Juvenile Injustice
First of all I want you to know that I am not a professional in
the fields of psychology or criminology. My education is from
40 years of studying people and being in the streets. I have no
formal training or lab experience but only the experience of the
streets.
I am trusted by these people because I treat them as
equals not as specimens. I also care. Also I am not easily
conned. In my day I did some conning and you can not con a con.
I deal with addicts and those who are down and out. I
deal with street people.
I am now getting involved with
convicts who are guilty and those who are innocent of the crimes they
are serving time for. I have learned a lot about life and about
people who are in prison. I have learned a lot about the system
and its down side which in most cases is its only side.
Putting
kids in an adult prison is child abuse. There is no excuse for
it. No one under the age of 21 should be in an adult prison.
The youth prisoners should be segregated base on their violent
tendencies. Not the violence of the crime committed.
A
child who murdered their abuser may not be a violent child. If
a child or a spouse is abused physically they may not be able to
defend themselves while being abused. They are always in danger
of losing their lives while the abuser is awake. The only time
they can act is when the abuser is asleep. It is still self
defense.
If the mother is being attacked by the abusing
parent and the child gets a gun and kills them it is not only
defending the mother but also themselves because the odds are that
they will be next. The same goes of the mother and with
siblings.
Protecting the lives of yourself and family members
is not a crime.
We are born with a good side and a bad side.
Like in the cartoons with a devil and an angel looking like the
character we many times have internal strife. With some of us
good wins most of the time and to others bad wins most of the time.
With others it may be 50/50.
What happens to us in life
can help either side prevail. It depends on what happens and
how strong one side is.
We are in a constant state of change.
The change may be good or bad depending on what is happening to us.
In most cases a person who is a criminal may be rehabilitated no
mater how old and how bad. The problem in prison is that the
powers that be do not want the prisoners rehabilitated. They
want to keep the revolving door working and the prisoners coming
back. They make money off the prisoners. In many cases
they are just mean people who are worse that those they are
guarding.
To charge children as adults is wrong however the
juvenile courts are also failing to do the job of rehabilitating.
If a 16 year old goes to a youth facility they will be out when they
are 18. They may not be ready.
In the case violent
crimes there should be a minimum and maximum as there is with the
adult system no matter what the age. The youth facility must
work with the prisoner’s mental health and with
rehabilitation. The prisoners must be trained for the world
they will be put into and they should go to halfway houses to prepare
for their entry into society.
Every year the prisoner
should be evaluated by people who know what they are doing and care
about what they are doing. If it is decided give the prisoner
parole that they should go into a release program that makes sure
that they can make it. They will go on work release, (possibly
a jail or halfway house or a jail then a halfway house.) Next
they should be given a support group and a parole officer who cares.
The youth facilities should be close to the adult
prisons and the youthful offenders should be given mentors from the
adult prison. These would be adult prisoners who want to help
youthful offenders go strait. They could write to each other
and they could meet in support groups at the adult prison.
Children
sell drugs and commit crimes because they know that they will not
spend time in prison. They know that they may spend a short
time in a youth facility but to them it is worth it and it improves
their rep in the streets. In some cases boot camps work but in
some cases they do more harm than good.
We need other options
but trying them as adults is not one of them.
I am going to
have web pages for youthful offenders. E-mail
me f you have cases that should be told.
If you have a child who has been tried as an adult and you
want their story told write it and e-mail to the above address along
with a picture of the child. I will give you the credit
for the story and show it as copyrighted by you. If you have a
friend who has a child in that situation please contact the parents
and either you or them e-mail the story and picture to me. If
there is a legal defense fund make sure you give me the contact
information.
I am going to have links to other sites for
youthful offenders and the pages in this site.