Juvenile Justice Reform: Forty Years After Gault - Berkeley Center for Criminal Justice

Forty years ago a teenager made a lewd call and the sentence given to him was so stern and caused a stir in the entire justice system. The youth was sentence as an adult and more damaging to the case - was not given an justice at all.

The young teenager in the famous case named Gault resulted in several changes to the juvenile system of justice and adjudication - that today we still feel needs drastic reform.

Society today has progressed and in doing so the family family is entirely different from years ago and more from forty years ago. The extended family is no more - as was know say twenty years ago - and even single families are far removed from an ideal, working - family.

Many single mothers rear children all by themselves in very difficult situations.

We find, in many cases in the inner cities too many mostly single women rearing children - and also young men left to fend for themselves and being a mother and a father - rearing children.

In general in any city - intact families - a father, mother, children all having the basic amenities and dealing with normal issues linked to rearing children in a so called normal way - is becoming very difficult.

Crime, Safety, Health, and a host of other factors defy normalcy that most people enjoyed linked to Safety and Health - say twenty years ago. I bring in the element of health - because as the Director of Environmental Justice Advocacy - I see the need to evaluate the critical factor of pollution.

This more so when heavy metals and radiological elements affect a general population - and consequently trigger factors that lead to crime - stress, lack of focus and attention and hypertension being some.

Generally, not much has changed since Gault and more so in the past ten years - where most Justice Model prefer to adjudicate teenagers and young adults - more as adults. Focus on punitive measures and less on compassion and restorative measures.

One of the reasons this has been happening is because there is a percentage of teenagers and young adult that commit very violent crimes. Some cases too horrendous to describe.

Judges and the system love to take the easy way out - send the youth to places where they can be incarcerated with some vague notion that they will be rehabilitated.

Incorrigible is what most turn out - and society then moves to three strikes - and we have created a billion dollar incarceration business - filling our jails and wondering what have we done with two percentage of our Nation's population behind bars.

The Criminal Justice System has been slow to create models that think outside the box - and gear more to Restorative Justice - that is a more appropriate model that challenges society.

This model has flourished in New Zealand. The mostly White population has embraced the Restorative Model practiced by the Maoris - that has stood that Nation and other Nations all over the world and done much good.

There is no one model that can accommodate every crime and bring about healing. How ever - difficult as it is to comprehend - we must first define Justice. And after defining Justice practice justice with more compassion and healing and nurturing.

The older traditional tribes and especially the First People practiced this type of Restorative Justice so to speak. Here, in the United States punitive measures and methods of adjudication is looked upon as the more appropriate method to deal with teenagers and young adults. It is inhumane but then who am I to say - even though I have traveled the world, seen what works best and may have some input on this matter.

We prefer the the model of three strikes and sending young children basically to remote places - to be rehabilitated. Only to find out - again and again - those incarcerated for long periods turn out mostly to be incorrigible - if those in the justice system can fathom the issue at hand.

This report cannot do justice to the first day of the work shop and to the many excellent workshops that discussed so many relevant topics. I could not attend all the work shop but attended those that I could - within the given time frame and schedule.

I attended and paid attention to the following:

1. Juvenile Justice A View from the Bench.

2. Reforming Juvenile Corrections in California

3. Juvenile Justice, Child Welfare and Mental Health Systems Overlap

4. Restorative Justice

It was interesting to listen to those on the front lines and the methodology used dealing with Child Welfare and Mental Health Systems in the United States.

We all know the very sad state of affairs in our Juvenile Corrections in California. The key officials now making the corrections - were attempting to explain the horrific conditions and the thousands of youth that have suffered all these years.

I personally have known of young men who have been tortured and died in the Juvenile Corrections in California. Enough said about this. A through change is called for and true justice put in place - if we as human beings have to save face - in California.

The United States among the Nations in the world loves to incarcerate - the Incarceration Business in a Billion Dollar business - so in the end - when one delves into the depth of how things are done - it is all about money. Greed and materialism has penetrated every aspect of incarceration - and people make money - using human beings - much as slaves were used on the plantations.

Today, we still have no clue the damage done to so many young people - dehumanizing young teenagers by treating them as adults. Group the worst criminals with those that really do not need to be incarcerated.

The intelligent and humane judge will realize without much thought that we have made some progress since Gault - but we have used a complicated maze to adjudicate and penalize teenagers, young adults those in the group between 18years and 24 years - to bear the brunt and deal with laws and punitive measure that suit the needs of those mostly adults that are - incorrigible.

I saw some light when one or two judges were trying to think outside the box and take chances and seek models that empower the community. Use, Restorative Models to bring about changes and rehabilitation. We have ways to go but some one is setting a model here, a model there - and that is good.

The San Francisco District Attorney - Kamala Harris spoke at the inception and tried to explain that mostly people tend to talk about being - hard or soft on crime. She tendered - people should learn to be smart on crime.

Well, I disagree - Smart on Crime is a contradiction in terms. One has to define Crime much as one has to define Justice. Then one must define how best to define being Smart - when it comes to Crime. If some can figure that out - please contact me.

It is such type of nonsensical cliche that sounds good - is moronic - and defies logic.

The first day was good and I plan to attend today - October 27, 2007 and discuss some of the factors and issues - that I have written about in this short article - more, my subjective impression.

Kudos to David Onek and the organizers that put this forum together - Juvenile Justice Reform: Forty Year after Gault.

Some photographs from the location and the workshop sessions:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/franciscodacosta/sets/72157602728631130/show/

Francisco Da Costa
Director
Environmental Justice Advocacy