New OJJDP Fact Sheet - What Works with Serious Juvenile Offenders

The "Pathways to Desistance" research study is a unique study of what works in the juvenile justice system. This large, multi-site research project followed 1,354 serious juvenile offenders for seven years. An informative brief on the study findings was released in 2009 by the MacArthur Foundation; now, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) has released another fact sheet, titled, "Highlights From Pathways to Desistance: A Longitudinal Study of Serious Adolescent Offenders."

Here's what the study found:

  • Most youth quit or reduce their offending over time.  Only 8.5 percent of the youth in the study persisted at high levels of offending. As Dr. Mulvey explains in the OJJDP fact sheet,

"Two factors that appear to distinguish high-end desisters from persisters are lower levels of substance use and greater stability in their daily routines, as measured by stability in living arrangements and work and school attendance."

  • Providing services and sanctions based on individual need -- factors including substance abuse, mental health needs, family background -- could be more effective than providing them based on severity of the crime and prior convictions. Surprisingly, the researchers found that the youth who persisted in offending and those who reduced their offending behavior got about the same kind and intensity of services.
  • In a related finding, the study found that incarceration did not reduce offending. In fact, for the subgroup of serious juvenile offenders who greatly reduced their offending after contact with the justice system -- who spent about 30 percent of the study followup period in institutional care -- incarceration actually increased their offending to a small, but statistically signifcant degree. 

If locking them up didn't help, what did? Community-based services and probation supervision. As Dr. Mulvey writes,

"Youth who received community-based supervision and aftercare services were more likely to attend school, go to work, and avoid further offending during the 6 months after release, and longer supervision periods increased these benefits."

  • For many of these youth -- those meeting their definition of "serious juvenile offenders" -- substance abuse treatment is key, as the MacArthur Foundation brief makes clear:

"Levels of substance use and associated problems are very high in these young offenders. More than one-third qualify for a diagnosis of substance use disorder in the year prior to the baseline interview, and over 80 percent report having used drugs or alcohol during the previous six months. Moreover, the level of substance use walks in lockstep with illegal activity over the follow-up period: more substance use, more criminal offending."

Treating youth for at least 90 days, with their family members involved, cut both their substance abuse and their offending, at least during the six months after treatment.  (Tellingly, the sub-study this conclusion was based on, "Substance use treatment outcomes in a sample of male serious juvenile offenders," which appeared in 2009 in the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, found that only 25% of the serious juvenile offenders in its sample received treatment that included family members. The study authors speculated that this might be partly because these offenders were being treated in secure institutional environments, rather than the community.)

Kentucky turns supply of sodium thiopental to DEA - AP

Ky. hands over its lethal injection drug to DEA AP

Kentucky has turned over its supply of a key lethal injection drug to the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.

Kentucky Justice Department spokeswoman Jennifer Brislin said in a statement Friday that the state turned over its supply of sodium thiopental to be used as evidence in a case in another jurisdiction.

The drug has been in short supply since its primary manufacturer in the United States, Hospira Inc., stopped making the drug earlier this year.

Sodium thiopental is a fast-acting sedative that is typically the first drug used when putting inmates to death.

 

Update 4:41pm   Tennessee also turns over drug supply 

Change from 1000 yards to 1000 feet from school became effective on March 23, 2011 under HB 121

The change comes in the first section of KRS 218A.1411 (see below).   This change was also made as part of the new “Penal Code Reform” (HB 467) but the difference is that HB 121 has an emergency provision, meaning it became effective on 3/23/11 (the date it was signed).  The Penal Code reform would not become effective until 6/8/11. 

This means that:
(a)    Offenses committed after 3/23/11 are only subject to enhancement if they were committed within 1000 feet of a school, without question; and
(b)    Offenses committed before 3/23/11 are subject to KRS 446.110, which provides that where a new bill mitigates a penalty, the defendant can opt for the penalty in the new bill.  Since KRS 218A.1411 is a penalty provision, I would argue that 446.110 applies to the that provision.  If that is the case any offense for which final judgment has not been entered should only be enhanced under that provision if the transaction occurred within 1000 feet of a school, rather than 1000 yards.

Section 8.   KRS 218A.1411 is amended to read as follows:
(1)      Any person who unlawfully traffics in a controlled substance classified in Schedules I, II, III, IV or V, or a controlled substance analogue in any building used primarily for classroom instruction in a school or on any premises located within one thousand (1,000) feet[yards] of any school building used primarily for classroom instruction shall be guilty of a Class D felony, unless a more severe penalty is set forth in this chapter, in which case the higher penalty shall apply. The measurement shall be taken in a straight line from the nearest wall of the school to the place of violation.
(2)      The provisions of subsection (1) of this section shall not apply to any misdemeanor offense relating to naphthylprovalerone, 3,4-methylenedioxypyrovalerone, 3,4-methylenedioxymethylcathinone, 4-methylmethcathinone, synthetic cannabinoid agonists,[ or] piperazines, or salvia.

Contributed by Kristen Bailey and Tim Arnold

Featured case - COA March opinion on Double Jeopardy

Timothy Quinn Beeler v. Commonwealth
Rendered 03/04/2011, To Be Published
2009-CA-001133-MR
Vacating.
Opinion by J. Combs, Concurring Opinion by Clayton in which J. Wine concurs. 
Roy A. Durham II, DPA counsel for Appellant
Perry T. Ryan counsel, Assistant Attorney General for Appellee

Prosecutions for violations of the same statutory provisions in separate jurisdictions violated Double Jeopardy.  Both Hardin and Hart Counties indicted Beeler under the same statutes, KRS 218A.1432 and 502.020.  Although Beeler pled to a lesser offense in Hart County (attempt to manufacture methamphetamine), that plea did not bar him from asserting a double jeopardy violation.  The two prosecutions arose from the identical bundle of facts.  Although the Commonwealth’s Attorney in Hardin County claimed that the traffic stop in Elizabethtown and the search of the residence in Hart County were different occurrences, both cases relied on evidence seized in both locations and neither case could be prosecuted adequately without evidence from the other case.   Because both convictions arose from the same transaction and were not two distinct statutory provisions, Jeopardy had attached to the second conviction in Hardin County and therefore, that conviction must be vacated. 

Full opinion is available here

Contributed by Susan Balliet

Temporary Ban on Executions in Kentucky Upheld

Judge's temporary execution ban upheld — Associated Press

Link to the order

The court, voting 5-2, left in place a lower court's order temporarily barring executions while Gregory L. Wilson, 54, and other Death Row inmates challenge the state's execution protocol.

The decision means Kentucky won't be able to carry out an execution, despite having recently purchased enough of a key drug for three lethal injections.

Defense lawyers in three states (including Kentucky) urging DOJ to look into execution drug sources

Lawyers in 3 states want fed execution drug probe AP

Kentucky public defender David Barron said in a letter to the Justice Department that there were multiple questions about how CorrectHealth, a Stockbridge, Ga.-based company, got a supply of sodium thiopental to sell to Kentucky. Barron also wants to know if Kentucky officials complied with federal law when it contacted Kayem Pharmaceuticals in India.

Barron represents Ralph Baze, who was sentenced to death for killing a sheriff and a deputy.

"It is likely that illegally imported or possessed thiopental will be used in the execution of Mr. Baze and multiple other individuals on Kentucky's death row," Barron wrote.

Kentucky bought 18 grams of sodium thiopental - enough for three executions - in February from CorrectHealth, which is owned by Dr. Carlo Musso, who assisted Georgia in conducting executions. Musso didn't immediately return a telephone message but has previously denied selling the drug.

Eight days after getting the drug from the Georgia company, Kentucky officials contacted Kayem Pharmaceuticals in India, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press. But the state opted not to buy the drug because it is sold in packs of 500 single-gram vials for about $5,000, which is more than the state needs.

"It would require us to alter our normal procurement process and would require Kentucky to obtain enough thiopental for more than 80 executions - a quantity which would expire long before it could be utilized," Kentucky Justice Cabinet spokeswoman Jennifer Brislin said.

Executions in Kentucky are on hold after a judge in September found problems with the state's protocol, a decision unrelated to the drug shortage.

States Rethink Drug Laws - Wall Street Journal

Treatment Gains Favor Over Long Prison Terms; a New Look at Rehabilitation

A growing number of states are renouncing some of the long prison sentences that have been a hallmark of the war on drugs and instead focusing on treatment, which once-skeptical lawmakers now say is proven to be less expensive and more effective.

Kentucky on Thursday became the latest to make the shift when Gov. Steve Beshear signed into law a measure increasing spending on rehabilitation programs and intensive drug testing. The law also reduces penalties for many drug offenses and may allow some traffickers and users of smaller amounts of drugs to avoid prison.

US Supreme Court Issues Opinions on AEDPA and DNA Requests

This morning the Supreme Court issued opinion on two criminal justice procedure issues of note.  Here are the details and links to the opinons via SCOTUSblog:

Wall v. Kholi (09-868) -- In a unanimous opinion by Justice Alito, The Court affirmed the decision of the First Circuit.  The case concerns the time limits for filing a federal petition for habeas corpus under AEDPA, which generally allows inmates one year to file a petition, but tolls the time limit while the inmate’s case is on “collateral review” in the state courts.  The Court held that the phrase “collateral review” in AEDPA means judicial review of a judgment in a proceeding that is not part of direct review.  Accordingly, state proceedings on an inmate’s motion to reduce his sentence did not toll the time to file his federal habeas petition.

Justice Scalia concurred in part.

Skinner v. Switzer (09-9000) -- In a 6-3 opinion by Justice Ginsburg, the Court reversed the decision of the Fifth Circuit.   Skinner filed a civil rights suit under Section 1983, seeking access to DNA evidence to challenge his state conviction.  The Court held that federal courts have subject matter jurisdiction over such claims, which are properly cognizable under Section 1983.

Justice Thomas filed a dissent joined by Justice Kennedy and Justice Alito.

Sweeping Penal Code Bill Signed into Law

Beshear signs into law sweeping bill to overhaul criminal code

Gov. Steve Beshear signed into law Thursday a broad overhaul of Kentucky’s criminal code, saying House Bill 463 “helps us be tough on crime, while being smart on crime."

The legislation changes Kentucky drug laws by reducing prison time for low-risk, non-violent drug offenders who possess small amounts of illegal drugs.

It then reinvests the savings from the reduced prison costs into drug treatment opportunities for offenders who need help.

The full text can be found here

Watch this blog for summaries and analysis in the coming months.