The Pendulum Foundation believes in
second chances. As a juvenile justice non-
profit organization, we are committed to
educating the public about the issues urrounding children
convicted and sentenced as adults, particularly those serving life
without parole. We also provide college scholarships for former juveniles in the Colorado
prison system, and continue to partner with Department of Corrections to supply educational
programming, textbooks and other resources. Finally, we work with restorative justice advocates
to provide the opportunity for healing between victim and offender, both individually and through
victim impact panels. The Pendulum Foundation’s ultimate goal is to ensure – whether inside or
outside of prison -- happy, healthy, well-adjusted and productive adults.
Our 501( c )4 arm, Pendulum
Juvenile Justice, is dedicated
to juvenile sentencing reform.
In that capacity, we are the
first state to lower juvenile
LWOP sentences, the first
state to create a juvenile
clemency board, and are part
of a coalition that has passed
legislation to weaken direct
file, which allows prosecutors
the sole power to charge and
convict a juvenile as an adult.
The Pendulum Foundation is privileged to introduce a talented blogger who
was a victim of horrific child abuse. After being captivated by The Murder of
Jacob, Cherry agreed to comment on the dynamics of child abuse, her
reactions to Jacob’s life, crime and incarceration and to relate her personal
story, both as a child and adult survivor. I believe you’ll find her blog as
compelling as anything you will EVER read.
Click here for Cherry’s blog
Erik Jensen’s parents founded
The Pendulum Foundation to help
all children serving life. Erik’s web
site provides help for teens in
trouble.
Devoted to Erik Jensen and
Nathan Ybanez. Author Darrell
Griffin’s book, Troublebound, out
later in 2011, will expose the
injustice of these Colorado cases
and in sentencing any child to life
behind bars. Interviews, often
updated. Watch for major publicity
tour.
The Center for Juvenile Justice
(CJJ)
Provides free legal defense to indigent
youth accused of crimes and status
offenses. Employs a holistic approach
to representation to include
collaboration with the family, probation,
police, courts, agencies involved with
youth and the community. Center for
Juvenile Justice, located in Boulder,
Colorado, is currently representing two
of our young lifers who may have been
wrongly convicted.
Information from all 50 states about the
consequences of being charged and
arrested as a juvenile.
www.beforeyouplea.com
The Pendulum Foundation wants to
be a resource for children involved
in America’s legal system.
Looking for an investigator
(national)? Defense attorneys
(Colorado)? Begin here.
Limon Correctional Facility
houses some of the “toughest” prisoners in
Colorado. Sixty percent are serving life without parole. Limon is where several of our juvenile lifers
are housed. They are not there because of bad behavior, but because of the length of their
sentences.
The Pendulum Foundation has long advocated to supply more programs, particularly
education, for prisoners system-wide. We’ve created a college scholarship for our young lifers and
asked Department of Corrections to allow DVDs with college lectures
(http://www.teach12.com/teach12.aspx?ai=16281) so that, while prisoners can’t receive
accreditation or degrees, they will possess the knowledge.
Recently, Limon began implementing a comprehensive cognitive behavior program, starting with
their most recalcitrant prisoners, who previously would have been shipped off to Supermax and 23
hour a day lockdown. Can men who have committed violent crimes, been shaped by the system
and will no doubt die in it actually change their thinking? Are these men hungry for learning, as I
believed, or are they beyond change and more importantly, redemption?
Limon’s warden, Angel Medina, has created a new program, which appears to affirm my faith.
(Check it out at www.stopdirectfile.org Click Blog) We applaud Warden Medina & DOC for
implementing what we’ve long advocated, programs not punishment. We don’t always agree with
DOC. Expanding Colorado’s Supermax to house yet more prisoners who are mentally ill and are
not necessarily the “worst of the worst” runs counter to their newly stated policies, all that’s human
and decent, and EVERY study about the effects of isolation. But for now we applaud the changes
– and will keep on advocating for more.
Visitors to our site
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Home About us Resources Colorado Kids Parricide Cases Donate Take Action Contact us
John Leonard New York Magazine
"... As usual with Bikel, there is a minimum
of editorializing, a maximum of alert
sympathy for everybody talked to, and a
startled eye, a kind of exacerbated witness,
on unruly emotions and lunatic systems.
We emerge from When Kids Get Life, as
from each of her previous films, not merely
indignant, but injured in our humanism."
When Kids Get Life
original broadcast - May 08, 2007 at 9pm
watch the program online
FRONTLINE WEB SITE
This report continues on the companion
Web site.
Read an editorial concerning the Colorado
Juvenile Clemency board by Mary Ellen
Johnson, Director of The Pendulum
Foundation.
www.realjuvenilejustice.com
SOLITARY WATCH
Abolish Life Without Parole
Sentences for Children in the USA
politivisor.com
Please visit one of our supporter web
sites:
www.concreteechoes.org
A Prisoner website with poems, writings
www.rjonline.org
Blog post dealing with restorative justice
The Other Death Penalty Project is led
and comprised solely of prisoners serving
life without the possibility of parole. We
are thankful to those free people who
have offered us their invaluable help.
wandervogeldiary.wordpress.com/
An advocate for Florida juveniles, Alex
and Derek King, who were recently
released from prison, Dan Dailey’s blog
is a personal narrative of the challenges,
adventures, and satisfactions he is
experiencing – as well as his continued
advocacy for teens.
www.endjlwop.org
The Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of
Youth
You can read
THE MURDER OF JACOB,
by Mary Ellen Johnson on her blog
Please view a clip from an
important new cable program