Friday, November 20^th

Showcase: Social Worker With a Camera

Joseph Rodriguez, 58, is what you might call an old-school cat, a straight talker who is a bit rough around the edges. As a photojournalist, his past is his starting point and his palette.

Any New Yorker could immediately peg him for a true Brooklyn guy. It was in Brooklyn, where he was born, that Mr. Rodriguez learned to survive and persevere in the face of poverty and crime.

"Photography kind of saved my life," he said in a recent interview. "It gave me a sense of focus."

Mr. Rodriguez did time on Rikers Island for burglary in the 1970s. During a second term on Rikers, he realized he was getting trapped in a cycle of incarceration. Read More

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Study on Dropouts Supports Intervention

Programs designed to turn around the lives of troubled youth must be key to the community's efforts to curb crime.

A study connecting the dots between dropping out of school and incarceration should erase any doubt that interventions in the lives of troubled youth must be a primary focus of any serious crime-fighting campaign.

One in every 10 young male high school dropouts is in jail or juvenile detention, compared with one in 35 young male high school graduates, according to a Northeastern University study reported in The New York Times.
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Out of Prison, Out of a Job, Out of Luck

If you think it's tough getting a job during a recession, imagine what it's like for an ex-convict.

Gregory Headley, 29, knows exactly what it's like. The Harlem resident was released from prison in July after serving two years and eight months for the criminal sale of a firearm. Now that he's out, he said, the conviction is dogging his attempts to land a full-time job.

""There's no nice way of saying, 'I sold a gun,' " Headley said recently as he headed to his part-time job cleaning sidewalks. Read More

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Study Criticizes Virginia's Handling of Youth Offenders

The authority of Virginia's juvenile-court judges is being usurped by prosecutors and higher courts in a process that too often mixes juvenile offenders and adults and that helps transform juvenile lawbreakers into career felons, according to a study released today.

"Putting youth in the adult system ultimately makes communities less safe," the study says.

JustChildren, an arm of the Charlottesville-based Legal Aid Justice Center, is arguing that judicial reforms 13 years ago gave prosecutors too much leeway in seeking adult treatment of juvenile offenders and left sentencing to circuit court judges who lack the training and experience to deal with juvenile cases. Read More

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