COMMUNITY ISSUE: PRISON INDUSTRIAL COMPLEXFOCUS ISSUES

Prison Industrial Complex, Mass Incarceration School-to-Prison Pipeline, Juvenile Justice School discipline policies, Restorative Justice Reducing Mandatory Minimum Sentences for drug offenses Pre-trial bail reform

HISTORY

School to Prison Pipeline: June 2014 – Boston Public Schools ends bussing service to 7th and 8th graders, which parents and community members say this will directly lead into the school to prison pipeline due to the exposure to violence outside of school structure.

Mandatory minimums are incredibly costly and we have no evidence to support that mandatory minimums deter crime, reduce crime, or reduce rates of addiction. They are a big driver of prison/jail overpopulation. They disproportionately impact communities of color.

Bail reform: Bail decisions were intended to be made based on the likelihood of a person returning to court. Instead, whether you are released or not on pretrial is many times decided by your ability to pay the amount set by a judge. A wealth-based system keeps people in jail when they could otherwise safely remain in the community while awaiting trial. The current system is incredibly costly to taxpayers by keeping too many detained, is a crucial driver in the issue of overpopulation in our jails and prisons, and does not increase public safety. In fact, the current system poses adverse risks to those who are detained but not convicted of crimes. 

Broader History:17th century: With the law and order of the Enlightenment period of Great Britain comes a refined prison system: for the first time in history, prison itself becomes the punishment, and law breakers are held without rights for periods of time determined by judges.

18th century: Britain manages its felons one of two ways: ships them to offshore colonies or forces hard labor on them.

19th century: The first formal state prison with the primary purpose of housing felons for the entire term of their punishment is founded. The Quakers, among other religious leaders, lobby for solitary confinement (complete isolation of the prisoner) in order to force inmates to reflect on their wrongdoings, and the practice is widely implemented. America adopts

the practice of using hard prison labor on state projects, and begins to incarcerate a disproportionate amount of African-Americans after the Emancipation Proclamation.

1930: America is seeing around 160 executions each year. There are only 13,000 inmates nationwide.

1934: Alcatraz, the highest security prison of its time, is founded in the San Francisco Bay to harbor the world’s country’s ‘worst’ criminals.

1948: The Criminal Justice Act is passed, giving basic human rights to prisoners.

1971: President Nixon declares a ‘War on Drugs’, intensifying punishment and creating mandatory minimum sentences for low-level drug offenders. The Attica Prison Riot takes place the same year, with 1,300 prisoners taking control of the upstate New York prison for 4 days before being dissolved by authorities. 39 people died in the altercation.

1973: Rockefeller Drug Laws are signed into effect, creating unprecedentedly strict punishments for drug possession or distribution—including 15-25 year prison sentences for crimes involving 2 or more ounces of any drug, including marijuana.

1980’s: Under President Ronald Reagan, a crack-cocaine epidemic breaks out across the United States, plaguing poor and urban areas. Crack is disproportionately present among Latino and black neighborhoods, and violent crime spikes in relation to this new highly addictive drug. The 100-1 Rule is instituted, which states that 1 gram of crack-cocaine equals the punishment for carrying 100 grams of pure cocaine powder. As a result, an overwhelming number of black and Latino youth are incarcerated with long-term sentences.

1990s-2010s: U.S. prison numbers skyrocket, with the number of U.S. citizens incarcerated 5x that of the 1970s. With only 5% of the world’s population, the U.S. currently holds 25% of its prisoners. As of 2014, 89.5% of the United States’ prisoners are black of Latino.

2012: Texas Congressmen Whitmire and Madden collaborate on a policy that will provide rehabilitation and job training to low-level, non-violent criminals in place of building new prisons to house them. Texas’ prisons were already overcrowded, and the congressional tandem were able to prove that rehab and training would cost taxpayers half the money that new prisons would.

2013: The state of Massachusetts is slammed in a study of its prisons, which finds that despite steady decline in crime over the past 30 years, the state’s prison population has steadily climbed.

2014: As of the most recent state report on overcrowding, MA prisons are at an average of 144% of capacity. These harsh conditions have led to media attention clamoring for reform of some sort.

December 2014: (Federal) Senate Bill 2999 “A bill to reauthorize and improve the Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974” was introduced by Whitehouse and Grassley. Not likely to pass before end of 113th Congress. Hopefully a new one will be filed January 2015.

Over 2 million Americans are in jail or prison – 5x as many as in 1980. Several major corporations run our prisons and make money off of the

prison industrial complex. They are: Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) and The GEO Group.

Federal government writes in “lockup quotas” in annual budget to guarantee these corporations will make a profit!

GC HISTORY In fall 2014, Blackstone Valley Prep Middle School in Rhode Island

advocated for the passage of the Providence Community Safety act which would create a community member board to oversee the police department, creating checks and balances for improved community-police relations.

See the Action Starter Kit on policing for additional resources and related past projects

EXAMPLE ACTION PROJECTS

Example 1:

ROOT CAUSES

Mass incarceration is an issue that affects young people in Massachusetts because the Massachusetts legislature has not passed a bill to invest in our communities and educational opportunities to improve our systems of criminal justice.

GOAL We will convince the Massachusetts legislature to pass the Justice Reinvestment Act (Omnibus Bill) - An Act to Increase Neighborhood Safety and Opportunity. 

DECISION-MAKER

Our class’ Senators and Representatives

INFLUENCERS

Representative Keefe and Senator Chang-Diaz Harm Reduction and Drug Policy Caucus (Group of Legislators

dedicated to ending incarceration)

Jobs Not Jails UU Mass Action Youth Against Mass Incarceration

TACTICS PetitionRally

Example 2:

ROOT CAUSES

Mass incarceration is an issue that affects young people in Massachusetts because the Massachusetts legislature has not passed a bill to eliminate mandatory minimums related to drug offenses.

GOAL We will convince the Massachusetts legislature to pass the bill, Eliminating mandatory minimums related to drug offenses (H1921).

DECISION-MAKER

Our class’ Senators and Representatives

INFLUENCERS

Representative Benjamin Swan and Senator Cynthia Crem Harm Reduction and Drug Policy Caucus (Group of Legislators

dedicated to ending incarceration) Jobs Not Jails UU Mass Action Youth Against Mass Incarceration

TACTICS PetitionRallyHold a public meeting: Unlike most Generation Citizen focus issues that only indirectly affect a whole community, the effects of mandatory minimum sentencing are severe enough to harm everyone in a community—schools, parents, teachers, students, business owners. Students holding a public meeting to let experts speak to community members and for them to present their findings could build a large movement. While they are present, students could ask community members in attendance to sign their petition.

Example 3:

ROOT CAUSES

Mass incarceration is an issue that affects young people in Massachusetts because the Massachusetts legislature has not passed a bill to reform the state’s pre-trial and bail system.

GOAL We will convince the Massachusetts legislature to pass the pre-trial and bail reform (HD3156, SD1491)

DECISION-MAKER

Our class’ Senators and Representatives

INFLUENCERS

Representative Tom Sannicandro and Senator Ken Donnelly Harm Reduction and Drug Policy Caucus (Group of Legislators

dedicated to ending incarceration) Jobs Not Jails UU Mass Action Youth Against Mass Incarceration

TACTICS PetitionRally

Example 4:

ROOT CAUSES

Mass incarceration is an issue that affects young people in Massachusetts because the Massachusetts legislature has not passed a bill to create sentencing alternatives for people who have committed non-violent crimes who are the primary caretakers of dependent children.

GOAL We will convince the Massachusetts legislature to pass the bill, Community-based sentencing alternatives for non-violent primary caretakers of dependent children (H3321)

DECISION-MAKER

Our class’ Senators and Representatives

INFLUENCERS

Representative Russell Holmes and Senator Patricia Jehlen Harm Reduction and Drug Policy Caucus (Group of Legislators

dedicated to ending incarceration) Jobs Not Jails UU Mass Action Youth Against Mass Incarceration

TACTICS PetitionRally

Example 5:

ROOT CAUSES

Youth incarceration is an issue because the state funds prison construction but not employment opportunities for our young people

GOAL We will convince the MA legislature to eliminate $2 billion funding in the state budget for the construction of new prisons in MA so that the funding can be redirected to targeted jobs programs

DECISION-MAKER

- Joint Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse- Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development- Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security

INFLUENCERS

Harm Reduction and Drug Policy Caucus (Group of Legislators dedicated to ending incarceration)

Jobs Not Jails

UU Mass Action Boston Area Youth Organizing Project (BYOP) Youth Jobs Coalition Youth Against Mass Incarceration

TACTICS PetitionRally

Example 6:

ROOT CAUSE

School policies make students feel like prisoners and do not provide opportunities for preventing incarceration

GOAL We will convince the school district to implement a Restorative Justice practices implementation plan in school district

Legislative: H.R. 4123, would eliminate an exception in the law that has allowed young people to be locked up for actions, known as status offenses, that would not be considered crimes for adults, such as skipping school, running away, breaking curfew and possession or use of alcohol.

DECISION-MAKER

SuperintendantPrincipal

INFLUENCER

Boston Truth (BostonEdTruth.org)City Council

Bill Linehan(617-635-3203), Stephen Murphy( 617-635-4376), Michael Flaherty (617-635-4205) Michelle Wu( 617-635-3115) Ayanna Pressley(617-635—4217), Salvatore LaMattina(617-635-3200), Frank Baker(617-635-3455), Charles Yancey( 617-635-4203), Timothy McCarthy (617-635-4210), Matt O’Malley (617-635-4220), Tito Jackson(617-635-3510), Josh Zakim(617-635-4225) and Mark Ciommo (617-635-3113)

Mayor’s Office: Marty Walsh: Mayor of Boston: Tel:617.635.4500,, Email:mayor@cityofboston.gov

School guidance OfficeTeachers

TACTICS Stakeholder meeting, emails calls

Example 7:

ROOT CAUSES

The state budget does not allocate enough to the Alternative Lock Up Program which is a problem because youth need a safe place while they are awaiting court appearanceo Starting in 2013 this program was overseen by the

Department of Youth Services

GOAL We will convince the MA state legislature to increase state budget allocation for Alternative Lock Up Program line item 4200-0600.

DECISION-MAKER

New governor – elected November 2014

INFLUENCERS

Harm Reduction and Drug Policy Caucus (Group of Legislators dedicated to ending incarceration)

Students’ State Representatives and State Senators Chair and members of House Ways and Means Committee Chair and members of Senate Ways and Means Committee

TACTICS Email, phone-bank, lobby at State House, host a rally

Example 8*:

*This example is on a federal level. A note on setting expectations with your class on federal action plans: Our congress is made to move slowly so that legislation does not get passed too quickly and everyone gets a say. Therefore, we probably won’t see the outcomes of our work this semester. It could take a year or more for it to pass. But our work on this is still incredibly important because without people like us all over the country advocating for it, the bill would be forgotten and can’t be signed into law by Obama.

FOCUS ISSUE

Current juvenile justice practices are insufficient and contribute to the prison industrial complex. These negative practices can include:

institutionalizing youth for status offences (putting youth in jail for running away from home or school truancy)

youth and adults in the same facilities lack of sight and sound separations between youth and

adults when in the same facilities youth of color detained by courts more of than white

youth no reporting on basic juvenile justice statistics

ROOT CAUSES

Current juvenile justice practices are an issue because the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevent Act, created by the federal Congress, which is part of the legislative branch, has not been updated since 2002.

GOALS We will convince the [insert committee] to pass bill [insert bill number] onto the next stage in the legislative process. This bill will include reporting on:•

DECISION-MAKER

Chair of the committee where the bill currently is

INFLUENCE Our (federal) Senators and Representative

RS Spark ActionCampaign for a Presidential Youth Council

TACTICS Calling our Senators and RepresentativeCalling other key Senators and Representatives

FURTHER RESEARCH:Key Knowledge

These are important numbers that are not frequently reported on but should be:

• Use of restraints and isolation in juvenile facilities• The number of status offenses who are detained, the underlying

reason for the detention, and the average length of stay• The number of pregnant juveniles held in custody• The number of juveniles whose offenses occurred on school

grounds• Mandatory minimums:

Defined by State of Mass. hereHistory of drug-related mandatory minimums hereMass. cost and population of prisons rising due to mandatory minimums here

Use Smarter Sentencing Act (US Senate bill) as example

Local Political ResourcesMAlegislature.gov – Click “legislation” and enter bill number or key words in search bar to track status of a billCongress.gov – Click “legislation” and enter bill number or key words in search bar to track status of a bill

Harm Reduction and Drug Policy Caucus A coalition of legislators, working to address the root causes and symptoms of mass

incarceration through comprehensive policy reform, education, and coalition building. o Three main purposes:

1. Support & Collaborate : The Harm Reduction and Drug Law Reform Caucus looks to work in partnership with other offices, committees and organizations who have been doing this crucial work for many years to support their initiatives. The Caucus hopes to provide a forum where legislators who are aligned on these issues can come together to collaborate on, support and pursue reform, together.2. Move Forward on Reform: Additionally, while many other groups have been working on important pieces of the puzzle, the Caucus hopes to bring key players to the table to create, draft and support comprehensive reform to address mass incarceration. 3. Raise awareness around issues regarding mass incarceration & drug law: The Caucus will invite guest speakers, experts in the field, and other groups to inform the Caucus on the work they do regarding these subjects,

best practices and policy recommendations. There will continue to be monthly educational legislative briefings beginning in January.

Co-Chairs of the Harm Reduction and Drug Law Reform Caucus:

Representative Tom SannicandroRoom 472, Statehouse617-722-2013Tom.Sannicandro@mahouse.gov

Senator Jamie EldridgeRoom 413A, Statehouse617-722-1120James.Eldridge@masenate.gov

Local Community Resources SparkAction - Caitlin Johnson at caitlin@sparkaction.org or 202-207-

3726 Children.massbudget.org Black Lives Matter Boston Span, Inc Crime and Justice Institute Ex-Prisoners and Prisoners Organizing for Community Advancement MassInc Criminal Justice Reform Coalition

Aligned Initiatives Ending Mass Incarceration Together (EMIT) and the Unitarian

Universalist Church are working together on two goals:o Ending mandatory minimums - Repealing Mandatory Minimum

Sentences for Drug Offenses – Rep. Swan (HD1921)  & Sen. Creem (SD1770)

o Pre-trial Bail Reformo Justice Reinvestment Act (Omnibus Bill) - An Act to Increase

Neighborhood Safety and Opportunity - Rep  Keefe  (HD 3425) & Sen Chang-Diaz (SD 1874)

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) campaign to reduce jail and prison populations in half by 2020.

Criminal Justice Reform Coalition Bills on providing alternative sentencing to low-risk, non-violent

offenders:o Smarter Sentencing Act (fed)o Cornyn/Whitehouse bill (fed)o Whitmore/Madden (TX)

Span, Inc. Prisoner Legal Services

o CORI reform, possible alternatives to sentencing, mandatory minimums repeal

Boston Workers Alliance The Boston Foundation Neighbor to Neighbor American Friends Service Committee

ARTICLES:

- Recidivism and alternatives to traditional prison timeo Background on ties between CORI reform and unemployment

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2012/05/24/convicts- massachusetts-still-face-tough-sell-job-market/MgjtfbZMOwZeGPRrckwiPK/story.html

http://www.cunhaholcomb.com/Criminal-Law-Articles/ Where-Should-Tax-Dollars-Be-Spent-On-Prisons-or-Education.shtml

http://www.spaninc.org/Advocacy.htm o Texas: prison reform leader

http://www.wbur.org/2011/03/30/tough-on-crime http://www.chron.com/opinion/editorials/article/Prison-

reform-5368445.php o Massachusetts: significant prison overcrowding, with the

mentally ill and non-violent: http://www.wbur.org/2011/03/02/prison-overcrowding

o US Attorney General’s condemnation of mandatory minimums and its relationship to recidivism:

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/08/12/obama- administration-calls-for-lighter-sentences-treatment-for-low-level-drug-crimes/ZmkZInIgKyP7PryjFPzTkK/story.html

Boston to Cut Historic Busing to Put 4,500 kids on Public Transportation:

A Recipe for The School-Prison-PipelineBy Rev. George Walters-Sleyon

Boston is about to put 4,500 kids on public transportation. The argument is that 1,800 seventh and eighth graders already use public transportation in Boston. The impetus for this move is strictly budgetary since $8 million could be saved. The Boston Public Schools District is confident that police will monitor security problems, violence, and misbehavior.

Boston Public Schools authorities argue that if it can “work” in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, it can certainly work in Boston. Mr. Brian Balluu, spokesman for the School Department argues: “Every indication we have is that it works fine…The MBTA buses have cameras.

They are well lit. it makes sense.”New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Baltimore have some of: the

lowest rate of minority especially Black graduation from High School, highest rates of minority youth suspension and expulsion from schools, highest rates of High School dropout, and highest rates of Black incarceration in the juvenile justice and criminal justice systems.

Opponents have criticized the decision for the following reasons: security concerns, 4,500 12-13-year olds on the T and connecting buses unsupervised, BPS system already has attendance problems-don’t make it worse, low income families will suffer the most and finally, some say, the idea creates a platform for gang attraction, violence, and criminalization. The brutal New England winter will certainly impact their school attendance.

Majority of Boston Public Schools’ students come from Roxbury, Dorchester, and Mattapan where most of the residents are Black and Hispanic. The decision to end busing and put over $4000 kids, mainly minority on public transportation in Boston comes after the implementation of the controversial new school assignment program. Others see this plan as a subtle re-segregation of Boston through its educational system.

According to the Prospect for Equity in Boston Public Schools’ School Assignment Plans In 2010, Boston Public Schools consisted of 87% minority and 76% low-income students.“Hispanic students in metro Boston attend public, primary schools with poverty rates of 65%— 3.8 times that of non‐Hispanic white students—the 3rd highest disparity among the 100 largest metro areas.Black students attend public, primary schools with poverty rates of 61%—3.5 times that of white students—the 6th highest disparity among large metros.Asian students attend public, primary schools with poverty rates of 34%—2.0 times that of white students—the 4th highest disparity among large metros.”

According to the ACLU report: Arrested Futures: The Criminalization of School Discipline in Massachusetts’ Three Largest School Districts: Boston, Springfield, and Worcester. Minority youths were disproportionately victimized by zero tolerance policies, heavy policing in schools, high rate of suspension and expulsion, criminalization, arrest and eventually detention.

“This disproportionality was greatest in Boston. Although African-American students accounted for approximately one-third of Boston’s student body during the 2008-09 and 2009- 10 school years, two-thirds of all Boston arrests during that period were of African-American students. Seventy percent of those arrested for public order offenses were African-American.”

According to the 2012 census report, Whites are 47% of Boston population, Blacks are 24.4% of Boston population, and Hispanics are 17.5% of Boston population. Blacks are over 33% of Massachusetts’ incarcerated population. Hispanics are close to 30% of Massachusetts incarcerated population. Blacks and Hispanics are less than 20% of Massachusetts general population but over 55% of Massachusetts incarcerated population.According to The Boston Public Schools website“Behavior on the Bus: The

BPS considers the school bus to be “an extension of the classroom.” That means we have the same standards of behavior on the school bus (or on the MBTA going to and from school) as we do in school.”

Unfortunately, public transportations are not “School Buses” to maintain the supervisory oversight of these minors. Secondly, police relationship with minority youth has never been cordial but suspicious, skeptical, and fundamentally racial thus, the high rate of arrest and incarceration of minorities in the United States criminal justice system. The misbehavior of a White kid on a public transportation is often “smiled” at but a Black kid adopting the same misbehavior is criminalized and “sneered” at.

Recommendations to Boston Public Schools authorities: Refuse to put 4,500 children in “harms” way on public transportation as a humanitarian approach to sustainable education policy. Pursue a holistic approach to education for all the children of Boston as a moral mandate rather than a monetary mandate. Prioritize investment in the educational security of all children of Boston through highly resourced and functional schools for long term benefit. Pursue and facilitate the right for all children in Boston to be educated without structural complexities, policy constrains, and racial prejudice. Pursue alternative means of transportation and scheduling of students to avoid the criminalization of Boston minority students on public transportation and the School-to-prison pipeline in the Boston Public School System. TAKE ACTIONAsk to Vote Against Boston Public Schools Plan to Put 4,500 on ‘Public Transportation” in times like these. Your Children Safety and Education should be Priority.

National PTA Applauds Bipartisan Legislation to Improve the Nation's Juvenile Justice System

Media Contact:Heidi MayMedia Relations Manager 703-518-1242 hmay@pta.org

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (Dec. 11, 2014) — Today, a bill to reauthorize the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) was introduced in the Senate as a means to improve and strengthen the juvenile justice system in the United States. The JJDPA, which was signed into law in 1974, prevents children and youth from entering the juvenile justice system and protects those currently in the system.

Since the passage of the JJDPA, thousands of children and youth have been provided with family and community-based alternatives to incarceration and kept separate from adults in detention. While the impact of the JJDPA over the last 40 years has been remarkable, improvements need to be made to the nation’s juvenile justice system. Loopholes left in the JJDPA as well as amendments made to the law over the years have weakened its protections

and resulted in thousands of children and youth being detained for minor offenses such as skipping school. Additionally, research shows that minority youth are overrepresented in the system.

“Juvenile justice and delinquency prevention is a key public policy priority of National PTA, and the association applauds Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) for introducing the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Reauthorization Act of 2014,” said Otha Thornton, president of National PTA. “Reauthorization of the JJDPA is long overdue, and National PTA urges Congress to prioritize the issue in 2015 and take swift action to improve the juvenile justice system for our nation’s youth.”

The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Reauthorization Act of 2014 would authorize funding for the law for five years and strengthen protections established in the JJDPA, including phasing out an exception that currently allows for the detainment of youth who have committed minor offenses. The bill also includes:

• Provisions to ensure the continuity of children’s education while detained;• Direction on how to reduce racial and ethnic disparities among youth in the

juvenile justice system; and• Improved standards for detaining youth to ensure they are kept separate

from adults.Since 1899, National PTA has advocated for policies that protect the rights of children and youth who come into contact with the juvenile justice system. PTA was one of the first associations to encourage federal and state lawmakers to create a safe and rehabilitative justice system for children by establishing separate court and probation systems from those serving adults. Today, National PTA continues to support programs that work to prevent juvenile delinquency and provide youth currently in the system with services to help them become productive members of society. These programs promote public safety and their success requires adequate federal investment.

As has been a priority for more than one hundred years, National PTA remains deeply committed to working with Congress to advocate for a safe and supportive juvenile justice system that helps every child reach his or her full potential.

About National PTANational PTA® comprises millions of families, students, teachers,

administrators, and business and community leaders devoted to the educational success of children and the promotion of parent involvement in schools. PTA is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit association that prides itself on being a powerful voice for all children, a relevant resource for families and communities, and a strong advocate for public education. Membership in PTA

is open to anyone who wants to be involved and make a difference for the education, health, and welfare of children and youth.

Next Judiciary chairman eyes treatment of minors

By David McCabeThe Hill

Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) introduced a bill Thursday that would update national standards covering how the justice system treats minors.

With Grassley preparing to take over as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee in the next Congress, the move is an early signal of the committee’s potential criminal justice agenda. Grassley has been particularly supportive of new accountability measures that will be included in the bill to reauthorize the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA).

“The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention program helps in preventing at-risk youth from entering the system and helps those in the system become valuable members of communities across the country,” Grassley said in a statement. “This bipartisan bill will be a good starting point for reauthorizing this important program as we begin a new Congress.”

One advocate said Thursday that Grassley’s sponsorship will be a boon for the bill, but that the measure still has a long journey to becoming law.

“I think as head of Judiciary, with his name on it, that is going to be a huge help,” said Marcy Mistrett, the CEO of the Campaign for Youth Justice.

The bill, which will not see any movement before the end of the current Congress, aims to beef up juvenile justice standards that haven’t been updated in more than a decade. The juvenile system is estimated to detain 60,000 minors on any given night. 

“This legislation will strengthen the main protections of the JJDPA, and improve the conditions and practices that can determine whether offenders leave our justice system as productive members of society,” Whitehouse said in a statement.

One update would make it harder for states to lock up children who have committed “status offenses” that would not be an offense if they were an adult, like running away from home or skipping school.

Another update would require that states do more to make sure they are not

confining minors near adults.

It would also give states new direction on how to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in the juvenile justice system.

“It strengthens the language to keep status offenders out of detention and protect kids by reinforcing youth and adult separation,” Mistrett said.

The act was last reauthorized in 2002. More recent attempts to reauthorize the bill have failed.

The bill comes at a moment when there is bipartisan support for certain reforms to the criminal justice system.

Grassley has had a historical interest in juvenile justice. But it is not known if he will have the committee tackle some of the thorny problems in the adult criminal justice system, which encompasses everything from policing to prison conditions.

The United States imprisons more people than any other nation in the world, something a smattering of lawmakers have been moving to change.

Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Dick Durbin (D-Il.) have introduced a bill that would make small changes to the federal mandatory minimum sentences that have led to black Americans being imprisoned at disproportionate rates. It’s received support from big names both sides of the aisle, including Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).

But Grassley opposes the measure and will decide whether it comes up for a vote on the Judiciary Committee, where it would likely pass.  

MA state budget allocations to line items regarding corrections, prisons, and schools

Moving Student Photos DocumentSchool-To-Prison Pipeline

Posted: 11/03/2014 5:03 pmHuffington Post

In Washington, D.C.'s public schools, African-American students are almost six times as likely to be suspended or expelled as their white classmates. Students with disabilities are also disciplined at higher rates than their peers.

But a group of local students is hoping to use their artwork to change that.

Students participating in a program with the nonprofit group Critical

Exposure contend that disciplinary practices in the District's public schools contribute to the school-to-prison pipeline, which pushes minority and vulnerable students out of school and into the penal system.

For the past two years, Critical Exposure has brought students together to document the problems in their school district through more than just data and numbers. The students use photography and multimedia projects to depict the difficulty their peers face in finishing school as a result of tough disciplinary policies. Some of the student photographers have been suspended at some point during their educations, and many have seen friends and peers suspended for minor infractions.

“They see what happens when students get 10 days out of school with suspensions, how students get in trouble with the criminal justice system and juvenile justice system and how it snowballs from there,” said Adam Levner, the executive director and co-founder of Critical Exposure, in a phone interview with The Huffington Post.

Scroll down to see the students' photos.

Levner said that members of his organization's 2012-2013 after-school fellowship class identified the school-to-prison pipeline as a problem they wanted to document. The 2013-2014 fellows then chose to continue the project, while other program leaders brought the idea to individual schools as well. (The current class of fellows has not yet decided what it will be documenting.)

Since then, Critical Exposure students have testified at public hearings about the issue and had a series of meetings with D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson. They also successfully worked this year to establish a pilot restorative justice program, which emphasizes discussion and conflict resolution over suspensions and expulsions, at a local high school.

Malik Thompson, 19, was involved with Critical Exposure throughout his high school career. He has experienced firsthand the impact of "school pushout." Following his older brother's death several years ago, when Thompson was in the ninth grade, he says he stopped going to his citywide, application-only high school. After several months of truancy, and what he describes as “minimal efforts” from school administrators to draw him back in, Thompson says he received a letter from the school informing him that he was no longer enrolled.

“Basically, I was kicked out,” Thompson told HuffPost.

The next year, Thompson became involved in Critical Exposure after seeing a

flyer at his new school. He is now an intern at the Gandhi Institute in Rochester, New York, a nonprofit that helps promote racial justice and nonviolence education. There, he facilitates workshops for young people in schools while leading photography and videography efforts.

Thompson, who ended up finishing his high school career in a home-school program, also advocates for the expansion of restorative justice programs in schools.

Restorative justice, he said, "creates [a culture] where the entire student –- like what happened outside the school and during school -- is acknowledged and taken into account."

Thompson continued, “I think more programs like Critical Exposure should exist where young people have avenues to begin to experience their own power, to work collaboratively together with adult supporters in order to make change in their world."

"Critical Exposure was essential to me becoming the person I am today," he added.

Below are photos from Critical Exposure’s students, representing how they see the school-to-prison pipeline in their everyday lives, provided to HuffPost by Critical Exposure. All photo captions were written by individual photographers, but have been edited and condensed for clarity.

The Lockers "Coming in the building feels like turning in my stuff before entering a jail cell." -- Angel L.

Untitled "The teachers can go through the gate without being stopped, and students are stopped and asked to show a pass. Students are treated like they're prisoners. They already have to be escorted by

a teacher to get through." -- Karl L.

Ban The Scans "This photo represents what we have to go through before entering our school everyday. I think it's uncalled for, and nine times out of 10, if any violence ... would occur it would be outside the school. According to DCLY [D.C. Lawyers For Youth] high quality mentoring for every D.C. child between 10-17 years old would cost $63 million, versus ... paying $305 million just to incarcerate them." - Sean "Lucky" W.

The Blind Pipeline That Youth Cannot See "This photo represents how some African American youth are on a path to prison that they can't see or don't know when it's coming. The reason I say that is because most of us are expected to go to prison sometime in life.

Statistics say one out of three African American males will go to prison in their life. In elementary school us African American youth are predicted to go to prison or jail based on standardized test scores and suspension rates." - Sean "Lucky" W.

The Jail That Surrounds Us "This is a picture of the black long gate that surrounds my school, with only three ways to enter and I know that this is a tactic that jails use to keep 'criminals' in or out." – Mike

Rights "The American flag symbolizes the rights we are granted as citizens and the freedom we have to manifest ideas and expand our knowledge. The bars represent restriction and confinement. Two

conflicting ideas. We should not feel like our school system is detaining us and preventing us from flourishing." – Anaise

Troubled Past "My name is Jacqueline Smith I [have] live in Washington D.C. most of my life. Im 20 in the twelfth-grade and excited to graduate in 2013. It took until my last year to figure out how school and education was important. This year has really opened my eyes. Because back then even when I was little I didn't understand why my mom woke me up early in the morning just to go to school because I never felt like it ... In middle school I was suspended a number of times and got expelled from school. But when I was suspended I knew that I was free by staying home watching TV ... I changed because I didn't want to fail."

The Everyday Routine "Everyday students have to enter through the

auditorium doors and place their backpacks on the X-Ray machine. Then they walk through the metal detector to meet their bag on the other side and then must wait for the bags to be searched by a security guard. This makes students feel as if we're going inside a jail to meet someone, or as if the staff sees us as criminals. Statistics show that 70 percent of students [who are] involved in 'in-school' arrests or are referred to law enforcement are black or Latino. If DCPS [D.C. Public Schools] wants to lower these numbers then why do we have the same procedures of entering a jail [instead of] a comforting environment of being welcomed to school?" – Mike

Untitled "This photo is of a young man who is sitting at a desk. The desk is in the school hallway and he is the only one outside. 'My teacher put me out here.' In most cases, the student is not at fault. Sometimes teachers do not know how to deal and give appropriate punishments. Restorative Justice should be implemented in our schools because, not only does it help students learn how to deal with their behavioral problems, it trains our teachers to deal with students in a correct manner that doesn't allow their personal judgement to affect the student." – Samera

The Box "Every morning for the past three months after walking through the metal detectors, 17-year-old Skinny has to explain to the security guards before being wanded why the machine went off. Skinny has an ankle monitor on, or 'the box.' With a curfew of 8 p.m. every night, he feels trapped and isolated from the world. Skinny is on probation and was told he would get the monitor off a month ago. When that did not occur he became disappointed. At times he refused to go to school due to his frustrations. D.C. public schools allow up to three unexcused absences until truancy reports are sent out. I am very concerned about his education and the consequences from the days he has missed." - Samera

Black, Latino Students Disproportionately Disciplined In Mass. Schools

By: Zeninjor Enwemeka | November 19, 2014WBUR Learning Lab

A new report reveals that the majority of disciplined Massachusetts public school students are suspended or expelled for relatively minor offenses. (Eric E Castro/Flickr)BOSTON — A majority of disciplined Massachusetts public school students are suspended or expelled for relatively minor offenses, and black and Latino students receive harsher punishments than white students, a new report has found.The report by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights School Discipline, a Boston-based nonprofit, also found students with disabilities receive a disproportionate amount of discipline than their peers, and charter schools are more likely than traditional schools to suspend students.According to the report, non-violent, non-criminal, non-drug incidents accounted for two thirds (66.5 percent) of all out-of-school suspensions. The

report also found that 72 percent of in-school and out-of-school suspensions and expulsions combined were for minor misbehavior.“It could be disrespect, it could be dress code violations, it could be tardiness, whatever it is we know it’s a harsh punishment that research has shown to predict school dropout, grade retention and involvement in the juvenile justice system,” Matt Cregor, a co-author of the report, told WBUR. “So, if we’re using suspension on minor misbehavior it’s sending the wrong message to our students, particularly our students of color and students with disabilities who see the most significant disproportion of these suspensions.”Overall, Massachusetts public school students lost at least 208,605 days in the classroom in the 2012-2013 school year due to discipline — and two-thirds of those days were out-of-school suspensions, according to the report.Using data from the 2012-2013 school year (the most recent data available) from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, the report analyzed in-school suspensions, out-of-school suspensions, permanent expulsions and removals to an alternate setting. The report did not analyze data on the use of school-based arrests or referrals to law enforcement, which it said are not collected by the state. The report focuses on white, Latino and black students, who make up just over 90 percent of the student population, as well as students with disabilities and low-income students.A Law On School Discipline

It’s important to note that in August 2012 Massachusetts passed a law, referred to as Chapter 222, to prevent the unnecessary exclusion of students from school. That law went into effect this year and is not reflected in the study. The law gives public schools and charters specific procedures for student suspensions and expulsions, such as providing educational services to a student during their suspension or expulsion, and requiring that schools try alternative methods of discipline before issuing a long-term suspension.A spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education said Tuesday afternoon they could not comment on the new report since they had not yet seen it. She said the department looks at the data for all schools and has been working with different school districts to train them on the requirements of the new law.Cregor, the report co-author, called the law a “significant and positive step forward.” The authors of the report also said their findings could provide a baseline for how well the new state law is doing.Students Disciplined Differently Across Demographics

In general, Massachusetts’ out-of-school suspension rate (4.3 percent) was

less than the national average (6.8 percent), but the same cannot be said when looking at suspension rates for blacks and Latinos. According to the report, one in 27 white students was disciplined in 2012-2013, while 1 in 10 Latino students and 1 in 8 black students were disciplined at least once. Black students received 43 percent of all out-of-school suspensions and 39 percent of expulsions, despite making up only 8.7 percent of students enrolled. Further, black students were 3.7 times as likely as white students to be suspended, which is slightly higher than the national average of 3.6. The suspension rate for Massachusetts Latino students, however, was twice the national average: Latino students were 3.1 times more likely than white students to be suspended, compared with the national average of 1.5.Cregor said the racial disparities are not due to students of color misbehaving at disproportionate rates.Discipline rates in Massachusetts schools by race. (Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice report)“Research suggests that white students are disproportionately likely to be punished for objective offenses, things like alcohol or tobacco possession whereas students of color are disproportionately likely to be punished for defiance or disrespect, things that are far more subjective and too often can be in the eye of the beholder,” Cregor said.Similar disparities were also found for students with disabilities, who were suspended at three times the rate (8.5 percent) of their non-disabled peers (2.8 percent); nationally, students with disabilities were suspended twice as often as their non-disabled peers. These students were also disciplined at a rate (37 percent) double their enrollment (18 percent).For students with disabilities, there is often a failure to address their emotional and behavioral needs, Cregor said. It’s unclear which disabilities are represented in this group, however. Cregor said there was no data from the state on the makeup of students with disabilities.The report also found that low-income students (those receiving free or reduced-price lunch) were also disciplined at almost double the rate of their enrollment. They account for 38 percent of students enrolled but 73 percent of students disciplined. (There is no national data on out-of-school suspension rates in this category to compare.)High Punishment Rates In Charter Schools

Discipline also varied strongly across school districts and charter schools.Five percent of schools accounted for 42.7 percent of all the suspensions, expulsions and removals  to alternative schools in the state. Holyoke had the highest suspension rate among public school districts, with 21.5 percent

being suspended there at least once, and six of its 11 schools disciplining at least 20 percent of their students. Fall River, Lynn, Brockton, Springfield and Worcester all suspended more than 10 percent of their students.The highest rates of discipline were seen in charter schools. While only 4 percent of the state’s public schools are charters, they made up nearly 14 percent of schools with discipline rates over 20 percent. Charter schools in Boston had especially high rates of discipline, removing 17.3 percent of students from school. For example, Roxbury Preparatory Charter schools suspended 59.8 percent of its students; 94 percent of these suspensions were for non-violent, non-criminal, non-drug behavior.Marléna Rose, whose daughter attended Roxbury Preparatory Charter School from 6th-8th grade, said she felt students were punished too harshly for minor things like having untied shoelaces or speaking out of turn.“I found the policy to be extremely punitive,” Rose said. “What the school does is they have a way of using words like ‘defiant’ or ‘argumentative’ and use it as tools to punish the kids, so if you ask a question that could be considered argumentative.”Some charter schools have defended their discipline practices. Will Austin, the chief operating officer at Roxbury Preparatory Charter, told The Boston Globe that the school has been a physically and emotionally safe place for students for several years.Disparities In Boston Schools

The report on school suspensions across the state comes after a report released last week showed racial disparities in Boston schools in regards to educational access and resources, starting as early as elementary school. That report, commissioned by Boston Public Schools, found that black and Latino students in Boston were more likely to be placed into a separate educational track with diminished opportunities than white and Asian students. The report found black male students with special needs were twice as likely than white male students with special needs to be placed in separate classrooms, while Latino male students with special needs were 1.6 times more likely than their white peers to be placed in separate classrooms.Disparities in discipline were also noted in the report on Boston schools. Black and Latino male high school students, for instance, were found to be 3.2 and 2.3 times more likely, respectively, to be suspended than white male students.Alternative Methods Of School Discipline

While the data suggest many Massachusetts schools are using suspensions as their primary discipline tool, the new report does highlight some best

practices identified by the state as alternative disciplinary methods. This includes community service, loss of a privilege, conflict resolution, contacting parents and peer mediation. The report says these practices provide more meaningful and helpful lessons for students.The report also suggests that schools bring students and teachers together to develop a common language and process for addressing issues that arise at school (known as restorative practices). Cregor said this has worked to reduce suspensions, expulsions, referrals to law enforcement and the racial discipline gap in Denver public schools. The report also highlights the Curley K-8 School in Boston as an example of a local school using this practice.“Our first priority is making sure that educators have other tools in their tool belts to address conflicts that arise in the classroom and to feel like they’re able to manage their classrooms effectively,” Cregor said.WBUR’s Peter Balonon-Rosen contributed to this report.

http://learninglab.wbur.org/2014/11/19/report-black-latino-students-disproportionately-disciplined-in-mass-schools/