Young, Black and Locked Up

If you were asked where the United States ranks among industrialized countries on low birthweight, infant mortality or child poverty, a guess much higher than the bottom on any of these social indicators would be wrong. But if you were asked where America stands on imprisoning its citizens, you would be correct to answer that we surpass everyone else. Our nation incarcerates more people -- over 2.3 million in 2006 -- than any other country. Because justice is not equally administered in the United States, Black males are disproportionately represented among America's imprisoned population, currently numbering 837,000 in state and federal prisons. Our ranking as the world's number one jailer represents a monumental national failure.

More and more of those who enter the Prison Pipeline start with arrest records as young children. Earlier this year, a police officer arrested seven-year-old Gerard Mungo, Jr., in East Baltimore, Maryland, claiming that the child was riding a dirt bike on the sidewalk. Gerard was handcuffed and taken to a police station where officers took his fingerprints and mug shot.

Incarceration is extremely costly. In California, state detention centers for young people cost $216,000 a year per child; county facilities cost about $117,000. States spend on average nearly three times as much per prisoner as they do per public school pupil. In some states, the growth in prison costs also exceeds the growth in higher education spending. When it costs more to detain a child than to provide him a Head Start, we need to seriously reassess our nation's values and priorities. While there seems to be no cap on prison spending; Head Start funding serves only half of those eligible.

We need to refocus what we do with the children we detain. Too much cruelty permeates our youth detention culture where the focus is often on control and punishment instead of rehabilitation. A 2003 U.S. Department of Justice investigation into conditions at Oakley and Columbia Juvenile Training Schools in Mississippi found that juveniles there were being hog-tied with chains, physically assaulted by guards, sprayed with chemicals during military exercises, forced to eat their own vomit and put in dark, solitary confinement cells after being stripped naked. Mississippi's juvenile justice system is now under a federal judicial decree because of these and other violations found by the Department of Justice.

For some young people, being sent to a youth detention facility can be a death sentence. In January 2006, 14-year-old Martin Lee Anderson died of suffocation at a state-run boot camp in Florida after seven guards beat and restrained him. His death occurred the day after he arrived at the camp after violating parole for taking his grandmother's car for a joy ride.

One state that has gotten it right on juvenile justice is Missouri. Under the caring youth-focused leadership of Mark Steward, its former Youth Services Director, in 1983 Missouri closed all of its youth prisons and divided the state into five regions so that confined youths would be within driving distance of their homes. Each region has two facilities housing no more than 40 young people. This Department of Youth Services focuses on intensive individual counseling, academic and vocational education, and positive behavior modification. Key features of the Missouri model are its integration of mental health into all of its rehabilitation components and its comprehensive approach to treatment, which includes family therapy and counseling.

Each confined youth is brought together with nine other teens who eat, study and live together as a team. Each team of ten is under the supervision of two trained youth specialists. When a young person has a problem, s/he can call a meeting of the team to work out a solution. Academic success is emphasized and a high percentage of young people in Missouri's Department of Youth Services facilities earn their GEDs. Missouri has dramatically reduced youth recidivism to seven percent, at a cost of nearly one-third less per youth than the cost of systems in Louisiana and Florida, which have much higher recidivism rates.

Sadly, Missouri is an exception to the bumper-sticker thinking of too many state leaders who pursue "Tough on crime," "Zero tolerance," "Lock 'em up" approaches to punish rather than address the problems of troubled youths. Increasing investments in health care, quality early childhood education, better schools and positive youth development in out-of-school time would not only increase the number of children reaching successful adulthood but increase public safety. The last thing a young person needs is lessons in how to become a hardened criminal by exposure to adult criminal mentors in adult prisons or callous adults in juvenile "justice" systems. It's time for a change for our children and our nation's sake.

Comments

[LordMoon]

Our, sociey had been waging a social war against itself for several decades now. We identify who we like, based on our political ideology, we fund their causes and let social darwinism, work it's way through the culture of the other group who we ignore.

White males, get ritalin, young males of color get incarceration.

For decades we did not allow men of color to parent their children, now all society must bear the cost.

Child support enforcement has taken up where welfare left off. Encouraging women to have children, without care or concern about who is the father, knowing that child support enforcement will collect child support from them at the point of a gun if necessary.

What little material where withall men of color had is now forfeit, as collection orders confiscate their property, garnish their wages and bank accounts and make it impossible for them to parent, or even provide a suitable residence for themselves. We treat them as felons, along with the children they were unable to parent. Yet we scape goat them for abandoning their children, yet it was our political actions that made it so.

Falling revenues, and incentives from the federal government have given county governments all they needed to set support orders well beyond the means all men, ironically condeming the children they are supposed to be helping to a lifetime of poverty. Because their fathers will never have the means to support them either financially or to be their emmotionally.

We say that we do this for the children, but we do not.

Because when the county spends it's own money on foster care, it ensures the money is spent on children.

Only 1/3 to 1/5 of collected child support ever makes it to the children. Only god knows why it doesn't, or where it goes, but the program is 2.2 billion dollars in the red.

The result is a system skewed agains equal parenting, against men of color, whose children we cannot raise in prison.

[BlackandProud]

First of all, the zero tolerance philosophy is a terrible one. Each case should be looked at individually. Some of these kids just do crazy things that kids do, and get locked up for it.

One story I read had a kid in CA getting locked up for stealing a pizza. That's right, a pizza...but, 3rd offense...so they locked him up.

Secondly, there has to be more personal responsibility. I grew up as a kid in the late 70s- early 80s. My father only made about $15,000 per year, and mom drove bus to help out.

My parents were masters at budgeting, always kept us fed, and always kept basketballs, footballs, baseballs, etc around the house to keep us busy (and out of trouble). They even found a way to take us out to eat at a buffet once every week or two- but nothin fancy.

Getting in trouble like kids today was unacceptable unless you wanted dad's shoe across your behind.

The high number of single parent households today are shameful & disgraceful...but at the same time I really admire the single parents who raise great kids who stay out of trouble.

[Vexed]

If you want to behave like an animal relative to your fellow human beings then you need to pay the price... Frankly, I don't feel bad about these baby con who routinely prey on law abiding citizens... And while I agree that the absence of two parent families and parental discipline are likely the root cause of the problem it does not change the fact that these hooligans, young and otherwise, need to be isolated from the rest of society because they constitute a real and serious threat...

[Vajara]

Someone once said that you can judge or evaluate the progress of a country by how it treats and incarcerates its offenders. We have not progressed at all in this regard. I think that Dr. Edelman writes an excellent article about how Blacks are mistreated and gives a very excellent example of how our states could improve using a Missouri model that is working.

I would like to see some studies on who gets sent to mental health facilities and put on probation for similar offenses related to the offenders who have minority and economic status. I've noticed that the mental health facilities lock up many children and youth based on a mental health diagonsis and the cost to the community is just as enormous in many ways as prisons. Once given such a DSM label, it remains with the young person for life, while the incarceration in jail is expunged when they become an adult.

Anyway, those who think of us as a Christian and compassionate country, only have to look at this issue to see that we have very little interest in treatment and primary prevention of our youth offenders. The "puritans" are a very cruel and unforgiving group and this includes our evangelicals who now appear to have taken control over our 'justice system"--especially our Supreme Court.

I think that every community must evaluate their courts, detention systems and juvenile justice system. Don't just put kids in jail
and call this justice or rehabilitation as neither is happening in most communities.

[1will]

'Black males are disproportionately represented among America's imprisioned population.'
Are black males committing a disproportionate amount of violent crimes?

[Tator]

Why don't you address why they are committing all the crimes?

Liberalism is the modern day KKK and does more to hurt blacks than the old KKK ever did.

"Well, when shots are fired and a black man hits the pavement, there's every statistical reason to believe another black man pulled the trigger. That's not some negative, unfair stereotype. It's a reality we've been living with, tolerating and rationalizing for far too long."

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2007/12/01/sports-reporter-blames-rap-black-kkk-sean-taylor-murder

[justice4juveniles]

I think we should legalize drugs and tax it heavily (like cigarettes) and money used for rehabilitation and other services. After alcohol was legalized crime went way down. I believe that would happen with drugs too. Prisons and gangs would be out of business and our treasuries would be back in business. It's weird, but I prefer as my form of "self medication" (let's face it, due to the human condition we all need some form of it) a glass of wine. maybe someone else chooses a medicinal plant (pot-the Native Americans smoked em peace pipe), what difference does it make? Basically, it is all a mind altering substance. If the tables were turned and wine was against the law, I might find myself behind bars for 5 years, having got caught having a nip. I just don't get it. I think most drugs are bought and paid for by people who work. Not through crimes, stealing, etc. Drugs are recreational and most people have jobs who buy the stuff. Why are we filling our jails with people who have been criminalized for choosing one drug over another (pot over alcohol)? The war on drugs is a scam on the American people and it seems that Africian American males are the chosen enemy in this war.

[justice4juveniles]

sadly, states are competing to see who can be "toughest on crime" by further lowering the age which a minor can be tried as an adult. Our prisons are full of our children now more than ever. There is no rehabilitation going on, only horrible, harsh punishment for these kids. In some states legislators have empowered prosecutors who with the wave of their powerful pen to direct file on kids sending them to adult court without a hearing in front of a judge and what qualifies them to be able to determine if a child is hopeless or not? Is it just a personal preference or gut feeling? So many are first time offenders. Politicians and lawmakers are pandering to the lowest common denominator of our citizens, the "do the crime, do the time" crowd and to overblown fear. When will it end? When will common sense make a comeback?

[rajihammr]

"Because justice is not equally administered in the United States, Black males are disproportionately represented among America's imprisoned population" Wait one minute. Why is this a truism? Blacks are responsible for 53% of the murders in the US...to say nothing of other serious crimes, seems to me that this statistic accounts for the "disproportionate representation" for black males in prisons. Not a racist system, if the system were more efficient maybe the "representation" would be higher still. The country would be safe for it.

[MAGLATINA]

IF BELIEVE THERE IS NO RACISM, THEN WE ARE IN LA LA LAND! WHAT A PTY!

[Tulka2]

America has embraced the "prison industrial complex" as avidly as they did "military industrial complex". I say America and not "we" because the first act of a revolutionary is to stop saying "we". (The first duty is to get by with it.)

There are no industrial, dignified, jobs in America anymore. Leave conspiracy out of it. The fact is, the fedral prison system goes to rural areas and gives white men the job of locking up black men. How much conspiracy does there have to be?!

As a white person, i can not wrap my mind around how mentally strong and resiliant African Americans must be to still exist in this country at all. Some, because of luck and family strength, even thrive, but the families who do not can not be blamed. They have been systematically, institutionally, crushed for all the time they have been here.

[Oso47]

People who behave and obey the law don't go to jail. Perhaps the reason that more blacks are in jail is because they break more laws.

[moorfam]

This is a topic I have studied and participated in for the last 20 years. The answers are varied and have to be implimented from the local county jails all the way to the White House. But changing the system would upset the apple cart and might even cause the Criminal Justice system to loose their big slice of the pie. So it is not likely that any real change will happen. But the simplest changes are the obvious. Police arrest more minorities then whites because they patrol the minority communities far more then the white community. This is a conandrum because now the preception is that the minority communities need more police protection , thus more police patrol, leading to more minority arrests. This is only one small part of the problem. Politics being the largest part of the problem. Police departments arrest nichol and dime drug users because the government provides large funds for the war on drugs, while online predators attempt to lure our children into dangerous situations and most poclice departments don't investigate, they have no means to investigate because the government doesn't pay for a program to catch predators. In addition, predators usually are given probation time after time, until finally the courts sentence them to roughly 18 months (part of which will automatically be reduced for good behavior). This is because the prison system has to provide some kind of segregation for these prisoners and counseling. Both of which are usually unfunded by the government. The money is in the war on drugs so we fill the prisons with dime store junkies because that pays. As I said before the problems start from the community all the way to the White House.

[Truthortradition]

What most Americans forget, especially, Republicans, is that we are only as strong as our weakest link.
Failing to provide young black Americans with competent teachers and clean, safe classrooms with a low teacher-student ratio is just part of the reason so many blacks end up in jail.
Unlike Democrats, Republicans breed crime because Republicans don't believe in educating anyone but the rich kids. They also breed welfare recipients too by not supporting an increase in the minimum wage and by not providing child-care for all the millions of single mothers out there. It's sad when people can't afford to take a miminum wage job.
Republicans believe it's easier and more cost effective to just lock up the poor black kids and throw away the key. Yes, that's better than hanging them up on the nearest tree, but not much.
Republicans don't deny that they want to demolish our entire education system. They want all the public schools replaced by privately funded Christian Schools. Their Christian motto is that Education should not be wasted on anyone but the rich.
They just don't get it.
When a human being is faced with no hope, no helping hand and no way to survive, they become the most dangerous animal on earth. Fail to educate the masses, and they will end up on the front door steps of every Republican owned mansion, toting a gun, and waiting for you to walk out to your Lexus.
I wish all of the Republican oil barons would realize that it is in all our best interest to remember that we are all the SAME. One Nation. And we are only as strong as our weakest link. Educate everyone and give everyone an equal chance to succeed. It's a winning formula that will restore our standing in the world. Go Hillary

[Bladernr1001]

Well as I see it there are 2 main causes for this trend:

1) Unconstitutional drug laws. More 50% of those in jail are there because they sold a "banned" substance to a willing buyer. There is nothing in the foundational documents of our government that allows this. Moreover, it has been proven time and again that such laws do little or nothing to curb the phenomenon. Alcohol prohibition, while one of the few laws correctly instituted (by way of constitutional amendment), was a misrable failure. Our so called "war on drugs" has been likewise ineffective. And here we have the collateral damage, many blacks in jail (and whites, latinos too etc too).

2) But why so many blacks? I blame the welfare state for that. Many more blacks than whites had joined the welfare rolls as the so called "war on poverty" was rolled out in the 60's and 70's. The result of welfare was nothing less than the destruction of the family unit because the perverse rules of welfare encouraged more out of wedlock births and single parent families. It has been proven time and again that kids from these types of families are significantly more likely to end up in jail.