Criminal Justice Reform Advocates Win Victory at Youth Study Center

Congratulations to the Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana (JJPL) on their continued success in the fight for reform of the city's criminal justice system.

An article by Katy Reckdahl in today's Times-Picayune reports, "Juveniles at the Youth Study Center will no longer be subject to long hours of confinement, sporadic schooling, spotty medical care and inadequate meals. These improvements are spelled out in two proposed agreements involving the city, which runs the detention facility in Gentilly, and the Orleans Parish School Board, which is responsible for providing educational services to the detainees. The Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana, which filed a federal lawsuit in December 2007 alleging unconstitutional conditions at the Youth Study Center, filed consent decrees in court on Monday after 22 months of negotiations with the city and the School Board."

For further evidence of how bad things have gotten at the facility, the article notes that - as part of the consent agreement: "Facility staff will create a new policy and procedures manual, to replace the one that was lost after the facility flooded."

Apparently, they needed a lawsuit to force them to actually state their policies in writing.

If you want to help JJPL continue this work, you have two opportunities this weekend.

You can buy Hornets tickets through a special offer listed on JJPL's website, and $5 of every ticket goes to support JJPL. The offer is here.

Or you can come to a car wash fundraiser sponsored by Young Adults Striving for Success (YASS) the youth group organized by JJPL. The fundraiser is this Saturday, from 10am to 2pm, at Hope Academy on 2437 Jena St.

Photo by Abdul Aziz.