Roundup: Justice Atlas of Sentencing and Corrections, and More

Juvenile Justice News and Related News

• Raising alcohol taxes helps reduce crime, according to a new meta-analysis. I'm curious: would this also apply to crimes committed by teens? 
• This probation officer was once a juvenile offender herself -- a touching story of transformation, coincidentally set in Chicago, one of the original Reclaiming Futures sites. (Hat tip to @piper.)
• Social media is beginning to play a bigger role in the court room. Here's an article aimed at defense attorneys that gives examples (including at least one juvenile case) where what defendants share online is used against them; and where defendants have actively used Facebook and other media as a way to generate support for themselves. One implication: already overburdened defense attorneys must now monitor their clients' social media profiles for evidence that might be used against them. What's been your experience? Share a comment below. (Hat tip to Adriennce C. Barr via National Council of Juvenile and Famliy Court Judges.)

• U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced the launch of his initiative, "Defending Childhood," which is intended to "prevent children's exposure to violence as victims and witnesses, mitigate the negative effects experienced by children exposed to violence, and develop knowledge about and increase awareness of this issue." Eight communities received demonstration grant awards in the first phase, including the Sioux tribe in Rosebud, South Dakota -- the site of the Reclaiming Futures Oyate Teca Owicakiya initiative. (Hat tip to OJJDP.)
• I just ran across the Amicus Girls Study, published in Spring 2010, a nearly two-year study of girls in the Minnesota juvenile justice system. The results may not surprise you, but I was interested to see that one of its recommendations was to "keep track of girls" -- in other words, collect and analyze data about the girls in the system.

 
New Resource: Sentencing and Corrections Atlas

• The Justice Mapping Center has just launched the Justice Atlas of Sentencing and Corrections. Unlike a crime map, the interactive online atlas allows policy makers and others to drill down to follow "residential patterns" of people on probation, parole, or admitted to prison. With data from 22 states, it shows how incarceration rates are concentrated in low-income communities -- urban and rural -- and the way probation and parole revocations drive prison admissions. While not juvenile specific, it should be a useful tool for anyone involved in criminal and juvenile justice advocacy. (Hat tip to the National Reentry Resource Center.)

 
Adolescent Substance Abuse News

• National Drug Facts Week is coming up November 8 - 14, 2010. Follow the link to find events held in your area -- or hold your own, and order copies of "Drugs: Shatter the Myths," from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), so you can have them at your event.  The brochure answers a few of the most common questions from teens about substance use. You might also want to share NIDA for Teens with young people. (Hat tip to Paul Savery.)