21. September 2009 by Rev Young.

I am pleased to announce a new education campaign that has been launched, as a collaborative effort, to END THE PRACTICE OF DIRECT FILE. 

For those of you who are fortunate enough to NOT know about this practice, let me give you the run down.  In the state of Colorado, DIRECT FILE gives the District Attorney the sole authority to decide whether or not a juvenile case will be transferred, tried and sentenced in adult court.  Once a juvenile case has been transferred to adult court with adult charges, he is held in county jail, in isolation, throughout his legal process.  If the juvenile is convicted in adult court, he serves his prison sentence in adult prisons.

There was a recent article posted concerning the abolishment of FELONY MURDER and CONSPIRACY (Go To http://s246427087.onlinehome.us/freejonny/abolish-felony-murder).  For those of you who are not familiar with this law and it’s frequent use:  Felony murder states that if a person dies during the commission of a felonious act, all persons involved can and will be charged with murder irregardless of the intent of the crime.  What this means is, if you drop your friend off at the 7-11 convenience store and he decides to rob the place and in the commission of that robbery someone is killed, ALL persons involved can be charged with felony murder which carries a mandatory sentence of LIFE WITHOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF PAROLE.  Let me give you a sample case.  Erik Jensen had taken his friend Nathan to his house.  Erik went to Nathan’s room while Nathan spoke with his mother.  Nathan’s mother was very abusive, an argument broke out, then a fight and by the time Erik came out of Nathan’s room Nathan’s mother was dead.  Nathan had hit her with an object and killed her.  Erik panicked and tried to help Nathan clean up the mess.  They were both charged as adults and they are BOTH serving Life sentences.  Erik received that sentence under the felony murder law.  You see one friend told police officers that Erik must have known Nathan was going to kill his mother.  (you can see more on youths serving life and the PBS FRONTLINE PROGRAM “WHEN KIDS GET LIFE” by going to www.pendulumfoundation.org )

Now, if we did not make DIRECT FILE so easy for District Attorney’s to use, Erik would be home.  It used to be that we protected our kids.  It used to be that we believed that they were inherently good and they had a future ahead of them.  We used to require that the District Attorney, the juvenile’s attorney, the juveniles parents, school records, any previous delinquency issues or records, be presented  and heard by a judge who decided whether or not a juvenile could be direct filed into adult court.  IT ALMOST NEVER HAPPENED.  The result?  The juveniles in question went to juvenile detention facilities, were educated, rehabilitated  and disciplined so that they could go on to be model citizens.  As a matter of fact, if you think back, you probably new someone like that yourself.   Yes, even those who committed violent crimes!

Direct File is a barbaric law and tool used by District Attorney’s to demonstrate their tough on crime attitudes to a public that they love to hold bound in fear.  It is not a civil or humane way to deal with ANY juvenile offender and should be removed…….along with Felony Murder, Conspiracy and the Colorado Organized Crime Act.  The only ones that have been caught and eliminated by these laws are our children. 

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON DIRECT FILE PLEASE GO TO :

http://stopdirectfile.org/

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16. September 2009 by Rev Young.

In my last post, I hinted at a subject that I wanted to expand on.  Actually I have written on this before.  Our vindictive, angry nature. 

Many of my partners in this campaign to end injustice in the juvenile INJUSTICE system will not touch the true problem behind the laws that condemn children to incredible sentences in adult prison systems.  The bottom line and underlying problem is spiritual and human.  We have lost our compassion, our ability to forgive, our ability to believe that something good can come out of any situation.  We have become angry, bitter, condemning people who want vengeance on anyone who gets in our way or causes any turbulence in our mediocre lives. 

It is not only evident in our juvenile justice laws but in every avenue of life in these United States.  A mother gets into a car accident, her child is seriously injured and the police officer finds that her daughter was not fastened by a safety belt.  She receives criminal charges for the injury of her child while she protests that she had fastened the safety belt on her child……really she did.  Children learn how to unhook those things.  Yet a mother, who is already distraught over her child is now marked as a criminal and receives further condemnation instead of support.  That is who we are.  That is what we have become.  It is a rare case when charges are not brought against someone for things that, a few years ago, we would have considered an accident. 

Then when a young human being cannot battle the situation around him and succumbs to his anger (which we have taught him) and does something unthinkable……we are ready to give up.  We are responsible for the actions of the kids around us.  Not just the parents, not just the teachers, not just the pastors but every single adult person.  We have created a society of violence, anger, hatred, immoral character, intolerance, judgement and abandonment.  We did this.  Children are formed by the environment they are exposed to.  Look at your television, listen to the radio, listen to music, watch the information on your homepage on the Internet.  This is what feeds young minds everyday.

It is time that we turned and began to embrace values.  It is time for us to care about the people around us.  It is time to turn and find a way to rebuild lives, families and communities.  We cannot, nor should we, depend on the government to be the answer.  We are the answer.

Our juvenile justice laws and the practice of incarcerating young people in adult prison facilities is only a symptom of the problems we have, yet if we do not have compassion for the broken lives of children, how can we care for anyone else?

I urge you to watch this video and ask yourself, honestly, who have I become and what can I do to effect change?

Posted in Legal News, Prison Reform Advocates, Juvenile Reform Advocates, Juvenile Offenders, From Families of Juvenile Offenders | Print | No Comments »

16. September 2009 by Rev Young.

There is much controversy over the sentencing practices for juvenile offenders in this country.  We go from the extreme voices of the victims rights groups, who call for the most extreme punishments, to the human rights advocates that can find fault in most any judicial practice.  Where is the truth?  What is the right way to handle these situations?  In order to find that answer, I think we need to take a hard look at ourselves and what we have become.   

Prior to our current “Tough On Crime” policies and our national “War on Drugs”.  We believed in rehabilitation.  In the 1970’s and 1980’s there were strong laws protecting juveniles and their families.  Their situations were dealt with in private, their punishments handed down without media fanfare or hype, and they were given the opportunity to mature and develop is a safe, productive environment.  Most of you would argue that juvenile crimes have become more violent and that juvenile murder is much more prevalent now than it was then.  Most would say that it was still an age of innocence.  I think you need to study your history again. 

I grew up in a neighborhood that was racially divided.  One third of my junior high and high school population was black, one third, Hispanic and one third white.  This happened naturally and was not because of any government strategy.  There was racial tension in those schools, not between whites and blacks or whites and Hispanic but between Hispanic and blacks.  There were street fights, stabbings, people got jumped, it was where we lived.  Remember, we were coming out of the 60’s where racial tension was prevalent, riots were on television, college campuses were places of protest and we were forcing change.  We were also coming out of a long, violent and devastating war.  Yet all of the people that I knew who got into trouble during those years were treated as juveniles, sent for rehabilitation and went on.  Now a couple of them went on to prison….but that was only two.  One of them was killed.  The others are business owners, family men, ministers and a couple of them are police officers. 

So what is different?  Our attitude.  We are the difference, in our families, in our attitudes, in our ability to put forth effort to make a difference in a persons life, in our ability to care.  We want and like staying angry……forever.  Yet the choices we make, how we as the adults in this picture handle ourselves, can change the future for all of us.  More on that later……….Read On…….

When children kill, punishment varies

By JOE LAMBE

The Kansas City Star

A Kansas City, Kan., girl charged with murder at age 13 faces adult court and many years in prison.

A boy who was 13 when he killed a man last year will stay in the juvenile system and could be released when he is 22½, a Wyandotte County judge ruled early this month.

Both cases illustrate how children who commit heinous crimes are testing the boundaries of the justice system.

After murders committed by juveniles spiked in the early 1990s, states toughened laws, making the United States the harshest nation in world in the legal punishment of children, according to a recent study. However, the number of children who killed declined in the late ’90s and has largely held steady this decade, leading some to question the practice of tougher sentencing.

“Some states are starting to recognize that kids can be treated as kids,” said Michele Deitch, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin and lead author of a study, “From Time Out to Hard Time.”

In 22 states, children as young as 7 still can be tried as adults. There is no age limit in Missouri, but it is 10 in Kansas. As of June, juveniles could not be sentenced to life without parole in seven states, including Kansas. That makes the United States the only nation in the world where juveniles can be sentenced to life without parole, the study reported.

All children who offend at age 12 or younger should be put into juvenile care, the Texas study contends. And it found that when they are put in adult prisons, juvenile offenders are five times more likely to be sexually assaulted and 36 times more likely to commit suicide.

Laurence Steinberg, author of “Rethinking Juvenile Justice” and a professor at Temple University in Philadelphia, believes that a 13-year-old is too young to be charged as an adult.

“You’re exposing kids to adult sanctions for something they did as a kid,” he said, “but no prosecutor is going to be able to run on the platform of ‘I gave somebody a break.’ ”

Weighing the facts

In the Wyandotte County cases, the similar situations are seemingly headed toward different outcomes.

Early this month, defense attorney Kiann McBratney successfully argued that Antwuan Taylor, the Kansas City, Kan., boy who killed last year at age 13, should not be tried as an adult and instead should stay in the juvenile system.

But McBratney, other prosecutors and some defense attorneys do support adult sentences for some children, saying society needs protection from them.

“There are kids out there who function like adults and can kill people in cold blood,” she said.

Robbin Wasson, the prosecutor in the Taylor case, said, “We don’t want to be prosecuting 13-year-olds willy-nilly as adults,” noting that decisions on juvenile offenders are made on a case-by-case basis.

The other juvenile charged in Wyandotte County last year with killing at age 13 was Keaira Brown, who this year became the youngest person ever sent to adult court there.

She allegedly shot 16-year-old Scott Sappington to death after an apparent botched carjacking attempt.

The victim’s grandmother, Joyce Sappington, said she had mixed emotions about the ruling, but children killing children “has got to stop. If nobody sends a message, it will never stop.”

Nationwide from 1985 to 2004, the study reports, judges transferred 961 children age 13 or younger to adult courts. That does not count children from states that have automatic transfer laws for crimes such as murder or states that allow prosecutors to directly file cases in adult court.

“You can have a teen who kills and goes automatically into the adult system and life without parole,” Deitch said. “That’s incomprehensible to me.”

Science and sentencing

Researchers have discovered that the section of the brain related to impulse control does not fully develop until the mid-20s, but that finding doesn’t necessarily help in the legal debate.

Some say it means children grow and change — what they are is not what they will become. Others say it means they are out of control and deadly.

The Supreme Court mentioned those brain studies in a 2005 Missouri case when it ruled that those younger than 18 when they killed could not be executed. That ruling took 72 people off death rows.

The ruling said children change, are less mature than adults, are more influenced by peers and are less to blame.

“Even a heinous crime committed by a juvenile,” the court said, “is not evidence of irretrievably depraved character.”

In the Taylor case in Wyandotte County, the boy was influenced by a 21-year-old woman who gave him a gun and suggested he kill someone. She drove him and picked out a victim, and Taylor shot Charles McElroy six times.

Barry Feld, a professor at the University of Minnesota Law School, said of the Taylor case and the woman’s influence: “It is the absolute paradigm of what the Supreme Court was talking about.”

Thirteen is too young for adult prosecution, he said, but for older children, he has raised questions about whether juvenile court is appropriate.

A “youth discount” is a sentencing method that Feld advocates. “A 14-year-old gets 25 percent of the going rate for the same crime by an adult, a 16-year-old gets about 50 percent,” he said.

Deitch praised another approach sometimes used by Kansas, Missouri and 25 other states. The laws generally allow a judge to combine a juvenile sentence with a further adult sentence if the offender fails in the juvenile system.

Wyandotte County District Judge Wes Griffin imposed the Kansas version of that approach in the Taylor case. Kansas officials say it has been rarely used — only in seven cases of 348 juveniles sent to the state juvenile system last year.

Missouri also rarely uses its version but has had good success, officials said. From 1999 to 2006, they said, 36 people were released after serving their juvenile time. Only six committed other crimes.

Atharene McElroy, mother of the victim in the Taylor case, is satisfied that her son’s killer is staying in juvenile court.

“He’s just a young, troubled boy,” she said, but he is dangerous and needs to be off the streets while he matures.

To reach Joe Lambe, call 816-234-7714 or send e-mail to jlambe@kcstar.com.

Posted on Sun, Sep. 13, 2009 11:09 PM

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16. September 2009 by Rev Young.

Sitting in our living rooms, we watch news reports daily concerning the crimes and scandals that are happening around the country.  By the time the news is concluded, we walk away shaking our heads and wondering what we are coming to as a nation.  By practicing this ritual on a daily basis, we feed our minds with images of violence, betrayal, bribery and robbery and we begin to develop a skewed version of what our world is like.  Add to that our current economic circumstance, bailout of major companies that haven’t fared well or managed well and we are angry. 

Then organizations and world news report the barbaric practices that are going on around the world.  We see war, we see famine, we see disenfranchised peoples living in refugee camps and our hearts pour out to them.  We wonder how in the world our governments and the people of the world can allow this to happen.  We applaud the missions organizations, human rights organizations and all the others that petition on behalf of these people for change. 

We need these organizations and voices to speak out against the atrocities that are committed against human beings every day.  MORE IMPORTANLY we need them in our own country.  While we are appalled at the inhumane treatment of people around the world, we turn a blind eye to the treatment we impose on people in this country…..specifically our children.  We, as a nation, have decided that children who make mistakes should be condemned and society should be rid of them.  We lock them away in adult prison facilities, take away their humanity, take away their hope, remove them from families and support and we throw away the key.  Who is the watch dog for this country that will hold us accountable for the violation of human rights that we commit every day.

Read On……….

Youths tried as adults: An ongoing barbarity

Posted by mhanley September 08, 2009 11:25AM

On November 9, the U.S. Supreme Court will consider whether the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishments is violated when a juvenile is sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for a crime other than murder.

The issue before the nation’s highest court is framed by two cases originating in Florida.

In one, Joe Harris Sullivan received such a sentence when he was 13 years of age upon his conviction for rape.

In the second case, Terrence Jamar Graham received the same sentence at 17 years of age after he had violated his probation in connection with an armed robbery conviction.

In its 2005 landmark decision in Roper vs. Simmons, the court held that executing juveniles violated the Eighth Amendment in that it was inconsistent with “the evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society.”

To support that conclusion, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, writing for the majority, noted that 30 states had already abolished the death penalty for juveniles while an additional 20 states utilized it very sparingly.

Kennedy also underscored the fact that the death penalty has traditionally been reserved only for those whose extreme culpability makes them “the most deserving of execution.”

Juveniles can never fall within this category, Kennedy reasoned, because of three critical differences between them and adults.

Citing language from an earlier case that had invalidated the death penalty for younger juveniles, Kennedy declared that the immaturity of juveniles in general and their susceptibility to misbehavior means that “their irresponsible conduct is not as morally reprehensible as that of an adult.”

Kennedy next stated that juveniles’ vulnerability and comparative lack of control over their immediate surroundings entitled them to a greater claim than adults to be forgiven for succumbing to negative influences in their environment.

Finally, he noted that juveniles’ ongoing struggle with identity issues militates against concluding that even the most heinous crime committed by them is evidence of an irretrievably depraved character.

Given these diminished capacities of juveniles, neither of the two reasons generally offered for justifying capital punishment - exacting justice and deterrence - are furthered by its imposition on them.
INVALID CRITICISM

While conservatives have criticized the holding in Roper as being driven by reliance on the laws of other countries, this is simply not true.

In fact, although Kennedy noted that the United States was the only country in the world that continued to authorize executing juveniles, he specifically reaffirmed the court’s fidelity to the United States Constitution.

International unanimity against the practice only confirmed, he said, the court’s conclusion that the death penalty is widely perceived as a disproportionate punishment for juveniles.

The resolution of the two Florida cases will depend on whether the court is ready to extend its reasoning in the Roper decision to those juveniles sentenced to life without the possibility of parole in non-capital cases.

Numerous influential organizations, including the American Bar Association and the American Psychiatric Association, have filed amicus briefs asking the court to do precisely that.

A 2005 study by Human Rights Watch found that 2,225 juveniles were serving sentences of life without the possibility of parole. Last month, the organization asserted that the actual number now exceeds that.

Though sequestered deep inside adult prisons, they constitute the most visible, nauseating proof of the barbaric manner in which the United States continues to treat accused children.

As has been so often the case with this ideologically divided Supreme Court, its ruling in the two Florida cases is going to depend on the vote of Justice Kennedy, the lone moderate on the bench.

On the plus side is Kennedy’s robust reliance on the psychological differences between juveniles and adults in voting to strike down the death penalty for juveniles in the Roper case.

These very differences, even more persuasively reaffirmed in the ensuing four years, suggest that he will be sympathetic to the two young petitioners in the Florida cases.

Kennedy might even be persuaded to opine that life imprisonment without parole is unconstitutional for all juveniles, even those convicted of murder.

On the other hand, Kennedy previously voted in favor of the death penalty for older juveniles in a 1989 decision before changing his mind six years later in the Roper case.

So he may not be ready to extend the Roper rationale to instances of juveniles serving sentences of life without parole.

Given Kennedy’s evolution on juvenile justice, it’s also conceivable that he might vote to outlaw these sentences for younger teen-agers, but uphold them for older ones.

In such a scenario, Sullivan would win while Graham would lose.

Sadly, this country is light years away from recognizing that no child should ever be tried or imprisoned as an adult under any circumstances.

Hence, juvenile rights advocates can only hope that the Supreme Court uses the Florida cases to introduce another sliver of sanity into a legal field ruthlessly plundered by callous legislators, politically ambitious, heartless prosecutors and a continuingly apathetic public.

____________________________________________________________

Daniel Leddy’s column appears each Tuesday on the Advance Editorial Page. His e-mail address is JudgeLeddy@si.rr.com.

Categories: Dan Leddy

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5. September 2009 by Rev Young.

As you can imagine, I spend much of my time reading reports, articles and following legislation throughout the country involving juvenile justice reform.  My focus is mainly juvenile justice and prison reform although I believe that every aspect of our criminal justice and incarceration systems should be reformed.  I believe that there is a cost for breaking the laws established in this land for order and safety. However, I believe that they should pay the price and be released from the charge against them. 

We seem to like to hold grudges in this country.  We are never quite finished punishing someone for something they have done that offended us or wronged us.  Don’t believe that is true?  Look at how long we remember and recall the mistakes people have made.  Look at how long we stay angry at our bosses or loved ones.  We love to hold a grudge and portray ourselves as victims so that we can receive some measure of sympathy and attention.  Sad.  We want others to have compassion for OUR hardships and troubles but we offer none in return.

Our laws currently take a young person that has not reached maturity and hold them as responsible as you or I.  We make statements like, “they should have known better”, “they know right from wrong”.  “Well didn’t it occur to them that helping their friend would get them in trouble?”  The answer is: they didn’t, they don’t and NO. 

With juvenile offenders, we have the opportunity to do something good.  We have the opportunity to make a difference in one persons life that may be the catalyst to changing the course of a family , a neighborhood and a city.  We forget the positive impact we can have on a human life if we so choose.  Young people are mold-able, impressionable, trainable and hungry.  We have the opportunity to take a young person and help them change the course of their life. 

I can hear the responses now….yes but he killed someone.  Not everyone will make the shift, not everyone is reachable and some of them are just plain mentally ill.  Does that mean that we forget about them and not try to give them some sort of quality of life?  I see people who pour more time and money into their dying pet than we are willing to expend on these young people. 

These are not hardened criminals, they are kids.  They will come to realize their mistakes, they will realize their missed opportunities and they will hope to get a second chance….a chance to give instead of take.  We don’t want to give them that chance.  We want them to be remorseful but we won’t listen to their apologies….they aren’t good enough.  We want them to pay for their crime but we are not willing to let them give back to us……we would have to take a chance and leave our anger behind.

We have moved into an era of reclamation.  We want to reclaim control over our debt, we are reclaiming land, reclaiming neighborhoods, reclaiming our identities and our inheritance.  Shouldn’t our priority be to reclaim our children first? 

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5. September 2009 by Rev Young.

While most criminal justice reform advocates tend to believe that we are failing our children, our communities and wasting tax dollars by charging juvenile offenders as adults, their is a growing number of lawmakers that believe the same.  There are even some who are willing to speak out on this issue and the number is growing every day.  Most people, including your legislators, have no idea what happens to juvenile offenders.  The truth is, as we have slashed most programs, juvenile delinquency prevention and juvenile detention and reform programs have been cut as well.  Instead of opting to spend our tax dollars on programs and facilities that have proven they can make a difference in a child’s life, they have chosen to spend more money on prisons. 

With all the focus on budget problems right now, we seem to forget one thing…….we are talking about human beings here.  These are people who’s life we are playing with or destroying.  These are people who have made mistakes, had accidents or used poor judgement and are paying with their lives.  Some of them literally.  When we look at the use of our resources, we should be considering options and alternatives that will produce an outcome benefiting the whole community.  We need to look for ways to use our resources to strengthen and heal our communities.  The methods we have been using are tried and true……they don’t work! 

I want to applaud Rep. Claire Levy for using her voice.  Read On…..

perspective

Deadly sentences for juveniles

By Rep. Claire Levy

Posted: 08/30/2009 01:00:00 AM MDT

Two teenage boys have committed suicide in Colorado jails within the past 10 months.

Jimmy Stewart was 17 years old last November when he foolishly took his father’s car and drove while he was intoxicated, killing another person. He was in a juvenile detention facility for three weeks before he was transferred to jail. He was remorseful. The detention center put him on suicide watch.

No one was watching him in the Denver County Jail. After several days in jail, he killed himself.

Robert Borrego was also 17 when he was arrested on May 26 in Pueblo for assault and possession of an illegal weapon (a butterfly knife). According to news reports, Borrego got into a fight outside the state fairgrounds following a tough-man competition and stabbed another kid. He had been in isolation in the county jail when he killed himself on June 15.

Neither of these young men was in jail because they had been a behavior problem in detention. They weren’t in jail to protect the public; juvenile detention facilities are locked and secure. They weren’t in jail because of a considered decision that jail was where they belonged. No one had assessed their psychological condition, criminal history, risk of flight, seriousness of the offense, and other factors particular to them before putting them in jail.

They were in jail because they were being charged as adults.

Their deaths were senseless tragedies because the high risk of suicide by juveniles in jails is well known by experts on juvenile justice.

Juveniles who are charged as adults are transferred from a locked juvenile detention facility to the county jail. In the county jail, the kid is not allowed to see or hear the adult inmates. If there are no other juveniles in the jail, these restrictions mean they are in what amounts to solitary confinement. They aren’t in school. They aren’t in programs to address their mental health or behavior problems. In some jails, they can’t get a hug, a hand squeeze or pat on the back from a visiting relative. They just sit.

Being held in isolation causes anxiety and paranoia and exacerbates existing mental disorders. These youth are 36 times more likely to commit suicide in an adult jail than in a juvenile detention facility.

Statewide, about 100 kids are confined in jail every year while awaiting trial. The average case takes about 180 days to be resolved. Although these kids have been charged with serious crimes, six months in jail awaiting trail could prove to be a death sentence.

The Centers for Disease Control has found that juveniles who are prosecuted and sentenced as adults are 34 percent more likely to be re-arrested than those who stay in the juvenile system. They become more violent and better criminals when they have been in the adult system. Many of them have been victims of abuse and neglect in their own homes. They are two to three times more likely than the general population to have a mental disorder. They lack the maturity and judgment to appreciate the seriousness of their acts, and have poor self-control.

Nationally, as many as half of the youth who are charged as adults and transferred to jails are either not convicted of anything or end up back in juvenile court. Twenty percent of them will have spent over six months in an adult jail without adequate education and other services. During this time, lasting damage is done.

Here in Colorado, thanks to the newly passed House Bill 1321, some thought will now be given to whether a juvenile should be moved to jail when they get charged with an adult crime. The prosecutor will have to consult with the defense attorney and consider a host of factors in determining where to hold him until the case is resolved.

While HB 1321 may save some lives, we must also reconsider the current practice of charging juveniles as young as 14 with adult offenses. Research shows that with the exception of the most violent and hardened offenders, treating juvenile offenders like adult criminals is counter- productive. It simply pushes troubled youth farther down the path toward a lifetime of crime.

It is costly as well. Every dollar spent on evidence-based programs for juveniles can yield up to $13 in cost savings. When we prevent a child from engaging in repeat criminal offenses, we save the community as much as $3.4 million.

Colorado should join the growing list of states that are rethinking their approach to juvenile offenders. We cannot afford to give up on these kids.

State Rep. Claire Levy of Boulder represents House District 13.

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5. September 2009 by Rev Young.

There is much cause for celebration for many families of incarcerated people in the state of Colorado.  The Governor, prompted by huge budget deficits, is looking to release a few thousand offenders early and release more from parole that are in compliance with their parole guidelines. 

There is another group of incarcerated people that we have been advocating for, that I believe are good candidates for early release as well.  Juveniles serving adult sentences in prison.  Many will say that this state only sends juveniles into the adult system if they are truly bad criminals.  That statement, in itself, is an oxymoron.  How can a child be a truly bad criminal.  When we think of dangerous and horrible criminals we think of Charles Manson, the Uni Bomber or others that have a history or pathology of terrible crime.  Most of these kids were never even in trouble with the law before they faced charges for the crimes that cost them their life and their future. 

I am posting an article below that was written by my fellow advocate.  Please read and then I will continue this series in my next blog.

perspective

The lost juvies

Youth offenders given sentences of life without the chance of parole may yet have a shot at release. But are we doing enough for them?

By Mary Ellen Johnson

Posted: 08/30/2009 01:00:00 AM MDT

“In America, we recycle our trash and throw away our children.”

Those words were spoken by a mother whose 16-year-old son is serving life in prison without possibility of parole. His sentence isn’t unusual. America is the only nation on earth that sentences its children to die behind bars.

We have thousands of throw-away children wasting hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars in prisons stretching from coast to coast. In 2006, Colorado became the first state to reverse that trend, by allowing parole after 40 years. It is a modest beginning.

In 2007, Gov. Bill Ritter created the nation’s first juvenile clemency board, which has been universally lauded. However, it is distressing that not a single juvenile has yet received a pardon or commutation. Still, by creating such a board, Ritter acknowledges that, from their brain development to their capacity for rehabilitation, children are different from adults. Theoretically, those who were convicted of crimes that occurred when they were 14, 15, 16 or 17 deserve a second look.

But political reality intrudes.

We all have different versions of right and wrong. It seems wrong that a kid gets sentenced to life for a hit-and-run that generally garners probation or a few years in prison for an adult. Or that a 38-year-old man receives 16 years in jail for setting his father on fire over a minor argument (the dad later died), while a 15-year-old who kills his molesters is put away for life. Yet other people looked at the same set of circumstances and had no trouble trying, convicting and incarcerating those cases.

I know several of these young prisoners and believe they can be rehabilitated. But Americans are a merciless people. We talk about redemption but we don’t practice it — certainly not for a young gang member who participates in a drive-by shooting or for a frightened teen who cleans up after his friend kills his abuser.

The facts are spun and re-spun on all sides. There is not much compassion, but a lot of hatred. And pesky political realities, such as: Where’s that 15-year-old’s constituency? Who will speak for him?

Who even cares?

If I were Gov. Ritter, would I ever give any of these kids a commutation or clemency? What’s in it politically for him — beyond our assertion that redemption should carry as great a moral weight as retribution?

We at the Pendulum Foundation believe we’ve found something that’s “in it” for everybody. We can give some of these kids a second chance plus promote public safety plus practice redemption and rehabilitation rather than retribution. Our solution?

Programs.

Programs inside, and then more programs inside. Cognitive behavior therapy. Life skills. College. Right now, young inmates serving life without parole get few programs. However, the same bill that lowered life sentences also mandated that these young prisoners get the same opportunities for programs as those who are eligible for parole.

We think it’s important to provide them with a rainbow of proven programs. Not only will these (mostly privately funded) programs make those young inmates far better candidates for a commutation or clemency, all studies agree they also transform thinking and lives.

Once these offenders successfully complete all programs, we propose that they be given a conditional commutation or review. Inmates serving life without parole would then complete their re-integration into society via a privately funded rehabilitation center.

The entire process will take years. We don’t care. What we want to do is get them out of prison and firmly down the road to rehabilitation. Twenty years ago, when America was a different nation, these kids never got much prison time anyway. They received treatment, were rehabilitated and released back into society where most of them obeyed the laws, worked hard, paid their taxes, and disappeared into middle-class society.

We ask that some of our young inmates receive that same opportunity — an opportunity for a second chance.

We believe that it’s long past time when we recycle only our trash. It’s time we recycle our children, as well.

Mary Ellen Johnson is executive director of the Pendulum Foundation, a Denver-based juvenile-justice advocacy group.

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3. September 2009 by Rev Young.

It has taken me a little time to write after the presentation of Jonny’s story on Prime Time Crime.  It wasn’t that I was so impacted by what I saw because I have already seen the pictures, the video’s and I know the story…….all to well. 

But I know the Lost Soul, that Lost Boy that you were given a glimpse of on this television program.  I was the one who held and comforted that boy when he was crying in the interrogation room.  I was the one who promised that I would do everything in my power to get him a good attorney so that he didn’t have to take the fall for something he didn’t do………And I failed him.  Here we are almost 9 years later, fighting the good fight so that he can finally come home. 

You all heard him say that, “He couldn’t say…..He wasn’t there” when they asked him who killed all of those people.  You saw letters presented, written in the hand of another young man, admitting to killing all of those people.  You saw him declare that it never occurred to him that his friends would lie concerning his involvement and cost him his life.  Yet it has cost him. 

I have decided that my first blog after his story is going to be a warning to parents.  Please pay attention.  Your children’s future is at stake. 

In this case, 2 of the three boys were not read their MIRANDA rights when they were taken for questioning.  One boy was questioned at an earlier date without the knowledge or presence of another adult or parent.  THIS IS ILLEGAL.

As parents, our job is to teach and train our children to tell the truth and to be forthright concerning all things.  THIS IS NOT APPROPRIATE WHEN DEALING WITH ISSUES OF THE LAW.  Any time your child is to be questioned by anyone in law enforcement, DEMAND AN ATTORNEY.  In my sons case, his charges were based solely on the confession of a troubled child.  In this country, that is all you need and you can loose your freedom.  Please hear me!  It is the truth!

We have laws on the books in this country that can take your freedom even if you committed no crime.  If you take your friend to the Cheesecake Factory and drop them off, they rob the restaurant and, in the process someone dies, you can be charged with conspiracy to commit or felony murder.  All your friend has to do is agree to plea to lessor charges in exchange for stating that you knew they were going to rob the store.  Your life is gone, solely on the statement of one person.  There does not have to be any evidence.  Please hear me in this!

False Confessions Happen Everyday because District Attorney’s offer plea agreements to lessor charges and those statements do not have to be confirmed by evidence.

My son was charged in a very violent case yet they never searched my house or my sons room to see what was there.  They never investigated who my son was, who his family was or what his future could be.  They simply decided, within 24 hours, to take this kid and charge him as an adult.  This decision about the future of your child is put in the hands of one person……the District Attorney!  Your children are not protected, they do not receive a transfer hearing, parents are not allowed to be present when the decision is made and speak on their child’s behalf.  They are sent to county jail, to be held in solitary confinement, while the investigation BEGINS and the court process goes forth.  They are held in adult jail facilities with adult inmates while their innocence or guilt is decided. 

Our juvenile justice laws are weak, ineffective and they do not protect our children.  The District Attorney’s have been given too much power and the result is horrendous.  There is a movement that is trying to change this.  Please join us.  Tomorrow it could be your child who is fighting for his life……..and loosing.

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