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PAGE CONTENTS
LA County says No to 21
L.A. Archdiocese
OC Greens speak out
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'Crime' campaign targets youth
by Jimmy Salcedo & Nancy Mitchell, Workers's World Weekly ( SF CA )If this initiative passes, there will be a major transfer of resources and youth into the adult prison system. Youth of color, especially immigrants, will be disproportionately incarcerated.
The Juvenile Crime Initiative includes a collection of bills that former Governor Pete Wilson tried but failed to get through the State Legislature. Among many things, it calls for major changes in the way the state deals with youth.
Minors as young as fourteen could be tried as adults and be eligible for the death penalty. It would set longer prison sentences for minor offenses and remove the option of probation. The "three strikes" mandatory sentencing provisions would be expanded, leaving the decision to try a minor in adult court in the hands of the prosecutor rather than the judge.
Any minor accused of committing a "gang"-related crime would automatically be tried in adult court, bypassing the juvenile injustice system altogether. A "criminal street gang" under section 4(f) is defined simply as "any ongoing organization, association, or any group of three or more persons."
Latino and African American youth with shaved heads and baggy pants, already targets of the racist police, would be legally criminalized and punished merely for their appearance. Political activists and youth organizations could also be directly targeted and harassed by gang squads.
If the initiative passes, any "gang"-related crime will be treated more severely. Simply associating with a "gang" member could cause a person to be guilty of conspiracy.
Feeding the public racist propaganda to justify the initiative, the authors of the Juvenile Crime Initiative have demonized young people. Section 2(j) claims that "juveniles tend to murder strangers at disproportional rates," and that "if California is going to avoid the predicted wave of juvenile crime in the next decade, greater resources and attention must be focused on less serious offenders."
This is virtual declaration of war against youth. Violent crime has significantly dropped over the recent years, while the growth of the profit-driven prison-industrial complex has skyrocketed.
The Juvenile Crime Initiative would not only help fill up prison cells and fuel more prison construction. It is also part of the capitalist ruling class's answer to a corrupt economic system that provides no future for young workers.
As the industrial manufacturing base in the U.S. diminishes, millions of higher-paying unionized jobs are being replaced by lower-paying, lower-skilled service jobs. Economic desparation is increasing among working class youth, who are routed into prisons instead of schools and jobs.
This is where capitalism houses the "excess" members of the working class, those no longer needed by the system to produce profits.
There will be a major struggle at the polls over this initiative, of course. But the only sure way to turn back the criminalization of youth is to fight the capitalist system that puts profits ahead of human lives.
More minority youths get sent to adult court
LAW : And they are more likely to go to prison from there than whites, a study findsby Steve Lawrence Assoc. Press (OCRegister) Feb 3 2000; TIME Magazine version
Hispanic youths, on the other hand, made up 42.4 percent of the felony arrests and 51.5 percent of youths sentenced to prison by adult courts, the study by the San Francisco criminal-justice think tank said. Black juveniles accounted for 20.6 percent of felony arrests and 28.6 percent of those sent to prison by adult courts, and Asian youth made up 9.1 percent of felony arrests and 11 percent of juveniles sent to prison.
Representatives of several civil rights groups, including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, demanded that Gov. Gray Davis investigate and make changes to end the disparity.
"It's horrifying and outrageous that children are being treated to such discriminatory ways," said Anamaria Lova, executive director of La Raza Centro Legal Inc., a nonprofit community-law center in San Francisco.
Davis spokeswoman Hilary McLean said the governor "believes the laws should be applied fairly" but will wait to see if lawmakers take action.
Report co-author Dan Macallair said the California report's findings are similar to juvenile-justice studies in other states. Researchers were unable to determine the criminal histories of the youths sent to adult court, where defendants can get much longer sentences than in juvenile courts, Macallair said.
Additional research is needed to determine the reasons for the differences in treatment of whites and minorities, he said. Lawrence Brown, executive director of the California District Attorneys Association, called the report's lack of information about the defendants' criminal histories a "gaping hole."
L.A Board of Supervisors Issue Resolution to Oppose Prop21
by John Canalis staff writer L.A. Times Feb 9 2000Supervisors Yvonne Brathwaite Burke, Gloria Molina and Zev Yaroslavsky formed the majority. Supervisors Mike Antonovich and Don Knabe dissented. The board will send a letter to cities expressing its opinion. At Knabe's request, the letter will reflect the split vote. Registered voters have the final say. The Gang Violence and Juvenile Crime Prevention initiative is on the March 7 ballot.
"I am sure the public is going to support this, just as they did three strikes," said Supervisor Mike Antonovich. Under the measure, prosecutors can opt to try some defendants as young as 14 without permission from a judge.
"If you look at our system we have plenty of laws and rules in place," Molina said. "These are the kind of decisions that should be left to judges." Burke said giving authority to prosecutors to decide who is tried as an adult sacrificing a judge's impartiality leaves children at the mercy of public opinion.
"It moves us from a judicial process to a political process," she said.
Supervisors join the Los Angeles City Council, the Los Angeles Bar Association and the California Parent Teacher Association in opposing the referendum. Proponents include district attorney organizations and former Gov. Pete Wilson.
About three dozen protesters, mostly Prop. 21 opponents, filled the board's meeting room. "Children should be placed with children," said Prop. 21 opponent Addie Mae Miller. "I would not put a goldfish in an aquarium with a piranha or a shark."
T. Jean Adenika-Morrow, whose 14-year-old son was murdered, spoke in favor. "Children who kill children should not be released in three years," she said. The board's action follows a plea at the Feb. 1 meeting by the Rev. Jesse Jackson to oppose Prop. 21.
Jesse Jackson Opposes Juvenile Crime Measure
Los Angeles Times Feb 2 2000"I appeal to you to take a bold step to stop the madness, to reclaim our youth and not reject them," Jackson said.
The board was scheduled to vote Tuesday regarding the proposition, which will be on the ballot March 7. But voting was postponed for two weeks to hear testimony from other parties, a representative for Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke said.
The measure, if passed, would change rules on probation for youth offenders who commit violent crimes, allow more juveniles to be tried in adult court and require certain juvenile offenders to be held in local and state correctional facilities. Supporters, among them Gov. Gray Davis, say the purpose is to get the most violent offenders into adult court.
At a news conference before the supervisors' meeting, representatives of community and religious groups joined Jackson in contesting the measure. One of the main issues discussed was the construction cost of new juvenile correctional facilities that would be needed if the measure is approved.
"The money can be better spent on early prevention and education, instead of on building prisons," said Ralph Miller, president of the Deputy Probation Officers Union. "Most juveniles do rehabilitate."
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statement by
Cardinal Roger Mahony, Archdiocese of Los Angeles
in opposition to Proposition 21Jan 12 2000 Dolores Mission Church Los Angeles
The California Catholic Conference of Bishops has voted to oppose Proposition 21.
In summary, Proposition 21 would give prosecutors the discretion to file many juvenile cases in the adult system, would push more fourteen and fifteen year-olds into adult courts and State prisons, and would make it much easier for prosecutors to incarcerate children for non-criminal behavior.
Currently, judges decide where cases should be filed based on their objective assessment of the youth's mental and emotional capacities, the seriousness of the crime, and the appropriateness of assigning the child to either the youth or adult system. By transferring the discretion from judges to prosecutors, decisions on where and how these cases will be tried will easily become susceptible to political forces and may jeopardize an objective assessment of what is best, in
the long run, for the youth and for society at-large.
In opposing Proposition 21, the California Catholic Conference is keenly aware of the urgent need to resolve issues related to juvenile crime as its impacts victims, offenders, and society as a whole. In our estimation, however, Proposition 21 will do little, if anything, to address
the root causes of juvenile crime and is the wrong response to the problem it seeks to address.
Contrary to what the authors and proponents of Proposition 21 claim, this measure will not strengthen juvenile crime prevention. It will do nothing to restore or heal victims of
crime and it will not allocate additional resources to make the juvenile justice system work better--all of which should be top priorities but are not addressed by this initiative.
Recent newspaper articles have drawn attention to the need of reforming and strengthening institutions such as the California Youth Authority (CYA) and of adequately financing
and expanding education and youth rehabilitation programs. Problems within the CYA system and inadequate support for prevention programs, however, should not become the pretext for putting more children into the adult system and should not be the basis for arguments in favor of Proposition 21.
Youth who commit violent and heinous crimes should be incarcerated. The question raised by this measure is what system best serves them and holds out the greatest hope for rehabilitation. While communities should be protected from violent offenders, youth who find themselves in trouble with the law--regardless of the severity of the crime--should be able to access counseling, rehabilitation, and education programs that give them the opportunity to reform their lives.
Studies have shown that children sent through the adult system are more likely to be sexually assaulted, are more vulnerable to other types of physical abuse, and are at greater risk of committing suicide. Children sent through the adult system, where there are minimal opportunities for rehabilitation and where their physical and emotional survival
is constantly being threatened, are destined to come out of prison as hardened criminals.
These realities call not for lowering the age at which youth can be sent through the adult system. Instead, they demand better prevention and rehabilitation programs that judges and
law enforcement personnel have at their disposal to provide to youth. Funding for these types of programs, however, has not been a priority in California. We have built prisons at the
expense of prevention programs.
While California is first in prison spending, we rank forty-first nationally in spending for schools.
At-risk youth need guidance that steers them in the right direction. Proposition 21 shuts the doors on those possibilities and, in doing so, on the hope of reform that is possible for many of these youth. Proposition 21 is a step in the wrong direction.
I urge voters to vote "NO" on Proposition 21 this March 7. "
related cases and issues
Protestors made PG&E retract Prop21 support !
Center on Juvenile & Criminal Justice's Education vs Incarceration Clearinghouse
How long will Chad's Law last against Prop21 ?
Arthur Carmona
Zuniga case
Ronnie Cruz - won police brutality law suit against City of Placentia; judgement ruled he was
falsely imprisoned, falsely arrested, assaulted, battered & subjected to humiliation & excessive force.
In January, 1999, he was jailed for attempted murder in retribution for bringing suit.
Facts vs. Anger - prison warden says Prop21 legislation is bad news
OC student teacher builds political career by treating gangbangers like more than criminals
former Orange County prosecutor who put his name next to Pete Wilson's on Prop21.
Listen to this creep in Prop21 debate from Sacramento tv.
Dan Lundgren letter to state Attorney General's Youth Council on Violence Prevention
March & Rally Against Prop. 21
FACTS Families to Amend California's Three Strikes 323.298.0510Sat March 4 Noon 4167 S. Normandie Ave L.A. 2pm Rally Exposition & Menlo in park
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read the Legislative Analysts Office summary in the sample ballot ! :
Prop 21 says conspiracy to commit a "gang-related" felony will be one of your "3 strikes". "Conspiracy" & "gang-related", as now construed, absolve prosecutors from burden of proof - YOU will have to PROVE your child's innocence in court !
Passage will be an informant field day. And Prop 21 makes these new crimes RETROACTIVE for 3 strikes.
Vote Against current Los Angeles County District Attorney Gil Garcetti
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The conference, Fighting for Juvenile Justice in the 21st Century, is a response to the war on the poor and its youth. the conference will address the fights and demands that must continue into the 21st century. With this conference, we plan to build a network of activism in the state of California. |
Santa Ana, Anaheim, Costa Mesa & Garden Grove CA U.S. 
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