"We're not that stupid, Stupid!"
Editorial written by: Don Lemaire
Petition by: CL Bush
Three years ago the Michigan legislature, in a breathtakingly ignorant attempt to curb youth violence, passed a law that swept away the fundamental differences between how children and adults charged with certain crimes are to be treated. Now any child of any age charged with any of 12 crimes can be tried, sentenced and incarcerated just as if he were an adult. Some states have no age restriction, meaning a child 6 years old who while playing and accidentally harms or kills someone, can be prosecuted as an adult.
Please take a moment to read and consider signing the petition. It seems, at times, that our elected officials, like the children we are trying to protect, will not take the initiative to "work" unless prompted by an authority figure. One of the most beautiful things about America is that WE THE PEOPLE are the authority, and the time has come to make our collective voice heard. It's time to tell lawmakers that we will not tolerate the brutalization of children in our names. It's time for them to find the ways and means to deal with the problem of youth violence in a way that is humane, and effective. It's time to let them know that WE THE PEOPLE are worth it. And WE won't be deceived by an illusion of justice... "we're just not that stupid, Stupid!"
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Despite the fact that statistics show a decrease in overall crime during the last several years we as a society have been stunned, and horrified by seemingly daily accounts of kids shooting and killing other kids. Subsequently we engage in armchair debates concerning root causes of the violence as well as how society should deal with the problem. In the latter discussion some will condemn a child who commits adult crimes by advocating adult punishment in adult prisons. It's possible that those individuals believe that incarcerating violent children with violent adults will, somehow lead to a positive rehabilitative outcome, but more likely it's motivated strictly by a desire to punish the child severely ... and punishment is what adult prisons do best. It would behoove the advocate of such punishment to consider the adage "be careful what you ask for, you might get it".
Consider the pre teenage offender, obviously experiencing developmental aberration prior to incarceration, who is left to be nurtured throughout the remainder of his/her formative years by the world's worst abusive family. The offender completes childhood nurtured by rapists, and is taught the value of life by killers. He learns about hard work and money by burglars, and embezzlers. And leisure time is spent with a dime bag of heroin. Fair play, and justice is meted out by he who is quickest with the shank. Then one fine day (assuming the child isn't imprisoned for life) it's time to re enter society. It's now time to put into practice all that he or she has learned! God help us! Any attempt to rationalize the brutalization of children in prison from a rehabilitative viewpoint is absurd. One, then should question whether the punishment, albeit barbaric, is justified. I submit that torture is never justified, and we may well be the only country in the world that have laws on the books that allow for the brutalization of children as punishment. Finally, one is left to consider whether these punitive practices will have a deterrent effect on other children.
In my practice as an addictions counselor I've had many (perhaps thousands) of discussions with adolescents concerning "consequences" of various behaviors. Many (if not most) of the time the response is: "I can deal drugs, I just won't get caught", or "Sure alot of people overdose on drugs, I just won't do that much"... I'm sure you get the idea, and more importantly I'm sure you've had similar experiences in talking with "immortal" children yourself.
The preceding, in and of itself, should prompt an urgent "re think" the trend in new legislation, but what of the larger underlying philosophy? What does it say about the moral evolution of our society? During this period of crisis it is critical that we remember the lessons learned by those who came before us. We have learned to recognize that children shouldn't enter into contracts, or drive cars, or get married, nor should they fight wars - because they are children. And, children are emotionally and cognitively under equipped to demonstrate the maturity necessary to make important decisions. They can't be counted upon to act responsibly in many situations. For example, children under 12 (in Pennsylvania) aren't allowed, legally, to hunt - presumably because younger children don't posses the cognitive skills required to responsibly handle a firearm, even with the best of intentions and supervision. Our predecessors learned a long time ago that children think differently even in terms of breaking the laws. Motives are different. They act, or react impulsively. They are less likely to fully understand the cause and effect relationship between action and outcome. Children are concrete thinkers, and certainly don't have the capability to understand how a behavior today can lead to repercussions twenty years from now. In fact, abstract reasoning doesn't even begin to develop until the early teenage years.
Our predecessors demonstrated their wisdom by developing a juvenile justice system which is intended to provide age appropriate accountability for illegal behavior while attending to the special needs of children with an emphasis on treatment, rather than punishment. Unfortunately for children and for society the budgets for children's services have been dramatically slashed across the board. Now politicians glow with pride as they take credit for lower taxes They tell us with not a small amount of glee that Social Security is alive and well, but they never mention the mounting problems created by ending the funding for other critical programs, such as children's mental health services, and effective juvenile detention/treatment programs. They'd never acknowledge that previous legislation undermining the teacher's authority to act in loco parentis has compounded the problems exponentially. They just seem to be satisfied that they can 'fool some of the people all of the time' as evidenced by the new trend in legislation that ignores a child's maladaptive behaviors until they cross a line of accountability ensuring that the child will be permanently 'cared for'. Building and using more prisons to eliminate youth violence is a little like building more grave yards to eliminate terminal disease! It's maddening to see our elected officials take such a narrow view by perpetuating the illusion of justice, rather than take steps to effectively, and humanely deal with youth crime!
If one were to consider relevant problem solving from a viewpoint of common sense one can easily deduce that "doing nothing" won't help to end the cycle of violence. Certainly the time has come for society to 'do something' but, punishing children the way we'd punish an adult is a knee jerk approach that doesn't even work for adults, let alone children. It is absurd notion at best, and in reality it demonstrates a cruel step backward toward barbarism. It is grotesque, and grossly abusive. And, it is our shame given the principles upon which this country is founded!
We could, on the other hand, work collectively to develop, and utilize an aggressive, realistic AND humane approach to dealing with youth violence. One potential solution would be to rebuild and properly fund the juvenile system. These services should be implemented in such settings as deemed appropriate ranging from in home/school care to long term inpatient, or juvenile detention settings. School teachers, and parents are the front line folks who can identify "problems waiting to happen" and as such should be empowered to initiate screening, and intervention when necessary by the appropriate agencies. This approach is painfully simplistic, and logical. It may even seem that we already have such a system in place, and the crafty politician may even insist that such programs do exist, and are readily available. But, those who have attempted to secure such services know better... Just ask Mrs. Abraham - The state of Michigan recently convicted her son Nate Abraham for a murder he allegedly committed when he was just eleven years old, while playing with a gun... shooting at trees. He now faces a sentence of up to "life" in prison! The evidence... or the lack of evidence I should say, is highly suspect. Admittedly the issue of "guilt" is subject to debate. BUT, the relevant issue pertaining to the evolution of Nate's mental health history is central to the argument opposing new laws that allow children to be punished as adults.
On many occasions prior to Nate's arrest for "1st degree murder" Mrs. Abraham attempted to secure treatment for her son, and was turned away every time. Additionally, the prosecutor in this case pointed out repeatedly that Nate had "22 prior brushes" with the law prior to their claim of Nate shooting of Ronnie Greene. One element of the defense's case, was that there was no concrete proof that the bullet came from Nate's gun because of other gun activity in the area. In any case, there was never an arrest in any of those previous "brushes", yet the prosecutor apparently thought that Nate's history alone was remarkable enough to justify the adult charges. It's astonishing to realize that none of those police contacts, if true, led to intervention by youth services agencies. The prosecutor even publically, on the 60 Minutes television show, admitted that their system failed both Mrs. Abraham and Nate. Ronnie Greene's mother has said that she does not want to see Nate locked up, she just wants him to get help to straighten out his young life. Since Nate apparently has never had mental health treatment prior to his arrest, one is left to ponder whether timely intervention after "brush # 1" may have eliminated the other 22 alleged contacts. The defense has filed an appeal for a retrial.
This editorial explores the broader issues pertaining to the latest trend in legislation which allows for the punishment of children as adults. It is imperative that we begin to express our outrage in specific cases, using the logic of the editorial as the foundation of our concerns.
Let your Voice be heard... sign the petition!
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I, the undersigned, petition that it is imperative that we express our outrage over laws that prosecute children as adults, we want them stopped, and ones in existence changed! We also sign to show our disapproval over the verdict Nathaniel Abraham received. He should have never been prosecuted as an adult, and the trial he received, and the jury's decision was not a fair and well thought out one. We thank Judge Moore for his good judgement, and clear thinking in also believing that this law should be changed. Children need rehabilitation, love and support... not jail.