“A picture is worth a thousand words” evokes a sort of understanding rooted in sentimental to objective insight. Which is applied depends upon the viewer’s ability to deduce context and even lived experience seemingly unrelated. No longer limited to analog, digital images are more accessible and certainly worth more than just a thousand words. Of…
Guess how many countries have signed and ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child? 195. Now guess which two countries have not ratified the convention? You might guess a low-income developing country, and you would be correct. Somalia has not ratified the convention. However, the “leader of the free world,” just…
In President Clinton’s State of the Union address on February 4, 1997 he asked congress to “mount a full-scale assault on juvenile crime.” To follow up on his speech President Clinton produced “The President’s Anti-Gang and Youth Violence Strategy.” This report outlined President Clinton’s ideas for combating juvenile crime. While a long document, the report’s…
NYRA has offered its full support to the New York Civil Liberties Union’s (NYCLU) suit against New York City’s school safety officers over excessive force and wrongful arrests of students. The lawsuit documents numerous incidents in which students engaged in non-criminal conduct were handcuffed, arrested and physically assaulted by police personnel at school. The police…
Great post the other day from NYRA Board of Advisors member, Robert Epstein: Juvenile Injustice: The Scandal in Pennsylvania Is the Tip of an Ugly Iceberg
As my time as NYRA’s legal intern comes to a close, I cannot help but look back upon the lessons that I have learned by my experience with NYRA. NYRA has challenged my beliefs and has opened me up to new views and perspectives on several issues. The purpose of this blog entry is to…
SSDP’s Dare Generation Diary has alerted me to a new AP news story on the Goose Creek Raid at Stratford High School in South Carolina back in 2003. Apparently the students involved could receive around $9,000 each in a settlement with the police department and the school district. From Tom Angell at SSDP: As you…
In a 5-4 decision handed down yesterday, the US Supreme Court ended the death penalty for people under 18. NYRA members are encouraged to read the full decision of this case, Roper vs. Simmons. While good for ending the sick hypocrisy involved in applying the heftiest adult penalty on minors with few adult rights, this…
A dozen officers in Goose Creek, South Carolina stormed through the halls of Stratford High School with guns drawn, forcing 107 students to lay on the floor and submit to a drug dog search. Students were commanded to get on their knees with their hands behind their head, students who did not respond quick enough…
