Juvenile Justice Matters  

Jason Downs was 16 years old living in Maryland when he was charged as an adult. We’ll talk to Jason about his story and discuss his current role as a criminal defense attorney in Washington, D.C. You won’t want to miss this show.

Deirdre Connor, a reporter at the Florida Times-Union, wrote an extensive story on two young ladies who who are currently charged as adults and in prison. Connor was able to sit down with these two girls and document their stories. We are lucky to have her on the program to discuss juvenile justice issues. You may visit her paper's Webpage and read her story and watch videos from her interview, http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/crime/2009-10-11/story/first_coast_pair_among_floridas_youngest_female_inmates#

Clemmie Greenlee is no stranger to the dangers of gang violence, street life and jail. From the time she was 12 until her early 40s, Clemmie was consumed by a world of gangs, violence, drugs and prostitution. This same world continues to exist today for too many of Nashville’s young people and Clemmie Greenlee is doing something about it. In 2003, the same year she lost her only son to gang violence, Clemmie completed a recovery program and began to work as an advocate for those who were struggling with life in the streets. Now a tireless advocate and a source of inspiration and leadership in the community, Clemmie Greenlee is a Soros Fellow who runs a program called Galaxy Stars, a Nashville based organization dedicated to intervening in the lives of young people and serving those in need. Please join us to hear their story.

Juvenile Justice Matters will interview Tracy McClard, CFYJ spokesperson and parent activist, whose 17 year old son committed suicide in an adult facility after being tried as an adult. Tracy has assisted in creating a Parent Caucus and is also organizing another 5K this month to build awareness around this issue. You won't want to miss this show.

Tune in to Juvenile Justice Matters this Thursday when we talk to Anthony Shepett, who was recently paroled from prison after serving 17 years. Anthony was arrested when he was 16, and by the time he was 18 he had been convicted as an adult of attempted murder and faced 3 life sentences. He was found suitable for parole in March of 2009 at his third suitability hearing. Despite a 4 page letter from the governor opposing the parole, Anthony was released on August 26, 2009 at the age of 34. Don’t miss another great show!

Tune in this Thursday when we take a look at Virginia’s sentencing structure for juveniles. We will be interviewing Kate Duvall, an attorney with JustChildren. She represents individual youth who have been given blended juvenile and adult sentences in unique sentence review hearings. Kate is also involved with Virginia’s Don’t Throw Away the Key campaign, which is focused on reducing the number of youth who are transferred to adult court. We will be discussing how Virginia’s juvenile transfer laws got to where there are today, how JustChildren thinks the laws should change in the future, and how to get involved in the Don’t Throw Away the Key campaign. Don’t miss another great show!