Listen to thisUSA
By Bill Sturgeon
First and foremost, a "Well Done" to the Massachusetts Legislature
and Gov. Baker for their efforts to reform the Massachusetts criminal
justice system. As a person who has spent most of his adult life working
at various levels and positions within the system, serious reform has
been needed for years.
This is the beginning of a much longer
and complicated process that needs to be accomplished. The American
criminal justice system is a patchwork of knee-jerk fixes to address
immediate situations, most of the time without any current and relevant
research to validate the fix.
These changes to the state's
criminal justice system, in my opinion, mainly addressed the "end
users." They are those individuals who have already become involved with
the criminal justice system.
Employ new tools
I must criticize some of the "fixes" that the Legislature passed.
Specifically, the continued use of chronological age as a determining
justice factor for juvenile justice. With all of the modern scientific
testing and evaluation methods, one would think that these 21st century
tools would be employed during the juvenile adjudication process. Some
of these tools are: I.Q., psychosocial and psychological testing,
complete physical examination, and, if determined necessary, an MRI or
CAT scan. Also, testing for traumatic brain injury. Looking back on my
work with adjudicated juvenile and knowing what I know now about
traumatic brain injury, I am convinced that some of the youthful
offenders with whom I came into contact were suffering from traumatic
brain injury.
If the Commonwealth really wants to have a juvenile
justice system that will help kids, then it should use every tool
available.
The most urgent and demanding need, I believe, is
preventing children from becoming involved with the criminal justice
system initially. A great deal has been written and discussed about the
"pipeline from high school to jail." In reality the "pipeline" starts
well before high school.
There have been many medical and
psychological studies, as well as studies of the developing brain, that
should be used when dealing with children who show a propensity to
violent or criminal acts or who have become involved with the criminal
justice system.
Experience has shown me that society, and the
juvenile justice system, appear to be hesitant to incorporate 21st
century methods for dealing with children living in borderline, even
dangerous environments, where abuse, violence and disrespect are a way
of life. The foster system is overburdened and in some cases misused.
Many children should be removed from their living environments because
of lack of parenting skills, lack of parent involvement, abuse, neglect,
because there are family member(s) who already are involved with the
criminal justice system, problems in school, and familial addiction
issues.
My involvement of working with and talking to youthful
offenders has helped me identify the above as areas of concern. These
are the living environments many of these youthful offenders came from.
These youths, mostly in their teens, had been "adjudicated adults" and
sentenced to an adult penitentiary because of the serious nature of
their crimes. Many of them had served time in juvenile detention prior
to coming to the penitentiary.
After spending numerous hours
talking with them while they were incarcerated, it became clear to me
that the crime that landed them in the penitentiary was the result of
many missed opportunities to correct their behavior and prevent their
incarceration. While they committed very serious and violent crimes,
most of them were just teenage boys with all the physical, psychological
and emotional challenges that go along with being a teenager.
It
is my assertion that in many of the cases that I am familiar with, the
"system" let them down. If there had been some effective intervention
early on, perhaps some of these young people might not have been in
prison. However, I am not excusing the crimes they committed that
resulted in their being incarcerated.
Obstacles remain
I believe that the obstacles to real criminal justice reform include
the following:
Worrying about political correctness throughout
the process.
Making the assumption that involvement with the
criminal justice system only involves minorities and the poor. The
introduction of social media and the infusion of opiates and other drugs
into society put every social class at risk. I have said for years that
every child is at risk.
Addressing only the symptoms and coming
up with quick fixes or magic bullets that do not work. Addressing the
real problems takes courage, determination, open minds, and knowledge.
Not realizing that solving the problems, once defined, will be
lengthy and costly.
Making excuses for criminal behavior because
of past or current life's situation instead of helping those individuals
to correct it is not a good approach.
Using the victim's
rationale for justifying criminal activity.
Congratulations,
Massachusetts, for a magnificent start in reforming the criminal justice
system within the Commonwealth! Please continue your efforts with
criminal justice reform especially, in the area of juvenile justice.
Bill Sturgeon has been in the field of criminal justice for over 40 years in various capacities. He has co-authored two books on managing youthful offenders incarcerated in adult prisons, and has authored numerous chapters and articles on other criminal justice related issues.
20 August 2018
