Books Not Bars

An Oakland-based human rights nonprofit is waging an online drive urging California’s Division of Juvenile Justice to immediately stop extensive isolation of youth prisoners.

Juvenile inmates at California correctional facilities have been held in isolation nearly 24 hours straight on hundreds of occasions this year, in violation of state regulations.

“Our young people can’t afford one more day in these abusive conditions,” said Sumayyah Waheed of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, an Oakland nonprofit that has argued for the closure of DJJ for several years.

California spends $216,000 on each youth it incarcerates, but only about $6,000 on each child it educates.

Parent groups joined California teachers Tuesday on the front lines of a weeklong series of rallies against the possibility of deep budget cuts to education, demanding that state lawmakers raise revenue to adequately fund public schools.

Parents are joining teachers in their week-long series of protests, demanding that state lawmakers make sure public schools are adequately funded.

Families from Berkeley, Oakland and all of the Bay Area have met the groundswell to reach Governor Jerry Brown with a demand that we need close prisons for youth offenders, releasing $102,000 per prisoner and prioritize with our state money education, to bring about the best future for California.

Owen Li of the Ella Baker Center’s Books Not Bars, "Youth prison has become a stepping stone for adult prison. We should not throw away youth."