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 Copyright © 2002-2011 PendulumFoundation.com. All rights reserved. Read our Terms of Use 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