Commentary: Jailing Juvenile Offenders with Adults Only Helps
Create Smarter, More Violent Criminals
By Judge Greg Mathis, Special to BlackAmericaWeb.com
A majority of the states in this country try juvenile offenders
in adult courts, sentencing them to adult prisons if they are
convicted. Lawmakers originally instituted these practices because
they believed it would deter crime, making the country a safer
place for us all.
Based on data from a study released last month by The American
Journal of Preventive Medicine, we now know this is not the
case. In fact, the practice has had exactly the opposite effect.
Young offenders, still very impressionable, interact with
violent, hardened criminals while in adult prison. Many are eventually
returned home, lacking the education and skills they need to
become productive citizens. They return to a life of crime, this
time using the knowledge they gained while in prison.
Trying and sentencing juveniles as adults, in effect, creates
a smarter, more violent criminal. The practice needs to end.
Nearly two-thirds of all youth offenders tried as adults are
dealing with some sort of trauma: They were raped or assaulted,
are dealing with the death of a loved one or are at risk for
suicide. Instead of assessing their psychological and emotional
needs and getting them the help they need, our courts would rather
transfer them into a system that has repeatedly failed to rehabilitate.
More alarming is the fact that most of the juvenile cases moved
to adult courts are for non-violent crimes.
Research shows that more than 80 percent of the decisions
to try juveniles as adults are made by prosecutors (or legislators),
not judges. Judges who can clearly and objectively review a case's
mitigating circumstances should be making these decisions.
Instead, the fate of our young men and women are being decided
by individuals who merely want to show conviction rates come
election time. And these are our young men and women. According
to the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, three
out of every four young people sentenced to adult prisons are
of color.
Some states are beginning to end automatic transfer of juveniles
to adult court. In 2005, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich signed
into law a bill that gave judges freedom to determine whether
or not to try youth involved in drug cases as adults. The law
created a clear set of factors that the courts must consider
before transferring a minor from juvenile to adult court. Other
states should follow suit.
Processing low-level non-violent youth offenders in adult
court only develops a new breed of criminal, many of whom are
destined to cycle in and out of the criminal justice system.
If we continue this current practice, the number of people in
our jails and prisons will continue to grow.
Already, the U.S. imprisons more people than any other nation.
This costs taxpayers billions each year and tears apart lives,
families and communities. Private industry profits, the rest
of us lose.
We cannot incarcerate our way out of society's ills. Call
your local legislator, and urge them to support laws that end
automatic transfer of juveniles to adult court. If your state
isn't considering such a proposal, demand that your local lawmaker
present one. Ask them to sponsor bills that call for increased
funding in education, afterschool and community youth programs
instead. Your voice will make a difference.
Judge Greg Mathis is national vice president of Rainbow
PUSH and a national board member of the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference.
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