Tag Archives: youth jail

‘Open and operating’ — County council votes in support of continued youth detention at 12th Ave’s Children and Family Justice Center

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The Patricia H. Clark Children and Family Justice Center (Image: King County)

The King County Council agreed this week on a symbolic gesture affirming its commitment to continueĀ youth detention at 12th Aveā€™s Patricia H. Clark Children and Family Justice Center.

This week’s approval of the motion from Councilmember Reagan Dunn representing the county’s southeast came after “months of deliberation,” the announcement on the vote reads.

The council’s summer debate wasn’t quite as heated as the bulletin implies. ā€œIt is the intent of the King County Council to maintain operations of the secure juvenile detention facility at the Judge Patricia H. Clark Children and Family Justice Center,” the motion states.

Dunn positioned the approval as a necessary step toward more solid legislation. Continue reading →

With ‘zero youth detention’ commitments already broken, county council plans vote on keeping 12th Ave youth jail open

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The King County Council will vote in August on legislation some of its members say will affirm the county’s commitment to continuing youth detention at 12th Ave’s Patricia H. Clark Children and Family Justice Center.

“Today, the facility is holding 61 young people on charges including murder, manslaughter, rape, child molestation and other serious violent crimes,” Claudia Balducci, Law and Justice Committee vice chair and former director of the King County Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention, said in a statement. “It is clear that we continue to have a need for detention. At the same time, our county has long been committed to the success of our young people to keep them out of detention.”

The August vote follows the county council committee’s failure Wednesday to arrive at a consensus on the proclamatory legislation from councilmember Reagan Dunn that creates no new specific policies or programs but would declare the intent of the council to “maintain operations of the youth detention facility.”

The legislation may not be necessary. Continue reading →

More arrests on Capitol Hill to start 2021 as anti-police protesters continue to target East Precinct

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(Image: Renee Raketty)

(Image: Renee Raketty)

Seattle Police and anti-police protesters ended 2020 in familiar fashion on Capitol Hill with clashes and arrests near the 12th Ave youth jail and the East Precinct after reports of property damage and more broken glass at an area business targeted in previous attacks.

Friday morning, owner Faizel Khan was sweeping up glass from busted windows at his Cafe Argento on 12th Ave at E Olive St. Khan’s business was first targeted this summer and he was at the center of a New York Times report on the police defunding movement that took a critical look at the effort through the eyes of local businesses and property owners. The small business is also part of a handful joining a group of developers and property owners suing the city over its response to the protests.

SPD reports four arrests in the New Year’s Eve incidents as demonstrators gathered in the recently reopened Cal Anderson and marched to the King County Youth Service Center at 12th and Alder before returning to Capitol Hill and a tussle with police up and down E Pine. Continue reading →

King County says reduced jail population provides ‘more opportunities to promote social distancing’

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Restorative justice advocates and critics of 12th Ave’s new youth jail and justice center say keeping people incarcerated during a pandemic is morally reprehensible and a risk to everybody’s health. King County Executive Dow Constantine probably won’t quiet the critics but he did announce that his jails “have quickly reduced the number of people in custody” by more than 600 adults.

The reduction is “providing the staff with more opportunities to keep everyone in correctional facilities safe and healthy,” the announcement from Constantine’s office reads.

The number of youth housed at 12th Ave’s Children and Family Justice Center is 36, down from 43, according to the county. Continue reading →

Seattle May Day 2019 brings 20th annual march for immigrants and workers to Capitol Hill — and expectations for another ‘riot’-free year — UPDATE

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Seattle’s 20th annualĀ May Day March for the Rights of Immigrants and Workers will again cross Capitol Hill Wednesday afternoon and — for a second straight year — it appears that any planned protests separate from the annual workers rights march won’t be taking place on Broadway.

“This year we march once again to reclaim our struggles as immigrants, workers, and without borders,” organizers from El Comite write about the 20th year of the massive march. The crowds will begin gathering at noon on Dearborn before setting out on a trek across the city to downtown:

We are here because of the insecurity, crime, and corruption unleashed in our countries by bad governments with the support and intervention of the U.S. We are here because of political repression and exploitation of workers and the dispossession of our natural resources and territories. We are here refusing to be victims of the few who benefit from this system and the impoverishment, displacement and death that they wreak upon on our peoples.

Walk with me for justice,
Walk with me for immigrant rights,
Walk with me for labor rights,
Walk with me because this is our struggle!

A quick perusal of the latest edition of our latest this week in CHS history post will catch you up on the recent history of May Day chaos and violence that has broken out on Capitol Hill over the years, sparked by clashes between police and groups from beyond the workers and immigrants rights movements. Damage, injuries, and arrests were typically limited but ugly moments including vandalism against small businesses and the use of dangerous “flash bang” grenades by police left many in the neighborhood unsympathetic to any of the sides in the clashes. Continue reading →

CHS Pics | No New Youth Jail Valentines at 12th and Alder

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Activists may have lost in court but they haven’t given up on winning hearts in their battle against the new youth jail at 12th and Alder.

Saying she and fellow activists were there to celebrate Valentine’s Day and “what it means to love community and love young people,” activist and attorney Nikkita Oliver said a group gathered outside the under construction King County Youth and Family Justice Center would be delivering No New Youth Jail Valentines to officials and judges.

“We are here to uplift ourselves and love ourselves and say we’re not going to allow buildings like this to be built and invested in,” Oliver said. Continue reading →

High court OKs county property tax to fund youth jail construction at 12th and Alder

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Activists at a summer 2018 protest at the 12th and Alder construction site

The Washington State Supreme Court ruled Thursday that King County can continue collecting taxes to fund the construction of its new youth jail at 12th and Alder.

“The 8-0 ruling reversed a lower courtā€™s conclusion that the county had been illegally collecting taxes for the building, a decision that, if upheld, would have created a budget deficit in the tens of millions of dollars,” Crosscut reports.

Activists fromĀ Ending the Prison Industrial Complex scored an early legal victory against the funding when an appeals court ruled the county was gathering its funds for the youth jail inappropriately by levying property taxes from an increased base tax that was not clearly stated in the voter-approved proposition. Continue reading →

Why the Seattle Peoples Party held a King County Prosecutor candidates forum without any King County Prosecutor candidates

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The Seattle Peoples Party said thousands tuned in for the live stream of the event Sunday night but it was a small crowd that came to see if the incumbent King County Prosecutor would show up for the group’s election forum.

Back when it was first planned, a forum on the Peoples Party home turf pitting challengerĀ Daron Morris vs.Ā Dan Satterberg would have made for a major challenge for the incumbent. But the reform-focused public defender MorrisĀ bowed out of the race in September citing medical reasons leaving Satterberg unopposed.

Sunday’s anticipated clash was not to be. Campaign spokespersonĀ Kenneth Fockele told organizers and CHS that Satterberg would not be attending the Sunday night event at Langston Hughes: Continue reading →

‘A period of redesign’ — Activists say, as planned, new youth jail will be ‘catastrophic’ to county coffers

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The coalition formed to stop construction of the new county youth jail facility on 12th Ave said Tuesday that Dow Constantine’s officials haveĀ warned that the project could be ā€œcatastrophicā€ to county coffers.

Nikkita Oliver and the No New Youth Jail andĀ Peopleā€™s Moratorium efforts held a press conference and rally Tuesday morning to announce the findings outside the fences where construction continues on theĀ $200 million-plus youth justice facility that will create a new incarceration facility, and new court and administrative buildings on the county’s campus at 12th and Alder.

“This system is going to traumatize children and separate families,” Oliver said Tuesday.

Continue reading →

Youth jail construction site targeted in overnight ‘molotov cocktail’ attack — UPDATE

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An attempted arson attack early Tuesday morning on the under construction expansion of the county youth jail facility was thwarted by a Seattle Police officer at the 12th Ave site and “molotov cocktails” that failed to explode.

All information in this report has not yet been confirmed by police and is based on East Precinct radio dispatches. UPDATE: SPD confirmed the investigation and said more details will be released soon. UPDATE x2: An update from SPD is below. Continue reading →