PORTLAND, Ore. - In Oregon, 16 percent fewer juveniles are being incarcerated compared to 20 years ago - but nationally, the drop is 40 percent. A new report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation (AECF) analyzing data from 1997 to 2010 says most states have expanded community-based alternatives to locking kids up, but there is still a long way to go.

David Rogers, executive director of the Partnership for Safety and Justice, said Oregon is out of step with what research says works for kids, because of mandatory minimum sentencing laws that treat them as adults when they're charged with a serious offense.

"We know that the best thing that we can do is to rehabilitate them, so that they can become productive members of society. But placing youth in the adult system and giving them an adult felony conviction actually takes them in the opposite direction," said Rogers. "It's a very serious problem."

The report recommends incarceration only for youth who pose a threat to public safety, and small, treatment-oriented facilities for those who must be confined.

Oregon passed a law in 2011 requiring that kids be held in juvenile facilities instead of adult jails, but Rogers said there hasn't been any funding to create those facilities in many communities.

A joint legislative committee is studying alternatives from the Governor's Commission on Public Safety. Rogers said for juveniles, one recommendation creates a set of hearings for a young offender sentenced as an adult, so a judge can periodically reexamine their progress.

"If that young person is doing well, a judge could allow them to be moved into mandatory community supervision, and avoid getting transferred to adult prison," he explained. "That's a step in the right direction."

Laura Speer, AECF associate director of policy and research, said about 75 percent of kids in detention are there for nonviolent offenses, and the research shows locking them up only makes them more likely to re-offend.

"They have a chance to get their lives back on track, so we want to make sure they get put in the best possible program to get them back on track," she explained.

The report also calls attention to a racial gap in the juvenile justice system, noting that Latino and Native American youth are two to three times more likely to be incarcerated than their white peers, and for African-American children, jail is five times more likely.

The report is available at www.aecf.org.




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A package to improve public safety is moving ahead in the California state Legislature - with a floor vote in the State Assembly on the first bill expected this week.

Assembly Bill 2215 puts into statute that police officers have the discretion to send people arrested for low-level offenses directly to supportive services.

Anthony DiMartino - government affairs director with the nonprofit Californians for Safety and Justice - said sometimes public safety is best served when people avoid arrest and instead get therapy, addiction support or help getting a job.

"We're also hoping to raise awareness that this is something officers can do, and then also encourage partnerships more with officers to look at what's in their community," said DiMartino, "as alternatives to jail booking."

A second bill would increase transparency and accountability on money sent to the counties as part of the Public Safety Realignment.

A third bill would require police officers, prosecuting attorneys and investigators to identify themselves any time they're interviewing a family member of someone killed or severely injured by police.

DiMartino said they also support AB 2499, which would ensure that survivors of violent crime and their family members can take unpaid time off work to address safety concerns and heal.

"We're hoping to broaden the scope a bit," said DiMartino, "and make it more clear that family members of victims are able to also tap into unpaid leave to support their family member that has been a victim."

A fifth bill would make it easier for justice-involved people and crime victims to speak freely during restorative justice programs - by making the communications inadmissible in other legal proceedings.

Missouri went through with its first execution of the year, as Brian Dorsey was put to death last night, just after 6 p.m. CT.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to stop Dorsey's execution. He was convicted of murdering his cousin Sarah Bonnie and her husband Ben nearly 20 years ago.

The advocacy group Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty launched several recent campaigns on Dorsey's behalf to spare his life.

Jenni Gerhauser, a cousin to both Dorsey and Sarah Bonnie, expressed belief in his redemption.

"Brian is more than the worst moment of his life," Gerhauser stressed. "There is so much more to him."

Gerhauser fondly remembered him as fun and charming from their visits during holidays. Dorsey's current lawyers said he was in a drug-induced psychosis when he killed the Bonnies in 2006 and his attorneys at the time had been offered money, preventing them from fighting the death penalty with his guilty plea deal.

Gov. Mike Parson confirmed Monday the state would move forward with Dorsey's death sentence, rejecting a separate request for clemency. More than 70 current and former corrections officers had urged the governor to commute Dorsey's sentence, arguing he had been rehabilitated.

Claudia Boyce, also a cousin in the family, said it should not be a decision for the state to make.

"You know, that's supposed to be God's decision, not ours," Boyce contended.

Dorsey received a lethal injection Tuesday evening. Lethal injection became an option for people on Missouri's death row in 1987, alongside lethal gas.


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Amid overcrowding and unsafe conditions in West Virginia jails, state lawmakers introduced bills that would allow judges to take a 'second look' at an individual's original sentence.

If a court determines they no longer pose a threat to the community, the person could be released, placed on supervision, or receive a shortened sentence.

Sara Whitaker - criminal legal policy analyst with the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy - said West Virginia is one of the few states that has seen its prison population balloon over the past decade, despite declining crime.

She noted that as of last month, more than 500 people in the state were in jail awaiting transfer to a prison.

"As a result, eight out of 10 of the regional jails in the state were beyond capacity," said Whitaker, "with hundreds of people assigned to sleeping on the floor."

The bills failed to advance this session, but Whitaker said advocates are hopeful lawmakers will consider them next year.

The state's jails remain among the deadliest in the country, with at least 91 people losing their lives while incarcerated in the past few years.

According to the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, jail bills cost counties $45 million in 2022.

Nationwide, long sentences have led to growth in the number of older people behind bars.

Whitaker pointed out that 'Second Look' legislation could help the state avoid turning its prisons into nursing homes, and said the number of elderly people in prison has tripled in the past two decades.

"In 2019, West Virginia had to open a dementia unit in one of its prisons," said Whitaker. "There are hospice units across multiple prisons. And experts predict that this is just only going to get worse."

Whitaker added that 'Second Look' policies also offer a way to correct past racial injustice in the criminal legal system.

Black people incarcerated in West Virginia are four times more likely than white people to be serving a life sentence with the possibility of parole, and five times as likely to be serving a life-without-parole sentence.




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