The facilities at the Ventura Youth Correctional Facility are unacceptable. I know because I’ve experienced them first hand.
I started this petition with help from Books Not Bars because its important for those outside of prison to stand in solidarity with those of us who are locked away and… Read more
The protest at the Ventura Youth Prison on Sunday, August 21, 2011 was truly amazing. Everyone who attended gave it their all.
It also made me take a hard look at the long fight we still have in the DJJ. As we gathered at the area they designated… Read more
As families struggle to send their loved ones back to school, families of incarcerated youth in the California youth prison system are painfully fighting for simple improvements like clean food, medical treatment and
This blog originally appeared as an Op-Ed in the Los Angeles Daily News.
When I first held my oldest son Jesse 17 years ago in my arms, the light in his eyes was so bright. Growing up in the San Fernando Valley, he loved to write and… Read more
Last weekend, I traveled to the Ventura Youth Prison in Camarillo, CA. There I joined families of incarcerated youth, formerly incarcerated youth, and allies from across the state to decry the abuses of the Division of Juvenile Justice. Their stories reveal a system that is violent, abusive and ineffective at… Read more
I had forgotten their stories. I had put away in my mind the incarceration of two of my younger siblings when they were teenagers. My brother was maced into signing his confession, and imprisoned for almost a year. My baby sister was sent hours away from home to a correctional… Read more
As the Director of our Books Not Bars campaign, I have heard too many horror stories from youth and families about the abuse and trauma that kids suffer in our State’s youth prisons. Though we have exposed the DJJ’s failure to rehabilitate the youth in its care for years, we… Read more
