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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (June 7, 2013)
Kids deserve better than to be denied a second chance BY DAVID ROGERS treated as adults within our criminal justice system, we see their future prospects for egular readers of our column will school, employment and productive know that Partnership for Safety and contributions to society diminish. Justice and our members worked very Additionally, significant research from the hard to help shape the recommendations U .S. Department of Justice, the Centers for that the Governor’s Disease Control, and elsewhere shows that Commission on Public putting youth in the adult system makes it Safety made to the more likely they will re-offend. Oregon Legislature. The Partnership for Safety and Justice is result was House Bill fighting to mitigate the treatment of youth 3194, which contained 19 as adults. One smart policy change would be recommendations. It earned review hearings. looks like two Earned review hearings are an existing recommendations, the policy that should be made available to ones that would have youth who commit a Measure 11 offense. made changes to some Measure 11 Under a proposed expansion of this process, sentences, are being removed by youths who have served half or three- amendment. quarters of their sentence would have an Most disappointing: earned review opportunity to go back before a judge. If the hearings for youth (also known as Second young person can demonstrate that he or Look) is on the chopping block. (See below she has made significant positive changes for a full explanation). This is a distressing since the original offense, a judge may turn of events. permit the youths to then serve out the rest Oregon’s Measure 11 places 15, 16, and of their sentence under mandatory 17 year olds automatically in adult court as community supervision, under conditional soon as a prosecutor charges them with a release. Measure 11 offense. This practice defies all Earned review recognizes that youth can of the national research about what and do change and transform themselves. produces the best public safety outcomes By re-evaluating the status of youth and the best future for those young people. offenders, we give ourselves the opportunity More than 100 years ago, the country’s to place young people in the setting where first juvenile court was created in Chicago they are most likely to succeed. with the acknowledgment that youth are not Adult mandatory minimum sentences for finished products and could greatly benefit youth are disturbingly counter-productive. from education, mental health treatment, Putting youth in the adult system increases and vocational training that are currently recidivism, places those young people at a unavailable in adult corrections systems. much greater risk of committing suicide or Oregon’s juvenile justice system has some being assaulted, while adult felony incredible strengths, yet Measure 11 convictions create life-long barriers to (passed in 1994) carelessly tosses kids into success. the adult system. Despite the logic behind reforms in the way Measure 11 treats youth, politics are While intending to be tough, we have getting in the way. There are two major forgotten to be smart. As more youth are C O N T R IB U T IN G C O L U M N IS T R and JUSTICE David Rogers is the executive director of Partnership for Safety and fustice. P S J is a statewide, non-profit advocacy organization dedicated to making Oregon’s approach to crime and public safety more effective and just. hurdles. First, changing Measure 11 requires a two-thirds approval from the legislature, which is a very high bar. Second, district attorneys are adamantly opposed to changes to Measure 11, no matter how much they are supported by research and national best practices. We have previously written in Street Roots about how mandatory minimums give prosecutors lots of power in the justice system, which, selfishly, they are not willing to give up. This issue is a classic example of the public being out in front of the legislature. Earned review hearings for youth have consistently polled over 70 percent of Oregon voters in support. A 2012 survey conducted by GBA Strategies in 2012 of 600 registered Oregon voters showed 78 percent favor requiring a hearing part-way through a youth offender’s mandatory sentence where a judge can determine if the youth should remain in prison or be transferred for mandatory supervision by a parole officer.” In May 2013, another poll of 600 registered Oregon voters done by the Mellman Group and Public Opinion Strategies showed 75 percent support the same concept. Despite incredibly strong public support, legislators either want to posture as tough or are simply afraid to take more leadership on this issue. But progress is being made. The fact that reforms to Measure 11 regarding youths were even included in the original recommendations by the Governor’s Commission on Public Safety is a large step in the right direction. But we are not there yet. That said, Partnership for Safety and Justice isn’t giving up on this fight because we fundamentally believe that kids deserve better. I Am From Two Ways By Armando P. - Grade 9 I am from the cold cells of Juvie. I am also from good food, loving friends, and the gang- who are like family No one likes the decisions I make so what path do I have to follow? I am from a high school I try hard in and lately losing my losing my grades in If I try I might fail My mom was hard and respected and well known also she married a Mexican mafia member I am from Mexico and when I was young my sister got taken away When I was one my dad beat my mom She got beat nearly to death and thrown in a river to die M y dad took us away, my mom got us back and we were escorted to the U .S . from there Canning jars & equipment, cookware, kitchen tools & appliances I got older, watched some of my friends die I follow their path to remember them So when you ask where I am from I will say “I am from proud street soldiers” Organic cotton sheets, towels, & blankets Thank you for giving a hand up in Portland and supporting your neighborhood vendor! Natural Kitchen & Home Food dryers 2 1 0 6 SE Division Books on meat-free cooking, gardening & sustainability 5 0 3 *2 3 1 *5175 m ira d o rc o m m u n ity sto re .c o m M o n -S at 10-6 • S un 11-5 Juicers
