THE FREE JANE DOE ACT

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Coming in 2015 : Jane Doe Act

16-year-old Black transgender teen Jane Doe has been incarcerated at York Correctional Institution in Niantic since April 8, by order of  Department of Children and Families Commissioner Joette Katz. Jane Doe faces no criminal charges; DCF imprisoned this Black child in an adult prison for allegedly assaulting DCF staff members.http://www.democracynow.org/2014/5/8/after_abuse_under_state_supervision_transgender
Cornell Lewis and I are collaborating on the Jane Doe Act, which is legislation that would prohibit DCF from sending one of their clients to a correctional institution. The statute which allows DCF to incarcerate their clients has only been used twice, counting Jane Doe. CT Gen. Stat. 17a-12: “When, in the opinion of the commissioner, or the commissioner’s designee, a person fourteen years of age or older is dangerous to himself or herself or others or cannot be safely held at the Connecticut Juvenile Training School, if a male, or at any other facility within the state available to the Commissioner of Children and Families, the commissioner, or the commissioner’s designee, may request an immediate hearing before the Superior Court on the docket for juvenile matters where such person was originally committed to determine whether such person shall be transferred to the John R. Manson Youth Institution, Cheshire, if a male, or the Connecticut Correctional Institution, Niantic, if a female.”
If DCF has a client whom they feel they can’t handle, that youth should be sent to a treatment facility, where their behavior issues can be addressed clinically. We’re also discussing an outreach campaign to raise awareness about Jane Doe and the criminalization of Black and Latino youths. Stay tuned for updates. Check out Cornell’s DCF Plantation blog.http://dcfplantation.blogspot.com/
David Samuels
Founder
Community Party
https://twitter.com/CommunityParty1


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