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Fifteen states allow prosecutors unfettered power to decide whether a child will be tried in a juvenile or adult court.

Who does this antiquated practice serve?

#juvenile justice #Prison Reform #Criminal justice

We need to not just let our prisoners vote, but encourage them to participate in politics.

“The best and most cost effective way to decrease the prison population and reduce recidivism is to get prisoners the education and job training they need to enter the workforce once they're released.”

#prisons #Prison Reform

Despite their limited effects on juveniles, new federal guidelines on solitary signal broad policy shifts for adult prisoners.

“Solitary is a prison within a prison. Just as society uses prisons to disappear social problems rather than solve them, the prison system uses solitary to disappear its problems.”

#solitary #solitary confinement #Prison Reform #prisons

Star Wars is everywhere you look, including here: http://www.truth-out.org/art/item/34043-gift-shopping-2015

#Star Wars #holiday shopping

Police officers are rarely penalized for killing people, but Black women are frequently punished for choosing to survive.

"Someday I will need to explain to my kids why they don't have their father. I never meant to hurt him that day; I only acted in fear for my life. I have to forgive myself, but not for surviving, and I don't think I should be punished for defending my life. I have to get home to my kids as soon as I can and be the best mother I can be. I need a second chance at life for them and for myself." - Naomi Freeman

#chicago #police violence #self defense #laquan mcdonald

After the Paris attacks, we must safeguard the arena of coexistence, where people of all faiths and none remain unified on the principles of common humanity.

“But safeguarding the "grey zone" means more than bandying about the word 'solidarity' - it means enacting citizen-solidarity by firmly rejecting efforts by both ISIS and the far-right to exploit terrorism as a way to transform our societies into militarized police-states where dissent is demonized, the Other is feared, and mutual paranoia is the name of the game.”

#ISIS #islamophobia #terrorism #paris attacks #ISIL #Paris #war on terror

After the Paris attacks, we should be mindful of strategic moves to eliminate personal freedoms by the state.

“We are seeing now how quickly people are instructed to make their identity one with the state - and told that this compliance is a form of solidarity with the victims of violence. However, we must always remember that people - not the state - were the ones who were harmed, and people are now being forced to sacrifice their freedoms.”

The power of the Black community has been asserted, and the legitimacy of a politician has been denied.

“At this tense moment, as we all await the trauma of our city, and the world, bearing witness to yet another police murder, Rahm Emanuel will find no free shelter. His choices have paved the path to this moment, and no one who cares about our city should stand beside him as he calls for calm and patience. “Instead, we should stand with those whose choices have always reflected a willingness to fight for a better Chicago.”

#laquan mcdonald #police brutality #black lives matter

Contributors to a new anthology discuss the value of imagining a feminist utopia.

“The greatest limitation to our ability to imagine utopias is also the reason it's so important: The reality of today can start to restrict what we want for tomorrow.” - Alexandra Brodsky

#feminism #abolition #disability activism #inequality

Through their work, artists seek to lift up the resilience, power and beauty of trans and gender-nonconforming communities of color.

“Trans Day of Resilience is an extension and reimagining of Transgender Day of Remembrance, the annual event memorializing people (mostly Black trans women) killed by anti-trans violence. We acknowledge and denounce the transphobic and misogynist violence that disproportionately impacts trans women and femmes of color. We pay respect to those we have lost. At the same time, our goal is to lift up the resilience, power and beauty of trans and gender-nonconforming communities of color. This collection of art serves to honor our leadership, our fortitude and our divinity.”

A new study's findings on self-induction in Texas show what is at stake in the first Supreme Court abortion case in nearly a decade.

“The study found that the populations most familiar with self-induced abortion methods are those most acutely affected by recent clinic closures - rural communities, poor people, immigrants, undocumented people and people of color - leading researchers to anticipate increases in self-induced abortions should clinic-based care become even harder to access. International studies support the hypothesis that reduced access to clinics will only lead to rising rates of self-induced abortion. Because of an existing lack of access, residents of areas near the Texas-Mexico border in the Rio Grande Valley are at particular risk should further legal restrictions reduce access to clinic-based care.”

#abortion #pro-choice #Texas #supreme court

Extend love, rather than judgment to those who are hurting.

“You're not wrong for grieving the harm done in Paris. The answer is more compassion, not less. And vigilance, because we know that this is how the cycle of violence continues, and if we don't stand in the way of endless war and Islamophobia, there will be more moments of extraordinary violence the world over, and we will have had a hand in each of them, because our country drops the very bombs that radicalize those who would carry out attacks like those of last week.”

#Paris Attack #paris

Is the World Health Organization forsaking science for the sake of special interests?

“Donor money doesn't always speak loudly, but it's hard not to hear it whispering in your ear. Why did the WHO beat such a hasty retreat from evidence-based science? The scientists researching whether or not Depo-Provera increases HIV risk deserve to know. So do women's health and AIDS activists. So does the public that puts its faith in the WHO to be an impartial judge.”

The suffering will not end until civilians demand a different way.

“Many years ago, I became fed up with the hollow "thank yous" and stopped celebrating Veterans Day. Today, I join with Veterans For Peace in a call to Reclaim November 11th as Armistice Day - a day to think about peace and thank those who served by working to end war. I'm tired of us vets being used for war and then many of us being pretty much discarded. Instead of thanking us, change how we are treated and work to end war. That is a real tribute.”

#veteran's day #veteran's benefits #veterans

Long before CeCe McDonald, Janet Mock and Laverne Cox started making headlines, there was Miss Major.

“My advice to any of the girls is to hold on to who they are. You know, we get threatened and challenged so much because of the people who we are. You know, I didn't wake up Tuesday and go, ‘Wow, I'm going to choose to be a woman’ - that's not how this goes. My advice to any of the girls is to hang on to who they are, believe in themselves, and go forward. Don't let these motherfuckers stop us.” - Miss Major, trans activist and veteran of the Stonewall Riots

#transgender #transphobia #trans rights #stonewall

For more than 10,000 years, the Badger-Two Medicine area near Glacier National Park in Montana has provided subsistence and identity for the Blackfeet Nation.

“The Blackfeet believe that their people were created among the mountains and springs that rise from where Badger Creek and the Two Medicine River trace their headwaters. But the Blackfeet aren't the only ones who value the region. The oil and gas industry also have their eyes on the area - and for more than 30 years, they've been fighting to drill the hell out of it.”

#Indigenous #fossil fuels #Blackfeet #indigenous rights

Nearly a year after San Jose shut down the Bay Area's biggest homeless encampment, hundreds still live along city creeks. What went wrong?

“And San Jose, like many urban areas in California, lacks the resources to deal adequately with its homeless population, with three out of four living outdoors rather than in shelters. By comparison, 95 percent of New York City's homeless population is housed in city-run shelters.”

#homeless #homelessness #California #the bay

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