Fight at Georgia YDC Causes Injuries, Prompts Investigation

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“Significant” injuries were reported after a fight Saturday in the Eastman Youth Development Center in Eastman, Ga. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is investigating the incident. Todd Lowery, assistant special agent in charge of GBI’s Eastman field office, told The Macon Telegraph, “There was some violence against some of the staff and some of the detainees.”

The GBI has not determined what caused the fight, although several youth were involved.  According to a Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice press release, one detainee was sent to a an outside medical facility for treatment. Lowery told The Telegraph he didn’t know how severe the injuries were, but he said, “some of the injuries were significant.”

 

Lawmakers in 16 States Propose Caylee’s Law Amid Outrage Over Verdict

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Lawmakers in 16 states have proposed a so-called Caylee’s Law to prosecute parents who do not report their child missing quickly enough. The proposals come as a response to public outrage over the acquittal of Casey Anthony in the death of her 2-year-old daughter. An online petition calling for the law has received well over 1 million signatures. The new measure would make it a felony to wait to report a missing child for more than 24 hours. It would also make it a felony to wait to report the death of a child for more than an hour.

Georgia Teen Goes on Wild Crime Spree While Wearing GPS Monitoring Bracelet, Say Police

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Despite wearing an ankle bracelet, a Henry County, Ga., teen allegedly went on a wild crime spree. The 16-year-old, now in police custody, is accused of two carjackings, the theft of a third car and armed robbery in the early morning hours of July 8. The boy was finally tracked down by the LoJack device in the stolen Land Cruiser he was driving and not by the GPS monitoring device strapped to his ankle, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The ankle bracelet was for earlier armed robbery charges. As JJIE reported last September, Georgia’s Department of Juvenile Justice has been using ankle monitors for years.

Back in a snap? | Week in Review | July 8, 2011

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It's Official: Key Juvenile Focused Bills Now Law in Georgia

Senate Passes Bill Stripping Confirmation Requirement for Juvenile Justice Positions

Young, Homeless and Enslaved by the Freedom of the Rails

Will you Help us With a Story?

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Bill Sanders, one of our freelancers, has an interesting story he wants to write. But we need your help to get it done. Here is his story proposal and the place where you can go to help with it. Here's the thing. Gone are the days when an editor can throw an AP Stylebook across a newsroom and hit half a dozen beat reporters.

Kids in One Refugee Community Find Solace in Summer Programs

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CLARKSTON, Ga., -- Tha Htoo Klo looked at the crime scene from a distance. The man shot was wearing the same color shirt as his brother. The boy said, “I prayed in my heart this is not my brother, but then the detective came and knocked on my door, and he told me -- yes, my brother was shot.”

Tha Htoo had escaped the grip of the brutal military junta that rules his native Myanmar. He also survived the refugee camp on the Thai border. Tha Htoo, now 29, has put all these dangers behind him, but after he arrived in this community just east of Atlanta in 2008, he found that safety still eluded him.

Georgia’s Juvenile Judges Face Uncertain Situation as Compact Expires

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Beginning July 1, Georgia’s juvenile court judges will face a new, unprecedented set of challenges.  That’s the first day Georgia will no longer operate under an agreement that allows for the transfer of delinquent juveniles and runaways between the states. Georgia is the only state in the nation that has not already adopted or is not set to adopt the Interstate Compact for Juveniles (ICJ), an update of a previous compact established in 1955.  Currently, Georgia functions under the 1955 compact.  The Interstate Commission for Juveniles, the governing body of the ICJ, gave Georgia three extensions to pass legislation so the state could enter the new compact (in 2008, 2009 and 2010).  Since the Legislature failed to enact the needed legislation in 2011, Georgia will not be given any more extensions, officials at the compact say. The compact provides a framework that allows the seamless transition of juveniles from one state to another.  Without the compact, Georgia’s juvenile judges are left “scratching their heads,” Judge Mary Carden, a juvenile judge in the state, said.  “Nobody knows what’s going to happen.”

When asked if individual agreements between judges in neighboring states could be worked out, Judge Carden said, “I don’t think that’s realistic.”

“The numbers to deal with are great,” she said.  “It will take an inordinate amount of time and effort.”

Judges face enormous workloads, she said.  “It’s very difficult for me to get in touch with judges in other courts.”

The Interstate Commission for Juveniles' executive director Ashley Lippert said the commission's attorney has discouraged side deals.

Judge Steven Teske On the Two Faces of Juvenile Justice

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During my 12 years on the bench, a few of my law enforcement friends have asked me why I take -- in their perspective -- a “soft” approach with kids coming before me. “Judge, you don’t see them on the streets when we deal with them,” they say.  “You see them in court with a smile and looking good.”

The question of my apparent naive approach to kids is valid -- from their perspective of course. For example, I recall this one kid four years ago. He was 15 years old and his name was Kenny. He personified the kids my friends described -- angry, disrespectful, and defiant.

Charting the Path of the Rail Kids

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Back in early March, our colleague Pete Colbenson came by for a visit as he is prone to do. Pete is our ‘network weaver,’ our advisor on all matters concerning juvenile justice. He spent decades working in the field, most recently as the director of Georgia’s Children and Youth Coordinating Council. He’s been invaluable to our efforts here at the JJIE in connecting with people within the system and understanding many of the issues. He is never so happy, though, as when he dishing out story ideas.

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John Lash On Restorative Justice, Youth and Adult Prisons

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In 1985, at the age of 18, I was sentenced to life in prison for murder. I was sent to Georgia Industrial Institute, commonly known as Alto, after the nearby town. Throughout the system at that time Alto had a reputation for violence. Though I was tried and convicted as an adult, this prison was designed for “youthful offenders.” Only a handful of prisoners were over the age of 22, and many had arrived there at ages 14 – 17. During 25 years of incarceration, I never again lived at a prison with the same levels of assault, robbery and rape.