Colorado Debates Direct File

25. February 2010 by Rev Young.

                     MOTHERS OF THE DISAPPEARED                                                       

“Midnight, our sons and daughters…..Were cut down and taken from us.                  

Hear their heartbeat…..We hear their heartbeat.

In the wind, we hear their laughter.  In the rain we see their tears. 

Hear their heartbeat…….We hear their heartbeat.

Night hangs like a prisoner…..Stretched over, black and blue.

Hear their heartbeat……We hear their heartbeat.

In the trees, our sons stand naked.  Through the walls our daughters cry.  

See their tears…. in the rainfall.”    (Lyrics and Music by U2)    

Throughout the world organizations like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International work tirelessly to insure that governments and corporations set policies and practices in place for the betterment of communities and we applaud them.  Those policies are to relieve poverty and oppression and insure that ALL people are treated with human dignity and compassion…..we commend that and we demand that other nations hold to our moral standards.  Special attention is given to women and children….the most vulnerable of human kind.  These powerful influence’s of government ask a simple question.  Are the policies and practices that you have, or are putting in place, for the betterment of ALL the people in your community?

March 17, 2010 Colorado will hold a debate on the direct file statute.  The debate is sponsored by many leaders for change and reform concerning juvenile justice and criminal justice practices in Colorado (see announcement below).  The debate will be moderated by The League Of Women Voters.  The debaters are Don Quick (District Attorney for Seventh Judicial District) and Kim Dvorchack (Attorney Colorado Juvenile Defender Coalition). 

The League of Women Voters has determined that the debate will be over policy, authority and will include the usual political bantering concerning the legitimacy of this statute.  I believe many reports and statistics will be referenced and the arguments for and against will be presented by very articulate attorneys. 

Contrary to popular belief, and contrary to the platform for this debate, this is not a political issue.  This is a moral issue that is based on an individuals right to freedom from oppression, injustice and the poverty that this issue creates in our community.   This policy is not for the strength or the betterment of individuals or our community. 

The direct file statute takes away the protection of children and exposes them to cruel and harsh punishments that are immoral.  The statute victimizes children by exposing them and causing them to DEFEND THEMSELVES in an adult arena that they are unprepared for and unfamiliar with.  A child is thrown into a system where words like LIFE and Prison become the fear motivating their decisions, their thoughts and their demeanor.  It leaves children vulnerable to over zealous  DA’s who intimidate and vilify these young people. 

The very fact that we, as a state would not make sure measures are in place to guarantee the protection of children , displays our poverty of spirit.  We have been fed a false doctrine of fear concerning our children.  We have been told by our policy makers that we needed to give authority to District Attorney’s to prosecute these children, at their discretion,  to ensure the safety of our communities.  That rhetoric has only served to destroy the strength and health of our communities. 

The direct file statue is a violation of their (children’s) Constitutional Right to a fair and speedy trial by a jury of their peers.  We have put in place a statute that oppresses our children.  We have a tendency to think of the well publicized cases that have been prosecuted under this statute, but the truth is……every child in this state is oppressed by this statue and is at risk because of it…..even yours. 

The reputation and success of a District Attorney is measured by his/her ability to successfully prosecute those charged, to the fullest extent of the law.  Why would we give the authority to decide the status of a child to the one office that stands to benefit the most from the transfer of a juvenile into adult court?  This is a conflict of interest.  These decisions should be made carefully, with a full spectrum of evidence and discussion, by an impartial third party, in the best interest of the individual and the state. 

This statute leaves our children exposed to the intimidating practices of interrogators, harsh confinement in solitary cells separated from human contact and laws that even violate adult human principle.  Laws like Felony Murder and COCA, with indeterminate consequences.  These laws can take away the life of a child and confine him/her forever inside prison.  These unjust practices should cause us to cry out on behalf of those who have no voice in any other legal arena…..because they are children. 

The practices of juvenile/criminal justice have created a prison machine that starves the community of its ability to care for, rehabilitate, habilitate or empower it’s individuals for future success.  Statutes such as Direct File, sentencing practices and policies that condemn people, are leaving our communities in poverty.  We leave individuals and families to suffer in their circumstance, addiction and health issues.  We remove preventative and rehabilitative measures in order to feed punishment and condemnation.  We are left to fund cement block monoliths of failure and isolation…….for the remainder of their and our lives.  We have chosen to believe, through our policies and practices, that these people are beyond redemption and forgiveness.  This leaves us to fund these inhumane practices and hold ourselves in poverty of spirit and possessions. 

The last point I would like to address is highly controversial, and up to now, unspoken.  Many reports and many experts have presented evidence concerning juvenile brain development.  Many advocates have jumped on the band wagon and used this as a tool for reform since it provides factual evidence that those they advocate for are, indeed, children and should be treated as such. 

The moral issue that is always raised but never addressed is,  “They know the difference between right and wrong.”  If they were raised in a home that teaches these moral values, then they know them in theory.  They have yet to apply them in practice.  They have not been alive long enough to be faced with the situations that give them the opportunity to test these theories.  If they have grown in an environment where the moral issues of right and wrong are only words but not actions, the words have little impact.  What the world calls “right and wrong” has not been modeled or experienced in their lives. 

These are training and discipline issues.  We can prove cause and effect with respect to moral choices when an individual is confronted with a circumstance that requires choice.  That is why we give responsibility and freedom in small doses, at age appropriate times, and with adult guidance and supervision.  We know that they will make mistakes and wrong choices.  We are supposed to guide and redirect them, helping them to understand cause and effect.  Many have been raised with addiction, violence, abuse, poverty and hunger, and gangs.  It is part of their normal life.  They have not been taught anything different and they have not experienced anything except fear, oppression and loss.  They have suffered injustice their whole lives and their whole life has been filled with lies and deception.

Inside of every person is a longing for truth, justice, freedom and hope.  Every person has a drive to survive but a longing to thrive and flourish.  Isn’t it time that we stopped feeding a broken system that, through historical evidence, reproduces itself and causes more suffering for all?  Shouldn’t we begin to act on mercy, compassion and restoration so that we are all stronger?  Why would we condemn our children to grow up in prison, exposed to violence, abuse and fear instead of taking the time to habilitate them?  Why are we satisfied to fund prisons to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars instead of demanding these funds be spent on creating strong children, healthier communities and a future for all of us? 

These are moral questions we must ask ourselves and choices we must make.  Are we doing the right thing?  Are we making choices that strengthen us and our future?

As for me?  I don’t spend money on things that don’t work and I don’t usually make the same mistake twice.  If it isn’t working change it! 

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