RSS
Home
Second chance for children in adult prisons
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention "Juvenile Justice Bulletin" of February 2000 acknowledged that the threat of juvenile violence and delinquency was grossly exaggerated in the 1990s; however, the fear experienced at the time resulted in significant changes in the approach to juvenile crime. Fears about juvenile crime were exacerbated by relentless media coverage resulting in “get tough on crime” legislation that had more and more youth being tried as adults and being incarcerated for long prison terms in adult prisons. Criminal justice returned to an archaic time predating 1900 for people believing that punishment alone changes behavior.
In Georgia, the SB-440 bill was passed in 1994 authorizing children as young as 13 to be tried as adults for specified offenses, known as the “seven deadly sins,” and be incarcerated in adult prisons at the discretion of the superior court “after investigation and for extraordinary cause.” Between 1994 and 2005, approximately 4,500 children were charged as adults in Georgia. Eighty-eight are currently incarcerated in adult prisons according to the most recent Georgia Department of Corrections report. As of April 2008, 117 were imprisoned. From 1990 to 1996, forty-four states and the District of Columbia had passed similar laws.
Assembled by the Center for Disease Control, the Task Force on Community Preventive Services released findings on November 30, 2007 in the report “Effects on Violence of Laws and Policies Facilitating the Transfer of Youth from the Juvenile to the Adult Justice System.” The documented report reviewed six studies that indicate the “get tough” approach has had little or no effect on the rate of juvenile crime. Moreover, these studies reveal that juveniles tried and incarcerated as adults may actually result in higher rates of recidivism for inmates when released.
Documented by the CDC, youth tried as adults and incarcerated in adult prisons commit more crimes, which are often more violent, than are committed by youth who had remained in the juvenile justice system. These “tough on crime” policies and laws have not deterred other youth from criminal behavior, nor have youthful offenders been rehabilitated when incarcerated. Shay Bilchik, Director of the Center for Juvenile Justice Reform at Georgetown University Public Policy Institute remarked, “You couldn’t ask for any worse results. We’re getting faster recidivism for more serious crimes.” What is most needed is the employment of proven effective intervention and rehabilitation programs that cost less, reduce crime and recidivism, and reduce the cost burden on the Department of Corrections (See related article: ‘Addictions intervention and criminal rehabilitation’).
Although the exercise of retributive justice answers the demand for retribution in response to the crimes committed, as in “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,” punishment alone without the opportunity for effective rehabilitation and facilitating the restoration of offenders to community including making amends to victims for the crimes committed, the same unacceptable results can be expected as have been evident in the increasing rates of recidivism and incarceration across the nation (See related articles: ‘Senator Jim Webb proposes 2009 national prison reform’ and ‘More offenders serving time outside prison). Most recent statistics reported in 2009 by the PEW Center on the States reveal that 1 in 31 adults in America is in prison or jail, on probation, or on parole. Twenty-five years ago, 1 in 77 adults were in the criminal justice system.
The preponderance of findings from recent studies confirms the ineffectiveness of “get tough on crime” policy and encourages actions to repeal or reform legislation to introduce workable solutions. In Florida, the “Second Chance for Children in Prison 
Act of 2009” was introduced in the Spring legislative session and provided for the eligibility of parole for inmates sentenced to adult prison as children. The bill requires an inmate to have been the age of 15 or younger at the time of the offense with no prior violent criminal record and sentenced to a term of more than 10 years. The minimum of 8 years must be served prior to eligibility. The inmate is required to have demonstrated effort toward rehabilitation that includes completing high school equivalency education, participation in self-rehabilitation programs, and receiving no disciplinary reports within 2 years. Each case would be subject to review by the Florida Parole Commission. At the age of 15 and younger, 448 children are currently serving sentences of 10 years or more in Florida. Forty-nine of these are serving life sentences without the possibility of parole.
Florida Republican Representative Michael B. “Mike” Weinstein, sponsor for the legislation in the House of Representatives, said, “I’m here because I think this is the right opportunity to look at whether we can, in fact, rehabilitate anybody. If we don’t see any possibility of re-entry into society for these children, at some time, then I don’t know if we can rehabilitate anybody.” Representative Weinstein served as a prosecutor for 15 years in the State Attorney’s Office for the Fourth District. Co-sponsors of a similar bill in the Senate are Republican Senator Jim King and Democrat Senator Arthenia Joyner.
The Florida bill has strong support from the Governor’s Blueprint Commission on Juvenile Justice, the Florida Catholic Conference, the Florida Pediatric Society, and even from the Mothers Against Murderers Association. Angela Williams, president of the organization, asserts, “I’m a strong believer in forgiveness and faith, and I believe these children deserve a second chance at life again.”
Photo: Michael B. Weinstein, Florida State Representative; Public Domain; Source: http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/SEctions/Representatives/details.aspx?MemberId=4443&SessionId=61
Related Articles:
Add a Comment
.jpg)
