Special interest group influences juvenile justice in Oregon: state bears one of the worst juvenile arrest rates in U.S.

• Author: Marquis, Joshua

FOR ALMOST TWO DECADES the Annie E. Casey Foundation has led the charge for juvenile justice reform in the United States, and its Juvenile Justice Alternatives Initiative (JDAI) has established over 250 sites across the country where its policies have been implemented. The Casey Foundation has amassed over $2.5 billion worth of assets, and it has used its resources aggressively to influence government policies related to youth throughout the nation. In the realm of juvenile justice, JDAI sites are provided liberal private funding and free technical assistance from Casey to implement JDAI policies in their jurisdiction, and the foundation has established an overwhelming media outreach program to control its image and publicize its vision of juvenile policy.

None of this is objectionable. In America, interest groups have the right to use all of our system's many levers of financial and political influence to achieve their goals, and in general the process has worked well for the nation. What is objectionable is the unquestioning acceptance of the work of a special interest group by those in the field, including those in law enforcement and the court system, many of whom benefit from Casey largesse. Boiled down to its basics, the Casey Foundation has purchased policy change throughout the nation through the use of widespread private financial incentives to state and county governments, and has then controlled the conversation about the results of those policies by extensive self-published reports and news articles that are disseminated through a media network which it also finances.

A recent case from Oregon provides a picture of the Casey Foundation at work as a special interest group.

Casey has been involved in Oregon since 1995, where Multnomah County was one of the first "model" JDAI sites in the United States. Driven by that county, the largest in the state, JDAI policy has been largely integrated into juvenile justice policies throughout the state. Two Oregon prosecutors, John Foote, district attorney of Clackamas County, and Chuck French, a retired Oregon career prosecutor, recently took a look at how those policies have worked for the state, with some startling results. Oregon, it turns out, despite following Casey policies that are claimed to produce safer communities, has one of the worst juvenile arrest rates in the country, and some of the worst juvenile property crime and drug use and addiction rates in the nation. Multnomah...