In Loco Aequitatis: The Dangers Of "Safe Harbor" Laws For Youth In The Sex Trades, Brendan M. Conner
Dec 2015
In Loco Aequitatis: The Dangers Of "Safe Harbor" Laws For Youth In The Sex Trades, Brendan M. Conner
Brendan M. Conner
The author provides the first critical analysis of safe harbor laws, which rely on custodial arrests to prosecute or divert youth arrested for or charged with prostitution related offenses under criminal or juvenile codes to court supervision under state child welfare, foster care, or dependency statutes. This subject is a matter of intense debate nationwide, and on January 27, 2015 the House of Representatives passed legislation that would give preferential consideration for federal grants to states that have enacted a law that “discourages the charging or prosecution” of a trafficked minor and encourages court-ordered treatment and institutionalization. Nearly universally lauded, …
Salvaging ‘Safe Spaces’: Toward Model Standards For Lgbtq Youth-Serving Professionals Encountering Law Enforcement, Brendan M. Conner
Dec 2015
Salvaging ‘Safe Spaces’: Toward Model Standards For Lgbtq Youth-Serving Professionals Encountering Law Enforcement, Brendan M. Conner
Brendan M. Conner
The concept of “safe space” for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (“LGBTQ”) young people is one traditionally applied to educators’ responsibilities to create safe havens for LGBTQ students, by creating space for dialogue and addressing name-calling, bullying and harassment. The term is increasingly used in advocacy to reform the child welfare system, particularly in the areas of adopting safer foster care and group home placement, housing classification procedures, and in sensitizing youth-serving professionals. Rarely is an equivalence drawn between reform efforts and the obligation of youth-serving professionals to uphold the legal rights of their clients and increase safety from …
Locked In: Interactions With The Criminal Justice And Child Welfare Systems For Lgbtq Youth, Ymsm, And Ywsw Who Engage In Survival Sex, Brendan M. Conner Esq.
Sep 2015
Locked In: Interactions With The Criminal Justice And Child Welfare Systems For Lgbtq Youth, Ymsm, And Ywsw Who Engage In Survival Sex, Brendan M. Conner Esq.
Brendan M. Conner
In 2011, researchers from the Urban Institute launched a three-year study of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer or questioning (LGBTQ) youth; young men who have sex with men (YMSM); and young women who have sex with women (YWSW) engaged in survival sex in New York City. Working in partnership with the New York City–based organization Streetwise and Safe (SAS), researchers trained youth leaders to conduct in-depth interviews with a total of 283 youth who engaged in survival sex in New York City and self-identified as LGBTQ, YMSM, or YWSW.
In February 2015, we released the first report in this …
David Felix: Jailed By An Unjust System, Failed By City Services, Killed By Police, Brendan M. Conner Esq., Marissa Ram Esq.
Jun 2015
David Felix: Jailed By An Unjust System, Failed By City Services, Killed By Police, Brendan M. Conner Esq., Marissa Ram Esq.
Brendan M. Conner
No one claimed the body of David Felix for 21 days; instead, it lay in state at the Office of the Medical Examiner, the blackened and seared edges of the gunpowder’s stippling forming a dark halo on his ebony skin until his grief-stricken parents arrived from Haiti to identify the body of their oldest son. The “Felix David” described by the police and the New York media – none of whom got his name right – is unrecognizable to those of us who knew David Felix. The 24 year-old polyglot, aspiring fashion student and black immigrant with a love for …
