he starts his second term. Fixing a broken global economy still ranks first in the minds of many Americans, along with ending our conflicts abroad. On the domestic front there’s no getting around the debate over gun control, with both sides digging in for a fight in Congress – spurred on by a mounting body count that now includes a family in New Mexico, shot dead by a 15-year-old boy.

Young People Throng to Nation’s Capital to Catch a Glimpse of History

By |

WASHINGTON, D.C. – More than a million people poured into downtown Washington, D.C., yesterday, a federal holiday dedicated to slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., for the festivities marking the start of President Barack Obama’s second term in office. The crowd included hundreds of thousands of young people from around the country, from elementary school students accompanying their parents to college-age youth hanging out with their friends. They spent hours traveling on buses and trains to the National Mall, more hours waiting in the January cold for the ceremonies to begin, and many more stuck in gridlock at security checkpoints and Metrorail stations afterward on their way home. Youth Today asked some of these young people, many of whom were too young to vote for Obama either time, why they were there. On the Orange Line Metrorail from Vienna, Va., to L’Enfant Plaza, D.C.

“I just wanted to see what Michelle was wearing,” joked Sarah Allu, 19, who boarded a Metrorail train in Vienna, Va., at the far end of the Orange Line, early Monday morning to head to the National Mall with Amandeep Sandhu, 20, and Pravarjay Reddy, 18.

Obama’s Speech to Address Immigration and Gun Violence

By |

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- President Barack Obama is expected to use his inauguration speech on Monday to call upon the country to protect its children by taking action against gun violence, and to offer his support for legislative reform that allows a path to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants, White House sources told various news outlets Sunday. Although the president renewed his oath of office for a second term in the White House Sunday, he will repeat the ritual in a public ceremony attended by hundreds of thousands of supporters today. The Constitution specifies Jan. 20 as the official start of a presidential term. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts administered the oath to Obama yesterday in an intimate ceremony in front of Obama’s family in the Blue Room of the White House.

The Power Grab and Prison Sexual Abuse

By |

It’s an optimistic headline: “Prison Rape: Obama’s Program to Stop It”. It leads into a comprehensive New York Review of Books article on three recently released Federal government publications.  Two of these documents examine sexual abuse in the nation’s detention centers while the other outlines the Department of Justice’s regulations for eliminating prison rape. All three aim to address the appalling number of people—young and old, female and male, citizen and those awaiting deportation— who  routinely suffer sexual violence while in lockup, an estimated 209,000 plus every year according to the Justice Department. So where’s the optimism?

School Resource Officers: A Topic of Hot Debate, Even Prior to Sandy Hook

By |

In the aftermath of the deadly shooting last month at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., intense public debate has focused on protecting students – and the role of student resource officers (SROs), in particular – in the event of future shooting sprees. Generally, school resource officers are local law enforcement officers appointed to patrol schools and handle juvenile disciplinary issues. The effectiveness of SROs is highly debated. A National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO) report claims the presence of SROs has reduced juvenile arrests in some schools by nearly 50 percent. On the other hand, the Justice Policy Institute issued a report that found SROs had little effect on curbing criminal activity in schools, and may even lead to inflated, and potentially unnecessary, juvenile arrests.

Popular Rapper Chief Keef Sentenced to Juvenile Detention

By |

A popular young rapper will spend the next two months in an Illinois juvenile detention center. Rapper Chief Keef was sentenced Thursday to a 60-day stay in juvie, following a June 26 probation violation. The 17-year-old Chicagoan—whose real name is Keith Cozart—was serving 18 month’s probation for allegedly pointing a firearm at several police officers when he fired a rifle at an indoor gun range while filming a video in New York, violating his parole. As a result, not only was Cozart’s probation revoked Thursday, but he was also made a ward of the state for what a judge considered “blatant violations” of court orders. Cozart became an overnight rap sensation last year, based on the strength of singles popularized on YouTube like “Love Sosa” and “I Don’t Like.” His major label debut on Interscope Records, “Finally Rich,” was released December 2012 and has sold nearly 100,000 copies.