The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) reports that more than 60,000 young people under the age of 18 are imprisoned across the country on a daily basis. For juveniles, the impact of incarceration can be devastating mentally, emotionally, and in regards to their future career prospects and positive life outcomes.…
It takes around 25 or more years for a human brain to become fully developed. While people can make bad decisions at any point in their life, younger, more naive children and teenagers are well-known for impulsivity and misjudgments. Some errors made at a young age are easily remedied, but…
The final phase of San Diego County’s $205 million construction for a juvenile detention center has been approved. San Diego supervisors voted for $75 million to go to the transition center without any dissent. The new facility will be a replacement for the Kearny Mesa Juvenile Detention Facility, which was…
Two juveniles have been arrested for participation in the death of a 16-year-old boy who was found beaten and lying on a San Diego Street on Wednesday, April 15. San Diego Police Lt. Matt Dobbs said that the homicide was reported at 10:30 a.m. in the 3000 block of C…
California is at the forefront of criminal justice reform. Last year, many laws were passed to reform the criminal justice system in an effort to make it fairer for Californians accused of committing crimes, whether they were serving time in juvenile detention facilities, jails, or state prisons. Abuses occur in…
This is the third post in a series on the use of DNA profiling by law enforcement in California. The focus here is on the DNA collection of juvenile offenders.Sometimes referred to as “Section 602 proceedings,” after the California law governing delinquency proceedings, juvenile court is not a part of…
A new law that prohibits employers in the state of California from asking about a job applicant’s juvenile criminal records is set to take effect January 1of the new year. Assembly Bill (A.B.) No. 1843 amends Section 432.7 of the California Labor Code to prohibit employers from asking about or…
Last month, District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis came out in public support of the new bill authored by State Sen. Marty Block (D- San Diego), SB 456, which would distinctly make it a misdemeanor crime for someone to threaten to fire a firearm on private and public school campuses. The bill…