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NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN MONDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2009
Waving the wheat
Ryan McGeeney/KANSAN
Brent Blazek, Lenexa senior, Jonathan Collins, Highland freshman, and Devin Burns, Wichita sophomore, join other fans in Allen Fieldhouse on Saturday afternoon in cheering on the Jahawke from their 78-67 victory over the Oklahoma State Cowboys.
Too many juveniles sent to prison
FEDERAL
Erica Olivares, 26, draws pictures with labeh Hutchinson, 4, at the Casey Family Programs building in Cheyenne, Wyo. on July 28. Olivares is an alumni of the juvenile justice system and helps to mentor a child upon for up to an hour.
Federal law subject to change after examination by the Senate Judiciary Committee
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BY MEAD GRUVER
Associated Press
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — When Erica Olivares ran away from home at age 16, the penalty was not a stern lecture — it was a month in Laramie County jail. Soon, under the tutelage of adult criminals, she was addicted to drugs.
"Methamphetamine. I'd never even heard about that. And I heard about that in there," said Olivares, now 26.
Legally, she should never have been in a position to learn such harsh lessons. Runaways are not supposed to be put in jail, let alone meet adult lawbreakers on the inside, under a 34-year-old federal law called the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act.
Yet year after year, some state disregard key parts of the law with little consequence, an Associated Press examination has found. Those states included Wyoming, Mississippi, South Carolina and Washington in 2006, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press under the Freedom of Information Act.
The federal law provides funds for compliance, money that can be withheld for failure to comply, just as millions in federal highway funds can be lost by states not setting a drinking age of 21. But the
The U.S. Department of Justice, which administers the act, has a policy of not naming publicly the noncompliant states and not disclosing how those states have run afoul of the law. As a result, many kids become victims, advocates say.
"Methamphetamine, I'd never even heard about that. And I heard about that in there."
ERICA OLIVARES
Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act provides far less grant money — from $600,000 to about $7.5 million annually per state. This is less than the cost of building juvenile lockups and hiring guards trained to work with juveniles. States feel less public pressure to comply, juvenile advocates say.
D. C.-based group that lobbies to keep youths out of jail. "They can be harmed in adult jail; they can be harmed in juvenile correctional facilities."
"Kids' lives are litterally at stake," said Liz Ryan, executive director of the Campaign for Youth Justice, a Washington.
The Senate Judiciary Committee began debating renewal of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act in 2008. The process bogged down but is expected
to resume in the new Congress. Ryan said she's hopeful that the Obama administration will be on board to improve the law significantly and release to the public more information gathered under the act.
— Second, if they are put in an adult jail — for an adult felony or if space isn't immediately available at a juvenile facility — they must be separated from adult inmates.
First, juveniles generally should not be held in adult tail.
The law contains four core areas:
Third, juveniles
than other kids.
— Finally, states should not lock up minority youth at a higher rate
In 2006, Mississippi locked up nearly twice as many youths for crimes related to their age and sent eight times as many youths to adult jails as the federal standard allows. In addition, Mississippi has run into trouble year after year for jailing too many minority youths.
should not be locked up for age-specific crimes, such as running away or possessing alcohol.
LIZRYAN Executive director of the Campaign for Youth Justice
"... they can be harmed in juvenile correctional facilities."
Mississippi officials said they're working to get the state back on board. They're hoping to get more state funding for new facilities and employees to work with troubled kids.
As it is, Wyoming locks up youth at a rate $2\frac{1}{2}$ times the national average and has the second-highest rate of jailing juveniles in the nation.
The University of Kansas Chancellor's Student Awards Committee
is accepting nominations and applications for the following graduating senior awards:
The Agnes Wright Strickland Award The Class of 1913 Award
*The Rusty Leffel Concerned Student Award
*The Leffel Award is not limited to graduating seniors The Donald K. Alderson Memorial Award The Alexis F. Dillard Student Involvement Award The Caryl K. Smith Student Leader Award
Nomination and application forms are online at: http://www.vpss.ku.edu/awards
Nominations must be received by Friday, February 13, 2009, at 5:00 p.m. Applications must be received by Friday, February 27, 2009, at 5:00 p.m.
Drunken driving laws examined
STATE
Board concludes system needs overhaul
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WICHITA — A state board appointed to examine drunken driving laws in Kansas has concluded that the whole system needs a major overhaul.
The Kansas Substance Abuse Policy Board says the state's system for punishing drunken drivers is "so complex and so dysfunctional that it is likely impervious to quick fixes."
"I can assure you that every member of this board was somewhat surprised at how ineffective the system is." Russell Jennings, board chairman, said.
"If it's the 14th or the fourth offense, the penalty is the same under our law" Jennings said.
The report, distributed to legislators last month, is especially critical of the lack of an enhanced penalty for multiple offenders after their third DUI conviction.
While state law makes a third DUI conviction a felony that is
The board also said the state has too many jurisdictions — 416, including 31 state judicial districts and 385 municipal courts — with each jurisdiction setting its own standards for substance abuse treatment and education.
The board's report mentioned two specific DUI cases, one of which involved an Oct. 1 crash in Wichita in which Claudia Mijares and her 4-year-old daughter were run over and killed as they walked to the girl's preschool.
supposed to be prosecuted in state court, Jennings said the law seems to reward municipal courts for overlooking a conviction if it lets them collect more court costs and fines.
Jennings said the report recommends that legislators resist the temptation to "cherry pick" improvements to the state's DUI laws and instead review the whole system.
NATIONAL
Pilot interviewed after saving lives
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The interview with Sullenberger and the other four crew members was broadcast Sunday, their first since US Airways Flight 1549 landed in the frigid water Jan. 15.
Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger said in an interview with CBS "60 Minutes" that the sound of the geese hitting the plane and the smell of burning poultry entering the cabin was "shocking."
NEW YORK — The pilot who ditched his jetliner in the Hudson River and saved the lives of everyone on board said he had a "sickening" feeling when a flock of birds disabled both engines with violent thuds, crippling the plane at 3,000 feet over the nation's most populous city.
Sullenberger said that in the aftermath of the emergency landing, he lay awake at night second-guessing his performance, even
though all 155 people aboard survived.
"The first few nights were the worst," Sullenberger said. "When the 'what ifs' started."
He said he initially had trouble forgiving himself because he thought he could have done something different in that "critical situation."
Sullenberger landed the plane near two ferry terminals, and rescue boats appeared within minutes to take the 150 passengers and five crew members to safety.
He said he no longer regretted his actions that day, calling his decision to land in the river "the only viable alternative" to attempting a return to LaGuardia Airport or landing at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey.
When the pilot got official confirmation that everyone had survived, "I felt like the weight of the universe had been lifted off my heart," he said.
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