"Stop The Rail To Jail"

Youth, Adults and Families Challenging The System Across The Country

The CJNY is building a national movement. Stop the Rail to Jail is a movement that connects all of the struggles to keep young people of color out of the system and in programs that serve as alternatives to incarceration within their own communities. The CJNY is made up of organizations that are working to improve the lives of these young people and their families. All of the local and statewide campaign efforts of the CJNY programs make up the structure of this national Stop the Rail to Jail movement. www.cjny.org

Western Region:

Let's Get Free in Oakland, California is putting pressure on the local radio station to open a line of communication between the community activist and radio listeners in hopes of educating the community on how to get involved and fight against injustice in their own communities. For more information contact Let's Get Free at (510) 381-1593.

California Governor Gray Davis proposed budget would result in PAY RAISES FOR PRISON GUARDS AND PINKSLIPS FOR TEACHERS. The Ella Baker Center's Books Not Bars project is launching the "SANE BUDGET CAMPAIGN" this summer 2003 with the goal of transforming California's fiscal and moral priorities. For more information contact Books Not Bars at (415) 951-4844 www.ellabakercenter.org

In Southern California organizers and service providers have come together to organize and challenge the Gang Injunctions. The Youth Justice Coalition (YJC) hosts monthly Gang Profiling Work Group meetings to address issues affecting LA youth and take action against the prison system. The YJC is currently organizing a campaign for "NO YOUTH IN ADULT JAILS!" which aims to close the 42 Juvenile beds at men's central jail. For more information contact the YJC at (323) 240-1449.

Critical Resistance Los Angeles seeks to build an international movement to end the Prison Industrial Complex by challenging the belief that caging and controlling people makes us safe. They plan to help organize a campaign called "Not In Anyone's Backyard" to stop the building of a 512 bed facility in Los Angeles. They are currently organizing open discussions with other groups on this issue and open dialogue on how best to oppose this prison. www.criticalresistance.org

Southern Region:

In Mississippi, Southern Echo is fighting Senate Bill (SB) 2239, a huge injustice within the school system. Under this law a teacher can label a child disruptive three times between the Kindergarten and 12th grade. After the third time the child falls into the category titled "Habitually Disruptive", which means that child can be expelled from the public school system indefinitely. Organizers in Mississippi are initiating a campaign to fight children going "From The School House To The Jail House" because of the overwhelming police contact with youth of color through school referrals. Contact Southern Echo at (601) 352-1500. www.southernecho.org

One of the plaguing issues affecting the state of Georgia right now is Senate Bill 440 (SB440) and Senate Bill 441 (SB441). These bills were passed 10 years ago as a safety clause for Georgia residents to protect them from upcoming "super predators". SB 440/441 tries youth as young as 12 years old as adults for committing what the state calls "7 deadly sins". Activist are drafting legislature to change the SB440/441 and have formed a coalition of parents, organizers, youth and others called "Campaign For Juvenile Justice" who are directly affected by these bills to address this issue and fight this juvenile injustice.

In New Orleans, Louisiana the Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana (JJPL) is currently in the 2nd phase of their fight to close a bad juvenile facility called Tallulah. Their campaign is the "Justice for Youth" campaign and through their organizing and direct action, they have received a commitment to have Tallulah closed by early next year. For more information contact JJPL at (504) 522-5437. www.jjpl.org

Midwest Region:

Peer Jury's/Community Panels for Youth in Chicago, IL is a community-based alternative to Juvenile Court that allow communities to intervene in a youth's life, early on when trouble first begins. Offenders meet with victims in a community mediated hearing, resulting in an accountability contract through which the youth will restore any damage done, as well as receive referrals to appropriate community resources. For more information contact Community Panels for Youth at (312) 503-0396.

Citizens for Community Improvement in Des Moines, Iowa has a youth led program that recently had a zero tolerance victory after training their youth to advocate for themselves to the school district superiors. Student organizers changed the school policies to include retention practices instead of expulsion. For more information contact Des Moines CCI at (515) 255-0800.

The Asian Freedom Project, a voluntary youth organizing program, has been asked to sit on a committee and participate in a work group to review and restructure the juvenile justice system for Dane County in Madison, Wisconsin. For more information contact the Asian Freedom Project at (608) 256-7808.

The South West Youth Collaborative sponsors a youth led activist organization called Generation Y and they are apart of a citywide campaign called "Youth First". The focus of the Youth First campaign is to break down the cycle of youth criminalization be demanding a significant increase in the percentage of the City of Chicago's Budget allocated for positive youth development programs and employment opportunities. Contact them at (773) 476-2464. www.swyc.org

Youth Organizing Direct Action (YODA) - is a program of the Southwest Youth Collaborative that trains youth on how to organize and use direct action to fight for themselves against injustice. Contact them at (773) 476-2464.

Eastern Region:

In New York City, organizers and service providers have created an employment coalition to campaign for more jobs for youth coming out of the prison system. This campaign effort is in response to the growing unemployment population of ex-offenders. For more information contact Friends of the Island Academy at (212) 760-0755.

The "Drop The Rock" Campaign organized by the Juvenile Justice Coalition has been formed in response to the Rockefeller Drug Laws and 16-year-old children being charged as adults.

The Prison Moratorium Project (PMP) and the New York Justice 4 Youth Coalition through the No More Youth Jails Campaign were victorious in removing $64.6 million from the State budget for expansion of Spofford, a notorious juvenile hall in upstate New York. The state planned to expand the hall, now named Bridges, by 200 beds. For more information contact PMP at (718) 260-8805.