Group Raises Awareness For Mandatory Minimum Sentencing For Youth October 31, 2012
Posted by FairSentencing in : Current News , 2 commentsOn Saturday morning, about 100 Salem residents banded together at Riverfront Park in a run for justice. “Steps for Safety and Savings” 5K run/walk was hosted by Partnership for Safety and Justice, a nonprofit that is against Oregon’s mandatory minimum sentencing law Measure 11 for youths under 18 years of age.
Organizer Cassandra Villanueva said volunteers and organizations in 20 states have similar events planned this month in an attempt to raise awareness of the issue involving incarceration of youth in adult courts.
Partnership for Safety and Justice estimated that 250,000 youth are charged, sentenced or incarcerated as adults each year nationwide. Oregon has charged 3,000 since Measure 11 was implemented in 1995.
Oregon prison puzzle: Cut costs but keep public safe October 29, 2012
Posted by FairSentencing in : Current News , 1 comment so farFor months, 12 Oregonians have been wrestling with the mathematics of justice in Oregon — who’s going to prison, who’s falling off probation, what percentage of new inmates are “low risk” or “nonviolent.”
One number matters most: $600 million.
That’s the estimated cost to taxpayers of continued growth in Oregon’s prison population. Avoiding that means sending fewer people to prison. So how does the state contain costs yet keep citizens safer?
That’s the vexing puzzle that’s been handed to the state Commission on Public Safety. Members face a year-end deadline to offer detailed reforms to Gov. John Kitzhaber. What they come up with could affect everything from Measure 11 to marijuana sentences.
State forecasters say a growing population and tougher sentencing measures will add 2,300 people to Oregon’s inmate count in the next decade. Changing that, the data suggest, will require backing off on sentences, sparing more people from prison, and spending more to keep offenders from committing new crimes.
Commissioners have been tutored on the mind-numbing data of criminal justice.
They’ve learned:
- Oregon’s prison population is growing even as the national trend is to cut prison intakes.
- An increasing percentage of felons are sent to prison for nonviolent crimes.
- And, surprisingly, nearly half of those entering prison last year fouled up while already on probation or parole.
In short: Oregon’s approach to punishment doesn’t work as well as it could.
“I’m a lock-em-up-and-throw-the-key-away guy, but when you start peeling the onion, that’s not the answer,” said Dick Withnell, a commissioner and Salem auto dealership owner.
With data-crunching behind, commissioners are now framing reforms for Kitzhaber and the 2013 Legislature to consider. But math still will drive the work. Commissioners want a clear sense of how many prison beds would be spared with each change they propose.
“And if by chance we save some money, those dollars have got to stay within the criminal justice arena,” said state Rep. Andy Olson, R-Albany, a commissioner.
Several commissioners said prison savings and more safety can be achieved by better monitoring felons on probation.
In 2011, judges sent 534 probationers to prison for “technical violations.” Roughly half failed to follow rules such as staying away from drugs. The other half committed new crimes that by themselves wouldn’t net prison time.
Supreme Court Justice Paul DeMuniz, chairman of the commission, said supervising a probationer costs the state $12 a day. Prison costs $85.
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Oregon Walks to Get Teens out of Adult Court October 12, 2012
Posted by FairSentencing in : Current News , add a commentIn what organizers say is the first event of its kind in the Pacific northwest, Oregon juvenile justice advocates will hold a 5K run/walk this month to publicize a campaign to channel the state’s 15-, 16- and 17-year-olds toward juvenile court.
“In 2009, my 15-year-old was convicted as an adult,” said April Rains, a board member of the Partnership for Safety and Justice, a nonprofit group that aims to make Oregon’s approach to public safety more effective and just. “I knew that he needed to be held accountable for what he did,” said Rains, a one-time victim advocate. But, “what was shocking was how little support I got for my son and my family. He was a good kid, was involved with church, loved learning, loved taking care of animals. When he was charged with this crime, it was like none of that mattered.”
Her son was charged with sex abuse I and sentenced to 75 months’ incarceration, which he’s now serving. The victim of the inappropriate touching was another family member, “so I was really seeing the situation from all sides,” said Rains, “but I couldn’t get the DAs to listen to what was best for our family.”
Rains wanted her son charged as a youth, first, so he could get treatment while being held accountable. Second, she did not want to see a felony conviction follow him around the rest of his life.
Now 19, her son has completed treatment, gotten a high school diploma and welding certifications and is in his third term of college, all while serving in a juvenile facility.
But there was no way for him to go to a juvenile judge. In 1994, Oregon voters passed Measure 11, which set minimum sentences for several serious criminal charges like robbery and murder. It applies to all defendants aged 15 and older, including indictments in adult court.
A total 975 Oregonians have served or are serving time for M11 crimes committed when they were under 18, according to October, 2012 state statistics. Under certain conditions, they are allowed like Rains’ son to serve time in a youth detention center rather than adult prison.
To help bring attention to family ordeals under Measure 11, Rains is serving as parent lead on the 5K Run/Walk for Youth Justice Awareness Month on Oct. 27 in Salem. YJAM began in October, 2008 in Missouri, founded by a mother whose 16-year-old son was convicted in adult court and committed suicide rather than face 30 years in prison. Events will be held in more than half the states this October.
Every state sets its own laws on the age of criminal responsibility, and many exclude certain serious offenses from juvenile court once the defendant is above about 14 to 17 years of age.
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Meet With Your Representatives In Congress October 9, 2012
Posted by FairSentencing in : Current News , add a commentUpdate from FAMM:
But you can.
Now is the perfect time for you and your loved ones to meet with your representatives in Congress and ask them to support sentencing reform. There are two ways to help while your Members of Congress are at home, in a city near you:
1. Meet with them! Find your Representative and Senators in our Action Center. Then, call or write the office in your area and request a meeting. (Our Citizen Action Kit can help). Ask your representatives to oppose new mandatory minimum sentences and support reforms in the next Congress. Use these helpful tips to have a great meeting.
We may be in Washington, but until November 6, your home districts are where the power is. Help FAMM by meeting with your congressional representatives and attending town hall meetings and campaign events. Afterwards, call (202) 822-6700 or send me an email at mgill@famm.org to let me know how it went!
Thank you for all you do for FAMM and fairer sentencing laws!
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