New Orleans City Council Candidate Launches Anti-Obama Attack

District B City Council candidate Eric Strachan sent out a mailer this week attacking one of his opponents for supporting Barack Obama. While President Obama is not popular in Louisiana, he is popular in New Orleans, including in the district Strachan seeks to represent. In 2008, Obama easily carried the city with 79% of the vote in New Orleans. Strachan, a Republican who switched his registration to Democratic in 2011, presents himself as a Democratic candidate, while also seeking Republican support.

In the mailer, which was paid for by the Strachan campaign, District B candidate Dana Kaplan is also attacked for being a liberal, a community organizer, and for her work with Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana. Strachan also overreaches in claiming credit for establishing the Office of Inspector General. In fact, the office was approved by voters in 1995, long before Strachan's career in government began, and implemented a decade later through a push by Councilmember Shelly Midura, among others.

New Orleans Communities Come Together in Youth Summit

From our friends at Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana:
On Saturday, March 24th 2012, youth from around the city of New Orleans came together for the first ever Power of a Million Minds (POMM) Youth Summit at Dillard University.

POMM is a youth led, youth organized, and youth run collaborative comprised of five youth serving organizations in the city of New Orleans. The youth come from all over the city including the African American, Latino, and Vietnamese American communities. Our five groups include Fyre Youth Squad (FYS), The LatiNola Youth Leadership Council (LYLC), Kids Rethink New Orleans Schools (Rethink), Vietnamese American Young Leaders Association of New Orleans (VAYLA), and Young Adults Striving for Success (YASS).

These five youth groups have been working together for over three years to build cross-cultural relationships and increase diversity in dialogue on critical issues that our young people are facing in New Orleans including issues of equity in education, employment, juvenile justice, and advocating for more youth voices and community involvement.

The goals of the collaborative are to problem solve issues that impact youth in our community, improve the quality of the educational system in New Orleans, create and sustain local youth organizers, and create positive working relationships between organizations and residents.

At POMM's first Youth Summit for middle school youth to college age participants, over 100 youth came together for a full day of consensus building, workshops, and live entertainment. The goal of the summit’s theme, “YOUTH(NITED) WE STAND!” was to allow dialogue between the different communities of youth, identify the key issues that are plaguing our city, and identify the possible solutions to these issues. The general assembly provided a space for youth to identify the problems they face and the solutions to those problems. Youth participated in “harvesting the genius from within themselves.”

Common problems identified included the need for better schools, more big sister/big brother programs, drug dealers in neighborhoods, lack of access to text books, lack of practical sex education classes, the need for better teachers, additional youth programs, innocent children being killed, boys don’t have anywhere to go for recreation and socializing, a lack of role models, the need for more playgrounds, recreational centers need to be repaired, the lack of vocational programs, trash in the neighborhoods, no jobs for the youth, low wages for youth, not enough community centers, existing community centers need to be repaired, the lack of community-based drug rehabilitation programs, increased parent involvement, and community sports teams.

Common solutions identified included building playgrounds, building recreational centers, cleaning up the parks, bringing concerns to the city council, using social media to communicate POMM’s message, hands on neighborhoods, planning city wide clean up days, decreasing the crime rate by providing education and employment, creating community service programs, taking care of our playgrounds, putting recreational centers in many diverse communities and not in one location or neighborhood, investing and creating neighborhood community businesses, creating personal treatment programs for youth, student peer education programs, helping stop the drug use, and identifying and cultivating relationships with adult mentors.

After the general assembly, break-out sessions were held on a variety of topics. The Youth Summit held workshops including the “School to Prison Pipeline,” “Know Your Rights,” “Equity in Education,” “How Haterism towards Youth Hurts the Future of New Orleans,” “Theater of the Oppressed,” “Knowing Our Real History,” and a digital media workshop. Youth participated as student teachers as each workshop was interactive and designed to tap into the knowledge base of the youth and increase upon it.

After the workshops and lunch, DJ AKT RIGHT kicked off over three hours of live entertainment that showcased local talent such as TEAM SNO, Michael Jackson of NOLA, K Levy, Keedie Black, NO Meezy, and featured socially conscious local rapper Dee-1. All performers stressed the importance of coming together to solve our own problems and that we can work united towards our common goals.

The goal of the event was to move more young people to become engaged in problem solving issues in their communities while allowing for a platform that addresses the needs of youth today. The summit will be used as the catalyst to start a citywide youth movement in New Orleans.

Sojourner Truth Academy Suspends 20% of its Senior Class for Singing

From our friends at Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana:
On Friday, November 18th, ten honor-roll seniors at Sojourner Truth Academy were suspended for singing in the school cafeteria during lunchtime. The suspensions occurred without notice or warning, and in violation of the school code of conduct's commitment that prior to a suspension, "a principal or designee must conduct a student conference and school level investigation." The suspension of ten students in a graduating class of forty-five represents one fifth of the senior student body and has threatened the students' access to scholarships, and for some students, their ability to graduate this academic year.

Currently, rates of suspension and expulsion in Louisiana schools are several times the national average. According to "Pushed Out: Harsh Discipline in Louisiana Schools Denies the Right to Education," Louisiana's expulsion rate is five times the national rate. In at least ten schools in New Orleans, the out of schools suspension rate during the 2009-2010 school year exceeded 30%, including Sojourner Truth Academy at 60%, by far the highest rate. Moreover, the overuse of harsh discipline disproportionately affects some Louisiana school children over others. African American students make up 44% of the statewide public school population, but 68% of suspensions and 72.5% of expulsions.

"While punitive discipline policies are a critical issue statewide, the suspension of ten students at Sojourner Truth for singing in one week is one of the most egregious examples of the inappropriate use of school discipline," states Carol Kolinchak, Legal Director of the Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana, whose office is helping the students to file appeals on their suspension through a project called Stand Up for Each Other! "These girls were denied all of their due process rights before they were given the suspension, and this will have serious consequences for their educational future. It is shameful that a school administration should act in complete disregard of their mandate to educate the students that attend and inhibit graduation and college."

The inappropriate use of discipline is just one of many ongoing problems that have been identified at Sojourner Truth Academy, by parents, students, and teachers. Members of the school community report problems at the school including, inadequate resources for special education services, improper suspensions and expulsions, staff reassignments and inappropriate terminations, inadequate staffing and funding for programs, a lack of transparency in financial reporting, and threats and intimidation to faculty and staff. According to staff member Marika Barto, "our foremost concern is for the benefit of students at Sojourner Truth, particularly the graduating class of 2012. Our students deserve the same quality of education, the same level of respect, and the same opportunity for success as every other public school student in the state of Louisiana."

The ten girls have appealed their suspension and written a letter to the administration of the school, dubbing themselves the "Sojourner Ten;" they plan to testify at the next Sojourner Truth Board meeting regarding their suspension for singing, as well as broader problems at the school that have impeded the students from learning. "All we want is to complete our school year and graduate and for others to have these same opportunities," said Damonika Stokes, a member of the Sojourner Ten. "Nobody ever warned us that singing was against the code of conduct, or that it would result in punishment. We are hopeful that we can continue our education and move forward in our lives towards graduation."

Members of the Sojourner Ten; parents, including Anna Burns, who says she "is concerned that such a harsh decision on the part of school administration will hurt my child's chances of getting into college;" teachers; and other concerned citizens plan to testify regarding their concerns at the Sojourner Truth Board Meeting at 5:45 pm on Tuesday, November 29th in the cafeteria of the school located at 2437 Jena Street in New Orleans.

Danziger Trial Presents Opportunity for Systemic Change

An earlier version of this article appeared on The Root website.
The testimony in the Danziger police violence trial draws a vivid picture of police violence and cover-up, but even more shocking is the fact that these revelations stayed hidden for so long. For more than three years, every check and balance in the city's criminal-justice system worked to keep this secret. This story stayed hidden because of judges who are too close to prosecutors; a city coroner who sides with the police version of events; and an entire system that seems focused on locking up people for misdemeanors rather than stopping violent crime.

"We have an opening at this point," says Malcolm Suber, project director for the New Orleans chapter of the American Friends Service Committee, and a longtime activist against law-enforcement violence. "But unless we talk about the entire system, this will repeat again."

The shootings on Danziger Bridge are the most notorious of at least nine separate incidents -- most of which occurred in the days just after Katrina -- that are being examined by federal agents. "This trial is going to show the country and the world that we have a serious problem with our police department," says Eddie Jordan, the city's former district attorney. "This department is engaged in horrendous acts against its citizens."

Official Responsibility

In a wide-ranging 158-page report released this March, the U.S. Justice Department declared that the NOPD has deep structural problems, noting, "Basic elements of effective policing -- clear policies, training, accountability and confidence of the citizenry -- have been absent for years." The report criticized the department for "use of excessive force; unconstitutional stops, searches and arrests; racial and ethnic profiling and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) discrimination; a systemic failure to provide effective policing services to persons with limited English proficiency; and a systemic failure to investigate sexual assaults and domestic violence."

Jordan feels that investigators should pursue charges up to the very top of the department, including Warren Riley, who was promoted to police chief shortly after Hurricane Katrina and served in that role until 2010. "Riley, by his own admission, never even read the report on Danziger," Jordan points out. "It's so outrageous, it's unspeakable. It's one of the worst things that anyone can do. It's hard to understand why he's not on trial as well.

"Fish starts rotting at the head," adds Jordan. "This was all done in the backdrop of police opposition at the very top. It's not surprising that there was a cover-up. You just have to wonder how far that cover-up went."

Riley, who resigned in 2010, has said that any officers involved in a cover-up should go to jail. He has also defended his response to NOPD corruption, saying that he inherited a deeply troubled department and a civil service system that protects bad officers. "I've fired 178 police officers in 4 1/2 years," he told radio host Gerod Stevens shortly before he retired. "I've suspended over 600."

A recent scandal involving the NOPD's "paid detail" system, in which some officers are able to double their salary by working in private security and other outside jobs, implicated friends and family members of Ronal Serpas, the current police chief. Assistant Superintendent Marlon Defillo, the second in charge of the department, is currently being investigated by the NOPD's internal affairs division for his role in stifling investigation of the Henry Glover case, in which five New Orleans police officers were accused of shooting the 31-year-old, burning his body and then engaging in a cover-up.

Defillo and Riley are both on the witness list in the Danziger case, as is Eddie Compass, who was police chief at the time of Katrina and is now the head of security for the district that covers most of New Orleans' public schools. It is unclear if they will actually be called, and if so if they will be called by defense or prosecution, or what they will be asked about.

Even representatives of the NOPD admit that the police department has a long way to go. While calling the Danziger incident "a tragic event from the past," police spokesperson Remi Braden said that Superintendent Serpas "inherited a fundamentally flawed department … It will still take significant time to change the foundation."

The Problem Goes Beyond Police

Criminal-justice reformers say that the Justice Department investigations, which have focused mostly on the NOPD, don't go far enough. According to Rosana Cruz, the associate director of V.O.T.E., an organization that seeks to build power and civic engagement for formerly incarcerated people, any discussion of changing the city's criminal-justice system must include Orleans Parish Prison, the city jail. "The prison has played a key role in all of this," she says. "We need to think about public safety from an actual safety perspective, not an incarceration perspective."

A September 2009 investigation by the Department of Justice documented "a pattern and practice of unnecessary and inappropriate use of force by OPP correctional officers," including "several examples where OPP officers openly engaged in abusive and retaliatory conduct, which resulted in serious injuries to prisoners." The investigation also found instances in which "the officers' conduct was so flagrant it clearly constituted calculated abuse."

Activists also have called for an investigation of Judge Raymond Bigelow, a prosecutor-turned-judge who has close relationships with the attorneys for the Danziger cops. Bigelow dismissed state charges against the cops in 2008 and retired soon after.

The city's elected coroner, Frank Minyard -- an 81-year-old jazz trumpeter who previously worked as a gynecologist -- has also been a focus of public criticism. Minyard's office didn't classify Glover's body -- which was found, burned, in a car with its skull missing -- as a potential homicide. Minyard also attributed the death of Raymond Robair, allegedly beaten to death by officers, as the result of having "fallen down." These cases helped inspire an investigation by PBS's Frontline, along with calls from the editorial board of the Times-Picayune for his resignation.

Dana Kaplan, executive director of the Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana, a legal and advocacy organization, agrees that systemic change is necessary, including reform at the district attorney's office. Orleans Parish District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro, who was elected in 2008, has taken over an office that has long faced accusations of racism and illegal activity, says Kaplan.

Connick v. Thompson, a case of prosecutorial misconduct that made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court this year, "made it clear there was an endemic level of corruption in the prosecutor's office," she says. Under former District Attorney Harry Connick Sr., the Orleans Parish District Attorney's office "failed to do what its stated mission is," Kaplan adds. "But they also contributed to corroding the public trust in law enforcement. And it will be a long time before they can regain that trust." Cruz of V.O.T.E. agrees and says that the problems in the office persist. "For the D.A.'s office, it is about the number of convictions. Safety is secondary."

Christopher Bowman, assistant district attorney and spokesman for Cannizzaro, says that public distrust in the criminal-justice system is real. "We see the effects of that on a daily basis in criminal court. When we question jurors, there are jurors that say they don't trust the police."

However, says Bowman, positive changes have already taken hold in the NOPD as well as in the district attorney's office, which he says has instituted important changes since Cannizzaro took over. "You have to look at an entire criminal-justice system that is reforming itself," he says.

For the officers on trial, much will depend on whether the jury believes that Katrina represented an extraordinary circumstance that excuses violent behavior, a defense that former District Attorney Jordan has no patience for. "A storm does not make law-enforcement officers go out and kill people," he declares, "and that's the excuse they're using. They are saying water is on the streets and the city is shut down, and so normal rules do not apply."

New Report on Youth Detention in New Orleans

From our friends at Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana:

As the Hurricane Katrina anniversary approaches, the Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana is re-releasing Treated Like Trash, a 2006 report that detailed the stories of youth detained during the botched evacuations of the Youth Study Center and the Orleans Parish Prison. The original report included stories including teenagers so hungry after days without food that they ate what floated by in the water, skin peeling from sunburn, and a mother who did not know where her son was for weeks. Its release led to a commitment by the Orleans Parish Criminal Sheriff to never again hold youth in the juvenile justice system at OPP.

The updated report, which details the five-year community campaign that followed the tragedy, is known as Trash to Triumph, and celebrates the major steps that have been taken to improve conditions at YSC. While the City still has much more to do to meet expectations, Thursday morning’s press conference focused on the sense of hope many feel at this moment given the dedication of the new administration to youth in the city, as well as the progress that has been made in this arena to date.

“Although the work is far from over, the anniversary gives us the chance to recognize those who have improved the lives of youth in New Orleans,” said Dana Kaplan, Director of JJPL. “Community organizations, citizens groups, families and friends of the youth, and the youth themselves have led a successful movement for a reformed juvenile justice system, persevering in the face of adversity. The new Administration of the City has joined with us in pledging a commitment to further reform. While there is much work left to be done, we are extremely hopeful that, five years after the storm exposed the problems endemic to our justice system, we can finally work together for real change and real public safety.”

Councilmember Susan Guidry, whose district includes YSC, and Seung Hong, the Interim Director of the city’s Human Services Department, will be present to express their commitment to reform. Further recommendations from advocates include completing construction on a new best practice facility within the next two years and fully implementing mandated reforms to staffing, health services, education, and policies and procedures that resulted from the settlement of the federal lawsuit JJPL filed against the City of New Orleans and the Orleans Parish School Board in 2007.

The full report is available online at http://jjpl.org/new/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/TRASH-TO-TRIUMPH-REDUCED.pdf.

Photo above by Abdul Aziz.

New Report Shines a Light on LGBT Youth in the Louisiana Juvenile Justice System

By Wesley Ware, Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana

Visiting incarcerated youth in Louisiana, I am used to hearing bleak stories about young people who struggle daily with isolation, despair, and a lack of support. They come from every corner of the state and are housed together in all-male secure facilities. Intended to "rehabilitate" troubled young men, sometimes these placements do little more than warehouse them.

On my way home from a prison visit, I can usually shake the horrors these young people tell me and use their stories and the inspiration I receive from them to push for larger juvenile justice reform. However, there are some youth whose experiences are harder for me to leave behind, and haunt me long after I have left the prison walls.

Sitting in a youth prison across from a young man I've known for over three years, he finally tells me he often struggles with feelings for other young men. He tells me he thinks there's a word for it, "Bisexual?" He says he hears that there are places in the world where gender and sexuality aren't policed with violence; where people are able to be themselves and that it's ok if you feel this way. But having been housed in a youth prison for the past several years where he witnessed violence, abuse, and even the death of another young man inside the facility, he is unable to imagine such a place where looking at another man wouldn't result in a broken bone.

A new report released by the Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana (JJPL), Locked Up & Out, shares the stories of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth confined in youth prisons across Louisiana. One youth tells the story of being raped in a youth prison, attempting suicide, and having to fight every day for his safety. Another transgender youth says that she is subjected to constant verbal abuse and harassment from staff.

Recent studies show that an alarming 15% of youth held in juvenile detention centers across the country are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. Multiple factors lead these kids into the juvenile justice system, from family rejection or school harassment to homelessness and substance abuse. Further, 80% of youth in juvenile prisons in Louisiana are African American, showing another alarming disparity.

Once inside the walls of the juvenile justice system, LGBT youth often face extreme physical, sexual, and psychological abuse and harassment as well as additional barriers to their release.

Louisiana, a state that previously housed one of the most brutal youth prisons in the country, is known now for its progress transforming the juvenile system into one that rehabilitates youth and seeks to hold them in community-based alternatives to incarceration. However, there is still a long way to go and LGBT youth in the system, often invisible, have been left behind to bear the brunt of a system still in repair.

A 2009 survey of LGBT youth across the country (conducted by the New York organization FIERCE) showed that youth ranked issues that are known feeders into the juvenile justice system as higher priorities than other issues facing them, such as marriage equality. Among the highest ranked issues facing LGBT youth were homelessness, mental health, access to social support services, school safety issues, and police harassment and abuse. While the survey included youth from Georgia, Texas, and South Carolina, it was conducted with little representation from Deep South states (such as Louisiana or Mississippi) as there are virtually no LGBT youth-specific organizations in these areas for surveyors to poll.

However, we can assume that youth in the Deep South region share the same concerns as other youth, possibly even magnified in rural areas where youth have little to no access to LGBT advocacy organizations, peer support groups, or social services competent and equipped to handle the unique issues often faced by LGBT youth. This may be an additional reason that LGBT youth in Louisiana appear to be making up such a disproportionate percentage of youth in juvenile prison.

As LGBT advocates fight for marriage equality, military inclusion, and other issues, we can't forget the plight of LGBT youth who are being funneled into the deep end of the juvenile justice system. While Locked Up & Out focuses on steps Louisiana can take to reform the juvenile justice system for LGBT youth, there are many things LGBT organizations and individuals can do nationwide.

LGBT advocacy organizations should consider expanding their issue base to include tackling those systems which have had a disproportionately negative affect on LGBT youth. LGBT organizations should consider not only engaging with other progressive or social justice organizations (such as those doing juvenile justice reform) to improve conditions in secure facilities that house youth, but also consider ways to engage "at-risk" LGBT young people before they are funneled into the system. In fact, it could be argued that one of the most crucial things LGBT organizations could do as a movement is fight for justice for those at the very bottom, incarcerated LGBT youth in Louisiana, a state known for its legacy of racism as well as discrimination against LGBT people.

Back at the youth prison, the young man across from me tells me he'd really like someone to talk to about all of the confusing, mixed feelings he has. And as a young man who is confined in a secure facility that is supposed to provide him with counseling and programming for his rehabilitation, why shouldn't he be able to talk to someone about this normal part of adolescent development, too?

I ask him if he plans on telling anyone else that he's bisexual. Looking down at the floor, he tells me that while he's tired of hiding, he's afraid someone would kill him if they ever found out; but he'd commit suicide before that could happen anyway. He looks up at me with a desperate face that reminds me, despite all of his struggles, he's still just a kid. He says, "Death before dishonor, ya know?"

The report Locked Up & Out can be downloaded from the JJPL website.

Wesley Ware has been advocating for the rights of incarcerated youth and the creation of community-based alternatives to incarceration since he came to the Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana (JJPL) in 2007. He also serves on the Advisory Committee for the Equity Project, a national initiative to ensure that LGBT youth in juvenile delinquency courts are treated with dignity, respect, and fairness.

This report originally appeared on bilerico.com.

Photo by Abdul Aziz.

How Many New Orleans Mayoral Candidates Does it Take to Find Out That the Youth Study Center is a Prison?

For the past several years, the Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana has been waging a campaign to close the Youth Study Center, a notorious youth prison located in Gentilly. The campaign has received extensive coverage in the Times-Picayune, and is one of the important issues facing our next mayor. Yet, at today's Mayoral debate, only one candidate had apparently even heard of the Center.

According to a transcript of the debate from the James Perry Mayoral Campaign:

Gina Warner, CEO of the Afterschool Partnership: “What is your position on the Youth Studies Center?”

Troy Henry: I am in favor of the Youth Studies Center. I am in favor of using the youth studies center in collaboration with all the revised library systems that are also being built. So we want to be smart and prudent about how we use our current resources today so where it makes sense to consolidate let’s do that but where it makes sense to keep them separate and individual, let’s do that. But we need to make sure we have the Youth Studies Center.

(Nervous laughter)

John Georges: I’m for them as well. We have to be about our facilities. Libraries are certainly one group. It’s all about budgeting and available dollars and the idea is to do like the board of regents … it’s also a budgetary issue.

(Nervous laughter)

Leslie Jacobs: I think it’s critically important for kids, our students to have a place to go outside of school. Schools have a $1.6 billion rebuilding plan, we need to look how to locate each of these youth studies centers inside our of our school buildings. I think they are important but given the budgetary crisis the more we can co locate with a library, school and other civic centers the easier it will be to staff them and the easier it will be to maintain them.”

(Nervous laughter)

Edwin Murray: I, too, am in support of youth study centers. I think it would be great if we could somehow figure out a way to put them in schools and figure out how to just keep the schools open a little longer and also use library systems across the city. It’s important also to try to work in in recreational activities some kind of way to make sure that after school Youth Study Centers to be involved as well to encourage kids in extracurricular activities

(Nervous laughter)

James Perry: I want to be clear because I think some folks misunderstood this issue. The Youth Studies Center is a jail. It is a prison. The subject of some very difficult litigation. Children have been imprisoned for long periods of time with no access to quality education at all. We need children to have access to education despite incarceration. If you are locked up for 23 hours of a 24 hour day there is no chance we can decrease the recidivism rate. It’s about how we define success. When it comes to juveniles in this system, making sure they have a real educational opportunity so that the prison they are in does not define the outcomes of the rest of their lives.

(Raucous Applause)


Photo by Abdul Aziz.

Come to City Hall to Stand up for Justice for New Orleans Youth

Show your support for justice for youth this Tuesday, November 10th, 9:30 AM at City Hall (1300 Perdido St).

For years, young people detained in New Orleans' detention centers have reported a wide variety of unsafe and inhumane conditions and the denial of basic services. Recently, the City of New Orleans and the Orleans Parish School Board reached an agreement with the Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana to implement changes to the Youth Study Center that will dramatically improve conditions for youth housed at the juvenile detention center.

Now advocates must ensure that funds are allocated to support those improvements, as well as spent appropriately and with community input in the rebuilding efforts of the local youth detention facility.

Come out to City Hall and support the Juvenile Justice Project and other concerned activists in:
- Ensuring funds for rehabilitative and therapeutic programs and to meet young people's basic needs
- A new facility with clearly defined treatment spaces - and an end to the over-incarceration of New Orleans youth!

For more info, contact Bridgette Butler at Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana, at 504-522-5437 xt. 246

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.