Developmental Science and Youth Justice ::

Youth Criminal Justice System Survey from McGill University

A research group of Dr. Amir Raz at McGill University (Montreal, Canada) is looking at the scientific evidence in support of reduced culpability in adolescents. They have created a brief web-based survey and obtained ethics approval to conduct the study. Their anonymous and confidential survey aims to assess knowledge, attitudes, opinions, and beliefs about recent scientific findings and their implications for the Youth Criminal Justice System. If interested in participating, please click the link below, then click next in the bottom right hand corner.

Developmental Science and Youth Justice ::

From Change.org Take Action

Overturn the Texas Prison Book Ban

"A prison advocacy group is suing the Texas prison system over prisoners' rights to order two books on prison conditions and the American criminal justice system..."

Actions Criminal Justice Change.org

Interesting Article 11/17/09

What makes a prison state of the art?

"Federal officials visited a correctional center in Thomson, Ill., on Monday, to see if it might be appropriate for housing detainees from Guantanamo Bay..."

What makes a prison state of the art? - By Brian Palmer - Slate Magazine

90-Year-Old Ex-Member of Nazi SS Charged With 58 Counts of Murder - International News | News of the World | Middle East News | Europe News - FOXNews.com

90-Year-Old Ex-Member of Nazi SS Charged With 58 Counts of Murder - International News | News of the World | Middle East News | Europe News - FOXNews.com

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Interesting Article 11/16/10

Deadline looms for new crime bill

The Manx public has two weeks to give their opinions on a new Criminal Justice Bill which will give heavier penalties to child sex offenders.

BBC NEWS Europe Isle of Man Deadline looms for new crime bill

Organization Activities 11/13/09

10th ANNUAL CENTERFORCE “INSIDE/OUT” SUMMIT
Richard Althouse, Ph.D., President, IACFP

I was privileged to attend the 10th annual Centerforce Summit, held at the Westin San Francisco Airport Hotel October 25th through the 27th. It was one of the best and emotionally intense three-day conferences I’ve been to in quite some time!

The conference, organized by Carol Burton, executive director of Centerforce, and her staff, focused on a number of pressing challenges to politicians, correctional administrators and staff, incarcerated individuals, their families, and communities in California and elsewhere. While it was not possible to attend all the sessions, the ones I was able to attend focused on program, sentencing, and reenty issues (including health and mental health care) familiar to anyone working in the corrections field, and particularly in California, a state facing serious financial and corrections stresses.

Despite the economy, Ms. Burton and her staff pulled together a group of outstanding speakers who presented both individually and as panelists. Among them were Elizabeth Siggins, Acting Chief Deputy Secretary of Adult Programs for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation reporting on the status of California’s corrections rehabilitation programs in the face of severe budget cuts, Ann Adalist-Estrin presenting “leading edge” brain research on the relationship of childhood trauma Carol Burton and Dr. Althouse

and adult addiction, Henry Steadman and staff reporting on the use of

S.O.A.R. to facilitate reentry in Florida, Margaret Dooley-Sammuli, Deputy State Director of the Drug Policy Alliance, a panelist discussing approaches to addressing California’s corrections crisis, Brian Fisher, Commissioner of the New York State Department of Corrections, and Rev. Eugene Williams III, both on a panel discussing policies and practices that shift the culture of corrections. Other outstanding panels addressed topics including restorative justice, the death penalty, the impact of incarceration and crime, and sensible sentencing. The stories of those impacted by corrections, either as inmates or family members, were very moving, and provided deeper insight into the political processes and unfortunate side-effects of our country’s “rush to incarcerate.”

I was grateful for the opportunity to talk with a number of other speakers as well as attendees, all of whom had politically knowledgeable and insightful grasps of the topics discussed at the conference and whose energy I found quite infectious. They included Dr. Julie Lifshay (left), a social epidemiologist and one of the Centerforce staff , Gail Patrice-Brown (Inmate Family Council), Mark Koffman (Chicago) , Cameron Holmes from the Pennsylvania Prison Society (right), Joshua Mason (Palo Alto), and Maureen Nelson, a counselor from the Oakland Private Industry Council.

We will certainly hear more from this group! I am already looking forward to next year’s conference, and I hope to stay in contact and work with many of them between now and then. I also encourage IACFP members to watch for and attend next year’s conference if at all possible!

Interesting Article 11/11/09

From Change.org

"This Veteran's Day is a chance to honor the hundreds of thousands of military veterans among us, including those servign today at home and overseas.

It should also serve as a day to remember the 140,000 veterans in American state and federal prisons. Many of them served our country at wartime, and many shouldn't be behind bars..."

With 140,000 Veterans in Prison, We Can Do Better Criminal Justice Change.org

Interesting Article 11/10/09

Justices debate life sentences for juveniles

"The Supreme Court wrestled in often emotional terms Monday over whether sentencing juvenile criminals to life in prison without parole is 'cruel and unusual' punishment, especially when their crime is not murder..."

Justices debate life sentences for juveniles - CNN.com