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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (May 25, 2016)
May 25, 2016 The Skanner Page 3 News cont’d from pg 1 In most prisons, ba- bies born behind bars must be given up within a day to a relative or fos- ter care. “Before I came here, I thought it was a terri- ble idea. A baby in pris- on? No, thank you,” the 24-year-old Dumas said as her daughter, Codyl- ynn, gleefully rocked in a bouncy seat. “But it’s “ their babies, the U.S. is not among them. Dumas was three weeks pregnant when she was arrested last year, along with her boyfriend, on charges they tried to steal a safe packed with $32,000 in cash and jew- elry. Her baby was born just days after she took a plea bargain on attempt- ed burglary charges that Before I came here, I thought it was a terrible idea. A baby in prison? No, thank you. But it’s actually won- derful to be able to spend this much time with my little girl. ... I’m blessed to be able to go through this actually wonderful to be able to spend this much time with my little girl. ... I’m blessed to be able to go through this.” Nobody thinks rais- ing babies behind bars is ideal, and some worry that the children could be scarred by the experi- ence. But some advocates say that the practice al- lows mother and child to develop a vital psycho- logical attachment, and that the parenting class- es and other practical in- struction help the moms stay out of trouble when they get out. About 112,000 women are in state and federal prisons, mostly for drug or property crimes. And an estimated 1 in 25 are pregnant when they enter, according to the nonprofit Sentencing Project. But there are no national statistics on the number of babies born to inmates. Of the more than 100 women’s prisons in the U.S., there are eight nurseries. While nearly 100 countries, including South Sudan and France, have national laws that allow for incarcerated mothers to stay with Profiling sent her to Bedford Hills, about an hour north of New York City, for up to two years. She is now among 15 carefully screened new mothers allowed to serve up to 18 months of their sentences in a nurs- ery unit that includes a communal playroom stocked with toys and mother-and-child rooms equipped with a single bed and a crib. The walls are painted with rain- bows, fluffy clouds and jungle and barnyard scenes. The nursery cur- rently has 16 babies, in- cluding a set of twins. During workday hours, the babies are taken across the street to a day care center, where they are watched by staff and other inmates while the moms go to school or vo- cational programs. But there are constant reminders it is a prison. Armed officers patrol the unit. And the moms know theirbabies can be taken away for such infrac- tions as fighting or even leaving a toy in a crib while the baby sleeps. Read the rest of this story at TheSkanner.com PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED Babies Black Child Development Phoebe Coulibaly, 13, participated in the workshop “Be a Change Agent Using Storytelling!” at the Seattle Black Child Development Spring Conference May 21 at the John Stanford Center. This year’s theme was “A Future of Hope: Moving Youth from Equity to Excellence!” and featured keynote speaker Janice E. Hale, Ph.D, a professor of early childhood education at Wayne State University in Detroit and the author of three books on educating African American Children. O’Dea cont’d from pg 1 Dave Ward said O’Dea misrepre- sented critical details about the incident right after it happened — telling Harney County offi- cials the wound was self-inflicted and failing to disclose he worked in law enforcement. Ward has told reporters he didn’t know of O’Dea’s involvement in the shoot- ing until he was able to interview the victim, who survived the inci- dent, on May 16. But Mayor Charlie Hales, who also serves as police commission- er, knew about the incident four days after it happened. According to reports in The Oregonian and the Willamette Week, O’Dea called Hales four days after the shooting and acknowledged his involve- ment. Oregon State Police and the Oregon Department of Justice are conducting a criminal inves- tigation into the shooting, and the Independent Police Review Division launched an investiga- tion Monday. The bureau’s own professional standards division is also performing an internal in- vestigation. Following public pressure and a call from the Portland Police As- sociation for O’Dea’s resignation, Hales issued a press release Tues- day afternoon saying O’Dea was on administrative leave. “We need our Police Bureau operating at its best, and our of- ficers can’t do that when there’s turmoil and confusion surround- ing their leader,” Hales’ statement said. “Chief O’Dea has been pro- “ staffing issues, the ongoing (De- partment of Justice) DOJ-related items, budgetary issues and of course, we are headed into Rose Festival and a busy summer. I know you will continue to work hard and serve this city to the best of your ability,” the release said, Administrative leave during these open investigations is in the best interest of the Bureau and the city –Mayor Charlie Hales viding excellent service as our police chief, and now needs to focus on these investigations. He and I agree that going on admin- istrative leave during these open investigations is in the best inter- est of the Bureau and the city. According to the Portland Po- lice Bureau’s press release, Hen- derson sent an email Tuesday to all members of the bureau pledg- ing that she would keep the lines of communication open. “My pledge to you during this time is to communicate with you as we move forward. Headlines aside, we have a lot on our plate as an agency, including critical quoting Henderson. Hales’ spokesperson, Sara Hottman, said it’s too soon to tell whether or when O’Dea will be permanently replaced. “There are still open investiga- tions determining whether there has even been wrongdoing. The acting chief will stay in place until the investigations produce findings. Depending on the out- come of the investigations, next steps will be considered,” Hott- man said in an e-mailed statement to The Skanner. “Investigators would have to provide timelines on when investigations will be wrapped up.” cont’d from pg 1 shared their experiences with others who had gone through the same thing, according to Harris. “I think we kind of opened the door a little bit for people to talk about some- thing that’s kind of uncomfortable to talk about,” he said. “And now that… gets people working to try to change this.” The film inspired local television broadcaster KGW to produce a news piece on racial profiling. Investigative reporter Kyle Iboshi interviewed Roo- sevelt High School students and racial profiling victim Kervencia Limage who said he was falsely accused of stealing from a Tualatin Best Buy. Iboshi also interviewed Portland attorney Greg Kafoury, who has filed around 20 civil rights lawsuits against retailers for false arrest and discrimi- nation. Mitchell said the students’ film and subsequent media coverage are part of “ welcome in the media industry. “That’s pretty incredible, that some- thing that could have been small and in- significant has really seeded something Through these interviews, people felt less alone as they shared their experiences with others who had gone through the same thing the lesson for the mass communication class. She said the goal was to support a student-led effort to conceive, produce and stand behind a project that was im- portant to them. Mitchell said it was an opportunity to show the students that people believe in their voices and that they should feel that has been empowering for a whole lot of people,” Mitchell said. Some of the students said the video has given them new direction and fo- cus. Junior Joti Mangat and Donnell both said they had worked in media before but the project gave them confi- dence to produce their own work. Harris had considered pursuing journalism as a career before enrolling in the urban griots class and the expe- rience with the racial profiling project has strengthened that interest. “Since coming into it and doing these projects, getting the kind of exposure that we have had… now I am really thinking about having a career in a journalistic field,” Harris said. The students are also considering pushing for a Shopper’s Bill of Rights like the one put forth by a coalition of civil rights leaders and high-end retail- ers in New York City in 2013. That pol- icy said store employees who racially profile customers could be disciplined or fired and that shoppers suspected of shoplifting needed to have their civil rights supported.
