Calling it a “step backwards for California’s children and communities,” the Children’s Defense Fund joins the Ella Baker Center in taking a strong stand against Proposition 6. One of the most harmful provisions of Prop 6 is to try more children as adults — even though studies show that children’s… Read more
Our very own Joyce Cook is participating in the Equal Voices for America’s Families Lifecasting Across the Digital Divide project. Each week, she records a new video and adds it to her page, chronicling the life of a mother working to reform California’s youth prison system. Follow Joyce as she… Read more
June Zeitlin, Executive Director of Women’s Environment and Development Organization, submitted this guest entry. As the climate crisis deepens, we can’t afford to leave any voices out of the solution. Read on for an exploration of the pivotal role women play in preventing and coping with climate change.
The more… Read more
We’re honored to feature this guest blog from two friends and supporters of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, Chris Bohnert and Terry Rosson. Read on as they describe their heartfelt joy at the historic decision by the California Supreme Court that finally recognizes their equal right to marry… Read more
One month ago, a young man collapsed at the Heman G. Stark youth prison. According to the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Hector R. collapsed in the gymnasium while playing soccer. He was pronounced dead at 8:35 pm..
Questions remain as to why this 20-year-old young man died so suddenly. Rumors… Read more
Here are some threats that lie beneath a worrisome California initiative, “The Safe Neighborhoods Act,” explained by Jonathon Simon’s post on the weblog Governing Through Crime.
Stop Them Before They Legislate Again: California’s Lock-em-Up Couple Goes Back to the Ballot
As California prisons continue into a second… Read more
With Green For All’s leap at the beginning of January, we thought it was a good time to share an entry by Green For All fellow Ami Patel, originally posted on It’s Getting Hot in Here.
On January 1, 2008, Green For All officially spun-off from the… Read more
Throughout 2007, Books Not Bars toured all of the youth prisons in the Division of Juvenile Justice (more commonly known by its former initials, “CYA”). This third post describes the complex in Ione, CA.
I can tell we are getting closer to the prison because Lourdes and Joyce are tensing… Read more