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Governor puts brakes on new youth jail: Advocates praise the delay and urge O'Malley to do more
An alliance of more than a dozen non-profit organizations and youth and community leaders today applauded Governor Martin O'Malley's plan to defer, until FY2013, funding for the construction of a new youth jail in Baltimore City until there is a thorough re-evaluation of the project.
This shift, announced in the Governor's Capital Improvement Plan released January 21st, is the result of more than a year of advocacy by the community. Last fall, the alliance - made up of groups such as Baltimore Algebra Project, Maryland Disability Law Center, Community Law In Action, Inc., Public Justice Center, Chesapeake Center for Youth Development, and the Maryland Education Coalition - publicly denounced the construction of the 180-230 bed jail for youth prosecuted as adults saying it was too expensive, too large, and would not adequately address youth crime rates, which have been declining. Instead, the alliance urged the Governor and state officials to treat youth as youth, and, if they are charged with a crime, to hold them in juvenile detention facilities pending trial. The next crucial step according to the alliance is for the Governor to reallocate the funding for the proposed jail to support and expand programs that offer recreational, educational, employment, job training, mentoring, substance abuse treatment, and mental health opportunities to youth.
"We are happy to see that the Governor has responded to the community's outcry against state plans to spend over $100 million to build yet another jail in Baltimore City," says Pastor Heber Brown, III of Pleasant Hope Baptist Church. "We will continue to stand against funding for this project for we know that the solution to addressing youth crime is not to build a new jail, but to embrace a new mindset that motivates us to provide opportunities to our youth on the front end of life."
A recent report reveals that about 70% of youth who are prosecuted as adults and held at the Baltimore City Detention Center either have their cases sent to the juvenile court system or dismissed outright. "It doesn't make sense to automatically prosecute youth as adults, if their cases end up in juvenile court anyway," says Maryland Shaw of the Baltimore Algebra Project. "Why not just treat them as youth in the first place so that they can get the help they need in the juvenile system."
National research shows that youth who are charged as adults and jailed with adults are more likely commit future crimes than youth in the juvenile system. "We know that youth will realize better outcomes if they receive needed treatment services, education, and work opportunities," said Laura Furr, Senior Director of Youth Justice Initiatives at Community Law In Action, Inc. and co-author of the report Just Kids: Baltimore's Youth in the Criminal Justice System. "State funding should be used to invest in positive programs for our youth, not jails.
    
  
  
  
Contact:
Laura Furr, Community Law In Action, Inc. 410-706-3940
Pastor Heber Brown, III, Pleasant Hope Baptist Church 410-402-3211
Bryant Muldrew, Baltimore Algebra Project 443-600-5241
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Beyond the Bricks presents the Baltimore Premiere of the Acclaimed FIlm, "Little Brother" at Morgan State University
Hosted by Morgan State University's Institute for Urban Research as part of the Beyond the Bricks Project, the film is the third in a series of community dialogues in Baltimore about the educational and emotional challenges face by African American boys in the United States. Drs. Jeff Menzise and Ray Winbush, of the Institute for Urban Research will be joined by Ms. Franklin and Tiggett in this important discussion.
The series encourages discussion and organizing among parents, teachers, educators and policy makers and how they can create effective strategies for intervening in the lives of Black boys from birth to maturity. The event is FREE and open to the public on a first come first serve basis. Bring a friend, your son, grandson, nephew and neighbors to this one-time event!
View Trailer
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Kinetics Faith & Justice Network mission is to provide the faith community with the tools to advocate and mobilize on local, national, and international issues, to build capacity to solve our own problems, and to use dialogue as a catalyst for social change. Members include clergy, scholars, lawyers, social justice advocates, and nonprofit and business professionals.
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About Us
... You will raise up the age-old foundations; And you will be called the repairer of the breach, The restorer of the streets in which to dwell. (Isaiah. 58:12)
Kinetics mission is to develop new ideas that work to strengthen social movements within the African-American community; bridging the gap between church and community and providing them with the tools and skills to pursue justice and better address the needs of those whom they serve.
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Book Drive For Incarcerated Youth: The Autobiography of Malcolm X
One of the joys of my life currently involves the privilege I have been afforded to mentor incarcerated youth. Twice per week I am blessed to connect with young men who have been charged as adults for various crimes. For me, they truly represent what I like to call "brilliance behind bars." Though some would like to lock these young brothers into a particular stereotype; I've learned from first-hand experience that these young men are some of the most thoughtful, reflective, loyal, and spiritual brothers I've ever met.
I speak to them about how being free mentally, spiritually, and emotionally is often a precursor to physical liberation. Indeed, there are many people in our communities who have freedom of movement, but who are prisoners in a larger cell. Slave mentalities, self-destructive behaviors, and unhealthy relationships are the wardens that keep too many of our people in bondage.
My mentees who range from age 14 to 17, are beginning to understand the need to embrace freedom on a higher plane. Toward that end, to help plant that seed even deeper, we are preparing to begin reading The Autobiography of Malcolm X. Brother Malcolm's story is not just a source of inspiration, but it's also a testimony of redemption and that's what my young brothers need. They need to know that despite their current condition and irrespective of the circumstances that brought them to the City Jail, they too can be redeemed. Reading this book together will help cement that truth.
I would like for you to consider donating a book to this effort. For those in the Baltimore City area, you can purchase a book from Everyone's Place (1356 West North Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21217) and leave it there for me to pick up. The book is $7.99 plus tax. Or you can purchase the book from a vendor of your choice and drop it off or mail it to my church: Pleasant Hope Baptist Church, 430 E. Belvedere Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21212.
Any support you can give will be greatly appreciated and I'll be sure to provide regular updates on our progress.
Asante Sana (Thank You Very Much)
Rev. Heber Brown, III
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Tough on Crime Policies Not Working for Youth Charged as Adults
Maryland's 20 year experiment with the "tough on crime" approach of automatically sending youth into adult criminal courts, jails and prisons for certain offenses has failed. National studies show that youth who are sent to adult facilities go on to commit more-and more violent-crimes than those who received rehabilitative services in the juvenile system. This costs taxpayers much more in the long run. Automatically charging youth as adults has been politically popular. But the data show that when their cases are individually considered, most cases in Baltimore are dismissed or sent to the juvenile system, raising the question of whether they should have been put in the adult system in the first place.
Why Are So Many Youth Charged as Adults?
Since the 1990s, Maryland legislators have approved laws requiring that a youth charged with any of 33 different offenses will automatically be charged as an adult, and will be held in an adult jail for months or even years while waiting for trial.
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Racial Disparities Remain High in Juvenile Arrests
Drop In Overall Arrests Shows More Direct Approach Needed
Advocates for Children & Youth
Executive Summary
African-American youth in Maryland continue to be arrested at a much higher rate than White youth, according to new data obtained and analyzed by Advocates for Children and Youth. This disparity persists despite an overall drop in youth arrests. To reduce disproportionate arrests of minority youth, state and local agencies, particularly schools and school law enforcement and resource officers, must employ proven strategies that more specifically target the problem.
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