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FESTIVAL NEWS
Witness and Books Not Bars Take On the California Youth Authority
The Festival film Books Not Bars documents the youth-led movement campaigning against the increase of spending on youth incrceration and the growing prison industry. WITNESS and the Books Not Bars movement have once again joined together to produce a film about the human rights violations taking place at the California Youth Authority (CYA), one of the largest youth correctional facilities in the United States. The video, "System Failure: Violence, Abuse and Neglect in the California Youth Authority," testifies to the sexual and physical abuse, neglect and violence the incarcerated youth are being subject to. The death of two CYA youth in January 2004 was followed by a damning state report that documented the brutality of guards. The cost for keeping youth in this inhumane environment is enormous: $80,000 per year, per youth. Despite this huge price tag, more than 90% of CYA youths who leave the system are re-arrested within three years. Join WITNESS and Books Not Bars to call for the transformation of the CYA. For meaningful change to take place and for rehabilitation of youth to occur, the CYA's eight prison facilities need to be closed and replaced with regional rehabilitation centers and local community based alternatives. Go to the WITNESS website to hear from former CYA youth and family members, view footage of some of the most egregious abuses and act now to demand change. For more information, visit WITNESS.orgPublished on October 15, 2004
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