Sept. 5 event to close violent prison facility

Dear King Hall Community:

I am writing to request your participation in an important event on September 5, Labor Day. On the 5^th, Books Not Bars, Alternatives for Youth Campaign will hold a rally, cultural gathering, and memorial for Dyron Brewer. (Dyron is one of several youth who died while incarcerated at Chad Youth Prison in Stockton exactly one year ago on this date.) The event promises to bring together families of incarcerated youth, students, activists, young people, formerly incarcerated individuals, community and religious groups, and concerned citizens. The purpose of this gathering: to demand the closure of Chad, the most notorious and brutal of youth facilities in the State of California.

The California Youth Authority is knows as the country’s most violent youth prison system. With a 90 percent recidivism rate, it leads to more crime than it prevents. Last year, the Prison Law Office implemented a major lawsuit against the CYA on behalf of incarcerated youth. (http://www.prisonlaw.com/pdfs/cyastate.pdf) According to a consent decree the State must fix CYA facilities. However, Chaderjian Youth Correctional Facility (Chad) is beyond repair. It should be shut down immediately and youth moved into other facilities. Further, community based rehabilitation programs must be implemented. Housing our most troubled youth in violent prison-like settings is not only inhumane, it is counterproductive. (see articles and reports on Chad conditions and the CYA below.)

The September 5 event is pivotal in the campaign to close Chad. Two weeks following this event, the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice holds its Restructuring Youth Corrections conference for Sacramento officials and lawmakers. Please join Books Not Bars and other community groups at Chad in Stockton on the afternoon of September 5. The drive is less than an hour from Davis and I will coordinate carpools from here. Please save the date now! And, if you plan to attend, please let me know if you require a ride, or have a ride to share.

I will send further information once the semester begins. Please forward!!

Thank you,

Erica Ballinger

UC Davis, King Hall Class of 2007

eballinger(at)ucdavis.edu

*Books not Bars report on Chad conditions: http://www.ellabakercenter.org/page.php?pageid=71&contentid=293

*Sac Bee Editorial Board calls for immediate closure of Chad: http://www.sacbee.com/content/opinion/story/13242914p-14085383c.html

*A report on CYA from the Director of the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice: http://www.cjcj.org/pdf/Close_the_CYA.pdf

*Models for Detention Alternatives: http://www.cjcj.org/jjic/reforming.php#ems