The insanity of juvenile incarceration

The insanity of the American juvenile incarceration system was recently reflected in the words of Florida prosecutor Barry Krischer.

Pasted on the front page of the Miami Herald newspaper beside the image of Tronneal Mangum, a Black juvenile inmate, were Krischer�s words: "When these violent juveniles are convicted of first-degree murder, they are going to get life without parole. ... My job is to prosecute them. Beyond that, I cannot be concerned with what happens to them."

In jail for life without the possibility of parole for a murder committed at age 14, the treatment Tronneal has received matches the "don�t give a damn" attitude about youth reflected in attorney Krischer�s words.

In the interview, Tronneal, now 17, tells how he shares his cell with men, some of them hardened criminals, twice his age. In a cell at one time with a man who was in "for something violent," Tronneal says, "he was a large, strong man. He could overpower me. I did what he said because of that."

But were you raped? "Let�s just say I did what he told me," Tronneal responds.

The Washington-based Justice Policy Institute, a group that studies prison issues, says juveniles are five times more likely to be raped than adult inmates and 50 percent more likely to be attacked. Additionally, the number of juvenile inmates is increasing, as well as the number of juveniles charged as adults who are imprisoned with grown men. There are 137 youths in Florida cells with adults, 14 of them with life sentences, according to the article.

Since Tronneal has been incarcerated, he seems to have become above average. He has passed his GED test and demonstrates writing skills. He even reads the Bible, the Holy Qur�an, studies the teachings of other religions and reads books. The problem is "he will never have the life of an average person. This child will never be hugged by a girlfriend. Never dance. Never drive a car. Never wear blue jeans," said a spokesman for the Florida prison system.

Tronneal is an icon of what is happening to wayward young Black men. Kemba Smith, the former college student who unfortunately fell for the wrong man and ended up getting a long prison sentence because of her association with a drug dealing man, is an icon for what is increasingly happening to Black females.

Recently, Nathaniel Abraham of Detroit became a symbol and Nathaniel Brazille, arrested at 13, for the murder of his school teacher in Florida, became another symbol.

It is possible, and perhaps likely, that the callous attitude of prosecutor Krischer is fueled by the fact that faces he is primarily talking about are Black. He doesn�t speak with a sense of concern and empathy that he would if he was talking about his own child.

The question is why is Black America not sounding the alarm as if the house is engulfed in fire ... because it is. It will take some years if we start immediately addressing the issues in a serious way just to turn the trend around. If we don�t stem the tide of our youth being funneled into the prison system�to be employed by corporations hiring slave labor provided behind bars to increase corporate profits�we have no future.

This is another reason why we need a Million Family March (MFM). As the MFM National Agenda of public policy recommendations cite: "No one is born a criminal. Proposals that seek to punish but not prevent juvenile crime cannot succeed in the long run."

The tragedy is that young men and women like Tronneal excel behind bars when they are focused and have a desire to show that there is value in their young lives.

The tragedy is that America doesn�t give these young people an opportunity to demonstrate the value of their lives in civilian society because of the vicious cycle of miseducation, poverty, drugs and violence that is fueled by racist white America.