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August 5, 2016  |  By Douglas Keillor In News

In September her baby boy turns one…

Alejandra smiled when I sat down at her table to talk with her. I met her for the first time two months ago. Today she was reading in the common area of the girlGirl in prison reading‘s cell block. It was a book of poems. Alejandra likes poetry and sometimes writes her own poems. We spoke for a while. Alejandra has been in the juvenile prison in Chihuahua for five months. Her trial was last week. She received probation and her release is next week. She is mostly excited because her baby boy turns one in September. If everything goes well, Alejandra will be with her baby and the rest of her family for his first birthday. But I am left wondering why was she in pretrial detention for five months. If the judge thought she didn’t deserve a prison sentence, only probation, what could have justified pretrial detention.

Sitting next to Alejandra was Rosi. Rosi is 16 years-old. She was with a group that broke into a house and robbed it. They were caught and returned everything. In Mexico, the crime victim has the right to oppose any plea bargain. In Rosi’s case the victim demanded thousands of pesos in restitution before he would agree to a plea bargain. All of Rosi’s co-defendants have paid restitution, $10,000-$20,000, and are now free on probation. Rosi has to put together $5,000 pesos. She doesn’t know if her mom has the money. Until then Rosi will wait in pretrial detention.

In the room next door was Julieta. Her defense attorney tells her that next month she will probably be sentenced to probation. Julieta was arrested with under a gram of methamphetamine. Northern Mexico is suffering from an epidemic of meth – its cheap, its made in Mexico, and its powerfully addictive. Julieta, like the other girls has high hopes that she will be released soon and get a second chance.

Two-thirds of teens in pretrial detention will be sentenced to probation. They spend an average of 5 months in pretrial detention awaiting a resolution. Most, like Alejandra, Rosi and Julieta, will only be detained while they wait for the slow wheels of the justice system to turn. The Mexican Constitution tells them that they are presumed innocent.  Once they are proved guilty, they are released. Que locura…

Chihuahua Children In Prison Girls in Prison pretrial detention
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Guerrero

Después de años de lucha y problemas de inseguridad, decidimos en 2022 cerrar nuestro proyecto en Guerrero. Pudimos implementar nuestro instrumento de evaluación previa al juicio para garantizar que los jóvenes de bajo riesgo permanezcan en sus comunidades. Y brindamos apoyo a más de 220 jóvenes, como parte de nuestro proyecto de Movilizando Voluntarios.

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Chiapas

Por invitación del Poder Judicial del Estado de Chiapas, realizamos un estudio para evaluar la viabilidad de implementar nuestros proyectos en la región. En 2022, nuestro equipo presentó los resultados y recomendaciones. El gobierno estatal ahora está decidiendo cómo quieren colaborar con nosotros en el futuro.

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Guerrero

After years of struggle and security issues, we decided in 2022 to close our project in Guerrero. We were able to implement our pretrial screening instrument to ensure low-risk youth stay in their communities. And we provided support to over 220 youths, as part of our Mobilize and Empower project.

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Chiapas

In the state of Chiapas, at the invitation of the state judiciary, we conducted a study to assess the viability of implementing our projects. In 2022, our team presented the results and recommendations. The state government is now deciding how they want to collaborate with us in the future.

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CDMX

Vista como líder nacional en las prácticas del sistema de justicia, la Ciudad de México tiene más adolescentes en detención que cualquier otra jurisdicción. Sin embargo, también ha desarrollado una unidad de seguimiento en libertad con numerosas alianzas con organizaciones. Nuestros proyectos fortalecerán esta área crítica.

JJI está trabajando en la Ciudad de México desde dos vertientes. En Alternativas a la Detención con un monitoreo que comenzó en 2019, pero por causas sanitarias y la pandemia por COVID, se retomó dos años después con un equipo de especialistas el cual ya está preparándose para continuar la actividad. En Movilizando voluntarios, se continúa con los esfuerzos para reunir a más adolescentes con sus familias, gracias al apoyo: “Reunificación familiar”. Así como también se han realizado entrega de enseres en los 6 centros.

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Durango

A pesar de tener un número menor de adolescentes en el sistema de justicia, Durango es una jurisdicción que busca la mejora continua. Durango es el primer estado donde tanto el poder judicial como el ejecutivo han firmado convenios de colaboración para la implementación de nuestros proyectos de Alternativas a la Detención.

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Chihuahua

Chihuahua es nuestro sitio piloto y un estado considerado líder en la reforma penal en México. Nuestros proyectos comenzaron en el 2016. Desde entonces, los tiempos en detención preventiva han disminuido, los adolescentes son supervisados con mayor eficiencia en sus comunidades y se ha mejorado la calidad de vida de aquellos adolescentes que siguen privados de su libertad.

En Chihuahua trabajamos con varios proyectos, como son el monitoreo que se trabaja en conjunto con la autoridad, y con los adolescentes y sus familias trabajamos en talleres, mesas de trabajo, eventos lúdicos, acompañamiento post penal, reubicaciones y traslados de familiares para audiencias y visitas, así como donaciones de enseres, ropa y material deportivo.

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Chihuahua

A national leader in criminal procedural reforms, our pilot project in Chihuahua started in 2016. Since that time the rates and duration of pretrial detention have declined, youth are being successfully supervised in their communities and new programs in the detention center have improved daily life for those children still deprived of liberty.

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CDMX

Looked to as the national leader in youth justice practices, Mexico City has more youth in detention than any other jurisdiction but has also developed a robust probation office and numerous alliances with nonprofits. Our projects will further fortify this critical work.

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Durango

Despite being a smaller jurisdiction, Durango is constantly looking to improve. Durango is the first state where both the Executive Branch and Judicial Branch have signed Memorandum of Understanding to launch the Alternatives to Detention initiatives.

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