www . tHESKANNER . COM
J ANUARy 4, 2012
P ORtLANd , O REgON
V OLUME XXXIV, N O . 1
25
CENtS
I NSIDE
High Cost Loans
page 4
Queen Latifah
page 5
Financial Resolutions
C hallenging P eoPle to S haPe a B etter F uture n ow
Kids,
Jails and
Reform
page 6
OccuprOtest
New report gioves
justice advocates
hope for new ideas
By Helen Silvis
of The Skanner News
PHoto By LISa LovINg
T
his week the State of Oregon is slated
to release a report on sentencing in
the criminal justice system. The
Commission on Public Safety started work
last August, charged with looking at how to
streamline the state’s $1.4 billion correc-
tions budget without hurting public safety.
Experts who spoke Dec. 9 at a Multnomah
County conference on children and teens in
the criminal justice system, argued for a
complete policy rethink.
We need to take a more holistic
approach,” said Judge Patricia Martin.
“What if we thought of juvenile court like
an emergency triage.”
Under Measure 11, Oregon teens who
commit serious crimes are charged and sen-
tenced as adults. But that approach found no
support from Martin and other experts, who
said harsh sentences do nothing to help trou-
bled kids become responsible adults.
Judge Martin said families should be
assigned one judge who deals with every
problem facing that family, whether the
issue is neglect, abuse or delinquent behav-
ior.
“Our judicial system is segregated. The
problem is my families and kids don’t come
segregated,” Martin says.
Juvenile courts should be able to call on
experts in mental health, education, drug
treatment: whatever a family needs to deal
with all of its problems, and legal issues in
one place.
“And if we can have drug courts, why not
mental health treatment courts?” she said.
A juvenile and family judge in Cook
County, Ill., Martin is President of the
National Council of Juvenile and Family
Court Judges. She has seen thousands of
kids and families go through the court sys-
tem. Most of those young people would
become productive citizens with the right
help, she says, but the justice system sets
Members of the Occupy Movement came out in force two days before Christmas to protest Fannie Mae
corporation’s auction on the Multnomah Courthouse steps of an adult foster care facility owned by Angela Hill. Hill,
front row second from left, won a reprieve; no one bid on the property, so it remains in foreclosure, giving her more
time to find a resolution – and protesters more time to plan further support.
Freedom Rider History Embraced
Roosevelt High School Students Embrace Freedom Rider History
By Faye Powell
Special to The Skanner
News
F
ifty years ago on May 4,
1961, thirteen black and
white, mostly young
activists boarded buses in
Washington, D.C., bound for
New Orleans. Their mission
was to challenge the segregated
seating on interstate transporta-
tion that existed throughout the
Deep South. They were well
schooled in the philosophy and
techniques of nonviolent protest
See rEForm on page 3
INDEX
News ................2,3,6,8
Opinion .....................4
A & E ......................5,7
Bids/Classifieds ..........7
and keenly aware that they
risked injury, even loss of life,
by their actions. Before the end
of the Freedom Rides that year,
436 individuals from all across
the United States had joined the
movement. The resulting scale
of violence against the activists
that occurred, particularly in
Alabama, shocked the nation
and ultimately helped break the
back of racial segregation not
only in public transportation but
also in other areas of public
accommodations.
During the month of January,
a “Freedom Riders, Fighters &
Writers Exhibit” created by
Roosevelt High School students
in partnership with University
of Portland students and in col-
laboration with the traveling
PBS “Freedom Riders” exhibit,
will be installed for public view-
ing at many Portland locations,
including:
North Portland Library Jan.
9-11;
Portland Community
College-Cascade Campus
Jan. 12-13;
Mt. Olivet Baptist Church,
8725 N. Chautauqua
Boulevard Jan. 15;
Highland Christian Center,
7600 NE Glisan Street for
the Martin Luther King
Day Celebration Jan. 16;
University of Portland Jan.
17-20; and
Roosevelt High School Jan.
21-24.
A formal gathering and recep-
tion honoring the participants
will be held at Roosevelt High
School at 7 p.m., Jan. 23.
See FrEEDom on page 3
Some Skeptical about U of O Study
University of Oregon Study Leaves Some Skeptical
By Bruce Poinsette
Special to The Skanner News
U
niversity of Oregon researchers
recently released a study that con-
cluded the football team’s success
reduced male students grades relative to
female grades. It also questioned the alloca-
tion of subsidies to the athletic department.
The study utilizes a survey of 53 percent of
students who have attended UO for two or
more years, and suggests males are more
likely to increase alcohol consumption,
decrease studying and increase partying
when the football team is doing well.
“There’s nothing you can do unless you
change the culture of the university,” says
UO student Tyree Harris. “How many rush-
ing yards can the science department get?”
In addition to the survey, researchers col-
lected fall term GPA data from 1999
through 2007.
During mediocre football seasons the
researchers found a relatively small gap
between male grades and female grades.
However, during seasons like 2001 and
2005, where the ducks went 11-1 and 10-2,
respectively, the gender gap widened.
See StuDy on page 3