Captured by the Clueless
Posted by James Bell on January 13th, 2010
It was the first report of its kind by the Justice
Department, and the prevalence of sexual abuse by staff, particularly female
workers, shocked even advocates. At our offices, we drew a deep breath and
acknowledged the report as an addition to a growing list of reminders that
incarcerating youth – the majority of whom are locked up for nonviolent
offenses – is expensive, unproductive and harmful.
Every day, youth across the country who are incarcerated
find themselves facing harms ranging from mental, emotional, physical and
sexual abuse, to a lack of nutritious food and basic necessities including
clean undergarments and adequate bathing supplies, and a lack of education and
future opportunities. The majority are denied their liberty for minor offenses,
and are placed in the mercy of a system that has been proven broken and in need
of a serious and immediate overhaul.
Groups across the country work daily to protect and defend
the rights of youth already incarcerated. We work to ensure that they will not
be unjustly detained in the first place. As we look to the public and the
legislature to react to the urgency we feel to transform the system, I look to
the reports of some of the most egregious harms inflicted upon the young people
in the custody of the juvenile justice system.
Sadly, sometimes the most heinous incidents are the best
aid in reminding us of how much needs to be done. Any of these children could
have been yours, in some tragic twist of fate.
- In 2009, the U.S.
Department of Justice released a report graphically documenting the persistent
brutality and routine neglect of youth of color with mental health. The report
summarized the results of a two-year investigation and highlighted abuse
including a 300-pound guard forcing a girl to the ground so violently (she had
threatened to urinate on the floor) that the girl suffered a concussion.
Another girl with mental health issues was placed in isolation for three months
without treatment. She apparently deteriorated in the process, never changed
out of her pajamas, and was forcibly restrained at least 15 times.
- In 2008, The New York Times reported that the Louisiana
state legislature voted to close the Jetson Center, a large prison-style
facility near Baton Rouge plagued by fights and reports of sexual violence. A
young man reported being locked in a cell for about seven weeks: “This is
where the guards beat, kick, stomp and punch you. I was beaten so badly in
there in there by a guard that he broke my eardrum. The sex in there is
horrible. The female guards, and even some male guards, were having sex with
the kids….And there were rapes, but they weren’t reported very often. If a kid
was raped on a guard’s watch, the guard would get fired and the other guards
were going to make sure the kid paid for telling.”
- In 2007, reporters in
Texas found that more than 750 juvenile detainees across the state had alleged
sexual abuse by staff over the previous six years. Officials in Austin ignored
what they heard, and in rare cases where staff were fired and their cases
referred to local prosecutors, the prosecutors typically refused to act. “Not
one employee of the Texas Youth Commission during that six-year period was sent
to prison for raping the children in his or her care,” according to the New
York Review of Books.
- In 2006, Martin Lee
Anderson didn’t make it past his first day at the Bay
County Juvenile Boot Camp before he was abused to death. After “drill
instructors” at this youth boot camp facility forced him do a fitness run with
a 20-minute confrontation, Martin collapsed and died as a result of
complications from a sickle cell trait.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Professor Simon Johnson coined the phrase
“intellectual capture” in reference to the nation’s kneeling at the altar of the
gods of Wall Street. In essence, we are “intellectually captured” by the notion
that whatever is good for Wall Street is good for America. Johnson goes on to
posit that this intellectual capture is so powerful that it prevents the public
and powerful politicians from exercising common sense and challenging basic
assumptions.
This recent report, and this brief look at an ever-growing
list of abuses, demonstrates clearly that our notions of crime and punishment
for young people have us intellectually captured and clueless. Society at
large, as well as the opinion shapers, the elites and those who wield power
seem to be afraid to say what we all know to be true. Using cells to change the
behaviors of teenagers is ineffective, expensive and more likely to increase
crime.
Two-thirds of youth in detention are incarcerated for
nonviolent offenses. What about incarceration only for those who pose a proven
public safety risk? What about keeping nonviolent youth and those with minor
offenses in community-based programs that involves therapy and engages their
families? What about rehabilitation? Employing these methods has been shown to
reduce crime, and the likelihood of abuse, and save money.
These ideas should no longer be novel or untried. San
Francisco’s District Attorney Kamala Harris has it right. In her new book Smart on Crime she invites us to get a
clue about being, well, smart on crime. She observes that two thirds of inmates
return in two years. The numbers are similar for youth as well. By comparison,
two decades ago, Missouri replaced its guards with counselors and its cells
with bunk beds. The new model
focused on changing behavior through therapy rather than physical restraints.
Today, only one in four of the youths who have gone through the state's system
are re-incarcerated within three years of release.
How many more reports, tragedies and thrown away lives
will we continue to endure? How long will we continue to waste precious dollars
on this failed approach? How much longer will we, as a society, continue to be
clueless and intellectually captured by the myth of “tough on crime”? It’s time
to get a clue.
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