Another change in management at Ventura Youth Correctional Facility casts doubt on reform success.
According to a new CJCJ report, California’s counties have spent significant resources and jail capacity, often at their own expense, to detain suspected undocumented immigrants who do not have a reported criminal history. Yet if this population is notably law-abiding, why are so many of them in our local jails?
While the enactment of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is an exciting step in our society’s health care reform, its exclusion of undocumented immigrants will only further highlight the disparities that this population faces and induce a chain reaction of increased health care costs for all Americans.
Local model practices exist throughout the nation and there is substantial empirical research available to interested parties who seek to re-think their approach to juvenile and criminal justice. Justice leaders do not need to reinvent the wheel, but learn from others who have boldly risked a different approach within their local jurisdiction.
A new original series, Orange is the New Black, has received attention because the show provides a powerful look at our criminal justice system and life in prison. Hopefully this can facilitate a larger conversation about the state of American criminal justice.