This site was created with the intent on sharing information on what is being done in California's Juvenile Justice System and is not an organization, but is a group of people dedicated to sharing the truth. You do not know if you are not informed. Please watch for updated blogs above.
PLEASE VISIT THIS SITE TO HEAR & SEE WHAT IS HAPPENING TO OUR CHILDREN FIRST HAND! http://www.juvies.net/videoclips/index.html
There are serious issues going on with our children. If we as people do not understand the laws that are being passed or care enough about what is going on-who is it that you are hurting? One must know that our daily decisions affect not only the here and now, but also the future. Please read the blogs and site to get a full idea of what is happening to our youth.
SITE SUMMARY: We have all made mistakes as children and teens. The difference is the laws are not what they once were.It is understood that the world is also not what it once was. But, where we would once rehabilitate our children, this is no longer the case. The solution has become to lock up children who are assumed to have committed a crime (or so until proven innocent, which could take months/years). This is also true of kids that have NEVER been in trouble, with NO GANG ties and NO PREVIOUS RECORD.
CASE AND POINT: We pose a question; if when you were a child and were housed in a situation (i.e. detention facility, lock-down 20 hours a day, fights, rape, etc.) every day- you truly have had no choice but to survive-literally. Who do you think you would have become under that situation? What would your future be now? Can you truly say you would be the same person you are today? Be real...think about it and what this really means to those children and teens today who are actually living it.
SITE READ: It is a well know saying among society that the children are our future. It is also a well know fact that among some of those involved in our political community that our children are often the subject used as persuasive arguments to insure votes. So after all is said and done, what really happens after the social celebration?
Often, too many people do not pay attention to what happens or the differences within the community after votes have been cast. Unfortunately, if they did, it would be realized that the very community who used our beloved children as bait, actually turn their back on the very children they promised to help and protect. An excellent example for argument is Proposition 21.
The Juvenile Crime Initiative Statute, also known as Proposition 21, was passed by the voters of California in 2000. It was brilliantly branded as a solution to the ever growing gang violence in California. Their ballot arguments seemed well maintained and reasonable.
Some examples were:
• Law enforcement must have more power in prosecuting and convicting juvenile offenders for serious crimes and in dealing with gang members. • The Three Strikes law has contributed to a decline in adult crime, while juvenile crime continues to be serious and needs to be addressed. • Youth should not be an excuse for murder, rape or any violent act. Proposition 21 ends the "slap on the wrist" of current law by imposing real consequences for gang members, rapists and murderers who cannot be reached through prevention or education.• Proposition 21 doesn't incarcerate kids for minor offenses--it protects Californians from violent criminals who have no respect for life. (Source:http://www.layouth.com/index.php?module=htmlpages&am p;func=display&pid=80)
HOWEVER, unless the voter did some serious homework, they did not read the clause in which would give no hope of rehabilitation to our juveniles. In a seemingly weaker ballot argument than those for Proposition 21.
Those apposed argued:
• Department of Justice statistics show that serious juvenile crime has steadily declined since 1990, and California already has tough laws against gangs and youth crime. • Proposition 21 carries a high price tag; more jails and prisons will need to be built. It will take money from other government services and from current efforts to prevent violence. • Research proves that juveniles who receive adult court sanctions commit more crimes and are more likely to return to prison than those sent to juvenile facilities. • California law already allows children and gang members as young as 14 to be tried and sentenced as adults.(Source: http://www.layouth.com/index.php?module=htmlpages&func=d isplay&pid=80)
In a much broader and logical argument, it was stated “Children can and do commit terrible crimes. When they do, they should be held accountable and face appropriate punishment. But children are different than adults, in that they have a greater capacity for rehabilitation. Juveniles continue to develop their identity and the direction of their lives into their early twenties. Recent findings in neuroscience show that brain maturation is a process that continues through adolescence and into early adulthood, and that impulse control, planning, and thinking ahead are skills still in development well beyond age 18. The fact that juveniles are still-developing their identity means that even a heinous crime committed by a juvenile is not “evidence of an irretrievably depraved character.†(Source:http://childrenwithoutparole.org/index.php?option=co m_content&task=view&id=15).
So why, as it would seem, has the community who embrace our children, allowed them to be housed like animals and not reformed? Children should be given a mentor, an option to go to boot camp or to fire camp. They are children and deserve a second chance to see that they in fact made a mistake and can change the corse of their life, like so many adults do in their own daily lives. It was stated by Judge Philip Mautino, supervising judge of the county’s Los Padrinos Juvenile Court in Downey.†(Fox, 2004, pg. B.1) “If we’re really serious about fighting crime, instead of putting all our resources in adults – where 70% of them go back to crime anyway – we should focus on the youth.â€
Nonetheless, unlike the way the Proposition was pushed or ‘sold’, even children whom are not gang related and are first time offenders are now falling into this sector, being housed with violent gang offenders, murders and rapist. In the true interest of society, this does nothing except take those who have a chance and make turn them into jail house survivors; criminals. Some of what our children have experience and what has transpired sine the passing of Proposition 21 is absolutely horrendous. Aside from the actual daily violence, the facilities are not up to par. In fact, “Los Angeles’ probation system of roughly 4,000 minors in three juvenile halls and 19 camps has been plagued by violence among youths and inadequate staffing,†the auditor found.†(Rosenblatt, 2007, pg.B1). Furthermore, “Los Angeles County’s problems have been extensively documented by local and federal investigators, who have identified deficient medical care, schooling and mental health services for young inmates†(Source:Levey, 2006, pg. B.4).
In addition, with Proposition 21, it is the District Attorney (DA) who is given authority to decide if the case should be tried as an adult, not the judge. The problem with this is that the DA has to win case in order to move up position within the system, whereas a judge holds no prejudice with no agenda.
