Adjusting to a New Life

As Mr. Betts begins his sentence at Fairfax County Jail he had many new adjustments to make. The first of which would be sleeping without a mattress. When Mr. Betts first got to the jail it was a “slab of concrete that was my bed” (14). He went eight days without a mattress, shower, or a change of clothes. He had to adjust to live with nothing. His belongings and self was defined in one trash bag and his prison number. I found this rather disturbing. Mr. Betts wrote “90673. That number became more important than my name” (25). Although I understand jails must keep track of their inmates it felt so dehumanizing when I read that especially because he was just a kid. He wrote “After a felony those dreams vanished. It made me wonder, and stare at the wall thinking about what a second chance meant to the guilty. When I read this it really bothered me because he is right, what does a second chance mean to the guilty? Once an inmate is released from prison their punishment is not over, it follows them around for the rest of their lives. They must suffer forever. This suffering comes from the lack of being able to get a job, find housing, find peace, have a good education, and most of all be accepted back into society. This is why so many offenders reoffend. Is there really even a second chance for the guilty? They get their freedoms back when they are let out, but will they ever again be truly free? Mr. Betts was only sixteen years old when he first committed his crime, and then for the rest of his life he will be at a disadvantage. There are so many benefits that have been lost by transferring Mr. Betts to an adult prison. He is really just a kid, now this is not to say that his crimes should just go away. He is guilty, but his brain is not fully developed yet he is still growing and

Four Kids Four Crimes: Frontline Juvenile Justice

The first boy's name is Manny. He grew up on the streets of San Jose, joined gang life, and believe that the only way to protect and prove himself was through physical violence. He was only fourteen years old when he was sentenced to juvenile court for rape. At age seventeen Manny and two other of his gang members attacked a family in his neighborhood, and was arrested on four counts of attempted murder. Manny was found guilty in adult court and sentenced to nine years in an adult prison. Manny says "It might as well be a done deal. Two strikes. . . . I am only 18 years old. I plan to live until I am 50, I'm not perfect. I don't know, I don't think I'm going to make it, you know? I don't think I'm going to stay out for good" (PBS Frontline).
The second boy's name is Shawn. He grew up in an affluent neighborhood in California. Shawn's father was awaken in the middle of the night by Shawn stabbing him repetitively with a knife. He was sixteen years old at the time. Shawn agreed to plea guilty which allowed to stay in the juvenile system, thus having a much lesser punishment. Shawn was allowed to stay in the juvenile system despite his criminal background. He was charged with strong armed burglary and his drinking and marijuana use lead him to be kicked out of two different schools. "Judge Edwards ruled that Shawn remain in the Santa Clara County's Juvenile Hall until he turns 19. In addition, Shawn would be allowed to leave the facility during the day to attend community college classes, private counseling sessions, and Narcotics Anonymous meetings. Eventually he was even allowed to go home for meals with his family."
The third boy's name is Marquese. At seventeen years old he had been in and out of the juvenile justice system quite frequently. Marquese's last charge was auto theft and residential burglary. Prosecutors pushed to have Marquese tried as an adult due to his criminal past, but Marquese's lawyer disagreed. She believed that due to Marquese's childhood circumstances that the juvenile justice system would be the best option to rehabilitate Marquese. The judge in Marquese's case agreed with his lawyer. He believed although the nature of Marquese's crimes were violent his terrible childhood allowed him to have another try at rehabilitation in a Juvenile facility.
The last boy's name is Jose. At fifteen years old Jose was charged with murder. He was involved in a street fight that ended in a death of a young boy. Jose fled the scene. According to Frontline "After fleeing the scene of the assault, José and his friend had found the second victim struggling to walk with a broken ankle, and they helped the victim to get home and clean up. It was also discovered that while José had participated in the beating, he appeared to have played a lesser role in the attack." He was sentenced to 208 days in Juvenile Hall.
Four different juveniles with four different crimes. I believe all the punishments that these young offenders received were appropriate with the exception of Shawn. I believed with Shawn's past criminal experience he should have been tried as an adult. The nature of his crime was heinous. I do not believe that Shawn's life should be ruined for his actions, but I think it sends a message with an affluent, white, teenage boy tries to kill his father and still gets to go home for dinner, while Manny will sit in adult prison for nine years. While there crimes are not the same, they are similar. It is tough to say what should be done with teenagers who commit adult crimes, but what is obvious is the inconsistency between cases.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/juvenile/bench/adulttime.html

A Question of Freedom: Initial Thoughts

The book A Question of Freedom is written by a man named R. Dwayne Betts. I chose to read this book for my second semester Issues in Modern America class. Mr. Betts was only sixteen years old when it only took thirty minutes to change his life forever. Mr. Betts writes "thirty minutes changed my life. It took less thank thirty minutes for me to find the sleeping man in his car, it took less than thirty minutes for me to get to jail" (7). At age sixteen Mr. Betts was with a friend at a mall in Springfield, Virgina when they found a man sleeping in his car. At that time he pulled out a pistol and tried to take the mans car. He committed six felonies in thirty minutes. At age sixteen Mr. Betts was thrown in jail to await his sentence. Upon his time waiting in jail he met a boy named Chi. Chi was only fifteen years old at the time and was being charged as an adult for attempted murder. He told Mr. Betts that he was not guilty. Chi had gotten in a fight at school. A fight at school leads to an attempted murder charge. Mr. Betts writes "Judges learned to read our complexions, crimes, and communities as reasons why we needed the bars of a jail. And anyone telling me that isn't true should take a look at the shades of brown I watched walk in and out of the system. Couldn't tell me then this wasn't true, when I'd seen one white child locked up in three months. Chi told me he wasn't guilty, and I told him it probably didn't matter" (16-17).
The introduction to Mr. Betts story was not surprising to me, but it was still disturbing. In particular Chi's story. A school fight, which happens at my own school, leading to an attempted murder charge? If Chi was charged with assault as a juvenile that I would understand, he could still get an education, take courses on anger management, and pay his debt to society. I believe when young offenders are charged with exaggerated crimes and are put into an adult prison it is going to really hurt them in the future, except Mr. Betts is different. The judge gave him a nine year sentence. This lead Mr. Betts to get out of prison around the age of twenty-five. The human male brain does not fully develop until the age of twenty-five, so that is nine years of Mr. Betts' young life that was developed in prison. Now I believe that Mr. Betts is different because when he came out of jail, we went on to do something different unlike the majority of inmates released each year, which end up back in the prison system. Mr. Betts went on to write this book, A Question of Freedom. In this book he reflects on his time in prison and his crime that he committed. That thirty minutes it took to change his life forever.

Juvenile Offenders Tried in an Adult World

In America we take our amendments in our Constitution very seriously, especially the first ten. The first ten amendments provide us with essential rights and freedoms as well as protects us from being taken advantage of by the justice system of government. If you are being taken to trail for a crime, you have the right to a trail by jury. The jury consists of twelve members with diverse religions, ethnicity's, and gender. The jury are a selection of the defendants peers. Peers. In order to serve jury duty, you must be at least eighteen years old, you must legally be an adult. This means that juveniles who are tried as adults, yet are not adults have a jury of adults, not their peers. I came across an interesting article titled "A Jury of Their Peers". In this article it talks about a method of punishment called peer court. Peer court is a new branch of court. It is a court made for juveniles who commit small offences. In peer court the members of the jury, judge, and lawyers are all peers. They are all under the age of nineteen. According the article "sentences are generally creative forms of community service, never jail time, and the records show that 99% of those sentenced complete their tasks. Doing so keeps their criminal records clean, which helps their college and job applications". I believe the most important part of this system is that it is a jury of their peers.
Although this system would not be reasonable for any serious juvenile offenders, how about Anthony Laster. In my previous blog I told the story about Anthony Laster and his school yard dispute made him face fourteen days in jail and the possibility of up to seven years in an adult prison. Peer court seems like it would have been the better option for Anthony. In peer court his own peers would have been able to think in the same way that Anthony might have at the time of the "crime". I believe providing real peers for juvenile offenders would make the justice system more fair to juveniles. A thirty-four year old man cannot think the same way that a young offender would, but a seventeen year old teenager would have a more realistic insight. Now, this does not mean that a sixteen year old who commits car jacking with a deadly weapon should go home and with some fines and community service, but is it fair to take away a person's life and replace it with the misery of jail for one mistake?


http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=3&hid=107&sid=01408fa0-ac33-4f7a-8f1e-fe5b61b90dc3%40sessionmgr104&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=tth&AN=17575039

Juvenile Justice Research

Anthony Laster was only fifteen years old when he was charged as an adult for crimes that he did not understand. He was facing "strong armed robbery and extortion" and sat in jail for four weeks because his family could not afford his bail. His crime? He stole two dollars from another kid from his school. Anthony cannot communicate more than the level of a five year old. Although Anthony's charges were dropped that does not remove the trauma that he faced. There is a fine line between giving consequences to juveniles who commit crime and ruining their entire life. Let's say that the charges against Anthony had not been dropped, then what? According to Florida Department for Corrections the average jail time for a robbery conviction in the year 1997 is 6.9 years. That is almost seven years of hard time that Anthony Laster would have served. He would have come out roughly around twenty two years old, all for stealing two dollars. Let us consider Anthony Laster to be lucky. Laster is an excellent example of the justice system being too hard on juveniles.
Now let's look at the case of Ronnie Vera. Washington Monthly posts "He and a friend were caught stealing a bike in a neighborhood by a prominent community activist in Tuscon. Ronnie turned to run. His friend pulled out a gun and shot and killed the community activist. One year later, a jury convicted both Ronnie and his friend of murder." Ronnie was only sixteen years old at the time. He is now serving a twenty-five to life sentence in an adult prison. Ronnie was charged with first degree murder and burglary in the first degree. Ronnie is in no doubt guilty of theft, but murder? No. This is yet another example of the justice system being too tough on juveniles.
Cracking down on juvenile crime does not work as a deterrent. It does not work because adult prisons are too harsh. The adult prison system does not correct inmates. Juveniles who go into adult prisons at a young age and come out in their midlife will struggle with finding a job, not violating their parole, and adjusting to life in the real world. Howard Husock, the vice president for policy research for The Manhattan Institute for Policy Research said "About 700,000 inmates are released from state and federal prison each year. Of those released, about two-thirds re-offend within three years." While I do not believes that the crimes that juveniles commit should be taken lightly, a mistake a person made as a kid should not ruin their whole future. The two-thirds of the inmates who are released then return, return with a reason, but for those who are juveniles at the time of their incarceration were not taught any better. The human male brain is not fully developed until the age of twenty-five, so a young man who is incarcerated let's say at the age of seventeen will still be developing mentally for eight years in prison. Eight years. What they have learned and developed in those eight years sets them up to be re-incarcerated.


http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/document.php?id=cqresrre2001042700&type=hitlist&num=0
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/1999/9906.twohey.littleton.htm
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35263313/ns/business-careers/

Race in America

In the article "Behind the Scenes: Black and shopping in America" from CNN.com Leah Wells, a shopper at GAP who was followed with her two friends and accused of shop lifting, said "No matter your education, your status or profession, some still only see the color of your skin". She could not have been more right. It does not matter how educated a person is or how important society might view them, what defines black people is the color of their skin. Americans everywhere need to learn to look at personalities first, rather than the appearance of someone different than you. I believe that the segregation comes from all ends. In another article on CNN.com it talks about Sunday churches still having segregation. It talks about a small church in California that more white people have started to join. The pasture talks about how the black people of his church have had some serious concerns about this. I believe this starts with a white issue. Although many people may claim to not be racist, is this how it truly is? I believe that black prejudice is greater than many people think. I believe many people are naive to how big prejudices are. In this article it said that only about 5 percent of America's churches are integrated. 5 percent. Integration should come naturally, but in places where integration is forced such as schools it is not truly integration. Church is a place of option and a place to be comfortable, so reading that only five percent of churches are integrated truly shows how comfortable people are. I believe that every town in America needs to be integrated, clearly it already can be by law, but by choice. People must become more comfortable so America can finally become one nation united.

Mock Trial Recap and Response

The trial that I worked on in issues class was Elyse Roberts' case. I thought that the verdict was the right one. The verdict was that the District of Columbia's district attorneys office was guilty of not stopping nor preventing the sexual harassment of Elyse Roberts. I believe that our side of the case proved that. Sexual harassment is defined as "creating an offensive working or learning environment by repeated written, verbal, physical and/or visual contacts with sexual overtones". The lawyers for Elyse Roberts proved that Keven Murphy did this. His comments about seeing her in a swim suit, pictures of models as sexual objects with Elyse's name on them, and the lack of action her superiors took to reprimand Kevin proved that Elyse was a victim of sexual harassment in the work place. I believe that her employer should be held responsible. She went to her direct superior twice and their manager of human resources once, and nothing was done to change Kevin's behavior, they did not even move her office. She was demoted to a lower burro. In their handbook it is stated that all burros are created equal. It is true that they are equal in pay, but they are not equal in responsibility. It was a clear demotion that Elyse received because she had filed a complaint of sexual harassment. Another way the law defines sexual harassment is "retaliating against a person for reporting or threatening to report sexual harassment", which is what Elyse suffered. She was demoted because she was suffering from the trauma of sexual harassment. This is why I believe the verdict turned out as it should have.
The other trial I also believe should have turned out as it should have. I think that David did rape Rachel (?), but I do not think that prosecution did a good enough job of proving it beyond a reasonable doubt. I believe the defense did a very good job at proving that David was a nice guy with good intentions, and the prosecution did not focus enough on his violent and threatening actions towards Rachel. I believe that he is guilty but they could not prove it beyond a reasonable doubt. David could not have been locked up with the way the evidence was presented because there was so much doubt in Rachel's story. I believe the prosecution should have focused more on her torn shirt and bruised arm rather than her just saying no. I think because the defense claimed that actions speak louder than words, but much doubt in the jury because many of Rachel's actions said yes.
I believe that sexual harassment is something that is very hard to define. It is hard to find the line between harassment and joking. I believe that the reasonable victims stand point needs to be used. It is not how it makes other people feel, but it is about how the victim feels. I do not think that Deerfield High School as a big problem with sexual harassment, but I believe that there is some. I think that the sexual harassment that goes on at Deerfield is looked at as teenagers being teenagers, and a lot of it is probably teenagers being teenagers. The problem is is that the victim of the sexual harassment may not feel that way. I believe comments and actions with sexual overtones need to be looked at more seriously because for some people it can be the worst form of bullying and going to school can become demeaning. It is the teachers and administrators job at Deerfield to protect their students from all types of harassment.

State of the Union Address

In President Obama's State of the Union address he said "Over the next ten years, nearly half of all new jobs will require education that goes beyond a high school degree. And yet, as many as a quarter of our students aren't even finishing high school. The quality of our math and science education lags behind many other nations. America has fallen to 9th in the proportion of young people with a college degree. And so the question is whether all of us – as citizens, and as parents – are willing to do what's necessary to give every child a chance to succeed." What is America willing to do? Education is the most essential factor in youth's lives. It defines their actions and determines their view and value in society. Something new needs to be done in America in order to improve education. Public education needs to become affordable and successful, but this cannot just start from the government. There needs to be a bigger push in order to get parents and all communities involved in better education. As technology advances the demand for better education is higher.
As Obama said "as many as a quarter of our students aren't even finishing high school." In a country that values their youth so highly twenty-five percent of them do not finish high school. It is hard to find way to be valuable in society without having a proper education, but it is not the youth's fault. The way youth in America now view education all depends on how they were raised and the environment that they were raised in. Something needs to be done to improve over all conditions. Something new must be done. Their needs to be new legislation that allows kids to succeed, more funding that gives kids opportunities, and a new overall approach to how parents and their kids view the value of education. America needs to value education more because education defines actions and what values individuals bring to society.

Cycle of Suppression Rises in Libya and Elsewhere

In an article in the New York Times reporting about updates in Libya it said, "the events appeared to mark a decisive turn in four days of protests that have shaken Libya, a North African nation rich in oil. By nightfall, a deadly cycle had clearly emerged in a city where thousands have gathered in antigovernment demonstrations: Security forces fired on funeral marches, killing more protesters, creating more funerals." The people of Libya have been protesting for change in their government. These protests drove the government to fight. They are doing everything they can to stop the protests and remain in power in their country. The government has also cut of their internet so the information about what is going on is very limited. This further shows the control that the government is trying to have over its people. The government is responding to controlled protest for change with violence. The death toll is near two-hundred and growing. The more violent the government gets, the more the people protest. As a Benghazi resident said “Too much blood has been shed. The more brutal the crackdown will be, the more determined the protesters will become.” This is a cycle that will not end unless the government backs down or the population of Libya is destroyed.
Issa Abed al-Majid Mansour said that they cannot go back to their homes because "If they do, he’ll finish them off. They know the regime very well. There’s no to way to go back now. Never, never." The protests can no longer just stop. The government needs to stop, because if the protesters do then the government will be ruthless towards the people of Libya. Both groups seem to be unwilling to back down and determined to fight for their cause. I think it is very important for the people of Libya to be strong and not back down. If they win this will show the rest of the world that their is hope through peace and that violence will not always prevail.

I Don't Wish Nobody to Have a Life like Mine: Final Thoughts

Every one deserves second chances. These kids grew up with nothing, they grew up into disappointments. Their parents raised them to be the way they are and were not good role models. Is it fair for us to expect them to be different? If their parents fail to protect them, and their government fails to take care of them then how can these young adults avoid failing themselves. They have no money, bad schools, bad parents, and bad support from their government. The way they protect themselves is by becoming strong and owning a gun, they way they avoid bad schools is they drop out, the way they earn money is selling drugs, and they way they find support is from gangs. That is societies fault for failing them. The youth is the future, so the youth in America should be one of the most invested things that the government does. Many of these kids will spend the rest of their life in prison, because there was such little hope for them. These kids never knew anything but lies and never believed that anything to change. David Chura tried to change that for them. He tried to give them knowledge and try to bring them success and hope into their lived. He helped many, but he cannot do this alone. He can help kids make sight of their troubles, but outside the prison doors who's to help them then?

I Don't Wish Nobody to Have a Life like Mine: Children of Disappointment

In an interesting chapter about tattoo's while David Chura is learning about different tattoo's the corrections officers believe to be affiliated with gangs he writes "I felt sordid, as thought I was betraying a basic human code..." Tattoo's were something that inmates would always carry with them, basically the only thing that inmates were allowed to carry with them. One of Mr. Chura's students, Eddyberto, was an exceptional artist with a knack for creativity. Eddyberto would give inmates tattoo's inside of prisons, when this knowledge became available to the corrections officers, they informed Mr. Chura that Eddyberto was a threat to national security because of gang affiliations. Eddyberto was removed from the prison and handed to the feds. Chura writes "long after anyone would even remember his name, those men and boys he had tattooed would carry with them wherever they went, and for as long as they lived, the pictures and patterns that he, Pryo (Eddyberto), alchemist and artist, conjured up out of nothing, but smoke and shampoo" (114). Eddyberto was an inspired artist, who wanted to draw and to many gangs did not matter because it was a part of life in or out of jail. This child of disappointment had nothing to carry with him but the tattoos on his own back, that creativity from his own mind. His art was no disappointment to him, but to others it defined him, and he was left again with being a disappointment.
"These young guys were raised on disappointment: nobody ever did what they were supposed to do, nobody ever did what they promised they'd do" (96). Mr. Chura said this to his students after he gave them hope that he could make a suggestion box that would make their hardass corrections officer lighten up. At first when it did not help the boys began to get riled up and upset with each other. One boy in Mr. C's class turned to him and said "We coulda told you nothing ever changes" (96). These boys feel that life will never get better, promises will never be kept, and positive change will never occur because that is how they grew up. They grew up feeling constant disappointment in their family, friends, and community, as well as seeing others view them as constant disappointments. Parents are supposed to be these children's security, but when they fail the security is gone. These children of disappointment just went on to be children that disappoint. After being treated like garbage their whole life, many end up in county lockups, state prisons, or detention centers being treated like garbage once again with no rights and no respect for life. Now many criminals deserve this, but what about the seventeen or eighteen year old who grew up knowing nothing about lying, cheating, drugs, abuse, and disappointment? Did they deserve a life like this? Is it even fair to expect more out of them?

I Don't Wish Nobody to Have a Life like Mine: Ghost Story

"All the guys were opened to constant threats and assaults from all directions. It might be their victim's friends or their family, rival gang members, or their codefendants they turned state's evidence against" (43), that's especially how teenager, Luis felt all the time. Luis had been in and out of lockup, and this time he was going to be back for a long time taking class with Mr. Chura again. While Luis and Mr. C caught up, Luis began to tell him his story. "I'd only gotten there five minutes sooner he'd still be alive. Five minutes" (46). This was the guilt that Luis lived with. Luis was meeting his brother, Felipe, in the Bronx so they could both go in to get haircuts. Luis was running a little late because he had to pick up stuff for his Abuelita's birthday, it was her birthday the day her grandson Felipe was killed. Luis saw commotion in front of their barber shop, but he just figured "somebody was getting the shit beat outta him, somebody's always got beef with somebody else in the Bronx..." (47) When Luis saw a kid run away he got a feeling that his brother was in trouble, so he ran over. As he pushed people out of the way he saw Felipe, bleeding out of his stomach. Felipe's friend Paco told Luis to get out because the Armenian's were looking for him. Luis had no idea who the Armenian's were and he did not care because all he could see was his brother dying right in front of him. He told his baby brother to hang on for his life as he shouted for help. Luis held his brother, talking to him, hoping for any sign for him to be okay. As he did this "the more the dark hues of his own brown skin drained from his face, as though it was his blood hat was seeping out from the four bullet wounds Felipe took in the stomach" (48). Luis held his baby brother as he died, and he could not do anything about it. After Felipe had died Luis's battle was not over. The Armenian's were looking for him to kill him, yet Luis had no idea who the Armenian's were, why they wanted to kill him, and why they killed his brother. As time went on the Armenian's tried to kill his mom, she was hospitalized. The only time his grandma left their house was to attend her grandson's funeral. Luis's family devastated and living in fear because of the Armenian's for reasons unknown, and they were not going to stop until they found Luis and killed him too. Luis moved around with his family to try to protect them all he wanted was for his whole family to feel safe again, but everywhere they went the Armenian's followed them. He was never safe and he would never feel safe again. The police found many weapons in his car and immediately arrested him, and that is why he was in lockup now. Luis was never safe. He was not safe in jail and he would not be safe when he got out of jail. The Armenian's were waiting for him out of prison and he never knew if there was one waiting for him in prison. This fear would follow him around for his whole life, because they would not stop until he died. Now he lives with not only the guilt of his brother dying, but also the fear that was a constant reminder of his dead brother.
Luis cannot ever live a single day in his life, because of the constant fear that he lives in for himself and his family, and for what? He does not even know why the Armenian's are looking for him. So what is Luis to do? He cannot ever keep a job because the Armenian's will find him and Luis will again have to run. He cannot have a life, because he knows that as soon as he settles they will find him and they will kill him. So what are the police doing to protect him and his family? The government? Nothing. There is no protection for these people, these people who did not even do anything wrong. Our government loses hope in people so easily. There is no hope for Luis, when Luis was home he tried to do good by protecting his family and staying clean, yet there was no reward only punishment.

I Don't Wish Nobody to Have a Life like Mine: Pinups

Wade was eighteen years old when in lockup. Mr. Chura had known him before from his previous job, at an alternative high school. Wade loved school, he never missed class, and never caused trouble, but one day Wade missed class. He later on told Mr. C that it was because he had to run from his bus stop. He ran because these kid's cousin and Wade have a problem with each other. Wade saw a gun and ran with his friend Arlene. "Shit-sorry-they coulda killed Arlene. I just ran" (34). These were the issues that Wade dealt with to just go to school. Wade then showed Mr. C pictures of his mom with much pride. It was clear to Mr. C that partying was very important to Wade's mom. He told him that his mom started to shoot up right after her youngest child was born and that "she'd be depressed, then she'd get real wild, out partyin' all night" (36). His mom was not much of a mother, but he still showed off his pictures to Mr. Chura. Wade disappeared soon after his talk with Mr. Chura, he was gone for about three or four years and that is when he showed up again in Mr. Chura's classroom in lockup. Wade had gone to like with his drug addicted aunt. His little sister one time carried the drugs from her aunt's dealer to her aunt. When Wade came home he saw needles everywhere with little kids running around. "I went nuts and smacked her. I had to. She was killin' herself, and those babies" (39). Wade has new pictures of his mom to show Mr. C, and now she was in the hospital, which Mr. C excepted was from AIDS. Wade left to serve five years at a state prison at the ripe age of eighteen. Mr. Chura knew that by the time Wade got out his mom would be dead, then what was Wade to do?
Wade's story, much different than Ray's story. Wade's mom stayed and let Wade witness the pain that drug addiction and depression causes. Wade grew up quickly and had to learn to defend for himself considering he always had to be careful, if he was not always watching then he or a loved one could die at any second. If a young teenager has to live with that fear how are they supposed to go to school, have a job, and interact with their peers in a healthy way? They cannot, which is why so many of our youth ends up like Wade. Wade could not even get on the school bus without have a fear of being killed, therefore he could not go to school. These factors in Wade's life set him up to fail in life, because how does one pursue goals to be successful in life if their goal everyday is to stay alive? And how is this fair? The family who you are born into for the most part defines you so if you are born into a bad family full of failure, abuse, and poverty then how do you not become the same? Is that an individuals responsibility? It should be the government's responsibility to create equal opportunities for everyone to achieve success.

I Don't Wish Anyone to Have a Life like Mine: Prison Birthday

In the four blog posts I have to write, I decided to write about four different stories that David Chura wrote about in I Don't Wish Anybody to Have a Life like Mine. The first story I wanted to write about what called Prison Birthday. The students name was Ray. It was Ray's twenty-first birthday. He came to class very excited about this man who gave him a bag of Oreos, to them this was one of the nicest things a person could do for someone. Ray began to tell his story to Mr. C. Ray never had a father and his mother was constantly messed up on drugs, his childhood was spent moving in and out of different foster homes. After one too many moves, the courts decided he was not fit for a family so he was put in and out of detention centers. He described him in his childhood as "I was afraid a lot because I didn't know what was happening to me" (22). When he was eleven and in a detention center he was raped which lead to depression, drug abuse, and severe mental damage. The summer before Ray was sent to lockup he was living on the streets in an abandon car. This is when things changed for Ray. He father had found him, and now he had a family. As soon as Ray had hope to a good family and a good life, his father left. He was stuck with his aunt who used to lock him in a room with nothing but a small amount of water and a bucket, much like a cell in prison. Eventually his aunt, the only family he had left, kicked him out and put him back on the streets. That's when Ray met a drug dealer who took him in. He treated Ray like family and fed and clothed him. The drug dealer even had a little son named Joey that Ray treated like his little brother. Joey looked up to Ray, but Ray told Joey "You don't want to be like me, little bro. You want to be better than me. I'm nobody" (25). Ray left the house one day to go run errands and when he returned everything and everybody was gone. He said that his family left him because they did not want to get hurt, but Ray said that he still hurt. Ray began to be desperate for money so he could eat, be warm, and live. He started to rob people and stores, that is how he ended up in lockup. Ray knows when his life is going to end, when he gets out, there is nothing left for him to live for. His words to Mr. C were "I just hope God gets a light at the end of the tunnel for people like me. I don't wish nobody to have a life like mine. I don't wish that on nobody" (26).
Ray's story really bothered me. Nobody has a perfect family, nobody. Ray's family exceptionally imperfect. His family failed him, and because of that he was put into foster care, but then foster care fails him? Our government fails to protect our kids? And that is the kid's fault? This is the start of the issue. Our government just gives up on our kids. Foster families failed to meet his needs, so the government decides to put him into a detention center, they are handing him failure. Of course these kids are not going to succeed or be a value in community because they government is preventing them from doing so. If the government did not fail underprivileged young people then many issues in education, crime, and the econmic state of the country would be solved. There is no second chance for these kids. They are bound to fail, because if they have no support from their family or government, no proper school to attend, no money, and no place to stay then how are they supposed to be a successful part of our country? If a child grows up with their parents and everyone around them doing drugs then how are they supposed to not? There are always exceptions, occasionally there will be one strong person who can break away from this life style, but what about all the people that cannot? Do they not deserve to be happy and to succeed in life?

I Don't With Nobody to Have a Life like Mine: Initial Thoughts

David Churra writes "Over the years more than one student has described to me what it felt like to hold a friend or older brother as he slowly bled to death from a gunshot or knife wound, and to feel the warm blood seep down through his jeans into his own skin" (21). If even just one student described this to him, that is an issue. Nobody should have to do that, nobody should have a life like that. The first two chapters of I Don't Wish Nobody to Have a Life like Mine, gave an introduction to the stories of children in adult lockups. The stories are told from the view point of David Chura, the author of the book who spent forty years working with teenagers. Many of those years were spent teaching young adults in adult lockups. Chura listened to the stories of his students lives. In the first two chapters it explained how the prison was run and the interactions between the corrections officers, teachers, nurses, prisoners, etc. After Chura describes some of the stories his students told him and how that has effected them to be where they are today, and where they will be in the future.
From the beginning the warden, Warden Clooney referred to the prisoners as "human garbage." Warden Clooney made it very clear that the civilian people, the people who assisted the prisoners such as nurses and teachers, were a waste of time and that they got in his way. While Warden Clooney is speaking to the civilians at orientation he says "In all the years I been in the Department of Corrections, I've never seen anybody 'corrected,' not a goddamn one." (4) Whether it was being a corrections officer for so long, putting his life in danger, or the tiredness of his age Warden Clooney had no hope in anyone. He has no respect for the lives on the prisoners. This seemed to bother Chura. Chura was in the prison working with adolescents in order to help them as much as possible. He believe in them and the importance of education. While Clooney gave up Chura still believed in the kids. Chura could see that almost everyone else in these kid's lives had given up on them, and now so have the corrections officers, they viewed them as their life being over there was no second chance, no hope. Mr. Chura gave them that hope and that second chance to go to school. He was interested in making these adolescents a valuable part of society, where people like Warden Clooney did not care because he thought that even if they do get out of prison it does not matter because they will be back. And many times they did come back, but maybe all they needed was for someone to believe in them that they could succeed. Almost every single one of these students were set up for failure, whether it was an abusive mother, no family at all, or drug exposure from the day they were born, they did not have good conditions growing up. So if one is almost set up to fail, with no support how do they manage to succeed?

Abortion

After looking at both sides of the argument, I am still left wondering why this is even an argument. The pro-choice website is all about the terrible things that the pro-life activists are making women go through in order to have the right to choose while the pro-life website is all about the terrible things that doctors do to "unborn babies". While I do agree that third week trimester abortions are dangerous, inhuman, and should be outlawed, I believe that anything before that is simply a women's right to choose and that is it. I believe that the pro-life side of the argument is winning the debate because of the emotional toll they put on women. They make women feel guilty about having the right to make choices over their own body. The pro-choice website provides options to stop unwanted pregnancy in the first place, which is the root of the problem. If every female had access to affordable birth control then the number of unwanted pregnancies would go down, thus the number of abortions would be decreased. If abortion becomes outlawed it will not solve the problem it would rather create women seeking abortions in more dangerous ways. It is simply a women's right to choose.
I do not believe that the parents need to be notified of an abortion when their child is under the age of 18, unless the child is in serious danger. I believe that parent notification will scare children into taking rash decisions to dispose of their fetus, thus putting them in harms way. If their is parent notification then they still should not have the right to consent to it, because no one should have to tell a women that they must have a baby. I also do not believe that father should be notified or allowed consent. The father is not the one having the child, they are not the ones to go through nine months of physical and emotional pain. I believe that as soon as we allow men to make choices about women's body's and give them that control, all of the work that women have gone through to achieve equal rights are no longer there. Ultimately it should be left up to the woman seeking the abortion because it is simply her choice, it is clearly a difficult choice that takes an emotional toll but the choice only involved herself. If our government takes about women's right to choice they are instantly putting us below men and controlling us, therefore the woman getting the abortion should be the only one that has to consent.
Illinois abortion laws I believe are reasonable except for the mandated consent law from parents and spouses. As stated before, it is a woman's right to choose, it is not her parents or spouses but simply hers. Illinois also makes abortion expensive to some people, which is very contradicting. Many women choose to not have their unplanned pregnancy due to affordability but creating abortion to be so expensive leaves women out of safe and secure options. I also do not agree with the idea of not being allowed an abortion after just 12 weeks, 12 weeks is still very early in the pregnancy. Many women do not find out that they are pregnant until 6 or 7 weeks into so only have 6 weeks to think about options is not a lot of time. I agree with Illinois providing abortion where it is necessary, such as low income woman. There are still restrictions on woman seeking abortions that should not be there, but for not woman can still have an abortion. These restrictions are created by pro-life activists and are used to scare woman out of abortion, so I do not see these activists as being pro-life. They do not think about the lives of women and how it is damaging them, they are really only thinking about having control over others.

Death Penalty #3

The stages leading up to the death penalty can guarantee that no innocent person will be executed, but the problem is, is that it can be but is not. The court appoints an attorney if the defendant cannot afford one, this allows for everyone to have representation during their trail. This is very fair and creates a lesser chance of executing the innocent, but after they are proven guilty, "the constitution does not require that a defendant be provided with a lawyer representing him throughout the appeal process" (deathpenaltycurriculum.org), because the Constitution does not require this then many defendants do not get the opportunity to prove their innocence or get justice. The courts that are set up for appeal for death penalty cases help protect the innocent from being convicted, but only those who can afford it. This creates a problem with executing more innocent poor people than wealthier people. This creates the stages leading up to the death penalty to not guarantee innocence at all, rather it creates a separation of executions according to socioeconomic status.

The most human method of execution is lethal injection. No other method of execution should be allowed, it is cruel and unusual punishment. I do not know if I agree with the death penalty, but I do believe the process to be as painless and as smooth as possible. While there are flaws to every method, death by lethal injection is the least painless and appears to have the last room for error. I do believe though that the injection should be given by a qualified doctor to increase the success rate. All of the other forms of execution are forms of torture, and that is cruel and unusual punishment for our government to support the torture of a prisoner. The method of death by firring squad, hanging, electric chair, gas chamber, are not guaranteed to be a quick and painless death and the result of error is much more torturous than the government should be allowed because it causes them excruciating pain where lethal injection puts the prisoner to sleep.

While looking at the state by state data there was defiantly a trend in deaths and number of death row inmates according the regions. The southern part of America has many more executions than anywhere else. I think this is an issue that needs to be looked at seriously because having the government sentence someone to die should not be used for any other purpose than to get justice. I believe that some of these states may be abusing their power. Many states in the northern east part of our country do not even have the death penalty and if they do their number of executions is very low. The other thing I noticed was that the number of black people executed in the south is much higher than the number of white people executed in the south, where everywhere else in the country the number is much more even.

The current information about the death penalty today still leaves me unsure about it. I think there are many flaws and when dealing with someone else's life these flaws are not okay. I believe the idea of the death penalty is reasonable, that under certain circumstances it is the best way to achieve justice. I believe the representation for inmates on death row needs to be better or at least there, defendants that appear to be sentenced to death due to racial motivation need to be looked at closer even without an appeal, states should have a limit on the number of deaths, and lethal injection should be the only method for death. If the death penalty was a better system and was taken as seriously as it is by all states and all people then it could be used as a good method to achieve justice.

Clifford Boggess

Clifford Boggess should have been executed. I do believe people can change, but I do not believe that Clifford Boggess is a changed man. Within hours of his death he still showed no emotion, never once did I see guilt in his eyes or sorrow in his words. The answers that Boggess gave were very detached of emotion. Clifford Boggess committed two murders in cold blood. He knew what he was doing at the time and he premeditated both murders, he carefully chose his victims by picking ones who could not defend themselves Boggess dehumanized himself by ignoring something he loved very much in life, his grandfather. Before his second murder he saw his victims granddaughter and heard her call him papa, and he said he even thought about his grandfather, but according to him it was too late. Boggess had no emotions then and still did not leading up to his final hours. . Boggess said, in rearguards to the second murder that it was overkill "just to be brutal". He even went as far to say that there are things that he enjoyed about the murdered and shows a sense of pride in his work. The video said that Boggess even bragged about the murders to his friends, that does not sound like a man with guilt. I believe that Boggess is using Christianity as a defense for his actions. When writing a letter or regret to one of his victims granddaughters, he showed little guilt but instead put in many Bible passages. I believe that if Clifford Boggess was truly sorry and was truly a changed man then he would not need to force his Christan ideas, but they would rather show through his guilt. Clifford Boggess had done too much damage to deserve a second chance, his murders were out of nothing except cold blood and what's to stop him from doing it again? The victims families had been haunted since the day that their loved ones were murdered by Clifford Boggess. They should not have to live in fear and anger everyday, Boggess has already taken enough from them. While the execution of Boggess does not bring their family member back, it does allow them to have a peace of mind that their is justice for their loved ones.

Bullying

Bullying is an issue that has existed all around the world, in all different age groups, for hundreds of years now. The issues has not gotten any better, but rather increasing worse. Which technology becoming more and more advanced and powerful there are new opportunities and ways to bully other people. I believe that to say a school does not have a bullying problem, is false. Every school has a bullying problem, but the level of severity varies from every school. While I believe that Deerfield does not really have a bullying problem, I could be very wrong. I do not think anyone really has a clue what it is like for someone else to go to school every day. I do not think that public bullying and harassment is an issue at Deerfield, but for all I know some student could be getting harassing text messages and threatening phone calls every night. The amount of bullying that goes on at a school is really unknown.
A young girl named Megan Meier was bullied through MySpace. She was relentlessly made fun of and picked on and no one ever really knew. The story ends with Megan taking her own life. The hurtful words became too much for her to handle. Megan's case was the first cyberbullying case that Missouri had ever seen, this left it in a difficult situation. The court could not charge her predator because there were no laws for cyberbullying, but afterwards the courts made cyberharassment illegal. While the law in continuing to catch up with technology, is it really even helping?
I do not believe that by increasing laws it will slow down bullying. It has always been illegal for teenagers to drink, yet it does not stop them from drinking. So how do we find a solution? In class we watched the show "If You Really Knew Me," it was a crew of people who went to a high school and challenged kids to get to know other students for who they truly are. While it is all tears and hugs on the show, does it really work? I believe it can work, but the question really is, is it going to affect the issue in a long term sense? Can a school really not fall back into its old habits from just talking with other classmates for one day? I don't believe so. In class while we were discussing this I remember someone saying that maybe something needs to happen in order to have a real impact. This meaning maybe there needs to be an incident so powerful that it stops the student body and makes them change. I disagree. In 2006 at Deerfield High School there was a tragic drinking and driving accident, that led to two student deaths. While I was not at the high school I had three brothers who were and I saw the terrible impact it had on them and their friends. I remember them saying that they hope it helps people learn, but does it? Has the drinking problem at Deerfield gotten better since then? No. So how do we create change in a situation that seems to have no solution? I believe the first step is wanting to change. Kids at schools around the country need to want bullying to stop in order for it to stop, and each and every person can make a difference. It is not only the students who need a change or attitude, but the administration as well. It is there job to protect each and every student, this includes the bully. By this I mean it is their job to try and help to bully get better. The administration cannot just give someone a detention for yelling something inappropriate, they must get to the root of the problem. By doing this and the school working with the students we can all make a difference.

Drug Testing

Drug testing in public schools in unconstitutional. Public schools use the terms "reasonable" to justify searches of students. Drug testing is a search of students, through an invasive process schools take and examine the students urine. Random drug testing does not fall under the term "reasonable" because it is unreasonable to believe that all students are under the influence of drugs. Public schools have no right to "parent" students by checking up on them, especially if the parents do not approve. In the case of Vernonia School District v. Acton, James Acton's parents did not approve of the school drug testing their son, so they said no and for that he was not allowed to participate in sports at his school. The school is not James Acton's parent, his parents are and it is up to them to make decisions for their child. If James Acton gets into trouble with the law, his parents are held responsible not the school, and for that it is not up to the school to make decisions and check up on him. While it is true that in order for James Acton to play a sport for his school, he had to get a physical with his doctor which included a urine test, there is a difference between his doctor testing his urine and his school testing his urine. This is an invasion of his privacy. James Acton's doctor knows the medication that he is on, because his job to watch over his health, this is not the schools job. In a drug test, the person being tested must enclose all the medication that they are currently taking, this in itself is an invasion of privacy because the school does not have the right to make kids tell them the medication that they are on. Students have a right to the fourth amendment while at school and without probable cause drug testing is unconstitutional.

Using the standard of "reasonableness" in schools allows for an search to be valid. School administrators can easily say that a search is reasonable for any reason. It is important for the education system to show students that when they walk through the doors of the school their rights do not go away. They cannot force any unnecessary search on students which, through drug testing and reasonableness, is what they are doing. In a 'sexting' suit that took place in Pennsylvania, a public school took away a students cell phone, searched it, and then handed the student a punishment for her nude pictures. This public school, took a students private property that contained private messages, as the suit said like U.S. mail, and searched them. The principal defended the search as being "reasonable" while in reality it is a huge violation of this students forth amendment rights. She violated the cell phone policy at her school, so school officials took away her personal property but for them to take it a step further by looking through her phone and reading her messages and looking at her pictures is stripping her of her freedoms. Public schools are there for the purpose of educating students and providing a safe learning environment if those two things are not in danger, by the standards of the forth amendment and not by "reasonableness", then school has no reason to play a parent's role in their students lives.