Trayvon Martin Rally Georgia State Capital March 26 2012

NRA pushed ‘stand your ground’ laws across the nation

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Gun-rights group used endorsements, campaign cash and political pressure to expand concept of self-defense

This story originally appeared on iWatchnews.org by The Center for Public Integrity

In 2004, the National Rifle Association honored Republican Florida state legislator Dennis Baxley with a plum endorsement: Its Defender of Freedom award. The following year, Baxley, a state representative, worked closely with the NRA to push through Florida’s unprecedented “stand your ground” law, which allows citizens to use deadly force if they “reasonably believe” their safety is threatened in a public setting, like a park or a street. People would no longer be restrained by a “duty to retreat” from a threat while out in public, and would be free from prosecution or civil liability if they acted in self-defense. Florida’s law is now under a cloud as a result of the controversial February shooting of Trayvon Martin, 17, in Sanford, Fla. The 28-year-old shooter, George Zimmerman, who was licensed to carry a gun — and once had a brush with police — claims he acted in self-defense after a confrontation with Martin, and some legal experts say Florida’s law could protect Zimmerman, who has not been charged.

Georgia Legislature Passes Some Juvenile-Related Bills, Kills Others in Final Days of Session

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Georgia legislators found the money this year to tighten security and respond quickly to emergencies at the state's juvenile detention centers. They also declared cellphones and other telecommunications devices in juvenile prisons to be contraband. But they couldn't find the money to pass juvenile justice reform, because Gov. Nathan Deal and others said they weren't sure how much it would cost. So the five-year effort to overhaul Georgia's aging juvenile code will become a six-year campaign when the Legislature reconvenes in 2013. At the 11th hour, though, one provision of the proposed code rewrite was tacked onto the contraband bill and passed Thursday by both chambers.

Ed Risler

Outgoing Board Chairman Looks at Past, Present and Future of Georgia’s DJJ

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After more than a decade of service, Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice Board Chairman Ed Risler stepped down from his post earlier this month following the expiration of his term in the summer.Risler outlasted many Ga. DJJ senior staff members, working with five commissioners over the years. He's seen the Department undergo a number of changes -- from federal mandates to the accreditation of the DJJ school system -- and remains optimistic about the future, despite budgetary constraints.A longtime professor at the University of Georgia, Risler is a licensed clinical social worker and marriage and family therapist. His research and teaching focuses on juvenile justice, poverty, international social work and a number of related areas.JJIE caught up with Risler last week to get his take on the past, present and future of the agency charged with overseeing and rehabilitating juveniles offenders throughout the state.  

JJIE: You’ve served on the DJJ Board for more than a decade.

New Chairman, Appointments for Georgia’s DJJ Board

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UPDATE: Commissioner Announces New Chairman to Head Georgia’s DJJ Board

At the request of the Governor’s Office, long-time Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice Board Chairman Ed Risler has stepped down after more than 10 years of service on the Board. In an e-mail sent Monday to Board members and top officials at the DJJ, Risler said it was “a personal honor and privilege” to have served on the Board and commended the state’s DJJ employees for their “dedication and service.”

Risler’s departure comes after the expiration of his term in summer of 2011. During his tenure, Risler worked with five separate DJJ Commissioners. The 15-member DJJ board is made up of representatives from Congressional districts around the state. Risler’s Board seat representing the 10th Congressional district will be filled by Willie Bolton, current Warden for Athens-Clarke County.

U.S. Supreme Court Questions If Juvenile Killers Should be Given Second Chance

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The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments today in the cases of two offenders, sentenced at a young age to die in prison, and may choose to further limit such sentences for minors. Kuntrell Jackson of Arkansas and Evan Miller of Alabama were both 14 years old when they were convicted of a homicide, and both were sentenced to life sentences without the possibility of parole (LWOP). For more on the background of their cases, click here. A juvenile's "deficits in maturity and judgment and decision-making are not crime specific," said Bryan Stevenson, who represented both offenders. "All children are encumbered by the same barriers." Stevenson argued that this was the inevitable conclusion to be drawn from the court’s other two recent cases on juvenile sentencing, Roper v Simmons and Graham v Florida.

Kelsey Smith-Briggs

An Advocacy Group’s Successful Approach of Strengthening Child Services Nationwide

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More than four-years after Children’s Rights, a New York-based non-profit, filed a law suit on behalf of nine children in Oklahoma, a settlement has been reached that will bring changes to the state’s child welfare system. On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Gregory Frizzell approved the settlement reached between Children’s Rights and Oklahoma’s Department of Human Services in January. “There just has not been the funding to hit some of these critical needs,” Sheree Powell, communications coordinator for the state’s Department of Human Services, said. “We don’t control the purse strings, but it was understood in federal court that we’ll make good-faith efforts to improve everything within our control.”

Under the agreement, “specific strategies to improve the child welfare system” as it relates to 15 performance areas will be outlined, detailed and put into practice over the next four years. “We’re confident the settlement will result in better services and protection than foster children [in Oklahoma] currently receive,” said Marcia Robinson Lowry, Founder and Executive Director of Children’s Rights.

Utah State Supreme Court Changes Definition of Juvenile Incarceration

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This week, the Utah Supreme Court ruled that children placed in foster, or so-called proctor, homes are no longer considered incarcerated juveniles. The ruling stems from a lawsuit filed by Donna Whitney, who alleges that the 2007 death of her son, Dillon, was a result of poor proctor home supervision. Proctor homes are foster homes for youth in the custody of the state’s Division of Juvenile Justice Services. In the court’s opinion, Justice Jill Parish wrote, “We conclude that a juvenile who is placed in an unsecured community-based proctor home in not incarcerated in a place of legal confinement.”

As The Salt Lake Tribune reported, the ruling allows Whitney to proceed with several suits against the Utah Department of Human Services and Division of Juvenile Justice Services, as well as the state of Utah and Quest Youth Services. “Accordingly,” the court opinion continues, “the incarceration exception to the state’s waiver of its sovereign immunity does not apply and the state remains potentially liable for damages related to Dillion Whitney’s death.”

In August 2007, Dillion was placed in a proctor home after appearing in juvenile court several times.

Advocates Hopeful, Want Supreme Court to Reject Life Without Parole for Juveniles

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As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to hear oral arguments in the cases of two 14-year-olds sentenced to spend the rest of their lives in prison, many advocates and attorneys predict a majority of the justices will decide that life sentences for juveniles without the possibility of parole amounts to cruel and unusual punishment. Children are “categorically different” from adults, says Andrea Dennis, associate professor at the University of Georgia School of Law, and she wants to see the Court acknowledge that. “At a minimum,” she said, “I hope the court would reject mandatory juvenile LWOP [life without parole] sentences for all homicide crimes and require juries be allowed to consider the defendant’s youth and other factors as mitigation.”

In both cases, Jackson v. Hobbs and Miller v. Alabama, the sentences were mandatory regardless of the defendant’s age or circumstances and the judges had no discretion in sentencing. In Jackson, a 14-year-old was convicted as an accomplice to the murder of a store clerk. He did not have a gun or pull the trigger.

Media Access to Courts Involving Minors Sparks Debate in Los Angeles

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This March, Los Angeles’ dependency courts -- where rulings are made whether children remain in foster homes or return to their parents’ or previous legal guardians’ custody -- opened to the media for the first time since the 1960s. After an attempt to open the state’s children’s courts failed in a state Assembly committee in 2010, Supervising Judge Michael Nash ordered that the dependency courts of Los Angeles County be open to the media last month. A number of organizations, including the Children’s Law Center of Los Angeles (CLCA) and the Los Angeles Dependency Lawyers (LADL) have publicly criticized the decision. Supervising CLCLA Executive Director Leslie Starr Heimov said that the decision to allow press in courtrooms places an additional burden on the county’s publicly appointed attorneys, who sometimes work as many as 150 cases simultaneously. “What we’re asking for is an orderly procedure where we get more than three seconds to make our case,” Heimov told the Pasadena-Star News.

Bryan Stevenson at TED 2012: Full Spectrum

TED2012 Helps Equal Justice Initiative Founder Raise $1 Million

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“All of our survival is tied to the survival of everyone,” said Bryan Stevenson Thursday at the 2012 TED Conference in Long Beach California. Stevenson is an attorney and the founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, a nonprofit organization that litigates on behalf of condemned prisoners, juvenile offenders and others whose trials are marked by racism and misconduct. Stevenson spoke passionately about how the American justice system is distorted around race and poverty. Our prisons are overflowing and the U.S. is still the only industrialized nation in the world that will sentence juveniles to life in prison. Following his talk, $1 million was raised for a campaign run by Stevenson that ends excessive sentencing of children and stops the practice of putting kids in adult jails and prisons.