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W o m e n 's
I IIS K )R Y
March 19. 2008
Opinion articles do not necessarily reflect or represent the views o f The Portland Observer
1
Our Criminal Justice
System is Broken
FAULSOH t
S tripped
Ucrt’Z.—
ECONOMIC
s«
ing a "n e w " eco n o m y that runs
the n a tio n ’s prisons.
G en e ra tio n s o f failed public
and social p o lic ie s cre ate d a sy s­
tem that m akes it hard
by Ji ih . e G reg M athis
for som e o f o u r people
At the begin n in g o f
to
find d ecen t jo b s, a f­
th is year, m ore than 1.5
fordab
le h o u sin g and
m illion A m ericans were
access
to a q u ality e d u ­
in p riso n o r ja il. F or
ca tio n . T his lack o f o p ­
y ears now , the U nited
portu n ity cre ate s h o p e ­
S ta te s h a s b e e n th e
le s s n e s s .
w o rld ’s leading incar-
D ru g s an d alco h o l
cerator.
C o n sid erin g the rate at w hich are used to, falsely , e a se the fe e l­
th is country im prisons its c iti­ ings o f d esp air. A d d ictio n fuels
zens, it is unlikely the trend will crim inal ac tiv ity . L e t’s be clear:
this is not the reality for all o f the
ch a n g e any tim e soon.
T he U.S. spends billions to lock black folk w ho are in carcerated .
aw ay o ffenders, m any o f w hom For m ost, though, it is not too far
are low -level, nonviolent drug o f­ from the truth.
In
c o m m u n iti e s
a c ro ss
fenders. O ften tim es, states d o n 't
have the needed funds to run A m e ric a , b la ck c h u rc h e s an d
th e ir ja ils o r p riso n s. M oney com m u n ity based o rg an iz atio n s
Reform prisons
and prisoners
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Real reform must first begin
with an acknowledgement
and analysis o f the racial
disparities in arrest, sentencing
We can do more
and incarceration.
»•?.
Stopping Violence against Women
so m etim es has to be taken from
p rogram s that may help keep in­
d iv id u a ls out o f the system to
keep the p risons running.
I t’s clea r ou r n atio n ’s crim inal
ju stic e system is broken, and has
been for years. It is beyond tim e
for reform .
A s in m ost areas, A frican -
A m e ric a n s are d is p ro p o rtio n ­
ately affected by the crim inal ju s ­
tice system . N early one in every
30 A m erican men betw een 20 and
34 are incarcerated. For black men,
the num ber is very d ifferen t, and
disturbing: one in 9 black men in
that sam e age gro up is in ja il or
prison. O ur sistas d o n 't fare much
better. O ne in 355 w hite w om en,
ages 35 to 39, is im prisoned. For
black w om en, it’s every one in
100.
Black A m ericans are in carcer­
ated at nearly six tim es the rate o f
w hites. T his d isparity sheds light
on a system that feeds o ff o f u r­
ban youth, taking adv an tag e o f
th eir lack o f resources and creat-
are w orking to uplift o u r people
and rev erse this d istu rb in g trend.
M ore needs to be done.
T he U .S. m ust cre ate p o licies
and identify funding fo rp ro g ram s
that w ill keep young peo p le o ff
the street and create jo b s. C ourts
need to be allo w ed to ex ercise
discretio n w hen sen ten cin g low
level o ffen d ers; there are altern a­
tives to ja il that have been proven
to rehabilitate.
Real reform m ust first begin
w ith an ackno w led g em en t and
analysis o f the racial d isp arities
in arrest, senten cin g and in c ar­
c e r a tio n . A n d it m u st b e g in
sooner, rath e r than later.
It has taken d ecad es to build
our current prison system . It c a n ­
not be reform ed o v ern ig h t. But
the nation can begin to take big
steps in that directio n .
Judge Greg Mathis is national
vice president of Rainbow PUSH
and a national board member of
the Southern Christian Leader­
ship Conference.
than we’re
doing today
BY E S T A S O L E R
O ne in three. T h at’s
th e c h a n c e w o m en
w orldw ide have o f ex p e­
riencing violence some
tim e in their lives, according to the
United Nations. In som e coun­
tries, it’s much w o rse -se v e n in 10
w om en will suffer.
Violence against women and
girls takes many forms - from traf­
ficking in Eastern Europe and Asia,
to honor ki 11 ings in Jordan and Saudi
Arabia, to rape being used as a
weapon o f war in Darfur and the
Democratic Republic of Congo, to
rape, stalking and domestic violence
in industrialized coun­
tries like the United
States.
No country is im ­
m une, but som e are
better positioned than
others to help stop it.
H ere in th e U n ited
States, we can do much
more to keep w om en and girls safe
than w e’re doing today.
Last fall. Sens. Joseph Biden, D-
Del„ and Richard Lugar, R-Ind., in­
troduced groundbreaking legislation
to combat the global crisis o f vio­
lence against women and girls.
T h e In te rn a tio n a l V io le n c e
against W om en Act would apply
the force o f U.S. diplom acy and
foreign aid totaling $1 billion over
five years to preventing abuse and
exploitation against w om en w orld­
wide. It w ould integrate efforts to
end gender-based violence into all
existing, appropriate U.S. foreign
assistance program s, w ith a special
em phasis on supporting the over­
seas w om en's groups that are w ork­
ing in the trenches to keep women
and girls safe.
The m easure would authorize
substantial resources for interna­
tional program s that prevent vio­
lence, provide services to survi­
vors, hold perpetrators account­
able. change public attitudes, and
b etter address violence against
women in hum anitarian situations.
It w ould aim to prevent violence in
all of its form s, including honor
k illin g s , b rid e b u rn in g s, acid
burnings, dow ry deaths, genital
m utilation, m ass rapes in war, or
dom estic violence.
The bill is languishing right now
- there have been no hearings, and
littlemovement.
In h o n o r o f In te rn a tio n a l
W o m en ’s D ay, le t’s resolve to
change that by calling or writing our
senators and representatives and
asking them to support the Interna­
tional Violence against W om en Act.
If we pass this legislation, we will
help stop a global crisis. We will help
keep the next generation safe. We
will give women and g irls-an d their
families - worldwide a vastly better
chance to lead safer, healthier lives.
Esta Soler is president o f the
Family Violence Prevention Fun
A Safe Place for Infants Averts Tragedy
B y B ryan M . J ohnston
I received the first word o f a
serious situation facing our St.
Helens office on V alentine’s Day.
A perfect 7-pound newborn girl
had been found unconscious in the
toilet o fa St. Helens adult care facil­
ity. A facility em ployee heroically-
and successfully - worked to re­
vive the girl. Medics responded
|NEW S E A S O N S
... _______ _____ A
and transported the infant to a local
hospital for further treatment and
observation.
Just six days after her birth, Baby
V alentine-as Department o f Human
Services staff members began call­
ing h e r - was calm and content as our
St. Helens caseworkers took turns
cuddling her.
Now Baby Valentine is safely in
-------------------- j
M A R K E T
N O W D E L IV E R IN G
Y o u r fa v o r ite n e ig h b o r h o o d g r o c e r y s to r e n o w d e liv e r s
g r o c e r ie s r ig h t to y o u r h o m e o r o ffic e .
foster care while the court deter­
mines custody issues. Her mother,
an employee o f thecare facility, faces
criminal charges. The consequences
o f this unwanted birth were trau­
matic but not tragic. Not all unwanted
babies are as lucky.
However, Oregon's Safe Place for
Newborns Law offers a way to save
these children without passing judg­
ment or placing blame. This law per­
mits a distressed parent to give up a
baby safely, legally and confiden­
tially within the first 30 days o f the
baby's life.
The law perm its either parent to
leave a new born child at a hospital,
doctor's office, birthing clinic, po­
lice station, sheriff's office or fire
departm ent.
There arc no legal consequences
for making this choice as long as
the baby is 30 days old or younger,
is handed to a person at one of the
above places, and show s no signs
o f abuse.
The baby wi 11 be cared for and wi 11
receive medical attention if needed.
DHS will place the baby in fostercare
I hr
and start the legal process for mak­
ing the child available for adoption.
Many families are waiting to adopt
an infant.
I am told there wasn’t a dry eye in
our St. Helens office the day Baby
Valentine visited. I understand why.
Holding that little child, our DHS
staff shared a fkxxl o f emotions: how
perilously she clung to life, how we
hope she will grow up in a loving
family, and how we want to spare any
infant such a trauma.
The Safe Place law offers a way to
give unwanted babies the kind ot
future Baby Valentine was almost
denied. Please join me in spreading
the word that in Oregon there is a
Safe Place for infants whose parents
are not able or willing to parent.
It's not only the law, it's the duty
of all of us to make Oregon a safer
place for all citizens.
Forinformation, 1-80Q-SAFENET.
Bryan M. Johnston is interim
assistant director o f the Children.
Adults and Families Division in
the Oregon Department o f Human
Services.
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