Excerpt



I have written this book because I believe that this book or books like this can change the way that our Juvenile Systems treat our children once they are taken away from us and placed in one of these juvenile centers for what the Courts call debilitation before they are released back to their parents.

Children make mistakes, sometimes incredibly stupid and painful mistakes sometimes even mistakes with tragic consequences, and there is not always someone to blame. Its not always going to be the fault of bad parenting or schooling. They are not adults, and they are not accountable. If their reasoning skills were advanced to adult levels, they would be able to vote, drive and own a car, marry and give sexual consent.

There are Federal and State laws that state all juvenile court proceedings will be closed to the public and news media and the findings of the court will be confidential. This is supposed to protect youths when they are released from custody of the state and given another chance in our society without having a record to contend with for the rest of their lives. It has become socially and politically accepted that doing something with these children, even if its wrong is better than not doing anything at all, and this is not good

The Juvenile Justice System was never set up to handle the extensive physical and emotional problems of these children and the problems that may have contributed to their criminal behavior, but they are sent anyway. A good example is a 10-year old boy who was accused of sexually assaulting his sister was found delinquent by the court and sent to prison. Another 13-year old boy whose functions were like a 5-year old, still couldnt pass first grade. He couldnt define cow or donkey, he couldnt tell time and his speech defect was so severe that he was nearly impossible to understand. He had gotten into trouble at school by threatening to bite his teacher. He was taken in front of a Juvenile Court Judge for annoying women by ringing her doorbell and banging on her window after curfew. The Judge for misdemeanor harassment and curfew violations declared him a juvenile delinquent. With feet shackled and hands cuffed, he was sent to a juvenile center. Another 11-year old white female, whos parents are divorced and says she was sexually abused by her father got into trouble when she was caught writing sexually explicit notes to boys her age and younger. She exposed herself to her brothers, pulled knives on them and pushed one brother in front of a vehicle, cursed the Judge, and fought with police. She was committed to the Division of Youth Services for terrorist threatening, third-degree battery, criminal mischief, and indecent exposure.

Defense Attorneys argue that the juvenile system has three major flaws. No. 1. The rehabilitation-punitive distinction is meaningless because with limited funding in the juvenile system, rehabilitation is not always possible, especially with youths that have mental disease or defects. No. 2. A youth offender can potentially receive a longer sentencing for the same crimes that an adult offender, as some juveniles are sent to prison for misdemeanor violations. No. 3. Records of juvenile delinquents may be used at sentencing if the youth is subsequently tried as an adult.

Around 25,000 children a year have their cases sent to adult courts instead of being tried in the juvenile courts. Some Judges have rebelled against prosecuting children as adults and called this law fundamentally flawed when you start trying 10 and 11 year-old kids as adults but most Judges hands are tied because of the laws that says you can.

The abuse and neglect of young inmates is wide spread, from California to Florida and all states in between. This book covers the juvenile facilities in Arkansas because this is where I live and have a good working knowledge of what has happened inside these facilities. These mysterious deaths and suicides still have a lot of unanswered questions about how these were permitted to have happened when the youths were supposed to be closely monitored. Five young boys and two young girls didnt make it out alive here in Arkansas.

Florida received top billing in 2004 for the 661 confirmed cases at their Department of Juvenile Justice Facilities scattered across the state, and range from physical to sexual abuse and neglect. Six children have died under the state of Floridas care since 1998 according to the State Department of Children and Families Division. A 320-pound counselor crushed one 12-year old to death. The State of Florida has been slow to try to clean up their juvenile justice system which suffered a real tragedy on June 9, 2003, when a 17-year-old Omar Paisley an Opalocka youth that was being detained on an aggravated battery charge was allowed to die slowly over a three day period of excruciating pain as his appendix bust and poisoned him to death.

The State of Georgia fired five counselors and one resigned after a 13-year-old boy died while being restrained. The counselors refused to give him his asthma inhaler about an hour before he stopped breathing at a wilderness camp in Cleveland, Georgia.

I hope as you read this book you will become aware of how children are being treated in some of these juvenile facilities and I hope youll let your family members also read this especially young teenagers that really need to be aware of whats on the other side of the high fence, because they are the ones that stand to loose the most and in some cases their lives. Good advice for these children is to Stop, Look and Listen. STOP, if you think you are headed for trouble. LOOK, and compare what you have now. LISTEN, to the ones that have lost everything. Dont become a looser, Read The Book and try to stay out of trouble. Prisons are really tough on adult men and women, but these juvenile prisons for a 10 to 12-year old child is truly the gates of hell, trust me you dont want to find out.

This will not be an easy book to read, it will shock you to know what can and does happen to children while locked away in these facilities, but it is a true story.