Healing and Hope 2016

November 15th | Jones Day | Washington, D.C.

This year’s Healing and Hope was an incredible evening. Our wonderful honorees left all in attendance with a sense of inspiration and hope for the future. We look forward to seeing you all next year!

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Highlights of the 2016 Convening

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“It was a blessing to be invited to the Convening and to meet so many people committed to this work. I plan to stay involved with this group of people until we bring about the change we all so desperately desire. I never imagined that the simple act of forgiveness would lead me to the Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth and new friends of like minds who will last a lifetime. May we all be blessed along the journey.” – Lynette Grace

Last month, we hosted our most widely attended annual national convening to date in Washington, DC. We gathered together an incredibly diverse field of over 125 participants from 28 states to share strategies, build new relationships, and strengthen our movement to end life without parole for children. We were joined by parole board members, state legislators, former law enforcement officials, litigators, formerly incarcerated individuals, family members of loved ones serving life sentences, and family members of victims to youth violence. The conversations were sobering, emotional, empowering, inspiring, productive. Where else would a parole board chair, the president of a correctional association, and a recently paroled individual speak on the same panel? The convening provided a unique opportunity to utilize the diverse experiences in the room to inform our strategies going into 2017.

“The convening energizes me to do the work of abolishing life without parole for children. Being with the other family members and the staff of CFSY, along with the beautiful men and women who have grown up in prison and turned their lives around, is like being bathed in love for several days. It means the world to me.” – Linda White, loved one is a victim of a crime committed by a child. 

Our convening opened just one week following one of the most divisive presidential elections in history, so it was particularly appropriate that we began with a plenary on harm, healing, and hope. The panel featured the personal journeys toward forgiveness two parents who both lost loved ones to youth violence have taken, as well as the experiences of remorse and hope from three formerly incarcerated individuals. These presentations are what make the Convening such an invaluable experience. Each of our workshops and plenaries blended professional experience with personal testimonies that grounded our discussions in the context of the people whose lives are directly impacted by youth violence and the extreme sentencing of children.

“I am grateful that the Campaign invited me to take part in this year’s convening. I value the visits we made to Congressional offices and the opportunity I was given to serve on a panel and share my knowledge of the parole process. Nonetheless, the greatest gift of this convening was being able to spend time with others who, like me, were once serving JLWOP and were afforded a second chance. Each one of these individuals is a shining example that no child is born bad and so many of us have unlimited potential waiting to be realized. We shared our experiences and success with each other, and we look forward to supporting one another moving forward.” – Andrew Hundley, sentenced to life without parole as a teen and released as a result of the Supreme Court decisions in Miller and Montgomery. 

Our conversations ranged from technical discussions about parole to prioritizing racial justice and utilizing social media to strengthen advocacy campaigns. Our discussions were led by renowned figures in their respective fields – such as Steven Drizin, co-founder of the Center on the Wrongful Convictions of Youth, and Sheryl Ranatza, the Chairperson of the Louisiana Parole Board – as well as by individuals directly impacted by the extreme sentencing of youth.

“Being a part of the national convening each year is extremely important to me. It strengthens my resolve and reminds me that we have made tremendous progress. This year I was especially encouraged by the large constantly growing group of formerly incarcerated youth that have returned home and have become a part of  theCFSY family, dedicating their lives to eliminating JLWOP. They are the ultimate proof that no child is born bad and no child is beyond redemption and rehabilitation.” – Anita Colon, sister of someone serving life without parole in Pennsylvania. 

I am deeply grateful to all who traveled to be with us, those who shared their ideas, and most especially, those who shared their personal stories. We left energized, enlightened, and excited about doubling down our efforts to end extreme sentences for children. Together, we will end the practice of sentencing our children to die in prison. Onward! Jody Kent Lavy Executive Director The Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth

They Call Us Monsters Viewing at the Capitol

Join the Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth, The National Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Coalition, and special guest Congressman Tony Cardenas (D-CA) for a viewing of Ben Lear’s searing but sensitive documentary, “They Call Us Monsters”. The film chronicles the lives of three young men given extreme sentences for crimes they were convicted of as juveniles. A debate within the California State Senate over a bill that would allow juvenile offenders to be paroled after 15 years serves as the film’s backdrop. The film shows the State Senate’s struggle with the bill, weighing public safety and serious criminal activity over scientific studies that show children are different than adults — they’re more emotional, compulsive, and risk-taking.

We hope you can join us for a great film and discussion.

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CFSY joins Changing Minds Campaign kickoff at White House

On Wednesday, October 19th, CFSY Youth Justice Advocate Xavier McElrath-Bey and Executive Director Jody Kent Lavy joined Futures Without Violence, the Defending Childhood Initiative, the U.S Department of Justice, and many of our nation’s leaders at the White House to launch the Changing Minds Campaign—a national movement to address the needs of children who are impacted by violence and trauma.

We are grateful for the opportunity to share our efforts to end life without parole for children and why “no child is born bad,” to remind others that most people who were given extreme prison sentences in childhood were also once victims of violence and trauma and that our responsibility to our children should not end the moment they make a horrible decision or mistake. We should never give up and always strive to ensure healing and a second chance.

October is Youth Justice Awareness Month!

October has been Youth Justice Awareness Month (YJAM) since 2008. During YJAM, people across the country have organized events that have helped to raise awareness, strengthen coalitions, and build campaigns to keep children out of the adult criminal justice system. For the second straight year, President Obama has formalized October as Youth Justice Awareness Month with a Presidential Proclamation.

Throughout October, the CFSY will run a series of blogs and social media posts highlighting YJAM, our work within broader juvenile justice advocacy, and our conviction that “no child is born bad”. Stay tuned to this page for updates as they come!

October 6: Kicking off our YJAM blog series with commentary from CFSY Executive Director Jody Kent Lavy

October is Youth Justice Awareness Month – as proclaimed by President Obama — and we are celebrating and honoring all of the hard work of community leaders, advocates, coalition builders, legislative champions, judicial officials, defenders, and directly impacted individuals who seek to ensure that our country holds children accountable in age-appropriate ways that account for their experiences with trauma and their capacity to grow and change.

Our partners at the Campaign for Youth Justice started Youth Justice Awareness Month in 2008 to draw attention to the need to end the prosecution of youth in the adult criminal justice system. As awareness has grown, so have opportunities to create change, so the founders have decided to focus this year and in the future on transforming awareness into action. We are thrilled to join them in their efforts.

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October 13: Redeemed Juveniles Like Me Are Not the Exception from CFSY Youth Justice Advocate Xavier McElrath-Bey

Today is special for me for several reasons.

For starters, I will have the honor of spending much of the day in a symposium at San Quentin State Prison in California. I especially look forward to sharing time with the members of KID C.A.T. (Creating Awareness Together), a group of individuals who were sentenced to life without parole when they were children. After years of incarceration, they created their own support group with a mission to organize acts of community service and goodwill.

During my first two visits to San Quentin earlier this year, I learned about the group’s  past activities, which have included conducting food and hygiene product drives for the homeless, fundraising to sponsor youth involvement in community programs, raising awareness and money for cancer research, and folding hundreds of origami hearts for kids at Oakland’s Children’s Hospital. All these activities took place behind the walls of San Quentin and were facilitated by people once considered to be heartless, remorseless monsters as a result of the now-disproven “superpredator theory.”

I am not surprised by their efforts. I recognize that their actions are the reflections of an eternal apology that I, too, am living out. Fourteen years ago today, at age 26, I walked out of the prison gates with a remorseful heart and a mission to advocate on behalf of children who are exposed to violence and the justice system. After pleading guilty to murder, I had been incarcerated half of my life.

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October is Youth Justice Awareness Month

October is Youth Justice Awareness Month – as proclaimed by President Obama — and we are celebrating and honoring all of the hard work of community leaders, advocates, coalition builders, legislative champions, judicial officials, defenders, and directly impacted individuals who seek to ensure that our country holds children accountable in age-appropriate ways that account for their experiences with trauma and their capacity to grow and change.

Our partners at the Campaign for Youth Justice started Youth Justice Awareness Month in 2008 to draw attention to the need to end the prosecution of youth in the adult criminal justice system. As awareness has grown, so have opportunities to create change, so the founders have decided to focus this year and in the future on transforming awareness into action. We are thrilled to join them in their efforts.

Despite the ongoing efforts of advocates, litigators and others throughout the county, children are still prosecuted as adults, and often are sentenced to life without parole and other extreme punishments. When we sentence children to die in prison, we ignore what adolescent brain science tells us and how that has impacted several recent decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court:  Children are different from adults, both physically and developmentally. Children are less able to think through the long-term consequences of their actions, control their impulses or avoid pressure from peers or adults. Because they are still developing, they also possess a unique capacity to grow and change. In fact, we know that most children grow out of illegal behaviors by the time they reach their late 20s.

Thankfully, we are moving toward a justice system that less punitive in its dealings with children. In the last decade, the U.S. Supreme Court has significantly scaled back the use of the most extreme sentences for children, and has required opportunities for review for everyone sentenced as a child to a mandatory life-without-parole sentence. The Court also has said that these death-in-prison sentences are appropriate only when it can be proven that a child is irredeemable.

In addition, 17 states now ban these sentences for children. This includes both traditionally conservative states such as West Virginia and Nevada as well as traditionally liberal states such as Hawaii and Massachusetts.

Yet, our work is not done. We must ensure that all of these court and policy decisions are implemented in meaningful ways to provide everyone serving one of these sentences with a reasonable opportunity for release.

Throughout October, we will share commentaries of directly impacted individuals. We hope that you will be moved and inspired by their testimonies.

Thank you for your partnership as we work to ensure that no child is ever condemned to die in prison and all children are given a second chance.

Where in the world is CFSY?

Upcoming
October 12 — Advocacy Director James Dold will participate in Reelworld’s Media for Impact Conference in Toronto to discuss how the CFSY used the film 15 to Life in our advocacy efforts.
October 13 — Youth Justice Advocate Xavier McElrath-Bey will deliver a presentation to juvenile lifers, fellow advocates and others at San Quentin State Prison.
Recent presentations, keynotes and events

October 1 — Xavier was a keynote speaker at the Rotary Foundation’s 100th Anniversary celebration in Cleveland, Ohio.

September 20 — Advocacy Director James Dold attended a roundtable discussion about the role of victims in the criminal justice debate at the 2016 National Training Institute of the National Center for Victims of Crime in Philadelphia.
September 11 — Xavier delivered a keynote address entitled “Throwaway Children” at the Lakeshore Unitarian Society in Chicago.
James Ross, right, with Ronald Simpson-Bey, who lost a child to violence committed by a youth, and Andrea Clark, Founder and Executive Director of Mothers of Murdered Children
August 26 — Montgomery Implementation Coordinator Rebecca Turner participated in training at session at the University of Louisiana at Monroe for attorney representing clients who are being resentenced as a result of the Miller and Montgomery decisions. The training was hosted by the Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights and the Louisiana Public Defender Board.

August 21 — James Ross, CFSY’s director of outreach and engagement, attended the Mothers of Murdered Children gala in Detroit. The event which brought together mothers from throughout the country who have lost children to violence. 

August 19  — Xavier presented as part of the Civic Consulting Alliance & Illinois Justice Project Speaker’s Series in Chicago.

August 12 — Xavier facilitated a workshop with ICAN members Traci Rutherford and Joseph Farias at the National Association for Counsel of Children Conference in Philadelphia.

August 10-13 — James Dold attended the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers Annual Conference in Palm Beach Florida.

Xavier at the Civic Consulting Alliance  event

August 8-11 — Xavier participated in the panel “Reaching Across the Aisle on Juvenile Justice” during the National Conference of State Legislators 2016 Legislative Summit in Chicago.

August 3-4 — Executive Director Jody Kent Lavy, Xavier and ICAN member Dolphy Jordan met with and presented to Starbucks leadership in Seattle.

August 2  — Rebecca participated in a training program in South Carolina regarding Miller/Montgomery resentencing issues. The training was hosted by the South Carolina Commission on Indigent Defense, Justice 360, and the Cornell Law School Juvenile Justice Clinic.

July 11 — Xavier and Xavier delivered a presentation about life without parole for children to staff at Google in San Francisco.

July 10 —  Xavier and Jody met with members of Kid CAT, a group comprised of juvenile lifers at San Quentin State Prison in California.
June 26 — James Ross spoke about the national landscape during a statewide meeting of family members and friends of people serving life without parole for crimes committed as children in Michigan. The gathering was sponsored by ACLU of Michigan Juvenile Life Without Parole Initiative.

 

Years after they gave him his start, Xavier returns to Starbucks

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Youth Justice Advocate Xavier McElrath-Bey delivered a keynote address about life-without-parole sentences for children to staff at the Starbucks Corporation in Seattle in August. He was joined by Executive Director Jody Kent Lavy and Dolphy Jordan, a member of the Incarcerated Children’s Advocacy Network (ICAN), who also delivered remarks during the event.

Starbucks hired Xavier for his first job when he was released from prison nearly 14 years ago. Here are his reflections on that visit:

“Visiting the Starbucks headquarters brought back a flood of memories and appreciation for what they once represented in my life. Fresh out of prison at age 26 and never having lived as an adult in free society, I was met with the additional challenge of finding employment with a criminal record.

Although I was a child at the time of my arrest in 1989, I was charged as an adult, which meant that my record will be visible to employers for the rest of my life. Over and over, I had been denied a job – even though I had earned a college degree while I was incarcerated. I used my last bus fare to visit a Starbucks store for an interview and I was hired. Within days, my world changed forever. With a job, I was able to survive and pursue a master’s degree while working part-time. This opportunity came because of the good heart and instincts of one store manager who believed in me.

During my visit at headquarters, I discovered that Starbucks has embarked upon a great mission: to partner with other corporations in forming the largest employer-led coalition to provide job opportunities to youth in America. The 100,000 Opportunities Initiative seeks to connect the 5.5 million youth aged 16 to 24 who are not in school are working with the employers who need their skills and abilities. The initiative resonated with me on many levels, in particular because most youth in the justice system were once very much like these young people. And most youth who were sentenced to life without parole faced these realities and other obstacles at the time of their arrests, much as I did.”