America’s jailed youth: tortured and abandoned

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While Americans rightfully demand justice for the horrendous acts of torture at Guantanamo, many prisoners here at home are victims of America’s overburdened incarceration system. Youth are the most vulnerable prisoners in our overcrowded and understaffed jails.

A report by the United States Department of Justice highlights abuses at four juvenile residential centers and raises the possibility of a federal takeover of the state’s entire youth prison system.  The investigation found that excessive physical force was routinely used to discipline children at several juvenile prisons in New York, resulting in broken bones, shattered teeth, concussions and dozens of other serious injuries over a period of less than two years.

The report read, “Staff at the facilities routinely used uncontrolled, unsafe applications of force, departing from generally accepted standards.” Though the details of this brand of torture are undoubtedly shocking, it’s not the first symptom of the omnipresent sickness infecting America’s juvenile jail system.

In February, several hundred families filed a class-action lawsuit against two former judges who pleaded guilty to taking bribes in return for placing youths in privately owned jails. Judges Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan reportedly received $2.6 million for ensuring juvenile suspects were jailed in prisons operated by the hilariously named companies PA Child Care and a sister company, Western PA Child Care. In some instances the youths were jailed over the objections of their probation officers. Judge Ciavarella has sentenced an estimated 5,000 juveniles since 2002.

The process of incarcerating youth on a for-profit basis is another symptom of a broken jailing system. Judges like Ciavarella and Conahan have become players in the Prison-Industrial Complex, but such perks aren’t exclusively regulated to corrupt justices. Some of the most well-connected individuals in our society benefit from jailing their fellow human beings.

Former Vice-President Dick Cheney and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez both invested in the Vanguard Group, which invests in private prison companies. In November ‘08, Cheney and Gonzalez were indicted by a Texas grand jury on state charges accusing them of responsibility for prisoner abuse. The indictment accused Gonzales of using his influence as Attorney General to stop an investigation into corruption during the building of another federal jail.

Earlier this month, the New York Times printed a story titled Mentally Ill Offenders Strain Juvenile System. Other than strangely placing the onus of the juvenile system’s resource shortages on the mentally ill, the article provides excellent and sickening insight into an operation that literally throws away society’s most vulnerable citizens. About two-thirds of the nation’s juvenile inmates — who numbered 92,854 in 2006, down from 107,000 in 1999 — have at least one mental illness, according to surveys of youth prisons, the article states. In an uncharacteristically succinct moment, the Times — which normally excels at surrounding a point — nails the heart of the matter: “[mentally ill youth] are more in need of therapy than punishment.”

But budget-deprived mental health programs in communities and schools are increasingly relying on the juvenile corrections system to handle youth with psychiatric disorders.

“I’m hearing from a lot of judges saying, ‘I’m sorry I’m sending so-and-so to you, but at least I know that he’ll get the treatment he can’t get in his community,’” Ohio’s Governor Ted Strickland told the Times.

The mentally ill are oftentimes forgotten during the healthcare reform debate. If individuals (especially young people) suffering from psychiatric disorders could receive medical attention, society would greatly benefit. The national prison system would be relieved from its duty as under-equipped, ill-prepared, oftentimes cruel guardian, and replaced by facilities built specifically to address the needs of the mentally ill.

But such a step demands that Americans redefine the national prison system’s purpose. Somewhere along the way, the prison mission statement crept from “reform” to “torture,” and “reeducate,” to “abandon.” Now, the prison model is for-profit with an emphasis on cruelty and nihilism. Rather than focusing on reducing the prison population, individuals are jailed under archaic, frequently racist drug laws, and the mentally ill are thrown in the same facilities that house rapists and murderers.

And young people — the supposed future of this country — are abandoned within the system if they’re lucky. Others are tortured. There has to be a better way of doing things.