Julia Brownley Talks Juvenile Justice

Assemblywoman Julia Brownley (D- Santa Monica) fielded questions about juvenile justice and public education during a visit to Palisades Charter High School on May 21.   The Human Rights Watch Student Task Force (HRWSTF), comprising students from nine Los Angeles public and private high schools, invited Brownley to the campus to encourage her to support SB 399, the Fair Sentences for Youth Act.   The bill, which passed the California State Senate in June 2009 and is currently in the Assembly’s Committee on Appropriations, gives offenders who were sentenced to life when they were under the age of 18 the opportunity to have their case reviewed after 10 years or more of incarceration. If the offenders have proven that they have turned their lives around, they will have the chance to receive a lesser sentence, but they must serve a minimum of 25 years.   ’Multiple studies show that the brain is not fully developed by 18,’ said PaliHi senior Pilar Garcia-Brown. ‘There are a lot of stories about youth that have changed; they want to work toward an education and realize their wrongs. They deserve a second chance.’   Garcia-Brown, co-president of the school’s HRWSTF chapter, said some of these offenders were accessories to murder. She thinks it’s easy for youth to fall into the wrong crowd and make poor decisions, but she doesn’t think they should be punished for their entire lives.   Last Friday, the HRWSTF students presented Brownley with a petition containing 250 signatures of individuals who support SB 399. There are more than 2,500 youth serving life sentences in the United States, including about 265 youth in California. The United States stands alone in the use of this sentence.   In response, Brownley said that she doesn’t think it is fair to punish youth for life, agreeing that their brains have not fully matured.   ’I am in support of this bill, but I have not had the opportunity to vote on it yet,’ she said, adding that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on May 17 that juveniles could not be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for crimes short of homicide.   To comply with the new ruling, ‘we may overrule our current law or this [bill] could go into place,’ said Brownley, who represents the 41st District, including Pacific Palisades.   Brownley said that the state pays roughly $40,000 annually to house and feed an incarcerated individual. The bill has the potential of saving the state millions of dollars if passed.   As chair of the Assembly’s Committee on Education, Brownley believes that education is the key to preventing crimes, so she would like to see those savings redirected to the classroom.   ’We need to invest in education,’ Brownley said. ‘We would save so much on the back end if we made the investment upfront.’   The state faces a $20-billion budget deficit in 2010-11, and the legislature is supposed to pass a new budget by June 15. Brownley, however, imagines that the debate will continue past the deadline. She said school officials should plan for the worst and keep their fingers crossed.   ’I am hoping that we won’t have to make any further cuts; we have taken too much already,’ she said.   On May 20, the California School Boards Association, the Association of California School Administrations, districts and students filed a lawsuit against the state of California for inadequate education funding.   Brownley said she supports the lawsuit because ‘right now, we are disinvesting more and more in our education system.’   The students asked Brownley how they could effectively advocate for SB 399. They began campaigning for the bill in January after attending a presentation by justice activist Javier Stauring and a formerly incarcerated youth, Elisas Elizondo.   So far, they have spoken to Assembly members Warren Furutani, Mike Davis and Mike Feuer. To educate their peers, they have launched art and media campaigns at their schools, according to Christina Tajalli, program consultant for HRWSTF.   In March, they hosted a Jammin’ for Justice concert at Santa Monica High School featuring guest speakers from InsideOUT Writers, a nonprofit organization that conducts weekly writing classes within the L.A. County Juvenile Hall system. Yesterday, they presented a panel of juvenile justice speakers to about 120 students at PaliHi.   Brownley encouraged the young activists to continue to speak to other assembly members and to write personal letters.   ’Your voice on this issue is critically important,’ Brownley told them.