A rising number of juveniles in America's criminal justice
system are being subjected to physical abuse, excessive
incarceration and detainment in adult jails and prisons claims
Amnesty International USA in a new 64-page report, "Betraying
the Young."
Another of the report's major findings is that "in clear
violation of international human rights law," adults have been
executed for crimes that they committed when they were children.
As of june 1998, said the report, there were 73 inmates on death
row for offenses committed when they were under 18 years of age.
"We're one of six countries that execute for convictions
under 18 years of ~ said William Schulz, Amnesty international
USA's executive director. After naming the others as Nigeria,
Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Yemen, and Iran, he offered: "These are
five countries whose company we don't want to be found in."
"We tend to think of the United States as the standard
against which justice should be measured worldwide," remarked
Sue Burrell, a staff attorney for the San Francisco-based Youth
Law Center. This report ought to give the federal government and
the states pause, she said, "because we have a lot to do before
condemning another country's atrocities toward children."
Among the reports findings:
- As of February 1995, more than 84,OOO children were in
secure custody as accused or convicted offenders;
- Large numbers of youngsters are detained when accused of
committing offenses and incarcerated following conviction
when other options were or should have been available;
- Thirty-eight slates now house juveniles in adult prisons
with no special prograrns or educational services for young
inmates;
- Teens in adult facilities are five times more likely to
be sexually assaulted and twice as likely to be beaten by
staff than those in juvenile facilities; and
- Between 1986 and 1995, the number children confined in
locked facilities before their cases were heard or following
conviction grew by more than 30 percent.
A spokesman for the U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention said he was not aware of the report and
could not comment on any of the points that it made.
'No Justification'
"There is no justification for America putting its children into
these brutal situations," said Philadelphia-based Juvenile Law
Center Fxecutive Director Robert Schwartz. What's worse, he
said, is that Americans are being sold the bill of goods that
they are purchasing safety with brutality.
Schulz echoed Schwartz by saying, "The image that we now have
huge numbers of murderous juveniles who need to be taught a
harsh lesson by society is a myth." Schulz went on to say,
"These kids will be back on the streets one day and nothing is
[more] guaranteed to turn a confused, angry teenager into a
bitter adult than abusing them when they are in prison, ignoring
their mental health concerns and housing them with adults.
The report also covers excessive use of incarceration, cruel
use of force and restraints, solitary confinement, inadequate
services for children with mental health prob\-lems, imposition
of harsh and inflexible sen\-tences, and the faflure of the
federal and state governments to fix a standard minimum age of
criminal responsibility that takes into account a chfld's
emotional, mental, and intellectual maturity.
Recommendations
The Amnesty report contains recommendations to federal, state
and local authorities responsible for elements of the justice
system to improve the detection and prevention of violations of
children's human rights. Among them:
- Undertake periodic reviews to determine whether children
are being placed in custody only when no other alternative
is appropriate;
- Provide an adequate range and number of community-based
detention and rectional programS;
- Provide adequate mental health services in the community
so that children with mental health problems can be treated
in therapeutic rather than correctional environments;
- Require staff to be specially trained to work with
children;
- Prohibit the use of isolation as a punishment for
children;
- All states should legislate to keep every detained and
imprisoned child completely separate [from adult inmates].
- The U.S. should sign the Conventions on the Rights of
the Child, a U.N. treaty which it has so far refused to
sign.
The report concludes that "the notion of the 'super predator'
and the 'teenage time bomb' has fueled irrational and
short-sighted policies which ultimately strip young peple of
their human dignity and rob our society of untapped human
potential.
Amnesty International USA can be reached at (212) 633-4200.
