| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"_ G O D _" |
| Date: |
16 Nov 2005 10:19:41 PM |
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$7.5 millions more given to justice system |
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$7.5 millions more given to justice system
by Nancy Bartley
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002626376_juvenile16m.html
A private, Chicago-based foundation has awarded the
state of Washington a $7.5 million grant in recognition
of the state's efforts to reshape its juvenile-justice system.
The grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur
Foundation, which was to be announced today, is being
given because Washington is a "bellwether state in juvenile
justice reform," according to foundation President Jonathan
Fanton.
Other states to receive the foundation's Models for Change
grants are Louisiana, Illinois and Pennsylvania.
"There are too many kids who end up in front of a judge.
We've got to get [to] them earlier," said Althea Cawley
Murphree, spokeswoman for Gov. Christine Gregoire.
"We can use that $7.5 million 7.5 million ways."
Just what the money, of up to $1.5 million for each of five
years, will be used for will be decided by an advisory
committee that is to begin discussions with the foundation
representatives today. John Lane, the governor's executive
policy adviser, said mental-health treatment for juveniles
could be one area for funding.
The MacArthur Foundation began making juvenile-justice
grants after a spike in juvenile crime between the late
1980s and 1994. At the time, juveniles as young as 13
were increasingly tried as adults and sent to adult prisons,
with some of them receiving life-without-parole sentences.
Today, there are 2,225 inmates in U.S. prisons serving
life sentences for crimes committed as juveniles, according
to a just-released study by Amnesty International, an independent
human-rights organization. In Washington state, 23 prisoners
are serving life sentences for crimes committed as juveniles.
But in the past five years, many states, including Washington, began rethinking their
get-tough-on-juveniles policies.
In 2000, the King County Juvenile Court and the San Francisco-based W. Haywood Burns
Institute began a project to reduce the disproportionate number of youths of color in
detention. It since has become a model for other counties around the country.
When the foundation looked for states to honor, it noted the Burns project and
Washington's 1997 Community Justice Accountability Act, which funded research into
crime reduction through youth and family intervention. Gregoire, who was attorney
general at the time, was instrumental in its creation.
The foundation also determined Washington was a state where it would be possible to
tackle ambitious changes in the juvenile-justice system and to try model programs
throughout the state.
MacArthur Foundation Vice President Julia Stasch said Washington was "already on a
very positive trajectory. There is a good history of people throughout the
juvenile-justice system ... coming together."
She added that "we think the leadership demonstrated by the governor puts Washington
in the forefront" of improving juvenile justice. She especially praised the Burns
Institute project.
"States that are really tackling that tough issue [of disproportionate representation
of minorities in custody] are really on the cutting edge," Stasch said.
An earlier MacArthur Foundation grant paid for research that determined that teens
tried in adult court are unlikely to understand that process or help with their own
defense. The study said, among other things, that children 11 to 13 and 14 to 15 are,
respectively, three times and two times as likely to be "seriously impaired" in their
ability to understand the justice system, and that children with a low IQ are at an
even greater risk.
It concluded that states that transfer juveniles 15 and younger to adult courts may
be subjecting them to proceedings they can't possibly understand. When that happens
with children 13 or younger, according to the study, many of them should be
considered incompetent to stand trial.
The foundation is an independent grant-making institution whose goal is to help
groups and individuals foster lasting improvement in the human condition. In addition
to Models for Change, the foundation has supported other research into the
developmental differences between adolescents and adults.
Nancy Bartley: 206-464-8522 or
--
_____________________________________________________
I intend to last long enough to put out of business all *****-suckers
and other beneficiaries of the institutionalized slavery and genocide.
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"The army that will defeat terrorism doesn't wear uniforms, or drive
Humvees, or calls in air-strikes. It doesn't have a high command, or
high security, or a high budget. The army that can defeat terrorism
does battle quietly, clearing minefields and vaccinating children. It
undermines military dictatorships and military lobbyists. It subverts
sweatshops and special interests.Where people feel powerless, it
helps them organize for change, and where people are powerful, it
reminds them of their responsibility." ~~~~ Author Unknown ~~~~
___________________________________________________
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| Title: Re: $7.5 millions more given to justice system |
17 Nov 2005 10:28:43 AM |
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