For Immediate Release
Contact: Sheila McCant
LA House of Representatives
Office of Public Information
Phone: (225) 342-9795
FAX: (225) 219-4380
State Representative Mitch Landrieu, Chairman of the Juvenile Justice Commission announced that the commission and the Ad Hoc Advisory Board will hold their first meeting on Thursday, November 1. The meeting will begin at 1:00 p.m. in the House Chamber at the State Capitol.
Landrieu said that the opening ceremony will include a welcome by Chief Justice Pascal Calogero of the Louisiana Supreme Court and keynote presentations by Rep. Mike Lawlor of Connecticut and Mary Fairchild of the National Conference of State Legislatures.
At 3:00 p.m. the Advisory Board will hold a business meeting in the Senate Briefing Room and at the same time the commission will convene in House Committee Room 5 to begin business.
Landrieu said the Juvenile Justice Commission, and its Advisory Board, is being assembled to recommend meaningful improvement in juvenile justice at all levels of state government and public involvement.
"This commission is charged with envisioning, defining, planning and initiating the creation of a juvenile justice system that will improve the lives of all children and families in Louisiana but especially those whose lives are disrupted by abuse and neglect, mental illness, substance abuse, domestic abuse, and pre-delinquent and delinquent behavior.
Our goal will not be completed within the two-year life of this Commission, but it is one that
we can begin, for which we can define the destination and for which we can set clear directions."
Senator Don Cravins, Vice Chairman of the Commission said, "I think it is a mission that is long overdue and look forward to working with the commission to hopefully find some alternative to our present system. "Our system for handling juvenile delinquency now is an antiquated system that is a blazing example of a dismal failure. Hopefully we can take a cue from those states who have moved to smaller facilities with intensive rehabilitation programs to redirect the behavior of these children in Louisiana who now have a 70% chance of returning to prison."
The Juvenile Justice Commission and the Ad Hoc Juvenile Justice Advisory Board were created by House Concurrent Resolution No. 94 during the 2001 Regular Session. It was the result of Chief Justice Pascal Calogero's appeal for "all three branches to examine the issue of the current state of our juvenile justice system and to take bold steps to improve it."
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