NJJN | Members: California

Member Info [1] Member Publications [2] General State Information

NJJN Member

NJJN Member

Youth Justice Coalition represents thousands of youth in Los Angeles who have been under custody at juvenile hall, probation camp, county jail, CYA and/or state prison at one point in their lives. The Coalition supports policies that enhance the opportunities available to youth who have been in custody.

Goals for Youth Justice Coalition:

-Shut Down CYA! Replace CYA facilities with small community based facilities that focus on youth development, education, job training and drug treatment, and separate the management of these facilities from state corrections.

-Eliminate the “War on Gangs!” End the practices used by guards to stir up conflict between rival gang members and different races. Develop practices that end the overuse and abuse of the gang database system. Stop the police tactics that stir-up conflict and get people killed. Push law enforcement to support the ongoing gang truces and build similar truces in other neighborhoods.

-Keep youth out of adult prisons! Prevent state policies that increase the rate of youth transfers to adult prisons. Push for a state law prohibiting the future lock-up of anyone under age 18 in jails and prisons, and reject state proposals to increase the CYA’s age of jurisdiction from 25 years old to 21 years old.

-Improve CYA conditions! Establish a task force to address the conditions in CYA facilities in order to improve the mental health needs of youth, stop over medication and misdiagnosis of youth, facilitate and encourage family contact, eliminate the use of solitary confinement, and establish an independent agency to investigate youth complaints and staff conduct.

-End the school-to-jail tracking in public schools! Stop the criminalization of students and the practices that make schools look and act more like prisons. End the unequal funding of schools in poor communities and the under funding and quality of probation and continuations schools. Speed-up and facilitate the enrollment of students coming out from lock-up into public schools.

-Enforce voting rights for people in the system! Stop blocking, discouraging, and violating the rights of youth in custody to register and vote. 

[1]: http://njjn.org/members_public_state_CA_pub.html
[2]: http://njjn.org/members_public_state_CA_info.html
[3]: http://www.lls.edu/juvenilelaw
[4]: mailto:freelanow@yahoo.com