JusticeBound

In 2017, a woman was arrested for shoplifting in Wisconsin. After entering the jail, she underwent a warrantless strip search by a male doctor. No contraband was found, but the terror of the search permanently traumatized her. She testified, “I immediately started crying. I couldn’t stop. I cried myself to sleep.

Deaths related to drug overdose have increased every year since 2018, yet the United States has continued the same, ineffective approach to drug addiction: punishment and criminalization. 

The United States criminal justice system has grappled with systemic issues for a long time, and one of the most glaring injustices lies in the incarceration rates of marginalized women for drug-related offenses. Despite concerted efforts to address mass incarceration, women of color, particularly Hispanic and African American women, continue to face a disproportionate impact from harsh drug laws, perpetuating a cycle of inequality and hardship.

In Sherwood, Arkansas, because of a $29 check with insufficient funds in 2001, Nikki Petree was imprisoned with 25 total days in jail, and forced to pay a total of $640 to the city. More recently in Valley, Alabama, an 82-year old woman was arrested for $77 in unpaid garbage bills. Finally, in 2011, Robin Sanders was arrested and jailed because of a lawsuit filed against her, concerning an unpaid $730 debt for a medical bill. Sanders was never notified of the court date or the lawsuit as a whole, and was eventually arrested and jailed for missing her court date. The common problem in these nonsensical arrests are the way in which courts find loopholes and gaps in the law, creating unfair arrests concerning debt

Hillcrest and Camp Kemp Schools are year-round court schools operated by San Mateo County Office of Education in accordance with Title 15, Section 1370, Title 1, and Ed Code and with WASC certification. Court schools are mandatory and serve students who have been ordered by the Court to Probation Department programs. Hillcrest, located inside the Youth Services Center, educates youth who are detained in San Mateo County’s Juvenile Hall. Most students are there for relatively short periods of time, but with changes to admission policies and passage of AB823 (closing the Department of Juvenile Justice to hold youth in County facilities until age 25), a significant number of students will be detained for lengthy periods. Margaret J Kemp Girls Camp educates females in extended detention and after release (Girls Empowerment Program). This report is part of the San Mateo County Juvenile Justice Commission mandated annual inspection of County detention facilities as required by Welfare and Institutions Code §229. As of 2023, BSCC requires a third-party evaluation of juvenile hall schools. This report follows the BSCC format, but is not serving as this third-party evaluation. This report and responses to this report are submitted to the BSCC, the Board of Supervisors and the juvenile court judges.