Street roots., February 02, 2018, Page 7, Image 7

Street Roots • Feb. 2-8, 2018
New s
Page 7
Oregon’s youth incarceration
among harshest in the nation
BY EMILY GREEN
S E N IO R S T A F F R E P O R T E R
regon incarcerates youths at a higher
rate than almost any other state in the
U .S ., according to a new report from
the Oregon Council on Civil Rights.
The report, “Youth and Measure 11
in Oregon,” found Oregon has the
nation’s second-highest rate of
sending youths to adult court, with
nearly 4,000 juveniles tried as adults
between 1994 and 2012.
That’s because when Oregon voters
passed Measure 11 during the tough-
on-crime era of the early 1990s, they
dictated that teens age 15 and older
be automatically charged as adults and
face a mandatory minimum sentence
if charged with any of 21 Measure 11
crimes. These crimes range from
assault and robbery to rape and
murder.
The council’s report details how
racial disparities in the application of
Measure 11 have increased drastically over
time, with youths of color bearing the brunt
of the state’s outdated practice. By 2012, the
report states, black youths were being
convicted of Measure 11 crimes at 17 times
the rate of white youths in Oregon.
The report’s authors also examined
contemporary neurological research,
highlighting how at age 18, adolescents are
only at the halfway point when it comes to
brain development processes related to
decision making. The state’s practice of
frequently charging youths as adults ignores
adolescents’ lack of impulse control and their
propensity for change, they argue.
“Harsh sentences for young people haven’t
O
A new report
recommends
ending the
state’s practice
o f automatically
charging teens
as adults under
Measure 11
kept up with our modern understanding of
brain science,” said Bobbin Singh, who sits on
the report’s authoring council.
“The brain doesn’t become fully developed
until a person’s early 20s,” he said. “It’s upon
us to embrace science, best practices and
evidence in shaping these policies, and not
allowing fear, anger, retribution and racism to
create these policies.”
Singh is also the director of Oregon Justice
Resource Center, which provided assistance
to the unpaid council for the report. The
council is charged under state statute with
pinpointing and analyzing civil rights issues in
Oregon and recommending solutions.
The council also interviewed several youths
incarcerated at MacLaren Youth Correctional
Facility in Woodburn for its report.
Those interviews revealed a pattern of
childhood trauma and a lack of parental
guidance in the years leading up to the
juveniles’ criminal offenses.
One young man told the council that the
state took him from his mother at birth and
then placed him in a relative’s home, where
he witnessed drug use and sexual abuse and
was physically abused himself. Another youth
had been homeless, and another said his
father was in prison and his mother on drugs
while he was growing up.
“Caleb,” a pseudonym, said that at first he
tried to blame his incarceration on his
parents and brothers for not being around to
guide him, but now he realizes he had a bad
mindset.
“It’s one of those things where you’re just
a kid and then you’re having all this bad stuff
happening to you,” he said. “No one teaches
you the fundamentals that you truly need to
know to stay out of the system or to avoid
certain things, especially when your dad’s not
there.”
To address the impact of Measure 11 on
Oregon youths, the council made four
recommendations:
• Give judges more discretion in
sentencing by removing youths
from automatic adult
prosecution under Measure 11
Online
crime.
• Increase transparency of
To read the full report,
data collection from prosecutors’
offices and law enforcement.
previous coverage of
• Give all youths a “second-
youths and Measure 11,
look hearing,” where a judge
see this article at
would weigh their eligibility for
news.streetroots.org.
early release.
• Address the root causes of
juvenile incarceration by
boosting investment in the
programs that decrease juvenile involvement
in the criminal justice system.
“The report is clear on recommendations,”
Singh said.
He said the next step is to bring together a
diverse group of stakeholders to work on
policy recommendations for the 2019
legislative session.
Oregon’s Bureau of Labor and Industries,
which appoints members to the council, will
help facilitate legislative hearings.
Charlie Burr, communications director at
BOLI, said the last time this council released
a report (“Pay Inequity in Oregon,” 2014), it
led to “a whole host of reforms.”
He said the council “hopes to have a
similar effect” with its latest effort.
Street Roots’ reporting on Measure 11 was
cited several times in the council’s report.
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emily@streetroots.org; Twitter @greenwrites
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