Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana 1600 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd. New Orleans, LA 70133

Senate Bill 317, introduced by Senator Danny Martiny, addresses the unconstitutional sentencing of juveniles for non-homicide offenses to life without parole. In 2010, the Supreme Court in Graham v. Florida made clear the unconstitutionality in sentencing a juvenile (under age 18) to life without parole for non-homicide offenses.

On Saturday, March 24th 2012, youth from around the city of New Orleans came together for the first ever Power of a Million Minds (POMM) Youth Summit at Dillard University.

POMM is a youth led, youth organized, and youth run collaborative comprised of five youth serving organizations in the city of New Orleans. The youth come from all over the city including the African American, Latino, and Vietnamese American communities. Our five groups include Fyre Youth Squad (FYS), The LatiNola Youth Leadership Council (LYLC), Kids Rethink New Orleans Schools (Rethink), Vietnamese American Young Leaders Association of New Orleans (VAYLA), and Young Adults Striving for Success (YASS).

On March 20th,2012 the United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the cases of Jackson v. Hobbs and Miller v. Alabam, argued by JJPL’s co-counsel in our Graham work, Bryan Stevenson. Both cases pertain to 14 year old offenders and address the issue of juveniles being sentenced to mandatory life in prison without parole.

On April 19, 2012 Legal Director Carol Kolinchak participated in a panel discussion at Tulane Law School entitled The School-to-Prison Pipeline & Charter Schools in a Post-Katrina New Orleans. Staff Attorney Ethan Ashley and Youth Organizer Miguel Nunez held various workshops on April 21, 2012 at the Global Youth Service Day Celebration. On March 22, 2012 JJPL Executive Director, Dana Kaplan spoke on the juvenile criminal justice system in New Orleans at The Lens Spring Salon- Focus on Juvenile Justice.

Following the passage of legislation by Representative Damon Baldone of Houma in 2010, a Task Force was created to develop juvenile detention center standards for the state of Louisiana, of which JJPL Director Dana Kaplan was appointed as chair.