New Curfew Takes Effect Friday
Criminal Justice, said the argument that a curfew is necessary to protect children is “convenient” but not rooted in fact. Governments have child welfare laws for safety, he said, and officers can intervene when necessary without needing a curfew law to step in. Butts said Baltimore’s law is not only strict, but confusing because of the way it changes based on a child’s age and the time of year. “It’s more coverage than I have seen most cities do,” Butts said. “It sounds not only comprehensive but complicated, which means kids will lose track of it.” Continue reading New Curfew Takes Effect Friday
Youth Placement is Overused
The John Jay College of Criminal Justice Research and Evaluation Center published a series of short briefs that looked at thousands of youth in Youth Advocate Programs’ community-based alternatives for justice involved youth from across the country, including one right here in Baltimore. The children in these programs were high-risk youth and they have very complex needs. Yet, nearly all of them succeeded in the program with 86 percent remaining arrest free and 93 percent still living in their communities, not back in a facility. One example from a separate study that looked at 1,851 youth found that 95 percent of youth studied were still living in the community six to 12 months after discharge from YAP’s non-residential community-based program. Continue reading Youth Placement is Overused
CBS This Morning—Santa Barbara Shootings
Criminologist Jeffrey Butts argues that Rogers’ ability to remain composed likely diminished any concern. … “We try to protect civil liberties; we try to protect the freedoms we all enjoy while also creating a safety net or buffer for people who are in serious trouble, and we’re just not very good at it.” Continue reading CBS This Morning—Santa Barbara Shootings
Think Progress—Could An Improved Mental Health System Stop The Next Elliot Rodger?
As criminologist Jeffrey Butts explained to ThinkProgress, “Police are trained not to react too aggressively to the mentally ill and to avoid arrests if at all possible. In the past, people with mental illness were too often arrested for simply behaving strangely and not responding to instructions when confronted by police. Continue reading Think Progress—Could An Improved Mental Health System Stop The Next Elliot Rodger?
JeffreyButts.net 