Juvenile Justice

This is the second installment of a two-part series detailing the impact of trauma on incarcerated men’s likelihood of success at the parole board.  By John Lam Journalism Guild Writer I had been at a maximum-security prison for only three weeks when I saw a stabbing for the first time. I was in my cell when I heard an alarm sounding. I looked out my window and saw two guys wrestling on the ground, stabbing each other; blood was everywhere. I remember my cellmate nonchalantly going to the door, taking a peek and saying, “Oh there’s … [Read more...] about The Affects of PTSD on Juvenile Inmates {Part 2}

By John Lam Journalism Guild Writer This is the first installment of a two-part series detailing the impact of trauma on incarcerated men’s likelihood of success at the parole board. In the many group discussions held each day in San Quentin, it is not uncommon to hear men raise their hands and say, “I don’t know how to connect with myself.” I felt this way, too, for many years. I thought I was alone in that feeling, but I wasn’t. I realized many incarcerated people were disconnected from their emotions, due in part to a lack of … [Read more...] about The Effects of PTSD on Juvenile Inmates Part 1

Children are now being exposed to a controversial interrogation technique by adults that can lead to false confessions the American Bar Association (ABA) reports. The ABA newsletter urges parents and teachers to fight the use of the Reid Technique in their schools. It encourages parents to demand that they be notified before a principal plans to interrogate their child. John E. Reid & Associates, the developers of the Reid Technique, “appears to be expanding the use of its technique on kids. In addition to training police … [Read more...] about Juvenile Interrogation Techniques Can Result in False Confessions

An overwhelming number of cases of wrongfully convicted minors involve youths of color. “Thirty-four of the 329 DNA-based exonerees were arrested as minors. Thirty-two out of that 34 are people of color; specifically, 30 of them are black,” the Innocence Project reported. Wrongful conviction experts Sam Gross and Joshua Tepfer conducted a study to determine why youths of color are drastically overrepresented in these cases, and three key overlapping patterns emerged. 1. At least 75 percent of exonerees of color, who were minors at the … [Read more...] about Wrongful Convictions Overturned

By Juan Haines Staff Writer Youthful inmates beginning their sentences in high-security prisons run into all kinds of negative influences. To address the problem, California lawmakers passed the Youth Offender Program late last year. “The goal is to keep youth away from more serious and violent criminal influences found at high-security level prisons,” said Joe Orlando, a public information officer with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Sidney Ralph Wainiqolo is one youngster who benefits from the program. … [Read more...] about Youth Offender Program Aims to Curb Violence

By Chung Kao Staff Writer Prisoners sentenced as juveniles to life without parole, even for homicide, may now petition courts for parole eligibility, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled. “Allowing those offenders to be considered for parole ensures that juveniles whose crimes reflected only transient immaturity — and who have since matured — will not be forced to serve a disproportionate sentence in violation of the Eighth Amendment,” the 6-3 ruling said. Louisiana prisoner Henry Montgomery served 46 years of a life sentence for killing … [Read more...] about U.S. Supreme Court Ruling Gives Juvenile Lifers a Chance for Parole

By Leroy Lucas Journalism Guild Writer The youth offender program is aimed to steer certain young inmates away from high-security level prisons where they would face more serious and violent criminal influences. The program created by an Assembly bill forms a committee to review cases of youth transferring to the adult system. It opens the possibility of housing at a lower-level security adult prison in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The change was the topic of a workshop for 13 juvenile offenders … [Read more...] about Assembly Bill Provides Alternatives for Young Offenders to Be Housed at Low-Level Prisons