As Prop 57 goes into effect, experts debate impact on youth, prison overcrowding

Mule Creek State Prison, 2006 (Photo Courtesy of California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation)

In November, Californians passed Proposition 57 by a 64.5 percent vote. Formally known as the California Parole for Non-Violent Criminals and Juvenile Court Trial Requirements Initiative, and strongly endorsed by Governor Jerry Brown, Oakland’s former mayor, the new law attempts to ease prison overcrowding by increasing parole opportunities for inmates and changing how juvenile offenders…

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Youth Alive! tries to break cycle of violence in Oakland

In a Castlemont High School classroom converted into a theater for the day, seven-year-old Junior returned home from school to face his parents after receiving a bad report card. “How the hell did you get an ‘F’ in English?” the father asked. “Are you stupid?” Junior kept his head down. “You should act like a…

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OPD launches anonymous tip by text service

Nixle spokesman Travis Scott holds up his phone to show how citizens can now text message crime related tips to the Oakland Police Department.

Oakland residents now have the ability to send completely anonymous texts or E-mail tips about crimes to the city’s police department, officials announced last week.

In response to a rash of homicides, with five deaths in a span of 18 hours from Monday, October 1 through Tuesday, October 2, Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan

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At Castlemont, new school year brings changes, challenges

Chinyere Tutashinda passes out visitor passes and peacekeeping positions at Castlemont High School in East Oakland.

As Norman Ospina, the school attendance clerk and a translator at Castlemont High School in East Oakland, crossed the courtyard on a crisp overcast fall morning, he spotted a young man he believed had been involved in a campus brawl on September 21. Ospina, whose students call him “Mr. O,” placed his index finger over…

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Letter from the Community: An Oakland mother’s story

By Jilala Foley/Special to Oakland North My son was shot this week; one bullet lodged in his back, beneath his kidney, and the other went through his arm, breaking the bone as it passed. He had made the not-too-wise choice to attend a side show in East Oakland. Consistent with past events, there were gun…

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