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Dangers Of Incarcerating Youth With Adult Inmates
Incarcerating Youth with Adult Inmates Results in TragediesResearch demonstrates that children in adult institutions are five times as likely to be sexually assaulted, twice as likely to be beaten by staff, fifty percent more likely to be attacked with a weapon, and eight times as likely to commit suicide as children confined in juvenile facilities.In Ohio, six adult prisoners murdered a 17-year-old boy while he was incarcerated in the juvenile cellblock of an adult jail. In Florida, a 17-year-old mildly retarded boy who had pleaded guilty to sexual battery was strangled to death by his 20-year-old cellmate. Both the youth's attorney and the sentencing judge had tried unsuccessfully to get the boy into treatment rather than prison. In Ironton, Ohio, a l5-year-old girl ran away from home overnight, then returned to her parents, but was put in the adult county jail by the juvenile court judge to teach her a lesson. On the fourth night of her confinement she was sexually assaulted by a deputy jailer. More than 500 children had been incarcerated in the jail over a three-year period, many for truancy and other status offenses (which would not be crimes if committed by adults). In Boise, Idaho, a l7-year-old boy was held in the adult jail for failing to pay $73 in traffic fines. Over a l4-hour period, he was tortured and finally murdered by other prisoners in the cell. Another teenager had been beaten unconscious by the same inmates several days earlier. More than 650 children had been held in the jail over a three-year period, 42% for traffic offenses and l7% for status offenses. In LaGrange, Kentucky, a l5-year-old boy was confined in the adult jail for refusing to obey his mother. Soon after he got in the jail, he took off his shirt, wrapped one sleeve around his neck and the other around the bars of his cell, and hanged himself. Jail records showed that l,390 children were held over a four-year period, most for minor and status offenses. In rural Glenn County, California, a l5-year-old girl was taken to the local jail for staying out past curfew. After several days, she had a detention hearing, but was not released. When she went back to her cell, she hanged herself. In Knox County, Indiana, a l7-year-old girl was held in the county jail for shoplifting a $6 bottle of suntan lotion. Despite a history of emotional problems, she was put in an isolation cell. Several hours later, she committed suicide by hanging herself. Research Demonstrates That Prosecuting Children in Adult Court Doesn't WorkRecent research demonstrates that transferring children from juvenile court to adult court does not decrease recidivism, and in fact actually increases crime.Two recent Florida studies comparing the recidivism rates of youth who were transferred to criminal court with the recidivism rates of those who were retained in the juvenile system showed that youths transferred to adult court had significantly higher rates of recidivism. Not only were those transferred more likely to re-offend, but they did so almost twice as quickly, and were arrested for more serious offenses, than youth who were retained in the juvenile court system and provided some form of treatment services. A study in New York and New Jersey also found that recidivism rates were higher and rearrests occurred more quickly for youths prosecuted in adult court than similar youth handled in juvenile courts. This study, which compared youth in New York who were prosecuted in adult court to youth with similar charges and prior records in New Jersey who were prosecuted in juvenile court, demonstrated that convictions were no more likely in adult court, punishment was imposed less swiftly, incarceration was less likely, and sentences were nearly identical. Protecting Youth from Adult InmatesSeparation and Jail Removal-In 1974, Congress passed the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act, making federal funds available for states to improve their juvenile justice systems. To qualify for funding, states were required to assure that youths would be separated from adults in all stages of custody and that status offenders and non-offenders such as abused and neglected children would not be incarcerated. In 1980, Congress amended the Act to require that states remove youths from adult jails-in response to studies which showed that despite the separation requirements of the original Act, almost half a million children were still housed in adult jails and lockups each year, sometimes in solitary confinement cells or windowless rooms to achieve separation. At the same time, Congress also created the flexibility needed by local law enforcement by allowing police to detain youths who are charged with delinquent offenses for up to six hours in adult jails (completely separated from adult inmates), and in rural areas for up to twenty-four hours in adult jails to permit arrests and appropriate investigation of a case.The Act has been tremendously successful. Prior to the Act, states reported that as many as 500,000 youths were held each year in adult jails and lockups. That figure has been reduced to approximately 10,000 in 1995, with the two states that are no longer participating in the program accounting for over 7,000. |