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U.S. House Holds Hearing on Youth PROMISE Act
On July 15, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs held a hearing on, H.R. 1064, the Youth Prison Reduction through Opportunity, Mentoring, Intervention, Support and Education Act (“the Youth PROMISE Act”), proactive gang violence prevention legislation sponsored by U.S. Representatives Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-VA) and Michael Castle (R-DE). A companion bill, co-sponsored by Senators Robert “Bob” Casey (D-PA) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME), is pending in the U.S. Senate.
Speakers for the hearing included:
- Marian Wright Edelman, President and Founder, Children's Defense Fund (D.C.)
- Deborah Prothrow-Stith, MD, formerly with the Harvard School of Public Health and currently a consultant with Spencer Stuart (MA)
- Leroy D. Baca, Sherriff, Los Angeles County (CA)
- David B. Muhlhausen, Ph.D., Senior Policy Analyst, The Heritage Foundation (D.C.); and
- Tracy Velázquez, Executive Director, Justice Policy Institute (D.C.).
As of the writing of this column, a video webcast of the hearing is still available at http://judiciary.house.gov/hearings/hear_090715.html. On August 24, 2009, the White House convened a Conference on Gang Violence Prevention and Crime Control. The conference was attended by U.S. mayors and law enforcement officials from across the nation, and featured several panels and presentations on federal, state and local efforts. Rep. Scott was an opening speaker for the event and used the occasion to talk about the failures of overly-punitive approaches and the value of the PROMISE approach.
As of the writing of this column, H.R. 1064 has garnered more than 228 co-sponsors, meaning that more than half the U.S. House of Representatives has signed on in support of the Youth PROMISE Act as introduced. In addition, more than 240 international, national, state and local organizations and jurisdictions have signed on in support of the Youth PROMISE Act, including the American Probation and Parole Association, Boy Scouts of America, Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, the National Association of Counties, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, the National PTA, World Vision and the Cities of Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia and Richmond.
CJJ is an original and proud supporter of the Youth PROMISE Act, and we look forward to continuing to working with CJJ members and allies to educate Members of Congress about the benefits of the PROMISE approach.
To view a copy of CJJ’s letter in support of the Youth PROMISE Act, click here.
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