The DISH

Unbossed and unbought news and information you can use

Vol. 12 Issue 20…Dedicated to the Dialogue on Race…May 17, 2009

Trying Youths as Adults

By John Burl Smith

The value of specialized courts for young people is underscored in a new report from the US Justice Department's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. It concludes that juveniles transferred to adult criminal courts for trial and sentencing increases recidivism, especially among violent offenders, and has led many young people to a permanent life of crime.

The push to try children as adults in the mid-1990s reversed one of the great reforms of the Progressive Era - the juvenile justice system. Conservative lawmakers across America became fixated on the acts of a few young people, who committed high-profile crimes. They claimed adopting "get tough" laws would make communities safer. Ironically, their decision was not based on empirical research.

Over the past 30 years many researchers have studied the impact of the "get tough" phenomenon, examining its benefits, if any, to society. A full review of this research cannot be undertaken here, but some vital points and conclusions can be presented. First, the justification for implementing such draconian policies was counter-intuitive. Reflexively, these "get tough" laws have made it easier for more and younger juvenile offenders to be prosecuted in criminal court. In some states, certain juvenile offenders are automatically tried as adults. In other states, prosecutors have discretion to move certain cases directly to criminal court. Some states demand certain adjudicated juvenile offenders face mandatory minimum sentences.

Politicians with "get tough" agendas viewed juvenile court judges as "too soft" on crime. Their underlying assumption was that locking up juvenile offenders and incarcerating them in adult prisons for longer periods of time would make everyone safer. As a result, the number of admissions of juvenile offenders to adult prisons increased from 3,400 in 1985 to approximately 7,400 in 1997. Recent estimates indicate that approximately 9,100 youth were housed in adult jails and 5,400 in adult prisons, a total of 14,500.

Many researchers, including Singer & McDowell (1988), Jensen & Metsger (1994), Fagan (1996) and Bishop, Frazier, Lanza-Kaduce & Winner (1996) have looked at the problem by analyzing arrest data, recidivism and impact of adult prison on youth. They concluded implementation of the juvenile offender laws and harsher transfer laws did not deter juvenile crime. Glassner et al, found in Georgia (1983) that less than one third (30.3 %) were unaware before they committed crimes that juveniles could be tried as adults. Additionally, none thought that they would be tried as adults for their current offense.

The question of tougher laws as deterrents inevitably leads to measuring recidivism rates to determine if juveniles tried as adults are less likely to re-offend than those tried as juveniles. Various studies in Florida, Idaho, Minnesota, New Jersey and New York focused on youths tried as adults and found a significantly higher recidivism rate (58 %) than youths retained in juvenile court (42 %). Other researchers found that 30 % of youths tried as adults were charged with an additional offense within one year compared with only 19 percent of those retained in the juvenile justice system. Still, another study found that offenders tried as adults were more likely to re-offend sooner and more seriously than non-transfer youths. Also, transferred offenders were more likely to be rearrested for a violent felony offense following release, than youth retained in juvenile court. Moreover, transferred offenders had more felony re-arrests or adult correctional commitment after age 18 compared to those kept in juvenile courts.

These results clearly indicate that "get tough" policies that transfer more juvenile offenders to criminal court appear to have a criminogenic rather than deterrent effect. It is theorized that the adversarial and retributional nature of criminal court processing is responsible for higher recidivism rates of juveniles tried as adults. Redding (2003) suggested that formal justice processing "may give juveniles a "delinquent self-concept" or "criminalized self perception." Another possible explanation for higher recidivism rates is that juveniles tried as adults are more likely to view criminal court proceedings as unfair and unjust compared to retained juveniles.

Bishop and Frazier (2000) found that those tried as juveniles felt the judges interacted with them and genuinely care about them as individuals. Therefore, they viewed the juvenile court proceedings as just and fair. Whereas, transferred offenders felt criminal court judges did not care about them or their problems. Many felt victimized, confused by legal terminology in pleading guilty. Also, they said the criminal court process made them feel worthless.

Other than shutting away its youth for most of their lives, housing them in adult correctional facilities has to be the greatest downside for society. Austin et al. (2000) reported that 44 states housed juveniles in adult jails and prisons, and from 1983 to 1998, the number increased 366% to approximately 107,000 young people under the age of 18 (1997). Looking at the impact of adult prison on juvenile offenders, Forst, et al, (1989) found that "the risks of violent outcomes to adolescents increase dramatically when they are transferred into the adult correctional system." Juvenile inmates in adult prisons were one and a half times more likely to be assaulted with a weapon and five times more likely to be sexually assaulted as in juvenile facilities. Earlier research by Flaherty (1980) also found that the suicide rate for juveniles held in adult jails was 7.7 times greater than youth held in juvenile detention centers and 4.6 times that for youth in the general population.

These findings indicate that adult jails and prisons are very dangerous places for juvenile offenders. These facilities offer increased risks, little programming and few staff who seem to genuinely care about the youthful offenders they work with. Young people who commit serious, violent crimes deserve severe punishment. But transferring juvenile offenders into adult prisons is not making anyone safer. When they are locked up with adults, young people learn real criminal behaviors. They are also deprived of the counseling and family support they would likely get in the juvenile system, which is focused more on rehabilitation. And once they are released, their felony convictions make it hard for them to find a job and rebuild their lives. (Sources: www.campaign4youthjustice.org, http://blog.aclu.org, www.juvenilejusticefoundation.com and http://gritsforbreakfast.blogspot.com).

Politics Y2K9

Life Sentences and Juvenile Offenders

The Supreme Court recently announced its decision to hear arguments in two cases - Sullivan v. Florida and Graham v. Florida - involving juvenile offenders sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The cases, which will be heard as part of the court's next term beginning in October, will provide the Court an opportunity to determine whether sentences suitable for adults may be applied to juveniles, or do sentences such as life without the possibility of parole violate the Constitution's prohibition against cruel and usual punishment.

In Graham v. Florida, attorneys for then-17-year-old Terrance Graham, sentenced to life imprisonment for a series of home invasions, asked the court to review the sentencing policy. According to Graham's attorneys, "Virtually the entire international community has condemned this nation's practice." Only a handful of countries, including the United States, sentences juveniles to prison for life without the possibility of parole.

In Sullivan v. Florida, 13-year-old Joe Sullivan was found guilty of rape and burglarizing the home of a 72-year-old Pensacola, Florida woman. The victim did not see Sullivan; she identified his voice, and he was implicated by other, older boys, who participated in the burglary.

According to Sullivan's attorney, Bryan A. Stevenson of the Equal Justice Initiative, who is challenging life sentences for juveniles in cases across the country in which the victim was not killed, "Nationwide, Joe Sullivan is one of only two thirteen-year-old children who received life-without-parole sentences for crimes in which the victims did not die. Both of these sentences were imposed in Florida, making Florida the only state to have sentenced a thirteen-year-old to die in prison for a non-homicide." Recently, a California appeals court struck down a sentence of life imprisonment without parole for a 14-year-old convicted of aggravated kidnapping.

In 2005, the Court decided that those younger than 18 are not eligible for the death penalty. During its last term, in a case involving a man who had raped a child, the court decided that capital punishment was not warranted for crimes in which the victim is not killed. Sullivan and Graham pose a logical question for the court. Should states sentence children to die in prison for crimes in which no one died? (Source: www.washingtonpost.com)

Bit of History

Mississippi v. Jamie and Gladys Scott

On a cold December morning in 1993 in rural Scott County, Mississippi, 19-year old Gladys and 22-year old Jamie Scott left home on an errand to purchase heating fuel. When the car they were driving ran out of gas, the sisters were forced to continue on foot. Unbeknownst to them, a fight later occurred in the area they had traveled between several young black men, one of whom would lose his wallet in the altercation.

On December 24, Gladys and Jamie were arrested and charged with armed robbery, a crime in Mississippi that carries a maximum penalty of life in prison. Ranging in ages from 14 to 18, three young males, who were related and referred to in accounts of the ensuing court case as "the Patrick men," confessed to the crime; they were apparently involved in the fight. However, the Mississippi sheriff used coercion, threats and harassment to compel these young black men to turn state's evidence against the Scott sisters. Apparently, a longstanding vendetta between the sheriff and a member of the Scott family played a role in the sheriff's decision to go after the Scott sisters.

In court testimony, the 14-year-old Patrick male testified that he did not read and was pressured to sign a written statement prepared by the sheriff without an attorney present. According to court transcripts, one teenage witness testified that the sheriff told him he would be sent to Parchman - the infamous Mississippi penitentiary, where he would be made a woman, i.e., raped by men, if he did not testify against the Scott Sisters. This young man later wrote an affidavit swearing that Jamie and Gladys Scott had absolutely nothing to do with this robbery.

On investigating the scene of the crime, jail trustees located the wallet, containing three twenty dollar bills and a picture I.D. of the alleged victim of the alleged armed robbery. Like the Patrick men, the trustees were threatened with the prospect of being sent to Parchman Penitentiary, if they told anyone about the wallet, which would have exonerated the Scott sisters. The wallet was not presented as evidence at trial. No gun or other weapon was introduced in evidence to support the charge of armed robbery. Neither the trustees, robbery victims, nor any witness on behalf of the Scott sisters was called to testify in lower court. In addition, the sisters were advised by their attorneys, Firnist J. Alexander, Jr. and Gail Shaw-Pierson, who have since been labeled incompetent, not to testify on their own behalf.

In October of 1994, the Scott sisters were sentenced to double life terms each for an armed robbery in which some amount between $9 and $11 was allegedly stolen. The alleged victims sustained no injuries; no one died. Yet, they received double life sentences because the sheriff created two victims. The sisters had no prior history of criminal activity. The young black males that confessed and turned state's evidence against them received minor sentences.

According to the Request for Commutation of Sentence and/or Pardon prepared by attorney Chokwe Lumumba, the Scott Sisters challenged their convictions on direct appeal. They argued that there was insufficient evidence to convict them. Moreover, the guilty verdict was against the overwhelming weight of evidence, which should have exonerated them. Finding no error, the court of appeals affirmed their convictions on December 17, 1996. A Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the Supreme Court was filed; it too was denied on May 15, 1997. The sisters' attorney consequently filed an Application for Leave to File Motion to Vacate Conviction pursuant to the Mississippi Post Conviction Collateral Relief Act. The Supreme Court denied that application.

It has been 14 long years since their conviction, and nothing has changed this miscarriage of justice. The women remain in prison, while their five children, some nearly grown, are being raised by their ailing mother. Their father, who moved them from Chicago to Mississippi for a better life, has since died of a massive heart attack, unable to free his daughters.

Several efforts are ongoing to free the Scott sisters. These include a petition drive at www.ipetitions.com/petition/Free-Jamie-Gladys/index.html. According to Jamie Scott, "We are convinced that once this chain of events is exposed and unraveled, the events that occurred, the lives that have been destroyed, the pain and suffering the citizens of Scott County have endured, everyone will be utterly amazed, astonished and compelled to assist us in our plight for freedom. We pray that the people would insist upon an investigation into their misconduct and miscarriage of justice." (Sources: www.freethescottsisters.com, http://mbantunyankompong.wordpress.com, and http://wrongfulconvictions.ning.com/)

Intuit's Vibe

What Color Is That Baby?

By Bob Herbert

I remember as a young deputy city editor at The Daily News attending my first "sked meeting," a large gathering of editors held every afternoon to consider which stories would go into the next morning's paper and how they would be played.

I was sitting at the far end of a conference table from the editor who was conducting the meeting. The News had very seldom had a black person at those gatherings. Mine was the only black face in the room.

One of the stories being pitched was about a baby that had been killed on Long Island. The editor running the meeting was completely relaxed. He was sprawled in his chair and was holding a handful of papers. His legs were crossed.

"What color is that baby?" he asked. A tremendous silence fell over the room. Everyone understood what he meant. If the baby was white, the chances were much better that the story was worth big play. It might be something to get excited about.

Annoyed at not getting a response, the editor repeated himself. Then his eyes caught mine staring down from the other end of the table.

The Daily News has changed radically since those days, and my career flourished there. But that old story came to mind last week as I followed the lavish newspaper and television coverage given to the murder of a 21-year-old Wesleyan University student, allegedly by a man who had attended a summer course with her at N.Y.U. a couple of years ago.

There is no doubt that this was a tragic and compelling and, thus, newsworthy story. And I've long argued that we haven't paid enough attention to the staggering number of murders committed in this country -- well over 150,000 every 10 years or so.

But the press is still very color conscious in the way it goes about covering murder. Editors may not be asking, "What color is that victim?" But, on some level, they're still thinking it, which is why we've heard so little about an awful story out of Chicago. Some three dozen public school students have been murdered since the school year began, most of them shot to death. These children and teenagers have been killed in a wide variety of settings and situations -- while riding a city bus, playing in parks, sitting in the back seats of cars, in gang disputes, in robberies, in the crossfire of sidewalk shootouts.

It's an immense and continuing tragedy. But these were nearly all African-American or Latino kids, so the coverage has been scant.

In contrast, the news media gave the public enormous amounts of information about the Wesleyan student, Johanna Justin-Jinich, and -- in another big story -- about Julissa Brisman, the masseuse who had advertised on Craigslist and was killed in a Boston hotel room last month.

It's a searing double-standard that tells us volumes about the ways in which we view one another, and whose lives are considered to have value in this society and whose are not. Another disturbing aspect of the coverage is the extreme prurient interest that drives it. The press goes wild over stories about murderous attacks on women who are young, attractive and white.

A closer look at how and why the news media covers some of these stories is overdue. I'd like to see more coverage, not less, of murderous violence in the U.S. But I'd like that coverage to be much broader, more meaningful and less sensationalized.

It's important to give readers and viewers some insight into the real lives of murder victims like Ms. Justin-Jinich, a talented student whose promise was extinguished in an act of madness, because it helps us to understand the absolute horror of murder and why we need to do much more to stop it.

But why overlook the humanity of so many others because of their ethnic background or economic circumstances? Surely the slaughter of dozens of Chicago schoolchildren is worthy of wide national coverage. CNN has covered the story, but there has been precious little coverage elsewhere.

The killings during this school year are an acceleration of the slaughter of previous years. Back in 2007, I got a letter from a woman named Rita Sallie, whose 13-year-old daughter, Schanna Gayden, was shot to death in a Chicago playground by a thug who was aiming at someone else.

"I cannot accept the fact that she is gone," Ms. Sallie wrote, "or the way that she was taken from me and those who love her. I wish you could have known her."

I spoke to Ms. Sallie by phone the other night. We talked about the latest round of killings, and about Schanna. "Oh gosh, that kid was funny," she said. "She was so. ..." Her voice trailed off and several moments passed before she could stop herself from weeping.

Venue for an Artist

If I Could Go Back

By Amber Rose Riley

I've spent 6 years fighting my case to prove my innocence and to try to save my life.

The fight has really taken its toll on my family and filled us all with strife.

I was only 16 and now I am almost 22.

I pray that this is something you never go through.

I tried so hard to make my parents proud

Now I hide my face when I stand in a crowd.

Take this cup from me and please let it pass.

I was doing so well, was the best in my class.

I made a poor choice of friends, ones that were hateful and cruel

They say maybe this is because

I was bullied in school.

I pray with all my heart and soul that I make it back home.

That I am afraid of too, this place now is all I know.

They want to give me life.

To make an example out of me and they fail to notice I was just a teen.

They do not care about my good deeds, my grades, or me working so hard to always please.

They do not know how I saved strays, or that I was a volunteer at my church.

As I am now just a number, no face and no name,

I sit in this system and I pray to be saved.

The few women I get close to either turn or go home.

It is so scary to feel so alone.

Will I one day be free to make a life of my own?

To marry a good man, have a family and house of my own?

Or am I going to spend the rest of my life like this?

Everyday feels like a test.

I can't remember a full night of rest.

I love the rain yet I haven't felt it in years.

The closest I get is my own salty tears.

I love animals and always did my best to save them,

Now I know first hand how cruel it is to cage them.

I don't want to be some example, statistic or even a check in some lawyer's deep pockets.

I want to reclaim my life and clear my name

Not live a life of a horrible fame.

Not even money to buy my way out, post bail, or pay an Attorney,

As I hit my knees each night I wonder if God even hears me.

I don't want to live my life like a convict or crook.

I know I should have been with my nose in a book.

I know how it feels to be lost and alone.

It hurts even more knowing my parents don't have a home.

They dedicated their lives to bring their baby girl back.

They have lost it all, except some bills in a stack.

I hope that young girls and boys alike too,

Never sit in a cell like I do with no one to trust not a cop, nor a friend.

When people go home you never know if you'll see them again.

Maybe I too am an Angel with broken wings who tried to grow up too fast

Like the Devil's Puppet on strings.

If I could go back I'd change it all, do it over.

Maybe next time I won't hand my life over.

About Me: Amber Rose Riley is now 22. She is accused of helping her 22-year-old boyfriend Jason Harris kill 22-year-old Terry Taylor in 2003. Riley was convicted of 1st degree murder after her attorney rested without calling a single witness in her defense. She was also advised by her attorney not to take the stand. Amber Rose Riley received California's mandatory sentence of 25 years to life.

News You Use

Justice for Troy Davis

By Martina Correia

My name is Martina Correia, and I'm from the distant planet of Georgia. For those of you who don't know about my brother, Troy Anthony Davis was convicted in 1991 of killing an off-duty police officer. He was trying to help a homeless man.

Someone told the police that my brother shot and killed this police officer. The state used nine eyewitnesses to convict my brother and sentence him to death. Seven of those witnesses have since recanted, and yet the state of Georgia still wants to execute my brother -- even though they have no physical evidence, no weapon, no motive, nothing.

Here is the message from my brother, Troy Anthony Davis:

"I want to thank all of you for your efforts and dedication to human rights and human kindness. In the past year, I have experienced such emotion, joy, sadness and never-ending faith.

It is because of all of you that I am alive today. As I look at my sister Martina, I am marveled by the love she has for me -- and of course, I worry about her and her health. But as she tells me, she is the eldest, and she will not back down from this fight to save my life and prove to the world that I am innocent of this terrible crime.

As I look at my mail from across the globe, from places I have never ever dreamed I would know about, and people speaking languages and expressing cultures and religions I could only hope to one day see firsthand, I am humbled by the emotion that fills my heart with overwhelming, overflowing joy.

I can't even explain the surge of emotion I feel when I try to express the strength I draw from you all. It compounds my faith, and it shows me yet again that this is not a case about the death penalty, this is not a case about Troy Davis -- this is a case about justice, and the human spirit to see justice prevail.

I cannot answer all of your letters, but I do read them all. I cannot see you all, but I can imagine your faces. I cannot hear you speak, but your letters take me to the far reaches of the world. I cannot touch you physically, but I feel your warmth every day I exist.

So thank you, and remember I am in a place where execution can only destroy your physical form, but because of my faith in God, my family and all of you, I have been spiritually free for some time. And no matter what happens in the days and weeks to come, this movement to end the death penalty, to seek true justice, to expose a system that fails to protect the innocent must be accelerated.

There are so many more Troy Davises. This fight to end the death penalty is not won or lost through me, but through our strength to move forward and save every innocent person in captivity around the globe.

I want you to know that the trauma placed on me and my family as I have now faced execution and the death chamber three times is more punishment than most can bear. Yet as I face this state-sanctioned terror, I realize one constant -- my faith is unwavering, the love of my family and friends is massive, and the fight for justice and against injustice by activists worldwide has ignited a fire that is raging for human rights and human dignity.

You inspire me, you honor me, and as I pray for strength and guidance for my family and loved ones, and for the victim's family and loved ones, I share with you this struggle. I share with you our triumphs, knowing that you add to my strength and my courage, and because of that, I share with you my life.

We must dismantle this unjust system, city by city, state by state and country by country. I can't wait to stand with you, no matter if that is in physical or spiritual form. I will one day be announcing, "I AM TROY DAVIS, and I AM FREE!" Never stop fighting for justice, and we will win!"

Martina Correia has spearheaded the fight for justice for her brother, Troy Davis, who has spent 18 years on Georgia's death row despite overwhelming proof that he is an innocent man. Troy has faced three execution dates in two years, and won a stay each time. Despite a battle with breast cancer, Martina has led a national and international struggle to win justice for Troy. She gave the remarks above and read Davis' statement at the National Convention of the Campaign to End the Death Penalty last fall.

On April 16, 2009, a federal court rejected Davis's most recent -- and likely final -- appeal 2 to 1. In dissenting, Judge Rosemary Barkett wrote, "To execute Davis, in the face of a significant amount of proffered evidence that may establish his actual innocence, is unconscionable and unconstitutional."

For more information on the campaign to save Troy Davis, which is at a critical moment, go to www.aiusa.org./troydavis, where you can sign a petition and learn about the other efforts to save Troy Davis.

Hood Notes

Harry Young

Harry Young is an 82 year old black farmer, who lives in Western Kentucky. Young was recently arrested; he is accused of making a phone threat to a federal employee. Young denies the allegation.

The allegation arises from a government foreclosure of Young's 100 year old family farm in 2005. Farm Service Agency (FSA) officials claim Young had not paid on a farm loan for more than 20 years. Young has signed documents showing payment. He also has a geologist's report showing that his land contains millions of dollars worth of coal. The government auctioned the land off for less than half a million dollars.

Several weeks ago, Young was arrested for allegedly making a threatening phone call to a Farm Services Agency employee in Washington, DC. Young, a diabetic, had no access to insulin for 3 days, and slept on a concrete jail floor. Who made the accusation? Was a threat really made? More than one person familiar with the case says the whole thing smells of a set-up and retaliation.

Officials will not provide the employee's name; the only 'proof' consists of statements made by two investigators. Young says he neither initiated the call, nor made threats in the conversation. Supporters say he has the legal right to contest the allegations and his accuser must face him in court.

Activists say this is payback because Young will not shut up and give up. They also question the timing of the arrest, given the fact that he is slated to speak with several high ranking Obama Administration officials regarding illegal foreclosure, various human rights violations in the FSA and criminal behavior within the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and FSA.

Since the 2005 foreclosure, he has conducted an ongoing legal effort to have the sale overturned based on alleged false statements from FSA and USDA employees, falsified documents, misstatements and violation of federal bankruptcy law, fair credit statutes and civil rights laws. He also filed a complaint against a federal judge in Kentucky.

Young says there are problems with the government's allegations about his loan and foreclosure. He has a signed statement from a local Farm Service Agency (FSA) loan office manager that one loan was paid off. He did not receive the proceeds from a 2^nd loan and turned the money back in to the agency. The agency did not take the loan off his account, but transferred the funds to another farmer (white). The agency has not complied with Freedom of Information Requests to provide his file to Young. The agency allegedly violated its own rules in failing to comply with federal credit regulations.

Sitting atop several million dollars in coal reserves, Young's land is worth a small fortune. He has been working through the courts and Congress to get it back since 2005. Young has been conducting a one-man campaign, writing Congress, the President and various media outlets. For his ongoing efforts to secure justice Young has been threatened; vandals shot at his house and vandalized his rented fields.

A federal judge has ordered Young to undergo a psychiatric evaluation before his next court date. Young has a public defender representing him on the threat charge, but needs an attorney for the land theft/civil rights violation cases. For information about the defense fund, contact Harry Young at kaintuckfarmer@yahoo.com.

Mailbox: E-Mails, Faxes and Telephone Calls

Email covert2ops@earthlink.net...Police State Study Ranks US As 6th Worst in the World UK in 5th, behind only the most ardent dictatorships...A study designed to rank countries in terms of how aggressively they monitor their populations electronically, has placed the US as 6th and the UK as 5th on a global index. The two countries lag behind only China, North Korea, Belarus and Russia in terms of governmental surveillance. The report, titled The Electronic Police State, (PDF link) was compiled from information available from different organizations such as the Electronic Privacy Information Center, Reporters Without Borders, Freedom House, the Ludwig von Mises Institute and The Heritage Foundation. 52 countries were rated on 17 criteria with regard to how far down the line they are toward a total electronic police state.

Email www.latimes.com ...Your tax dollars at work: Prisons boost construction spending. Monday's news of a slight bump in construction spending lifted the stock market and added to budding hopes that the economy is stabilizing. ...Home building was not part of that spike in construction. Private home construction was actually down 4% in March from February, and was 34% below March 2008. Public construction, which was up 3% in March over the previous year, helped to prop up total construction spending, as private construction was down 16% from the previous year. What's the government building? The two leading categories of public construction spending, tied for first place at $17.3 million in March, were offices and "public safety." The biggest share of public safety construction funds go to jails and prisons.