You are here

Day: August 24, 2018

The artist ‘Headache Stencil’ uses graffiti to criticize military rule in Thailand

Bridge Agents

Headache Stencil posing in front of a portrait of Thailand’s prime minister shaped in a maneki-neko cat. Source: Headache Stencil, used with permission. (GV) – Through street graffiti and murals, the masked artist Headache Stencil has been depicting Thailand’s ongoing clamor for democracy and reforms. When the military grabbed power in May 2014 and subsequently drafted a new constitution reinforcing a military-backed government, they vowed to restore elections and civilian rule, but this has yet to be realized. Headache Stencil started making graffiti after the 2014 coup. In an interview with…

Read More

Futures Denied

Bridge Agents

California (HRW) – After decades of handling youth 15 and younger in its rehabilitation-focused juvenile justice system, in 1995 California discarded its longstanding approach and adopted a new law allowing 14- and 15-year-olds to be tried in adult criminal court. In present day California, a young teenager in criminal court is treated in every way just like an adult: the same procedures, laws, and sentences—including adult prison—are applied with virtually no exception. When a young person is tried as an adult, it means he or she is denied the full services…

Read More