Eastern Evidence Debate Handbook, University of Vermont
802-656-0097; asnider@moose.uvm.edu; http://beluga.uvm.edu/debatecentral/ee.html	1

AFFIRMATIVE CASES

We have two general affirmative files (one for the harms of juvenile crime and the other for general inherency arguments about why the status quo fails) and then three different affirmative cases.
	pages
Juvenile Crime: Extent and Harms	2-10
Examination of how and why juvenile crime is growing, the harms of juvenile crime, and the prospects for the growth of juvenile crime in the future.

Inherency: How and Why the Status Quo Fails	11-19
Examination of various reasons why the status quo is currently inadequate. In using this file for any case, you will want to pick the inherency arguments which fit your specific case.

Curfew Affirmative Case	20-30
Complete with a first affirmative speech, this case argues that a national youth curfew would reduce juvenile crime as it has in a number of cities.

Guns & Kids Affirmative Case	31-44
Complete with a first affirmative speech which states that juveniles are using guns more and more, and are also the victims of guns. This case argues that a ban on guns in America plus gun reality education would reduce juvenile crime and the harms of it.

Prevention Affirmative Case	45-75
This section just contains solvency evidence indicating that the best way to reduce juvenile crime is through prevention -- to wipe out the causes of juvenile crime in desperation, alienation, abuse, etc. The ultimate softline approach, it deals with stopping toddlers now from becoming juvenile criminals tomorrow.

NOTE: All evidence in italics has been put in one of the first affirmative speeches, so avoid reading it a second time in any one debate.

JUVENILE CRIME IS INCREASING RAPIDLY

THOMAS C. RAUP; trial court judge for 22 years, The Buffalo News, April 7, 1996, Pg. 7F, HEADLINE: POVERTY KEEPS INNER-CITY YOUTHS ON DOWNWARD SPIRAL // acs-VT97
     The crisis is location-specific. The flood of juvenile predation emanates from bone-poor sections of big cities. In smaller cities, suburbs and rural areas, there are serious challenges with difficult youth, but with resourcefulness, the juvenile justice system there is truly effective. The problem is being dealt with.

The Herald (Rock Hill, S.C.), December 28, 1995; Pg. 5A, HEADLINE: 70% of kids in custody likely to return to jail // acs-VT97
     Juvenile Justice Task Force.
 A rise in juvenile crime, which is contributing to overcrowded conditions, has also become an increasing worry for state lawmakers. Violent crimes committed by juveniles rose 22.5 percent between 1993 and 1994, according to a State Law Enforcement Division report.

Brigitte Dusseau, Agence France Presse, December 26, 1995, HEADLINE: America worries about its murderous youth // acs-VT97
     US experts are predicting a new generation of "superpredators" -- youths who kill without motive or remorse -- as statistics show an alarming rise in violent crimes by minors.
 The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reports that youth violence has more than doubled in the last six years in a trend that shows no sign of reversal.

Nick Gillespie, senior editor of Reason magazine & Joseph Overton, Mackinac Center for Public Policy, The Detroit News, April 21, 1996, HEADLINE: Swift punishment deters juvenile crime // acs-VT97
     Between 1983 and 1992, reports the FBI, juvenile arrests for violent crime jumped 128 percent for murder and non-negligent manslaughter (versus 9 percent for adults); 95 percent for aggravated assault (versus 69 percent); and 25 percent for rape (versus 14 percent). No wonder citizens everywhere are clamoring for a crackdown on juvenile crime. 

PENNY BENDER; Tennessean Washington Bureau, The Tennessean, March 17, 1996, Pg. 1A, HEADLINE: Will more teens mean more crime? // acs-VT97
     If the juvenile arrest rate remains steady, experts predict a 22% jump in the number of juveniles charged with crimes in 2010.
 But if criminal activity among juveniles continues to rise as it has nationally for the past seven years the number of juveniles arrested will nearly double in the next 14 years, the Justice Department reports.

SARAH METZGAR; The Times Union (Albany, NY), April 26, 1996, Pg. B2, HEADLINE: Justice for juvenile offenders is debated // acs-VT97
     Paul Shechtman, the state's director of criminal justice, started the debate by offering chilling statistics to the Democratic Assembly members and senators conducting the hearing:
 From 1984 to 1994, arrests of juveniles for violent crimes rose 75 percent. The murder rate by juveniles skyrocketed 236 percent. The number of robberies committed by juveniles rose 80 percent and the number of aggravated assaults jumped 61 percent.
 ''There's no doubt in my mind that this is the single most worrisome trend inthe criminal justice system today,'' Shechtman said.

JUVENILE CRIME IS INCREASING RAPIDLY p. 2

ADULT VIOLENT CRIME IS DROPPING, BUT JUVENILE VIOLENT CRIME IS RISING

MCCOLLUM, House of Rep member, APRIL 30, 1996, Federal News Service, THE HOUSE ECONOMIC AND EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES COMMITTEE SUBCOMMITTEE ON EARLY CHILDHOOD, YOUTH AND FAMILIES // acs-VT97
     In recent years, overall crime rates have seen a modest decrease. Violent crime has dropped 5 percent over the last three years. FBI figures indicate that homicide was down 12 percent in the first half of 1995. The homicide rate dropped 32 percent in New York and 19 percent in Chicago. Nevertheless, this general decline masks an unprecedented surge of youth violence that has only begun to gather momentum. Today's drop in crime is only the calm before the coming storm. Today, no population poses a larger threat to public safety than young adult criminals. Teenagers account for the largest portion of all violent crime in America. Offenders under the age of 21 commit more than one-fourth of all violent crime. Older teenagers--ages 17-19--are the most violent of all age groups: more murder and robbery is committed by 18-year-males than any other group, and more than one third of all murders are committed by offenders under the age of 21. The number of juveniles arrested for weapons offenses has more than doubled in the last ten years. Almost one-fourth of those arrested for weapons offenses in 1993 were under the age of 18. Between 1965 and 1992, the number of 12-year-oldsarrested for violent crime rose 211 percent; the number of 13- and 14-year-olds rose 301 percent; and the number of 15-year-olds rose 297 percent. While youth crime generally involves juveniles committing acts against other juveniles, statistics indicate that more and more juveniles are committing violent acts against adults. Juveniles also commit about one-third of all homicides against strangers, often murdering in groups of two or more. The portion of juveniles who killed in groups rose from 43 percent in 1980 to 55 percent in 1994. In Los Angeles alone, there are now some 400 youth street gangs. In 1994, their known members alone committed 370 murders and over 3,300 felony assaults. 

110,000 CHILDREN UNDER 13 COMMIT FELONIES

LORI MONTGOMERY, KNIGHT-RIDDER NEWSPAPERS, Roanoke Times & World News, April 28, 1996, SECTION: HORIZON, Pg. 1, HEADLINE: IN 1994: 110,000 CHILDREN UNDER 13 ARRESTED FOR FELONIES // acs-VT97
     Robert was among an estimated 110,000 children under 13 arrested in 1994 for acts considered felonies, federal statistics show. Of those, an estimated 11,700were picked up for crimes against people - including 39 murders - a pace of violence that's been rising for more than two decades.
 These young lawbreakers are at high risk of turning into what conservatives like to call the ''superpredators'' of tomorrow, a growing body of research indicates. By getting arrested at 6 or 7, some say, these kids are sounding an alarm on the teen thugs they may become.

OVER 100,000 JUVENILES ARE ALREADY IN DETENTION

Paula Mergenhagen, a frequent contributor to American Demographics, American Demographics, February, 1996: Pg. 36, HEADLINE: The Prison Population Bomb // acs-VT97
     A growing proportion of convicted criminals are children. Nearly 600,000 juveniles were under some type of correctional supervision in 1991, according to the BJS. Eighty-three percent of these were on parole or probation, and 17 percent -- more than 100,000 kids -- were in prisons, juvenile detention facilities, or jails.

CURRENT JUVENILE CRIMINALS ARE THE MOST DANGEROUS IN HISTORY

John J. Dilulio, professor at Princeton, Chicago Tribune, December 15, 1995; Pg. 31; HEADLINE: MORAL POVERTY // acs-VT97
     But that's only half the story. The other half begins with the less well-known but equally important and well-replicated finding that since the studies began, each generation of crime-prone boys (the "6 percent") has been about three times as dangerous as the one before it. For example, crime-prone boys born in Philadelphia in 1958 went on to commit about three times as much serious crime per capita as their older cousins in the class of '45. Thus, the difference between the juvenile criminals of the 1950s and those of the 1970s and 80s was about the difference between the Sharks and Jets of West Side Story fame and the Bloods and Crips of Los Angeles County.

JOHN P. WALTERS, executive director of the Council on Crime in America, The San Diego Union-Tribune, January 14, 1996, Pg. G-1, HEADLINE: AT Risk Despite recently falling crime rates, violence still threatens millions of Americans //acs-VT97
      It's only going to get worse: There is a coming storm of crime that will be more violent and more random than anything Americans have experienced to date. Between now and the year 2005, the number of males aged 14 to 17 -- the most crime-prone cohort -- will increase by 23 percent. These juveniles will be more violent then their predecessors; they will commit more crimes with guns; and they will commit more crimes against strangers.

CURRENT JUVENILE CRIMINALS HAVE NO COMPUNCTION AGAINST KILLING

Brigitte Dusseau, Agence France Presse, December 26, 1995, HEADLINE: America worries about its murderous youth // acs-VT97
     John Dilulio, a scholar at Princeton University, predicts the evolution of what he calls "superpredators, (teenage boys) who routinely carry guns, who have absolutely no respect for human life and who kill and maim on impulse, without any intelligible motive."

Ted Gest; Victoria Pope, U.S. News & World Report, March 25, 1996; Pg. 28, HEADLINE: Crime time bomb // acs-VT97
     The most vexing problem is the small minority of teens who kill or maim with little moral compunction. Citing a wave of "undisciplined, untutored, unnurtured young people," Judge David Grossmann of Cincinnati, president of a national juvenile judges' group, says that "gangs have become the alternative to a nurturing family." Many young murderers "are incapable of empathy," says Kathleen Heide, a Florida psychotherapist and criminologist. 

Brigitte Dusseau, Agence France Presse, December 26, 1995, HEADLINE: America worries about its murderous youth // acs-VT97
     Young people can be far more dangerous than adults, said James Fox, a criminologist at Northeastern University near Boston and an authority on juvenile crime. 
 "They will kill for trivial matters -- a jacket, a pair of sneakers, a dirty look. For them murder is not the taboo that it was once," Fox said.

NEW BREED OF JUVENILE SUPER PREDATORS

TOM MORGANTHAU, Newsweek, December 4, 1995 , Pg. 40, HEADLINE: The Lull Before the Storm? // acs-VT97
     Criminologists are already warning that the United States can expect another wave of violent crime in the coming decade, and some say it will be much worse than the one that is now subsiding. This prediction is based on the twin notions that almost all crime is committed by males between the ages of 15 and 35, and that crime rises when natural birthrate cycles produce an unusually large number of young men in the population. A scholar at Princeton, John J. DiIulio Jr., has just published an article warning of this possibility. DiIulio, building on the work of criminologist James Alan Fox of Northeastern University, ominously predicts "The Coming of the Super-Predators" -- teenage boys who routinely carry guns, who "have absolutely no respect for human life" and who "kill and maim on impulse, without any intelligible motive."

John J. Dilulio, professor at Princeton, Chicago Tribune, December 15, 1995; Pg. 31; HEADLINE: MORAL POVERTY // acs-VT97
     On the horizon, therefore, are tens of thousands of severely morally impoverished juvenile super-predators. They are perfectly capable of committing the most heinous acts of physical violence for the most trivial reasons (for example, a perception of slight disrespect or the accident of being in their path). They fear neither the stigma of arrest nor the pain of imprisonment. They live by the meanest code of the meanest streets, a code that reinforces rather than restrains their violent, hair-trigger mentality. In prison or out, the things that superpredators get by their criminal behavior--sex, drugs, money--are their own immediate rewards. Nothing else matters to them. So for as long as their youthful energies hold out, they will do what comes "naturally": murder, rape, rob, assault, burglarize, deal deadly drugs and get high.

JUVENILE CRIMINALS ARE ARMED AND WILLING TO SHOOT

The Economist, January 6, 1996, AMERICAN SURVEY; Pg. 19, HEADLINE: Will crime wave goodbye? //acs-VT97
     Worse, those young criminals are likely to be more vicious than ever. A study of juvenile crime by the Justice Department, released last September, forecasts that the number of arrests of 10-to-17-year-olds for violent crimes will double by 2010 if current trends continue. Arrest rates for weapon-related crimes by juveniles doubled between 1985 and 1993; they now make up a quarter of all such arrests. The number of murders committed by juveniles with guns rose five-fold over much the same period. And whereas adults aged 25 and over are now carrying out fewer murders than they did in the 1980s, the number of killings by youths in their mid-teens (14-to-17-year-olds, and mostly male) is soaring.

TICKING TIME BOMB OF JUVENILE CRIME IS ABOUT TO GO OFF

EDITORIAL; Rocky Mountain News, August 8, 1995, Pg. 32A, HEADLINE: The lull before the storm // acs-VT97
     Consider, for example, the analysis of John J. DiIulio Jr., professor of politics and public affairs at Princeton University and director of the Brookings Institution's Center for Public Management, writing as recently as this June in The American Enterprise:
 ''Listen closely. That ticking sound you hear off in the distance is America's crime bomb. The device is wired by irreversible demographic trends. The bomb is set to explode in the year 2000 when there will be about 500,000 more 14- to 17-year-old males in the population than there are today. . . . Worst of all, the coming crime explosion will be especially violent - because the next wave of young street criminals, black, white and Latino, will be especially vicious.''

Linda O'Neal, The Coalition For Juvenile Justice, March 28, 1996, Federal News Service, House Committee On Economic And Educational Opportunities Subcommittee On Early Childhood, Youth And Families // acs-VT97
     The 39.5 million children under age 10 in the United States at the present time have been described as a "crime time bomb." A quarter of them live in poverty and 27 percent live with only one parent. Our efforts must fight a two-pronged war on juvenile crime. We must intervene, incapacitate, and habilitate or rehabilitate serious, violent juvenile offenders now. At the same time we must provide the prevention services necessary to ensure that the crime time bomb does not explode in our collective faces as these children become adolescents. 

Joyce Price; The Washington Times, January 6, 1996, Pg. A2, HEADLINE: Surge predicted in juvenile crime ; Rising youth population a time bomb //acs-VT97
     The first report of a bipartisan commission on violent crime warns of a "coming storm of juvenile crime" that will be more random and more brutal than anything Americans have confronted.
 "America is a ticking violent crime bomb, and there is little time remaining to prepare for the blast," according to the report the Council on Crime in America released yesterday.

DILULIO IS RIGHT

EDITORIAL; Rocky Mountain News, August 8, 1995, Pg. 32A, HEADLINE: The lull before the storm // acs-VT97
     DiIulio is not someone whose judgments should be taken lightly. He is, in fact, one of the most widely recognized experts on crime and penology in America. No mere armchair theorist, either: His research frequently takes him to prisons where he questions inmates concerning their backgrounds, habits, and mindsets.

DEMOGRAPHIC TRENDS THREATEN THE JUVENILE CRIME BOMB

The Plain Dealer, January 21, 1996; Pg. 2C, HEADLINE: HOLDING BACK A CRIME WAVE //acs-VT97
     Demographers and criminologists say we are sitting on a time bomb. Indeed, some fear that today's toddler set - there are 39 million children under 10 in the United States - could turn the coming decade into a juvenile bloodbath.

John J. Dilulio, professor at Princeton, Chicago Tribune, December 15, 1995; Pg. 31; HEADLINE: MORAL POVERTY // acs-VT97
     But what is really frightening everyone from DAs to demographers, old cops to old convicts, is not what's happening now but what's just around the corner--namely, a sharp increase in the number of super crime-prone young males.     Nationally, there are now about 40 million children under the age of 10, the largest number in decades. By simple math, in a decade today's 4 to 7 year olds will become 14 to 17 year olds. By 2005, the number of males in this age group will have risen about 25 percent overall and 50 percent for blacks.

MCCOLLUM, House of Rep member, APRIL 30, 1996, Federal News Service, THE HOUSE ECONOMIC AND EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES COMMITTEE SUBCOMMITTEE ON EARLY CHILDHOOD, YOUTH AND FAMILIES // acs-VT97
     It is important to keep in mind that this dramatic increase in youth crime over the past decade occurred while the youth population was declining. Now here is the really bad news: This nation will soon have more teenagers than it has had in decades. In the final years of this decade and throughout the next, America will experience an "echo boom" -- a population surge made up of the children of today's aging baby boomers. 

UNLESS WE ACT NOW, THERE WILL BE A HUGE CRIME CRISIS IN 10-15 YEARS

Denise Gamino, Austin American-Statesman, March 28, 1996; Pg. B1, HEADLINE: Youth crime could reach crisis levels // acs-VT97
     Even with the get-tough juvenile justice reforms adopted by the Legislature last year, arrests of juveniles in Texas could increase 86 percent by the year 2010, the state reported on Wednesday.
 Texas will face another major criminal justice crisis in 10 to 15 years if additional policies are not enacted to curb crimes committed by juveniles, officials predict.

30% INCREASE IN TEEN ARRESTS BY 2004

John J. Dilulio, professor at Princeton, Chicago Tribune, December 15, 1995; Pg. 31; HEADLINE: MORAL POVERTY // acs-VT97
     This "6 percent do 50 percent" statistic has been replicated in a series of subsequent longitudinal studies of Philadelphia and many other cities. It is on this basis that James Q. Wilson and other leading crime doctors can predict with confidence that the additional 500,000 boys who will be 14 to 17 years old in the year 2000 will mean at least 30,000 more murderers, rapists and muggers on the streets than we have today.
 Likewise, it's what enables California officials to meaningfully predict that, as the state's population of 11 to 17 year olds grows from 2.9 million in 1993 to 3.9 million in 2004, the number of juvenile arrests will increase nearly 30 percent.

20% INCREASE IN TEEN MURDERERS BY 2010

PENNY BENDER; Tennessean Washington Bureau, The Tennessean, March 17, 1996, Pg. 1A, HEADLINE: Will more teens mean more crime? // acs-VT97
     Teens commit 4,000 murders a year, and that could increase by 1,000 by 2010, Fox said.

Ted Gest; Victoria Pope, U.S. News & World Report, March 25, 1996; Pg. 28, HEADLINE: Crime time bomb // acs-VT97
     "Given our wholesale disinvestment in youth, we will likely have many more than 5,000 teen killers per year" after the new century dawns, says criminologist James Alan Fox of Northeastern University in Boston. (While the number of youths 14 or under arrested for murder has jumped 43 percent in two decades, the 1994 total of 379 is less than 2 percent of all homicides. And arrest figures can be misleading because juveniles tend to be rounded up in groups.)

JAMES ALAN FOX, Dean Of The College Of Criminal Justice Northeastern University, FEBRUARY 28, 1996, Federal News Service, Before The Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee On Youth Violence The Impending Youth Crime Wave // acs-VT97
     As shown in Figure 6, the estimated number of teen killers (known 14-17 year-old offenders plus an estimated share of unidentified offenders) could increase from nearly 4,000 per year in 1994 to almost 5,000 per year by 2005, as a result of demographic growth alone. But all else may not be equal. Given the worsening conditions in whichchildren are being raised, given the breakdown of all of our institutions as well as of our cultural norms, given our wholesale disinvestment in youth, we will likely have many more than 5,000 teen killers per year. Even if the recent surge in teenage homicide rates slows, our nation faces a future bloodbath of juvenile violence that will make 1996 look like the good old days. 

FUTURE TEEN CRIME WAVE COMING

150% INCREASE IN TEEN MURDER ARRESTS BY 2010

DENNIS McLELLAN, TIMES STAFF WRITER, Los Angeles Times, April 24, 1996, Part E; Page 1; HEADLINE: SPEAKING UP; 'NO MATTER HOW LOUD I SHOUT'... IS BEING HEARD. // acs-VT97
     Juvenile crime has tripled over the past 35 years, with juvenile murder rates more than doubled since 1985. By the year 2010, the U.S. Justice Department predicts, the number of juveniles arrested for violent crimes will double again. And the number arrested for murder will increase an estimated 150%.

Stephen Goode; The Washington Times, February 5, 1996, Pg. 10, HEADLINE: Juvenile Crime Comes of Age // acs-VT97
     By 2005, the number of males ages 14 to 17 will increase by 23 percent, "a demographic bulge of young, highly crime-prone males," according to "The State of Violent Crime in America," a study released in January by the New Citizenship Project, a Washington think tank. A recent report from the Center for Juvenile Justice notes that if teenage violence increases at its present rate through 2010, violent crimes in general will be up 101 percent and murder up 145 percent.

30,000 ADDITIONAL TEEN CRIMINALS STALKING BY 2000

The Economist, January 6, 1996, AMERICAN SURVEY; Pg. 19, HEADLINE: Will crime wave goodbye? //acs-VT97
     A breeding blip among America's baby-boomers means that there are now some 40m children under ten who will soon become teenagers--the largest number in that age group for more than a generation. By the turn of the century, there could be 500,000 more male youths in America than there are today. And as about 6% of mid-teenage males turn out to be persistent felons, this means that some 30,000 additional young villains will be stalking America. 

270,000 ADDITIONAL JUVENILE PREDATORS BY 2010

John DiIulio, professor of politics Princeton University, The Ledger, March 23, 1996, Pg. A11, HEADLINE: Lock 'em Up Or Else Huge Wave Of Criminally Inclined Coming In Next 10 Years // acs-VT97
     By the year 2010 there will be approximately 270,000 more juvenile superpredators on the streets than there were in 1990. We have enough experience to know what this means: There is a storm of predatory criminality coming. But demography need not be destiny. The damage can be limited if we take sensible steps.

SOCIETY IS TERRORIZED AND DISRUPTED

Editorial; Austin American-Statesman, April 02, 1996: Pg. A8, HEADLINE: Teen crime not kids' // acs-VT07
 If we as a society don't do something to rescue imperiled youngsters, they'regoing to terrorize society. Charles Colson will realize soon enough that he had seen only the first flowering of juvenile crime. 

PAMELA WARRICK, TIMES STAFF WRITER, Los Angeles Times, April 22, 1996, Part E; Page 1; HEADLINE: HOW YOUNG IS TOO YOUNG? // acs-VT97
     Juveniles are pushing drugs, burglarizing residences, robbing, assaulting, maiming, killing, covering properties with painted filth, destroying our every effort to maintain a civilized society.
 --Assemblyman George House (R-Hughson) on need for his bill to disclose names of juvenile offenders

PATRICIA OBLETZ, The Buffalo News, March 31, 1996, SPg. 14M, HEADLINE: FIGHTING CRIME // acs-VT97
     In a BUFFALO story, "Inside the New Criminal Mind," Louise Continelli quoted FBI Director Louis J. Freeh as saying: "The ominous increase in juvenile crime, coupled with population trends, portend future crime and violence at nearly unprecedented levels."

John DiIulio, professor of politics Princeton University, The Ledger, March 23, 1996, Pg. A11, HEADLINE: Lock 'em Up Or Else Huge Wave Of Criminally Inclined Coming In Next 10 Years // acs-VT97
     Let me reiterate: It would be a terrible inference to draw from what I have said that simply incarcerating is all we need to do. Prevention steps can work, and they have worked. But make no mistake. A new wave of crime is coming, and it's going to pose very real threats to the rest of society. We must take the actions I have described if we are to head off a catastrophe.

JUVENILE CRIME DESTROYS COMMUNITIES

PATRICIA OBLETZ, The Buffalo News, March 31, 1996, SPg. 14M, HEADLINE: FIGHTING CRIME // acs-VT97
     Experts warn of an "epidemic" of violence when today's grade-schoolers reach adolescence. Now is the time to strengthen -- not weaken -- education, health care and the safety net.
To do less would generate critical imbalance that maims the quality of life for everyone.
 The reality is that today's kids are in trouble. 

The Tampa Tribune, December 28, 1995, Pg. 10, HEADLINE: How to win the crime fight // acs-VT97
     Both national and state polls show crime is far and away citizens' chief concern. Crime blights neighborhoods, drives businesses from cities and robs people of their peace of mind and sense of community.

Editorial, The Detroit News, April 12, 1996, HEADLINE: Notebook: Community institutions must rise to beat violence // acs-VT97
     The escalating pace of violence, however, could soon jolt reticent communities out of their complacency.
 The Council on Crime, a program of the New Citizenship Project, a Washington-based think tank, has warned of a "demographic bulge of young, highlycrime-prone males" being raised in poverty and neglect and single-family homes who will wreak havoc on communities early in the 21st century.

John J. Dilulio, professor at Princeton, Chicago Tribune, December 15, 1995; Pg. 31; HEADLINE: MORAL POVERTY // acs-VT97
     And make no mistake. While the trouble will be greatest in black inner-city neighborhoods, other places are also certain to have burgeoning youth-crime problems that will spill over into upscale central-city districts, inner-ring suburbs and even the rural heartland. 

EDITORIAL; The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, October 29, 1995, Pg. 6C, HEADLINE: A SPECIAL Violence, Fear and Children // acs-VT97
     Increasingly, we are a society that fears its children and whose children are afraid.
The growing proportion of violence blamed on juveniles is fueling the public's fear of crime. Even as the rate of the most serious violent crime --murder --continues to decline overall, alarm over homicide rises because more killings are the result of random violence, behavior that is more prevalent among young criminals.

HARMS OF JUVENILE CRIME

JUVENILE CRIME COSTS AMERICA OVER $100 BILLION IN LOST PRODUCTION ALONE

VIOLENT CRIME COSTS $425 BILLION

EDITORIAL, THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC, January 16, 1996; Pg. B4, HEADLINE: CRIME STUDY; TOUGH MEASURES WORK //acs-VT97
      Overall, the annual cost of violent crime -- lost work time, decreased productity, increases in insurance costs, etc. -- tops $425 billion, the report says. The cost of human suffering spared by incarceration is incalculable.

20% OF THIS LOSS IS DUE TO JUVENILE CRIME

School Violence Alert, October 1995, HEADLINE: Study: Juveniles Commit More Than Their Share of Crimes // acs-VT97
     About one quarter of all personal (as opposed to group) crimes were committed by juvenile offenders in 1991, and juveniles were responsible for about one in five violent crimes, the report said. 

PENNY BENDER; Tennessean Washington Bureau, The Tennessean, March 17, 1996, Pg. 1A, HEADLINE: Will more teens mean more crime? // acs-VT97
     Although only a fraction of the nation's current teen-age population is charged with violent crimes each year, teen-age felons made up 10% of the arrests in 1991, according to the Justice Department. And juveniles are responsible for about 19% of all violent crimes, federal research shows.

CHILDREN END UP BEING THE PRIME VICTIMS -- THEY ARE KILLED

Dr. Cesar Chelala, National Advisory Board of Physicians for Human Rights, Swiss Review of World Affairs, June 1, 1995, HEADLINE: Violence and Youth in the Americas // acs-VT97
     In the U. S., from 1986 to 1991, murders committed by adolescents in the 14-17 age group grew by 124%. In 1993, in Baltimore, Maryland, the 13-24 age group was responsible for more than half the homicide arrests and for almost 40% of the victims. Marian Wright Edelman, president of the Children's Defense Fund, stated in 1994: ". . . the crisis of children having children has been eclipsed by the greater crisis of children killing children." The concentration of homicides in this young segment of the population represents a high social, public health and economic burden. It is, moreover, the single most important cause of years of potential life lost in several countries of the Americas.

Sam Vincent Meddis, USA TODAY, June 1, 1995, Pg. 2A, HEADLINE: Violence robs nation's youth / 12-to-15 group has higher risk of being victim // acs-VT97
     The nation's young people run the greatest risk of being victims of violent crime -- as much as a 1-in-8 chance for those 12 to 15 years old.
 The chances drop as people grow older, reaching 1-in-179 for those 65 and older, according to a Bureau of Justice Statistics Survey released Wednesday.
The findings reflect a distressing trend, says bureau spokesman Michael Rand: Violent crimes among young people "have been growing at the fastest rates" of any age groups, says Rand.
 "It's scary . . . a rampage of violence," says John Stein of the National Organization for Victim Assistance.

School Violence Alert, October 1995, HEADLINE: Study: Juveniles Commit More Than Their Share of Crimes // acs-VT97
     Compared with their share of the U.S. population, the proportion of violent crimes committed by juveniles is disproportionately high and the numbers are growing, according to a Justice Department study.
 Children between the ages of 12 and 17 are now more likely to be victims of violent crime than are people past their mid-20s, and violent victimization risk has increased for juveniles and young adults in recent years, according to "Juvenile Offenders and Victims: A Focus on Violence," a report from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

JUVENILE CRIME EFFORTS ARE INADEQUATELY FUNDED

AMERICANS ARE UNWILLING TO SPEND MONEY ON JUVENILE CRIME

MARY CURRAN-DOWNEY Staff Writer, The San Diego Union-Tribune, February 25, 1996, Pg. B-3, HEADLINE: Juvenile criminals cry for adult help, work, experts say // acs-VT97
     "It's just a reflection of what's going on in this country," she said. "We pay it a lot of lip service, but we don't put in enough resources to do the job." [Janet Weinstein, commission chairwoman and a professor at California Western School of Law]

EMILY HANCOCK, Staff Writer, The Capital, March 24, 1996, Pg. A1, HEADLINE: Juvenile crime 'out of control' // acs-VT97
     "Everybody agrees we need to do something ... (but) when push comes to shove, the money's not there to do something about it," said Thomas J. Pryal, head of the juvenile crime unit at the State's Attorney's Office.
 "It's frustrating for all of us," said Juvenile Court Master Nancy Davis-Loomis. "Obviously, one of the biggest problems is a concern about resources."

MARY JO MELONE, St. Petersburg Times, October 24, 1995, Pg. 1B, HEADLINE: Don't lock the door and throw away the kid // acs-VT97
     But we are too cheap, and care too little about kids, to spend the money.
 We say we care. But it's a lie, told like a lot of lies, to make ourselves feel better. We fume about rap music, and get upset about divorce, and shake our fists at the schools, but we don't care. I am not sure if we don't care because we are too busy fretting about our needs as adults, or because we are just overwhelmed by the enormity of kids' problems, or because we are just plain scared of them and the mess they signify. Maybe all three.

ELI GINZERG, HOWARD BERLINER, AND MIRIAM OSTOW, Research scholars at Conservation of Human Resources, Columbia Univ., 1988; YOUNG PEOPLE AT RISK: IS PREVENTION POSSIBLE? // am-VT97 p.23
	The U.S. experience over the last half-century has provided unequivocal evidence that the tax-paying public resists providing funds for major efforts to prevent social pathology and to rehabilitate disadvantaged families and their children, even though it will support a wide range of government programs to provide minimum maintenance grants once people are in trouble. 

JUVENILE CRIME PROGRAMS ARE UNDERFUNDED

SUSAN GUARINO-GHEZZl, Prof. Criminal Justice Northeastern Univ., 1996; BALANCING JUVENILE JUSTICE
// se-VT97 p.159
	Federal and state governments continue to face daunting fiscal challenges in the 1990s, with little certainty of relief. As state purchase power diminishes, legislative and executive branches will be placed under increasing pressure to justify expenditures across many government agencies. When juvenile correctional agencies are placed under scrutiny, policy makers can find significant opportunities to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of youth corrections. This is particularly Irue when they are given information and ideas about restructuring correctional systems (Schwartz and Loughran, n.d.)

BARRY KRISBERG, Pres. National Council on Crime & Delinquency, 1993; REINVENTING JUVENILE JUSTICE // cjjVT97 p.131
The juvenile justice system lacks the resources needed to respond effectively to delinquency in general and to minority youth problems in particular. Diversion and alternative disposition programs that used to be available have disappeared, leaving juvenile justice decision makers with fewer options and contributing to higher incarceration rates for some minority groups. Frustration and disappointment were expressed in all focus groups over the declining base of resources for juvenile justice programs and services. The reduction in service level has had a disproportionately strong effect on minority groups, contributing in turn to disproportionately high arrest and incarceration rates for some minority youth. Some participants expressed concern that no resources were available for efforts to discourage first-time offenders from reentering the criminal justice system. Many youth on probation supervision, for example, were "banked," receiving little or no attention or service. When sanctions are ineffective, kids learn that they can ignore the justice system until it comes down hard on them. When services are absent, situations that contribute to delinquency get worse. All county groups underscored the need for more youth services, including family counseling, community recreation centers, and basic support (including food and shelter) for poor families. 

JUVENILE CRIME PROGRAMS NEED FUNDING INCREASES

BRADLEY PENISTON, Staff Writer, The Capital, March 12, 1996, Pg. A1, HEADLINE: COMBATING JUVENILE CRIME // acs-VT97
     To meet the needs of the future, the current system need streamlining, but also increased funding, said Shay Bilchik, who runs the juvenile division of the U.S. Department of Justice.
 "There is a hesitancy to put more money into a system that some perceive as having failed. But the system has never quite been given the funding to succeed and was one of the first to be cut," he said.

The Courier-Journal, March 13, 1996, Pg.14A, HEADLINE: Get tough? Get real // acs-VT97
     What's missing from the mix is the money that will be needed to lock up more kids for increasingly longer stints and to help others before they graduate to serious crime. Without money to build, and operate, additional juvenile centers, state law enforcers will remain stuck in the same bind they're in today. 

PROGRAMS WHICH PROVIDE BROAD SUPPORT TO CHILDREN HAVE BEEN CUT

Howard Bluth ,The Baltimore Sun, January 30, 1996, SECTION: EDITORIAL, Pg. 7A, HEADLINE: A violent generation comes of age, and we are not prepared //acs-VT97
     But the powers that be seem utterly incapable of reading the new reality. How else explain their myopic insistence on massive budget cuts, which can only aggravate the collective conditions responsible for so much of our crime.

Howard Bluth ,The Baltimore Sun, January 30, 1996, SECTION: EDITORIAL, Pg. 7A, HEADLINE: A violent generation comes of age, and we are not prepared //acs-VT97
      But while the problem has become collective, we remain wedded to solutions that focus exclusively on the individual, as if such approaches could possibly compensate for the consequences of an environment permeated by guns, drugs and poverty.

JAMES ALAN FOX, Dean Of The College Of Criminal Justice Northeastern University, FEBRUARY 28, 1996, Federal News Service, Before The Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee On Youth Violence The Impending Youth Crime Wave // acs-VT97
     The problem of unsupervised youth does not end nor the solution necessarily begin with the breakdown of the traditional family. Because of deep funding cuts in support programs for youth--from after-school care to recreation, from mentoring to educationo-as a society, we are missing the fleeting opportunity to compensate for the diminished role of the family. As a consequence, children spend too little time engaged in structured activity with positive role models, and too much time "hanging out" or watching a few savage killings on television. Bored and idle, our children have just too much time to kill. 

PATRICIA OBLETZ, The Buffalo News, March 31, 1996, SPg. 14M, HEADLINE: FIGHTING CRIME // acs-VT97
     Government mental health, health, education and social services cuts don't make sense at a time when more and more children are in the grip of hopelessness. These young are the fastest-growing source of homicide and suicide in America.

Kate Shatzkin, SUN STAFF, The Baltimore Sun, March 7, 1996, Pg. 1A, HEADLINE: Praised juvenile boot camp to close // acs-VT97
     Susan P. Leviton, a University of Maryland law professor and founder of Advocates for Children and Youth, said the day programs are a step in the right direction. But she said the department still is not facing up to the need to reform the entire system.
 "They will continually tell you there are kids they're locking up that don't need to be locked up, but they continue to do this," she said. "They're cutting the programs they say work."

Kay Lazar, Press Statehouse Bureau, Asbury Park Press, April 21, 1996, SECTION: C, Pg. 3, HEADLINE: Missing key connections in war on juvenile crime // acs-VT97
     On one part of the page, the state wants to wipe out juvenile crime. On another part of the page, it is hacking away services for families whose children are at most risk for becoming young offenders.
 Is anybody connecting the dots here?

NO FUNDING PLAN EXISTS TO COUNTER THE THREAT OF FUTURE JUVENILE CRIME

THOMAS C. RAUP; trial court judge for 22 years, The Buffalo News, April 7, 1996, Pg. 7F, HEADLINE: POVERTY KEEPS INNER-CITY YOUTHS ON DOWNWARD SPIRAL // acs-VT97
     Without grants, cities will continue to struggle to handle only the most serious crimes, while tomorrow's crop flourishes -- and they are not all going to stay at home.

MCCOLLUM, House of Rep member, APRIL 30, 1996, Federal News Service, THE HOUSE ECONOMIC AND EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES COMMITTEE SUBCOMMITTEE ON EARLY CHILDHOOD, YOUTH AND FAMILIES // acs-VT97
     The challenges faced by law enforcement will be unparalleled as we enter this next century. The American criminal justice system is simply not prepared to face tomorrow's wave of violent young people. Revolving door justice and the failure to hold criminals accountable for their crimes continues to plague the justice system, and particularly the juvenile justice system. 

JUVENILE CRIME IS USED LIKE A POLITICAL FOOTBALL BY POLICY MAKERS

EDITORIAL, The Fresno Bee, March 14, 1996, Pg. B4, HEADLINE: Juvenile boot camps will help // acs-VT97
     We are in an election year and that often doesn't encourage straightforward debate of such a controversial issue. We already are hearing a lot of distortions on the juvenile crime problem in political advertisements and in campaign stump speeches locally. But the politicians must be willing to look beyond the ballot box on this crucial issue.
 That's the only way we are going to get on the right road to solving the juvenile crime problem.

ANTHONY WALSH, Ph.D. Dept. of Criminal Justice Boise State Univ., 1991; INTELLECTUAL IMBALANCE, LOVE DEPRIVATION AND VIOLENT DELINQUENCY: A BIOSOCIAL PERSPECTIVE // am-VT97 p.176
Everyone agrees that criminal violence is a serious social problem, and everyone agrees that steps should be taken to reduce it. However, slipping back and forth between the imperative and indicative moods is fraught with difficulty. Conservative lovers of individual responsibility like to emphasize moral training in "traditional values," religion, and punitive measures "with teeth in them," as solutions to violence. Liberals like to emphasize reductions in income inequality, educational and job training programs, and a "deeper understanding" of the individual criminal. I am not about to embark on a critical evaluation of any of these nominated solutions, all of which have some degree of merit. Nor do I propose to attack the problem of violence by concentrating on the violent offender himself or herself, but rather by focusing on the family. The dysfunctional family is the cradle of violence. It is here that we have to attempt their offspring by attempting to reduce stressors and enhancing coping resources.

John J. Dilulio, professor at Princeton, Chicago Tribune, December 15, 1995; Pg. 31; HEADLINE: MORAL POVERTY // acs-VT97
     True, government policies helped wreck the two-parent family and disrupted other aspects of civil society. But how does the sudden withdrawal of government lead automatically to a rebirth of civil society, an end to moral poverty and a check on youth crime? It doesn't, not any more than pulling a knife from the chest of a dead man brings him dancing back to life. Liberal social engineering was bad; conservative social re-engineering will prove worse.

MARY CURRAN-DOWNEY Staff Writer, The San Diego Union-Tribune, February 25, 1996, Pg. B-3, HEADLINE: Juvenile criminals cry for adult help, work, experts say // acs-VT97
     Fellmeth [Robert Fellmeth, director of the Children's Advocacy Institute and a law professor at the University of San Diego] also spared no criticism for the political process and asserted that some lawmakers are no different from some fathers who have left their families to fend for themselves.
 "They've taken a don't feed the pigeons' approach," he said. "Don't feed them, and they will go away -- but these are children, not pigeons."

THE FOCUS IS ON PUNISHMENT, NOT PREVENTION

PENNY BENDER; Gannett News Service, March 7, 1996, HEADLINE: States take the lead in fighting juvenile crime // acs-VT97
     More than 30 states are strengthening the laws that apply to juveniles, with many of them changing the emphasis from protecting the children to protecting society from the children.

ANNE SCHNEIDER, 1990; DETERRENCE AND JUVENILE CRIME:
RESULTS FROM A NATIONAL POLICY EXPERIMENT // am-VT97 p. 1
Americans have an abiding faith in punishment. Deterrence theory holds that if punishment is sufficiently swift, certain, and severe, then behavior will change in predictable ways. When punishment does not work as expected, the underlying assumptions of the punishment model are rarely questioned; instead, remedies are sought through more punishment, delivered more rapidly, and with greater certainty.

PREVENTION WILL NOT BE FUNDED OR IMPLEMENTED

Mike Males and Faye Docuyanan, social ecology doctoral students at the University of California, Irvine, The Progressive, February, 1996, Pg. 24; HEADLINE: Giving up on the young; // acs-VT97
     Los Angeles County and Oklahoma City officials stress prevention but note that it is underfunded. The most effective prevention effort by far is to raise fewer children in poverty. However, "reducing child poverty, much less eliminating it, is no longer a paramount priority for either political party," U.S. News & World Report pointed out in November 1995.

John Foreman, THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC, February 25, 1996 Pg. H5, HEADLINE: PREVENTION NEEDED FOR CHRONIC YOUTHS // acs-VT97
     Prevention is the least developed part of the battle against juvenile crime because it is the most difficult to implement and sustain. An effective plan requires patience to see success. We are an impatient people who sometime look for quick fixes. A sustained, comprehensive prevention effort that works with effective, professional law enforcement and our juvenile courts is essential to control the juvenile-crime problem.

LAVONDA TAYLOR, THE COALITION FOR JUVENILE JUSTICE, APRIL 30, 1996, Federal News Service. HOUSE COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC AND EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES SUBCOMMITTEE ON EARLY CHILDHOOD, YOUTH AND FAMILIES // acs-VT97
     If we are going to judge the success of the JJDP Act in relation to its delinquencyprevention focus we must recognize two things. First, funds for delinquency prevention have only become fully available to many states in recent years. Second, these funds are very limited and the problem of delinquency and youth violence is enormous. 

EDITORIAL; The San Francisco Chronicle, APRIL 21, 1996, Pg. 6; HEADLINE: The National Crisis Of Juvenile Crime // acs-VT97
     The current approach from both Sacramento and Washington makes juvenile crime primarily a public safety issue, with the response being to increase penalties, lower the age at which juveniles are charged as adults and eliminate probation as a possibility for serious offenses.

THOMAS C. RAUP; trial court judge for 22 years, The Buffalo News, April 7, 1996, Pg. 7F, HEADLINE: POVERTY KEEPS INNER-CITY YOUTHS ON DOWNWARD SPIRAL // acs-VT97
     Big-city governments are chronically short of cash. Money that may be available in the suburbs to staff programs for truants, incorrigibles and early offenders, simply is nonexistent. The city is overwhelmed by serious crime. Lesser felonies and misdemeanors tend to become decriminalized. Yet such minor criminal and "pre-criminal" behavior is prelude to violent crimes. Thus, children absorb a generalized contempt for the "system" and older miscreants useyounger juveniles to front for them, knowing an arrest will be inconsequential.     That must change if there is to be any hope of reform. It must become a crimeagain in the cities to shoplift, or to steal a bike, or to paint graffiti; and chronic truancy and ungovernability must be as serious there as in small towns.

Ted Gest; Victoria Pope, U.S. News & World Report, March 25, 1996; Pg. 28, HEADLINE: Crime time bomb // acs-VT97
     And funding for prevention is limited amid conservative denunciations of crime-prevention programs.

JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM IS COUNTERPRODUCTIVE

SUSAN GUARINO-GHEZZI, Prof. Criminal Justice Northeastern Univ., 1996; BALANCING JUVENILE JUSTICE // seVT97 p. 33
 Progress is difficult to achieve when the different juvenile Justice organizations vary so much by state and locality. In addition, some observers scoff at the use of the word "justice" in the phrase "juvenile justice system," claiming that there are hidden systems used to incarcerate youths, many of which are in violation of laws and standards and need to be addressed immediately (Schwartz 1989). Others bristle at the term "system," noting the confusing morass of legislation that has followed different patterns in different states. Still others are stopped short by the word "juvenile" due to the ambivalence that it evokes. Many of us feel the ambivalence of both outrage and sympathy for juvenile offenders in part because of the marginality of adolescence, and this confusion clouds our thinking about juvenile crime, juveniles' needs, and criminal culpability (McDermott and Laub 1986; Shireman and Reamer 1986).

JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM RESULTS IN INEFFECTIVE ASSEMBLY LINE JUSTICE

DENNIS McLELLAN, TIMES STAFF WRITER, Los Angeles Times, April 24, 1996, Part E; Page 1; HEADLINE: SPEAKING UP; 'NO MATTER HOW LOUD I SHOUT'... IS BEING HEARD. // acs-VT97
     Juvenile court, according to Humes, is "a meat grinder" where it's not unusual for 15 to 20 trials a day to be held in a single courtroom.
 It is considered a low-prestige assignment--even punishment--for judges.
 Although court-appointed attorneys in adult criminal court can make more than$ 60,000 on a case, court-appointed attorneys in juvenile court are paid $ 45 anhour with a $ 2,500 cap.
 "That's not a lot of money for a court-appointed lawyer, and so you tend to get one of two things: A handful of really dedicated lawyers who do it because this is what they want to do, or you just get entry-level attorneys who take on a lot of cases and plead them out as fast as they can," Humes said.

BARRY KRISBERG, Pres. National Council on Crime & Delinquency, 1993; REINVENTING JUVENILE JUSTICE // cjj-VT97 1
The juvenile court presents us with a curious mixture of uplifting ideology and harsh daily realities. Its rhetoric is steeped in concepts such as "compassionate care" and "individualized treatment." Yet, too often the reality is assembly-line justice in which large numbers of youngsters and their families are quickly "disposed of " through a limited set of options that rarely are adequately funded.

SUSAN GUARINO-GHEZZI, Prof. Criminal Justice Northeastern Univ., 1996; BALANCING JUVENILE JUSTICE // se-VT97 1 p. 164
	Juvenile correctional systems that are out of balance are those which fail to acknowledge the heterogeneity of youthful offenders and, accordingly, fail to develop a diversity of programs. The first sign of imbalance is a system that lacks an objective mechanism for identifying youths' characteristics, including their risk to the public, service needs, offense seriousness, and strengths/sources of resiliency, as well as a conjoining classification of programs and services. The second sign of imbalance is the failure to provide program diversity, for example, by overly relying on one or two levels of security, or one or two types of vocational training. Youths need to be handled in relatively homogeneous subgroups so that they do not resist programming efforts because they "don't belong with those kids." Trends in youth characteristics need to be identified and resource adjustments made so that programming can be acutely responsive to youths' behavior and life circumstances. 

JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM HAS INFLEXIBLE BUREAUCRACIES

JIM GOGEK, editorial writer, ED GOGEK, psychiatrist, The San Diego Union-Tribune, March 1, 1996, B-5;HEADLINE: A good way to stop juvenile crime before it starts // acs-VT97
     They need stable homes, good mental-health care, extra help at school and a juvenile-justice system that guides them to a crime-free life.
 Many people think these programs already exist in abundance. But they don't. Instead, we have bureaucracies so inflexible that, even when these kids are identified early, the system fails them. Instead of getting the help they need, disturbed kids get whatever help the agency they're currently in happens to provide.

JIM GOGEK, editorial writer, ED GOGEK, psychiatrist, The San Diego Union-Tribune, March 1, 1996, B-5;HEADLINE: A good way to stop juvenile crime before it starts // acs-VT97
     If we want to prevent juvenile crime, we have to put the needs of troubled children before the inertia of entrenched bureaucracies. That means a wholesale change in mind-set and a major restructuring of services.
 We already know what troubled kids need. But to give it to them, we must overcome the roadblocks we have built.

JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM SUFFERS FROM PROGRAM FRAGMENTATION

PENNY BENDER; Gannett News Service, March 27, 1996, HEADLINE: Report questions efficiency of costly youth crime programs // acs-VT97
     The federal government spent more than $ 4 billion in 1995 on 131 programs to fight juvenile crime and curb delinquency, and one expert said the money is often wasted on inefficient and overlapping efforts.
 At a time when the juvenile murder rate has tripled in 10 years, the Clinton administration and the Republican-led Congress have locked horns over how to deal with youth violence.
A recent report by the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, confirms what many Republicans suspected: There is a wide array of programs addressing everything from midnight athletics to encouraging kids to take up careers in forestry. But dozens of the programs focus on gang prevention, drop-out prevention and drug counseling.
 Sixteen federal departments and agencies run the 131 juvenile programs, with the departments of Education, Labor and Justice controlling the bulk of them.
 The GAO could only track funding for 83 percent of the programs and found that those 109 programs cost $ 4 billion in 1995.

BARRY KRISBERG, Pres. National Council on Crime &
Delinquency, 1993; REINVENTING JUVENILE JUSTICE // cjj-VT97 P. 185
This fragmented structure inhibits the accountability of government agencies to protect young people and to promote public safety. Further, the availability of treatment resources is highly dependent on political and media whims—homelessness last year, drug abuse this year. A more cost-effective approach would entail coordinated and integrated planning of juvenile justice and related human services. The case management approach of the New York City Department of Juvenile Justice and the regionalization of services by the Massachusetts Department of Youth Services are good examples of how service resources could be reorganized. Recently, Contra Costa County in California has formed interagency teams of youth workers to concentrate on the problems of homeless youths and runaways. Many jurisdictions currently are experimenting with the integration at school sites of a wide range of social and health services. It is premature to evaluate the successes of these efforts, but such agency boundary crossings are needed. 

BARRY KRISBERG, Pres. National Council on Crime & Delinquency, 1993; REINVENTING JUVENILE JUSTICE // CJJ-VT97 p. 185
The current organization of adolescent social and health services is characterized by rigidly drawn agency turfs and budgetary categories. This situation contributes to fragmented and often wasteful deployment of scarce public resources. It is not uncommon for the same youth and family to have a multiplicity of caseworkers assigned to them. From the vantage point of each helping professional the youth is a delinquent, an abused child, a youth in need of special educational services, or a welfare recipient. Other service providers maybe working with other family members or siblings. In the typical scenario, no one possesses an overall view of the adolescent's needs, A comprehensive and integrated treatment plan rarely is created.

JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM HAS TOO MANY DUPLICATIVE AND WASTEFUL PROGRAMS

PENNY BENDER; Gannett News Service, March 27, 1996, HEADLINE: Report questions efficiency of costly youth crime programs // acs-VT97
     Barry Krisberg, president of the National Council on Crime and Delinquency and an adviser to the Justice Department, agreed. In his research, "what I find is a stunning array of overlapping, duplicative and ineffective programs," Krisberg said. "We do not need more money, but tough judgments on what is working and not working."

The Tennessean, April 9, 1996, Pg. 6A, HEADLINE: Keep teen crime funds lean and meaningful // acs-VT97
     Furthermore, the National Council on Crime and Delinquency, which advises theJustice Department, describes a "stunning array of overlapping, duplicative and ineffective programs."

The Tennessean, April 9, 1996, Pg. 6A, HEADLINE: Keep teen crime funds lean and meaningful // acs-VT97
     NOW is the time to improve the nation's juvenile justice system, not abandon it.
 A report from the General Accounting Office makes a convincing case that a lot of waste exists in the many government programs aimed at juvenile crime. Most notably, several programs are duplicating services, which is a sign of inefficiency and waste.

Editorial, The Detroit News, April 12, 1996, HEADLINE: Notebook: Community institutions must rise to beat violence // acs-VT97
     While there's enough blame to spread around, the epidemic of gun violence is not attributable to a lack of money or political will. The General Accounting Office (GAO), the investigative arm of Congress, found that the federal government spent more than $ 4 billion in 1995 on 131 programs to fight juvenile crime and violence. The array of programs ranged from midnight basketball to encouraging kids to take up careers in forestry.
 Dozens of projects, operated by 16 federal departments or agencies, focus on gang prevention, drop-out prevention and drug counseling. But because many of these programs overlap each other and are duplicative, the GAO concluded that federal targeting of at-risk youth is both inefficient and ineffective.

JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM SUFFERS FROM INTER-AGENCY CONFUSION

Felicia Cousart, The Fresno Bee, November 10, 1995 , Pg. B1, HEADLINE: Study: Early intervention key to fighting youth crime // acs-VT97
     Longtime educational leader Nancy Richardson
 As she cited in her last report on juvenile crime, improved communication between agencies are key needs.
 In her most recent report, she wrote that when "you sort the records kid-by-kid and study the collective impact of different agencies on one kid that you come to the inescapable conclusion that the agencies are not talking to each other. Thus, many opportunities to detect and react to giant, flashing warning signals are missed."

BRADLEY PENISTON, Staff Writer, The Capital, March 12, 1996, Pg. A1, HEADLINE: COMBATING JUVENILE CRIME // acs-VT97
     Poor communication and confusion sometimes hamper efforts to fight youth crime, representatives of several agencies said yesterday during a juvenile justice summit in Annapolis.

BARRY KRISBERG, Pres. National Council on Crime & Delinquency, 1993; REINVENTING JUVENILE JUSTICE // CJJ-VT97 p. 6
In sum, the juvenile justice system lacks a coherent and consistent perspective on how to define those children who should be handled in special juvenile courts and those who require adult court referrals. The handling of specific cases based on maturity levels or age is determined by laws and by localized and informal court cultures. juvenile justice practitioners are largely unaware of the research and theory about adolescent development. Further, few juvenile courts possess trained personnel who could authentically respond to the developmental needs of their diverse clientele. For example, a recent research effort (Grisso, 1980) suggests that adolescents under age 15 do not even comprehend the meaning of their current legal rights in the juvenile court. Grisso recommends that very young juveniles should not be permitted to waive these rights voluntarily. Yet, it is routine in most juvenile courts for youngsters and their families to volunteer to drop their rights to legal representation and other evidentiary protections (Grisso, 1980).

JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM USED AS A DUMPING GROUND FOR UNWANTED CHILDREN

BARRY KRISBERG, Pres. National Council on Crime & Delinquency, 1993; REINVENTING JUVENILE JUSTICE // CJJVT97 p. 185
The categorical nature of government funding and the lack of interagency collaboration lead to difficult turf battles to include or exclude certain clients. Older adolescents, particularly those with histories of mental illness or aggressive behavior, are the most likely youngsters to be omitted by agency service criteria. These youths generally end up in juvenile correctional institutions because public corrections agencies cannot refuse to take custody of adolescents who are lawfully committed to their care. Thus, juvenile corrections agencies must manage a wide variety of youngsters that no other agencies want to serve. As the fiscal pressures mount, the juvenile corrections system becomes the ultimate, albeit not so safe, social service net. 

JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM SUPERVISION BREAKS DOWN

RON HARRIS, Staffwriter Los Angeles Times, edited by Shirley Dicks, 1995; JUVENILE JUSTICE & THE DEATH PENALTY, "Should teens be tried as adults?" // cjj-VT97 p.19
	In the juvenile justice system, probation officers have long been a force to help delinquent kids get their lives back on track. The probation officers' job is to watch over children, monitor their school performance, talk with their instructors, visit their homes, counsel them, review their progress, and recommend action.

JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM HAS INADEQUATE FACILITIES

RON HARRIS, Staffwriter Los Angeles Times, edited by Shirley Dicks, 1995; JUVENILE JUSTICE & THE DEATH PENALTY, "Should teens be tried as adults?" // cjj-VT97 p. 21
In nearly every state, judges and juvenile-court officials can point to model training schools where delinquent children have turned their lives around. But they admit such facilities are the exception. Many of today's juvenile facilities have become overcrowded, often dangerous, sometimes brutal places where children sleep on floors, join gangs for their own protection, and receive harsh, sometimes abusive, treatment by those who watch over them. In Seattle, detention supervisor Ed Woodley described one facility as a "school for crime"; in Pennsylvania, Post said she "wouldn't send a dog to Cromwell Heights," one of the state's facilities for juveniles. Because of a shortage of facilities children who commit minor offenses often find themselves mixed in with tougher youths, said James Bell, staff attorney for the Youth Law Center in San Francisco. 

SUSAN GUARINO-GHEZZI, Prof Criminal Justice Northeastern Univ., 1996; BALANCING JUVENILE JUSTICE // se-VT97 p. 164 
The third sign of imbalance is the failure to control overcrowding in programs. Overcrowded programs are not programs that are in demand because of their programmatic advantages; rather, they are programs where youths are dumped because other viable alternatives do not exist or are in short supply. Program overcrowding produces assaultive and other disruptive behavior, and prevents youths from receiving appropriate services (Parent et al. 1994). in many states, imbalance is created by a lack of resources due to fiscal constraints on spending. Ironically, one source of budget reductions for juvenile offenders is the overcrowded adult correctional system, which siphons monies away from juvenile offenders to pay for the unprecedented building of prisons and jails for adults. If the juvenile system suffers while adult correctional budgets are expanding, we are replacing long term investment with short-term fixes. 

JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM ABUSES JUVENILES STILL

BARRY KRISBERG, Pres. National Council on Crime & Delinquency, 1993; REINVENTING JUVENILE JUSTICE // cjj-VT97 p.187
Whether an enlightened vision of juvenile justice will be limited lo a few jurisdictions, or whether it will disappear altogether, is difficult to predict. In too many communities, abusive and inferior care of troubled and disadvantaged children is still the reality. Now more than ever the redemptive vision that helped create the juvenile court must be rediscovered. Although the present political milieu may not be ideal for a crusade to rescue our children, there is no choice but to continue the struggle for a humane and progressive system of juvenile justice.

JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM IS CLOAKED IN SECRECY

DENNIS McLELLAN, TIMES STAFF WRITER, Los Angeles Times, April 24, 1996, Part E; Page 1; HEADLINE: SPEAKING UP; 'NO MATTER HOW LOUD I SHOUT'... IS BEING HEARD. // acs-VT97
     The juvenile delinquent has been, with good intentions, cloaked in secrecy--no names, please--and shuffled into a junior court system that instead of turning lives around, succeeds too often in propelling them more deeply into crime.

JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM IGNORES INPUT FROM CHILDREN

CHARLES T. BOWEN, The Tampa Tribune, April 9, 1996, Pg. 1, HEADLINE: Curbing crime goes beyond juvenile ideas // acs-VT97
     Too much government policy is adopted by adults without input from children, noted Jack Levine, executive director for the Florida Center for Children and Youth. 

CURFEW AFFIRMATIVE - FIRST AFFIRMATIVE SPEECH

My colleague and I are proud to be here to debate the national high school debate resolution: That the federal government should establish a program to substantially reduce juvenile crime in the United States.

We are proud to be here because we believe that our proposal, if adopted, would save the lives of many children AND adults as well as help steer juveniles clear of a life of crime.

We begin our advocacy with CONTENTION ONE:

JUVENILE CRIME IN AMERICA IS A GROWING PROBLEM

While overall violent crime in America is declining, there is an explosion of juvenile crime.

MCCOLLUM, House of Rep member, APRIL 30, 1996, Federal News Service, THE HOUSE ECONOMIC AND EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES COMMITTEE SUBCOMMITTEE ON EARLY CHILDHOOD, YOUTH AND FAMILIES // acs-VT97
     In recent years, overall crime rates have seen a modest decrease. Violent crime has dropped 5 percent over the last three years. FBI figures indicate that homicide was down 12 percent in the first half of 1995. The homicide rate dropped 32 percent in New York and 19 percent in Chicago. Nevertheless, this general decline masks an unprecedented surge of youth violence that has only begun to gather momentum. Today's drop in crime is only the calm before the coming storm. Today, no population poses a larger threat to public safety than young adult criminals. Teenagers account for the largest portion of all violent crime in America. Offenders under the age of 21 commit more than one-fourth of all violent crime. Older teenagers--ages 17-19--are the most violent of all age groups: more murder and robbery is committed by 18-year-males than any other group, and more than one third of all murders are committed by offenders under the age of 21. The number of juveniles arrested for weapons offenses has more than doubled in the last ten years. Almost one-fourth of those arrested for weapons offenses in 1993 were under the age of 18. Between 1965 and 1992, the number of 12-year-olds arrested for violent crime rose 211 percent; the number of 13- and 14-year-olds rose 301 percent; and the number of 15-year-olds rose 297 percent. While youth crime generally involves juveniles committing acts against other juveniles, statistics indicate that more and more juveniles are committing violent acts against adults. Juveniles also commit about one-third of all homicides against strangers, often murdering in groups of two or more. The portion of juveniles who killed in groups rose from 43 percent in 1980 to 55 percent in 1994. In Los Angeles alone, there are now some 400 youth street gangs. In 1994, their known members alone committed 370 murders and over 3,300 felony assaults. 

Demographic trends will produce a larger number of at risk teens in the future, and that means juvenile crime is likely to increase,

EDITORIAL; Rocky Mountain News, August 8, 1995, Pg. 32A, HEADLINE: The lull before the storm // acs-VT97
     Consider, for example, the analysis of John J. DiIulio Jr., professor of politics and public affairs at Princeton University and director of the Brookings Institution's Center for Public Management, writing as recently as this June in The American Enterprise:
 ''Listen closely. That ticking sound you hear off in the distance is America's crime bomb. The device is wired by irreversible demographic trends. The bomb is set to explode in the year 2000 when there will be about 500,000 more 14- to 17-year-old males in the population than there are today. . . . Worst of all, the coming crime explosion will be especially violent - because the next wave of young street criminals, black, white and Latino, will be especially vicious.''

CONTENTION TWO: THE STATUS QUO IS FAILING TO ADEQUATELY ADDRESS THIS SITUATION

The juvenile justice and criminal justice systems are unprepared for the challenges of juvenile crime.

MCCOLLUM, House of Rep member, APRIL 30, 1996, Federal News Service, THE HOUSE ECONOMIC AND EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES COMMITTEE SUBCOMMITTEE ON EARLY CHILDHOOD, YOUTH AND FAMILIES // acs-VT97
     The challenges faced by law enforcement will be unparalleled as we enter this next century. The American criminal justice system is simply not prepared to face tomorrow's wave of violent young people. Revolving door justice and the failure to hold criminals accountable for their crimes continues to plague the justice system, and particularly the juvenile justice system. 

Americans have focused on "after the crime" solutions, most often punishment. There has been little attention given to programs which might be able to stop crimes from being committed in the first place.

ANNE SCHNEIDER, 1990; DETERRENCE AND JUVENILE CRIME:
RESULTS FROM A NATIONAL POLICY EXPERIMENT // am-VT97 p. 1
Americans have an abiding faith in punishment. Deterrence theory holds that if punishment is sufficiently swift, certain, and severe, then behavior will change in predictable ways. When punishment does not work as expected, the underlying assumptions of the punishment model are rarely questioned; instead, remedies are sought through more punishment, delivered more rapidly, and with greater certainty.

Because we are concerned about this situation, we offer the following plan:

The federal government will establish a program to substantially reduce juvenile crime in the United States. This will be done through a federal initiative with the cooperation, adaptation, and implementational experimentation of all relevant federal, state, county, and local agencies. The specifics of the program will involve:
1. Adopt a national curfew procedure modeled after the approach taken in San Diego, California. Exceptions will be provided for youth on legitimate evening business.
2. Youth activity and enrichment programs, such as those adopted in San Diego at the same time as the curfew, will be utilized to provide juveniles with alternative activities.
3. All necessary enforcement and funding. Funding will come from a combination of general federal revenues, selected military cuts, and interjurisdictional revenue transfers.
4. Affirmative speeches will serve to interpret this proposal.

CONTENTION THREE: A NATIONAL CURFEW WILL REDUCE JUVENILE CRIME

A curfew makes it easier to spot and deal with juveniles who are committing crimes at night.

EDITORIAL, The Cincinnati Enquirer, July 6, 1995, Pg. A14, HEADLINE: Curfew update A big success fighting crime // acs-VT97
     Teen curfews make it easier for cops to spot real criminals and block late- night juvenile mayhem that afflicts many American cities. Police and parents need to vigorously enforce curfews this summer to drive juvenile crime rates even lower.

An explanation of the San Diego example will illustrate how our program will work.

The San Diego curfew is a good national model to use.

BARBARA BOYER; Tribune Staff Writer, The Tampa Tribune, December 24, 1995, Pg. 1, HEADLINE: What works // acs-VT97
     With a 30 percent drop in crime last year and 15 percent expected in 1995, departments across the nation look at San Diego as a model.
The city has successful community policing, special task forces to deal with crimes and cooperation between prosecutors and social services agencies.

The San Diego curfew reduced juvenile crime.

The San Diego Union-Tribune, November 29, 1995, Pg. B-6, HEADLINE: Off the streets San Diego's teen curfew shows clear results // acs-VT97
     The decline of juvenile violent crimes in San Diego in the wake of the curfew is prima facie evidence that it is sound public policy. Parents and teen-agers alike should be pleased.

The San Diego curfew reduced crime victims.

Linda Feldmann, Staff writer, The Christian Science Monitor, January 4, 1996, Pg. 1, HEADLINE: Cities Adopt Curfews, but Impact on Crime Is Debated //acs-VT97
     San Diego is another city showing a decline in violent crime and a reduction in numbers of juvenile victims since it began serious enforcement of its long-standing curfew at the end of 1993.

The San Diego curfew saved lives.

PHILIP J. LaVELLE, Staff Writer, The San Diego Union-Tribune, November 27, 1995, Pg. B-1, "Curfew" // acs-VT97
     Golding said the policy is an unqualified success, and has contributed to big drops in teen crime and victimization. She said violent crimes by teens dropped 31 percent in the first six months of this year compared to the first six months of 1994, when the policy was not in effect.
 "All I know is that there are children that have not been hurt, who likely would have been hurt, without it," Golding said last week. "Both kids and adults are safer, without unduly restricting juveniles' activity. That's a success."

A curfew will not solve for all juvenile crime, but it will be comparatively advantageous.

Editorial; News Tribune, November 03, 1995, Pg. A12, HEADLINE: PROMISING RESULTS FROM TACOMA'S CURFEW // acs-VT97
     The city's juvenile crime problems haven't been eradicated; that's too much to expect from any single ordinance. But the 29 percent drop in arrests is nevertheless impressive. Pierce County and other jurisdictions have been contemplating similar ordinances of their own; Tacoma's experience shows that an intelligent curfew can be an effective expression of concern for at-risk youth. 

Crime may always be with us at some level, and some juveniles may always get into trouble, but to reduce juvenile crime and its many tragedies, we urge concurrence with the affirmative in this debate.

CURFEWS REDUCE JUVENILE CRIME

EFFECTIVE TOOL FOR THE POLICE

CINDY SCHROEDER, The Cincinnati Enquirer, January 7, 1996, Pg. A01, HEADLINE: Curfew a minor deterrent? N. Ky. police say it's a popular tool, but not a priority //acs-VT97
      "It's an effective tool for officers to use," said Newport Police Chief Tom Fromme, whose city has had a juvenile curfew since 1979. "It's not our biggest priority, but in a case where we have a habitual violator, it comes in handy."

PROTECTS PUBLIC SAFETY

R.G. Rinaldi, The Palm Beach Post, February 13, 1996, Pg. 17A, HEADLINE: PUBLIC CAN CHOOSE: CURFEWS OR CRIME // acs-VT97
     We have reached a point where, for whatever reasons, juvenile crime is endemic, and we don't have enough police to stop or control it. I have two comments regarding the curfew. One is to Robyn Blumner, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Florida: There comes a time when the common welfare must be considered before individual rights. When parents will not assume responsibility for the whereabouts of their children, society must. 

STOPS REAL JUVENILE CRIMINALS

EDITORIAL, The Cincinnati Enquirer, July 6, 1995, Pg. A14, HEADLINE: Curfew update A big success fighting crime // acs-VT97
     Teen curfews make it easier for cops to spot real criminals and block late- night juvenile mayhem that afflicts many American cities. Police and parents need to vigorously enforce curfews this summer to drive juvenile crime rates even lower.

CURFEW ENFORCEMENT REDUCES THE NUMBER OF JUVENILE CRIME VICTIMS

Beth Frerking, Sacramento Bee, August 13, 1995, Pg. FO1, INNOCENT KIDS // acs-VT97
     "When we target an area, the kids think twice about being out on the street after curfew," says Chicago police Sgt. Carol McLaurin. "It lessens the chances of them being a young victim."

The San Diego Union-Tribune, November 29, 1995, Pg. B-6, HEADLINE: Off the streets San Diego's teen curfew shows clear results // acs-VT97
     But the current law has been remarkably successful.     The mayor's office reports that juvenile violent crime plummeted 31 percent for the first six months of this year, compared with the first six months of 1994, before the curfew was enforced. The number of under-age victims of violent crime fell 12 percent.

CURFEW ENFORCEMENT SAVES LIVES

EDITORIAL, The Cincinnati Enquirer, August 4, 1995, Pg. A14, HEADLINE: Curfew works Juvenile crime has been reduced // acs-VT97
     The curfew can be a powerful, life-saving deterrent to crime if it is rigorously enforced. Council members should add tougher penalties including community service, and the police should enforce them.

CURFEW ENFORCEMENT HELPS POLICE TARGET GANGS

The Tampa Tribune, December 28, 1995, Pg. 10, HEADLINE: How to win the crime fight // acs-VT97
     Likewise, Phoenix responded to runaway juvenile crime with a curfew. Police were able to keep control of teenage hoodlums, who were no longer able to wander the streets at all hours. Further, the curfew helped the police to identify gang members. Not surprisingly, the juvenile violent crime rate dropped.

BARBARA BOYER; Tribune Staff Writer, The Tampa Tribune, December 24, 1995, Pg. 1, HEADLINE: What works // acs-VT97
     The curfew law has helped in other areas as well. When police fingerprint and photograph youths who violate the curfew, it provides information for gang enforcement squads. Three in 10 of those picked up admit gang ties. And, the city [Phoenix] has recorded three gang-related homicides in 1990 compared to 27 last year.

CURFEW ENFORCEMENT WILL NOT SOLVE ALL JUVENILE CRIME, BUT IT IS COMPARATIVELY ADVANTAGEOUS

The Nashville Banner, December 18, 1995, Pg. A12, HEADLINE: Curfew might help; It would hold parents accountable, aid crime prevention // acs-VT97
     It's easy to find flaws with the proposal. It won't eliminate all juvenile crime. It won't do anything about kids who get into mischief immediately after school. And it's certain to be unpopular with many young people.
All of that is true, but a curfew still holds out promise as a way to help reduce nighttime juvenile crime. It won't hurt, and it is likely to do some good.

Editorial; News Tribune, November 03, 1995, Pg. A12, HEADLINE: PROMISING RESULTS FROM TACOMA'S CURFEW // acs-VT97
     The city's juvenile crime problems haven't been eradicated; that's too much to expect from any single ordinance. But the 29 percent drop in arrests is nevertheless impressive. Pierce County and other jurisdictions have been contemplating similar ordinances of their own; Tacoma's experience shows that an intelligent curfew can be an effective expression of concern for at-risk youth. 

PATRICK GRIFFIN AND LILLIAN THOMAS, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 7, 1996, Pg. F-1, HEADLINE: TEEN CURFEW STILL PROVOKES ITS OPPONENTS // acs-VT97
     Nobody is saying the juvenile crime problem is taken care of, or that it won't flare up again. But if the patient is improving for the moment, those who are skeptical about the curfew ask, why resort to shock treatment?

WE NEED A NATIONAL CURFEW

Judy Sheindlin, experienced juvenile court judge, New York Law Journal, February 9, 1996, Friday; Pg. 2, HEADLINE: Don't Pee on My Leg and Tell Me It's Raining // acs-VT97
     We need a national curfew. I recommend imposing a national curfew for kids under 18, and believe me, that is not as harsh as it sounds.

EXEMPTIONS ALLOW LEGITIMATE TEENS TO MOVE AROUND

Christopher Lee, Staff Writer, THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS, February 6, 1996, Pg. 1A, HEADLINE: Dallas youth crime down since curfew, chief says; Other factors may have helped spur sharp decline // acs-VT97
     Exceptions to the curfew are made for youths going to or from work; those accompanied by a parent or guardian; those attending an official school, church or civic activity chaperoned by adults; or those involved in an emergency. Married teens are also exempt.

A SCHOOL TIME CURFEW WOULD REDUCE JUVENILE CRIME

Katherine Bouma, The Sentinel Staff, THE ORLANDO SENTINEL, March 15, 1996; Pg. 1, HEADLINE: Attorney Calls Curfew Frightening // acs-VT97
     School Board member Donna Hart, a supporter of the daytime curfew, told commissioners the measure would save the police time. "Daytime crime goes down tremendously when you have such a curfew," Hart said.

EVEN WITH LOW ENFORCEMENT, JUVENILE CRIMES DECLINES 15%

EDITORIAL, The Cincinnati Enquirer, August 4, 1995, Pg. A14, HEADLINE: Curfew works Juvenile crime has been reduced // acs-VT97
     Cincinnati's curfew has done darn well for a 1-year-old - even without full police enforcement. Crimes by and against juveniles are down by 15 percent from a year ago. So imagine what the night-time curfew can do if police give it full attention and penalties are stiffened.

WITH ENFORCEMENT, JUVENILE CRIME DECLINES 20%

CINDY SCHROEDER, The Cincinnati Enquirer, January 7, 1996, Pg. A01, HEADLINE: Curfew a minor deterrent? N. Ky. police say it's a popular tool, but not a priority //acs-VT97
     In Ludlow, which has had a juvenile curfew for about 15 years, Chief Collins finds his city's monthly crime rate drops 20 percent to 25 percent when police strictly enforce the curfew law.
 "It has a big effect on thefts from vehicles, vandalism and criminal mischief," he said.

CURFEW IS BEST ADOPTED IN CONNECTION WITH RECREATION ACTIVITIES FOR JUVENILES

PATRICK GRIFFIN AND LILLIAN THOMAS, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 7, 1996, Pg. F-1, HEADLINE: TEEN CURFEW STILL PROVOKES ITS OPPONENTS // acs-VT97
     Push curfew proponents and they'll acknowledge that a curfew is most meaningful as part of a complete package. The AARR's Conner agrees that in cities where curfews have had positive results, they have tended to ''operate synergistically'' with other programs aimed at at-risk youth.

Adrienne T. Washington; The Washington Times, July 18, 1995, Pg. C2, HEADLINE: For kids' sake, we need more than a curfew // acs-VT97
     Curfews alone are not the answer to curbing juvenile delinquency. When they are implemented they must also be accompanied by other measures that keep children occupied and out of trouble.

CNN: NEWS 11:21 am, October 27, 1995, Transcript # 1057-14, HEADLINE: Experts Agree on Crime Solutions, But Not on Semantics // acs-VT97
     Mayor MARC MORIAL, New Orleans: It's been very successful, but the important thing is that we implemented it in combination with a number of other strategies including summer jobs, summer recreational programs and what it has led to, that combination, has led to a 27 percent reduction in juvenile crime. We did our curfew differently. We have, in effect, decriminalized it. Young people who in effect violate the curfew are brought to a curfew center - not a jail, not a lock-up, not a police precinct - and we call their parents and we steer them back into the home. The point is is to empower parents to strengthen their hands in getting their young people to do the right thing. 

CNN: NEWS 11:21 am, October 27, 1995, Transcript # 1057-14, HEADLINE: Experts Agree on Crime Solutions, But Not on Semantics // acs-VT97
     Mayor MARC MORIAL, New Orleans: What I would say is that curfews in combination with those other things work. We call it 'tough love.' Never had I ever advocated that a curfew standing alone can solve the juvenile crime problem. But I think it works in conjunction with a number of other measures. We've got to say to young people that there's no reason that they need to be out on the street on a school night at eight, nine, 10, 11 o'clock at night. That they ought to be doing homework, they ought to be resting and what we need to do and what we've done in New Orleans is - in effect - promote a community value or a community standard about how we want to raise our young people, how parents want to raise their young people. 

CNN: NEWS 11:21 am, October 27, 1995, Transcript # 1057-14, HEADLINE: Experts Agree on Crime Solutions, But Not on Semantics // acs-VT97
     Mayor MARC MORIAL, New Orleans: And I would concede to you - and I've been an advocate of it - that recreation and summer jobs combined with a curfew are the reason that our summer job- juvenile crime rate has gone down. What I would emphasize is that a curfew standing alone- Any city should not think that a curfew standing alone works but that a curfew in combination with a number of other measures can, in fact, affect juvenile crime. 

ACLU IS WRONG ABOUT CURFEW LAWS

EDITORIAL; THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS, February 7, 1996, Pg. 20A, HEADLINE: YOUTH CURFEW; Dallas' firm stand paying dividends // acs-VT97
     No way. That's what the American Civil Liberties Union said when Dallas announced plans to establish a youth curfew.
 The ACLU and others predicted the law would be unenforceable and have little impact on the roots of Dallas' juvenile crime problems.
 Less than two years after the curfew went into effect, Police Chief Ben Click has the statistics to prove the doubters wrong.
There has been a 66 percent decline in juvenile arrests for burglaries during the curfew hours. Juveniles murdered in Dallas during the early morning hours have decreased 63 percent, rapes have declined 61 percent, and robberies have dropped an incredible 94 percent.
 Can this all be credited to the city's rules that prohibit young people from being out after 11 p.m. on weeknights and midnight on weekends? Of course not. But the curfew certainly has served as a strong deterrent. And it has given police a powerful tool in their fight to curb gang activity.

DISCRIMINATORY ENFORCEMENT OF CURFEW LAWS IS NOT A PROBLEM

National Public Radio, July 2, 1995, Transcript # 1130-3, HEADLINE: Experts Discuss the Effectiveness of Teen Curfews // acs-VT97
     Judge EUGENE FAHEY: In Buffalo, particularly in the early '90s and the late '80s, we were having a big problem in certain neighborhoods in the city with large amounts of children congregating in areas, no place to break them up, a lot of drug activity and misdemeanor-type crimes taking place in those areas. And the public outcry for it really came from neighborhood groups originally. And I was a council member at large in Buffalo, which- at that time, you represent the whole city, and oddly enough, at first I was against the curfew. I thought- I worried about- I'm an Irish Catholic, but I was more worried about- you know, I'm a white guy. But I was more worried about selective enforcement against young black males. The experience in Buffalo, though, fortunately hasn't been that kind of experience. The curfew enforcement has been relatively even handed, across the city. And- so what we did is we passed a curfew law at the end of '93 and we put a sunset provision in it for- to try it out for one year. And then looked at the results after a year and renewed it for another year.

PATRICK GRIFFIN AND LILLIAN THOMAS, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 7, 1996, Pg. F-1, HEADLINE: TEEN CURFEW STILL PROVOKES ITS OPPONENTS // acs-VT97
     Another recurring theme, echoed by McDonald, was whether the ordinance will be evenhandedly en-forced.
 Cusick does not agree that the curfew will make black neighborhoods targets.     ''I would be the first to say, 'Enforce it in my neighborhood more than in others,' '' he said.

Christopher Lee, Staff Writer, THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS, February 6, 1996, Pg. 1A, HEADLINE: Dallas youth crime down since curfew, chief says; Other factors may have helped spur sharp decline // acs-VT97
     That just isn't so, said Ed Spencer, a police spokesman. "The curfew is enforced fairly throughout all areas of the city and without regard to race."

Editorial; News Tribune, November 03, 1995, Pg. A12, HEADLINE: PROMISING RESULTS FROM TACOMA'S CURFEW // acs-VT97
     And while some feared the ordinance would give officers a convenient pretext for hassling minority youths, there have been no complaints of selective enforcement. In fact, city officials say no one has filed a complaint against the law for any reason.
 This speaks well of the professionalism of the Tacoma Police Department. The overall success of the curfew also speaks well of the city's efforts to reach troubled adolescents and provide alternatives to the street. The ordinance was designed to protect youngsters, not harass them, and it has been implemented in this spirit.

MARK IPPOLITO Staff Writer, The Tennessean, December 8, 1995, Pg. 1A, HEADLINE: MAYOR'S CURFEW MAY MISS MARK; Police: Youth crime worse in day // acs-VT97
     Meece said the Metro Police Department doesn't operate that way. "I see that as a completely unfounded concern. Law enforcement by its very nature allows for some discretion. We'll enforce that law as fairly and unbiased as we enforce other laws."

EVENING JUVENILE CURFEW IS CONSTITUTIONAL

The Palm Beach Post, February 10, 1996, Pg. 22A, HEADLINE: GET CHILDREN OFF CRIME, NOT JUST OFF THE STREETS // acs-VT97
     The issue of a community's right to impose a curfew was essentially settled in November, when the 3rd District Court of Appeal ruled that Dade County's was legal because ''the well-being of children is a subject within the state's constitutional power to regulate.'' The court opinion said that ''under both the Florida and United States Constitutions, children due to their special nature and vulnerabilities, do not enjoy the same . . . rights as adults.''

Beth Frerking, Sacramento Bee, August 13, 1995, Pg. FO1, INNOCENT KIDS // acs-VT97
     Dallas found a way around that. The U.S. Supreme Court let stand a Dallas statute, upon which many cities now model their laws, that allows several exceptions for an underaged person to break curfew: coming home from work, carrying a note from his or her parents or exercising First Amendment rights.
 "Those (laws) are a little harder to challenge, because they've built in those exceptions," said Chris Hansen, senior staff counsel at the ACLU national office in New York.

The San Diego Union-Tribune, November 29, 1995, Pg. B-6, HEADLINE: Off the streets San Diego's teen curfew shows clear results // acs-VT97
     It is hard for us to see how a teen curfew fails to pass constitutional muster. As Deputy City Attorney James Chapin told Union-Tribune reporter Philip LaVelle: "Juveniles do not have the full range of constitutional rights as adults do." Indeed, teen-agers cannot enter into contracts, are not entitled to trial by jury and are not fully protected by the Fourth Amendment from police searches.

PHILIP J. LaVELLE, Staff Writer, The San Diego Union-Tribune, November 27, 1995, Pg. B-1, "Curfew" // acs-VT97
     The American Alliance of Rights and Responsibilities, a Washington-based pro-curfew group, joined the case in August, filing "friend of the court" papers and siding with the city of San Diego. It asserts that San Diego's law is "a minimal, limited and valid restriction on a minor's privilege to roam outside the custody and supervision of parents."

TONY PERRY, STAFF WRITER, Los Angeles Times, December 19, 1995, Part A; Page 3; HEADLINE: TEEN CURFEW IN SAN DIEGO UPHELD // acs-VT97 
 A federal judge Monday upheld San Diego's nighttime curfew for teenagers, one of the strictest and most vigorously enforced curfews in the nation.
Judge Marilyn L. Huff ruled that an ordinance that, with few exceptions, orders teenagers off the streets at 10 p.m. is constitutional. The curfew had been on the books since 1947 but was sporadically enforced until the City Council ordered it applied rigorously two years ago as a way to fight crime.

CURFEW LAWS DO NOT CLAIM TO HAVE A "QUICK FIX" EFFECT

SCOTT WINOKUR, Examiner reporter, The San Francisco Examiner, July 18, 1995, Pg. A-15, HEADLINE: Youth curfew is worth a try // acs-VT97
     Vincent Schiraldi of the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice wrote on this page recently: "False hope of a simple cure."
 But nobody in favor of a tougher curfew is saying it would be a "cure." Nobody is saying it substitutes for programmatic responses to joblessness, substance abuse and educational failure.
This sort of criticism is guilty of the same error of judgment and failure of sensibility that vitiates much criticism of the mayor's homeless program.
 Because it really is foolish to condemn local officials for trying to do something about a big problem by harping on the fact that they haven't been able to do everything about it.

PATRICK GRIFFIN AND LILLIAN THOMAS, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 7, 1996, Pg. F-1, HEADLINE: TEEN CURFEW STILL PROVOKES ITS OPPONENTS // acs-VT97
     And many opponents will agree with Udin's argument that curfews per se are not bad or good, but that their promotion as a quick fix to a complex problem isill-founded.

EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE SHOWS CURFEWS WORK

SAN DIEGO CURFEW EXPERIENCE

SD IS A GOOD NATIONAL MODEL

BARBARA BOYER; Tribune Staff Writer, The Tampa Tribune, December 24, 1995, Pg. 1, HEADLINE: What works // acs-VT97
     With a 30 percent drop in crime last year and 15 percent expected in 1995, departments across the nation look at San Diego as a model.
The city has successful community policing, special task forces to deal with crimes and cooperation between prosecutors and social services agencies.

SD CURFEW REDUCED JUVENILE CRIME

The San Diego Union-Tribune, November 29, 1995, Pg. B-6, HEADLINE: Off the streets San Diego's teen curfew shows clear results // acs-VT97
     The decline of juvenile violent crimes in San Diego in the wake of the curfew is prima facie evidence that it is sound public policy. Parents and teen-agers alike should be pleased.

SD CURFEW REDUCED CRIME VICTIMS

Linda Feldmann, Staff writer, The Christian Science Monitor, January 4, 1996, Pg. 1, HEADLINE: Cities Adopt Curfews, but Impact on Crime Is Debated //acs-VT97
     San Diego is another city showing a decline in violent crime and a reduction in numbers of juvenile victims since it began serious enforcement of its longstanding curfew at the end of 1993.

SD CURFEW SAVED LIVES

PHILIP J. LaVELLE, Staff Writer, The San Diego Union-Tribune, November 27, 1995, Pg. B-1, "Curfew" // acs-VT97
     Golding said the policy is an unqualified success, and has contributed to big drops in teen crime and victimization. She said violent crimes by teens dropped 31 percent in the first six months of this year compared to the first six months of 1994, when the policy was not in effect.
 "All I know is that there are children that have not been hurt, who likely would have been hurt, without it," Golding said last week. "Both kids and adults are safer, without unduly restricting juveniles' activity. That's a success."

DALLAS CURFEW EXPERIENCE

DALLAS CURFEW IS A GOOD ONE TO BE COPIED

R.G. Rinaldi, The Palm Beach Post, February 13, 1996, Pg. 17A, HEADLINE: PUBLIC CAN CHOOSE: CURFEWS OR CRIME // acs-VT97
     If, as he said, only 2 percent of our kids were bad, the police could cope with it. But far more than two out of every 100 are problems. That is the problem - sheer numbers. And when a city such as Dallas can show a 40 percent drop in its juvenile crime rate and ascribe it to the curfew that it imposed, all of us should consider that as an alternative to more police and more jail cells. 

DALLAS 66% REDUCTION IN BURGLARIES & NARCOTICS CHARGES

Christopher Lee, Staff Writer, THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS, February 6, 1996, Pg. 1A, HEADLINE: Dallas youth crime down since curfew, chief says; Other factors may have helped spur sharp decline // acs-VT97
     For certain offenses, the reduction during curfew hours was even greater. The number of juveniles detained for burglary was down 66 percent, for example, and the decline was 60 percent for narcotics.

DALLAS CURFEW EXPERIENCE (continued)

DALLAS CURFEW HOUR JUVENILE CRIME INCIDENCE WAS DOWN 78%

Christopher Lee, Staff Writer, THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS, February 6, 1996, Pg. 1A, HEADLINE: Dallas youth crime down since curfew, chief says; Other factors may have helped spur sharp decline // acs-VT97
     The curfew-hour incidence of crimes against children, such as murder, rape, robbery and assaults resulting in injuries, has fallen by 78 percent since 1993, police statistics show. In 1995, there were 243 violent crimes against children - down from 1,093 two years before.
 The greatest decline during curfew hours was in robberies, which fell 94 percent. In 1993, 320 children were victims of robberies during those hours; last year the figure was 19 children.

DALLAS JUVENILE ARRESTS DROPPED SUBSTANTIALLY

Christopher Lee, Staff Writer, THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS, February 6, 1996, Pg. 1A, HEADLINE: Dallas youth crime down since curfew, chief says; Other factors may have helped spur sharp decline // acs-VT97
     Juvenile crime in Dallas has declined substantially since a teen curfew took effect almost two years ago, Police Chief Ben Click said Monday.
 The number of juveniles taken into custody is down 25 percent, and crimes against young people have dropped 31 percent since enforcement of the curfew began in May 1994, Chief Click told the City Council's Public Safety Committee. "During curfew hours, the numbers were even more dramatic," Chief Click said. Police statistics show that the number of juveniles taken into custody for selected offenses during curfew hours dropped from 780 in 1993 to 449 last year. That is a 42 percent decrease.

Christopher Lee, Staff Writer, THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS, April 4, 1996, Pg. 41A, HEADLINE: Teen crime down less than was thought; Curfew critic says figures prove point // acs-VT07
 The City Council was presented with statistics Wednesday showing that since ateen curfew took effect two years ago, youth arrests during those hours are down almost 21 percent and violent crimes against juveniles during curfew hours have fallen almost 9 percent.
 Either way, Assistant City Manager Levi Davis said, "we believe the curfew has been successful."

DALLAS PROGRAM WORKED IN COMBINATION WITH OTHER YOUTH PROGRAMS

Adrienne T. Washington; The Washington Times, July 18, 1995, Pg. C2, HEADLINE: For kids' sake, we need more than a curfew // acs-VT97
     In Dallas, which instituted a curfew being adopted around the country because it passed constitutional muster, city officials reported that juvenile crime dropped 15 percent in the first six months of the law's implementation. But that city also attributed the drop to increased recreational and social programs provided for youth as an alternative.

NEW ORLEANS EXPERIENCE SHOWS HOW COMMUNITY CAN EMBRACE A PROGRAM USING CURFEWS

PATRICK GRIFFIN AND LILLIAN THOMAS, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 7, 1996, Pg. F-1, HEADLINE: TEEN CURFEW STILL PROVOKES ITS OPPONENTS // acs-VT97
     Strong community support seems to be a key to a curfew's success.
 In New Orleans, the curfew was proposed by Mayor Marc Morial, a black civil rights lawyer, approved by a majority-black city council and enforced by a blackpolice chief.
The curfew there is also part of a larger program that includes youth recreation, job training, counseling and community involvement.
 Such broad cooperation is not evident in Pittsburgh, where racial tension hasbeen high.

The Advocate, June 12, 1995; Pg. 6B; HEADLINE: Curfew law has potential to harm // acs-VT97
     The New Orleans curfew is in effect from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. on weeknights and 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. on weekends. During the school year, the curfew is moved up to begin at 8 p.m. on school nights.
 Reporting on the first year of the curfew, New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial said that juvenile crime in the city was down 28 percent.
 Morial also credited a beefed-up summer jobs program and recreation programs along with community policing for the decrease in juvenile crime. 

NEW ORLEANS EXPERIENCE  (continued)

Patricia Zengerle, Reuters, January 14, 1996, HEADLINE: U.S. teen curfews in place, but are they enforced? //acs-VT97
     Objections to U.S. teen curfew laws focus on whether they are enforced and whether they reduce crime or fruitlessly consume police time.
 Supporters contend curfews are applied and that they do prevent crime. After a year of its 9 p.m. curfew for youths under 17, New Orleans reported a 27 percent decrease in juvenile crime during the hours the curfew was in effect. "Police officers, city council members, community members and ministers report unanimously on their efficacy," said Rob Tier, general counsel of the Washington-based American Alliance for Rights & Responsibilities, a curfew supporter.

CURFEW SUCCEEDED IN PHOENIX

BARBARA BOYER; Tribune Staff Writer, The Tampa Tribune, December 24, 1995, Pg. 1, HEADLINE: What works // acs-VT97
     In Phoenix, officials imposed a curfew two years ago to combat a surge in juvenile crime. 
 Police recorded 186 homicides from May 1993 through May 1994. The number skyrocketed to 258 from May 1994 to May 1995.
 Police also noted juvenile homicide arrests increased from 22 to 28 during the same periods.
 This year, however, police credit the curfew for a drop in juvenile arrests for violent crime.

CURFEW SUCCEEDED IN DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Linda Feldmann, Staff writer, The Christian Science Monitor, January 4, 1996, Pg. 1, HEADLINE: Cities Adopt Curfews, but Impact on Crime Is Debated //acs-VT97
     The District of Columbia has had a youth curfew since last July and has already put out statistics that appear to show a dramatic impact. From July 16, 1995, when the curfew went into effect, through Oct. 11, 1995, D.C.'s juvenile arrest rate declined by 34 percent compared with the same period a year earlier, D.C. police chief Larry Soulsby reports.
 "I don't know that we're saying definitely the decline is because of the curfew, but I think you can infer that it has something to do with the curfew regulations," says Lt. Melvin Scott, an officer in D.C.'s delinquency-prevention program.

CURFEW SUCCEEDED IN CINCINNATI

EDITORIAL, The Cincinnati Enquirer, July 6, 1995, Pg. A14, HEADLINE: Curfew update A big success fighting crime // acs-VT97
     Cincinnati's teen curfew has given parents and police extra clout to keep teens off the streets and out of trouble. An Enquirer review found the number of juvenile arrests for serious crimes has dropped 13 percent here in the first 11 months - at a time when juvenile crime in other U.S. cities is spinning out of control.

CURFEW SUCCEEDED IN TACOMA

Editorial; News Tribune, November 03, 1995, Pg. A12, HEADLINE: PROMISING RESULTS FROM TACOMA'S CURFEW // acs-VT97
     A recent report to the Tacoma City Council suggests the curfew has resulted in a marked decrease in the number of teenagers roaming the streets in the dead of night. Police say juvenile arrests during curfew hours have fallen a dramatic 29 percent from last year.

GUN AFFIRMATIVE CASE -- FIRST AFFIRMATIVE SPEECH

My colleague and I are proud to be here to debate the national high school debate resolution: That the federal government should establish a program to substantially reduce juvenile crime in the United States.

We are proud to be here because we believe that our proposal, if adopted, would save the lives of many children AND adults as well as help steer juveniles clear of a life of crime.

We begin our advocacy with CONTENTION ONE:

THE COMBINATION OF GUNS AND CHILDREN HAS PRODUCED A WAVE OF DEATH IN AMERICA

While juvenile crime is itself a problem, that problem is larger and more serious because juveniles are increasingly using guns as a part of their criminal behavior.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer, January 21, 1996; Pg. 2C, HEADLINE: HOLDING BACK A CRIME WAVE //acs-VT97
     Nearly one in four people - 23 percent - arrested for weapons crimes are juveniles.
The significance of that phenomenon is extraordinary. Never has this country been overrun with so many armed and violent teenage predators. Even as the number of teens in the nation declined during the past decade, the numbers of juveniles doing violence with weapons grew by 86 percent during just four years between 1988 and 1992.

While crime has always existed, the availability of guns makes criminal activity much more likely. The presence of guns literally triggers criminal behavior.

Charles J. Kehoe, Director, Dept. of Youth and family services, Virginia "Combating violent juvenile crime: Virginia's strategy", THE STATE OF CORRECTIONS: PROCEEDINGS OF ACA ANNUAL CONFERENCES, 1993, p. 164 // ms-VT97 
The availability of guns, especially handguns and assault weapons, by juveniles is considered to be a major factor in the increasing rate of violent juvenile crime. 

The result is that children are being slaughtered at an incredible pace both with guns and by guns.

Hattie Ruttenberg - Asst. General Counsel, Children's Defense Fund - 1994 Yale Law Journal, May, Vol. 103, The Limited Promise of Public Health Methodologies to Prevent Youth Violence' //NDI-VT97 p. 1893 
According to the National Education Association guns kill and injure approximately 40 children every day; on average 13 of those 40 children die from their gunshot wounds. 

Guns have literally been waging a Vietnam-scale war against America's children.

Dr. Cesar Chelala, National Advisory Board of Physicians for Human Rights, Swiss Review of World Affairs, June 1, 1995, HEADLINE: Violence and Youth in the Americas // acs-VT97
     In the U. S. between 1979 and 1991, almost 50,000 children were killed by guns, a figure equivalent to the number of casualties suffered by the United States during the war in Vietnam. In 1991 the number of American children younger than 10 who died from firearms was twice the number of U. S. troops killed in the conflicts in both the Persian Gulf and Somalia. In the U. S., homicide is the second leading cause of injury death among children and adolescents and, according to the U. S. Centers for Disease Control, homicide is the leading cause of death in black males age 15-24.

Juveniles are the most threatened portion of our population because of the easy availability of guns.

Robert Michaels, MD (Dean Cornell Med School) 1994, Journal of the American Medical Association, "Firearm Violence and Public Health", April 12, p. 1281 // CR-VT97 
The burden of firearm violence is borne to a considerable degree by our country's most vulnerable population — its young people. Homicide is the leading cause of death for young black men aged 15 to 34 years ears and the second overall leading cause of death nationwide for individuals aged 15 to 24 years., Suicide rates for both children and adolescents have more than doubled in the past 30 years, doe primarily to the increased use of firearms. For many adolescents, guns have become a part of life, with surveys reporting that many high school students either carry guns or have easy access to them . 

CONTENTION TWO: THE STATUS QUO HAS FAILED TO RESTRICT ACCESS TO GUNS

Gun laws in America are fairly loose, so guns are available to juveniles and others. In fact, in 34 states there are no laws against juveniles owning guns.

LAVONDA TAYLOR, THE COALITION FOR JUVENILE JUSTICE, APRIL 30, 1996, Federal News Service. HOUSE COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC AND EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES SUBCOMMITTEE ON EARLY CHILDHOOD, YOUTH AND FAMILIES // acs-VT97
     During the mid - 1980s, another influence began to figure prominently in juvenile crime. That factor is the availability and use of guns. In a period from 1976 to 1991, firearms were used by 65% of juvenile homicide offenders. Arrest rates for juveniles for weapons-related offenses increased by 103% between 1985 and 1994. In 1976, 59% of juvenile homicide offenders used a gun and that figure increased to 78% by 1991. Coupled with this increase in the use of guns is the fact that, at the end of 1993, only 16 states had laws prohibiting the possession of handguns by juveniles. Clearly, the availability of guns has had a marked impact on the increasingly violent nature of juvenile crime. 

The result is that juveniles have easy access to guns -- fast and cheap.

BOB HERBERT, The New York Times, March 4, 1996, Section A; Page 17; HEADLINE: In America; Trouble After School // acs-VT97
     Tom Brokaw, who hosted a panel at the forum, asked a teen-ager how easy it would be to get a gun if he had $100. The teen saw no need to spend that much money. He said he could give a 10-year-old $40 and feel assured that the youngster would return in 20 minutes "with a loaded .22."

Because we are concerned about this situation, we offer the following plan:

The federal government will establish a program to substantially reduce juvenile crime in the United States. This will be done through a federal initiative with the cooperation, adaptation, and implementational experimentation of all relevant federal, state, county, and local agencies. The specifics of the program will involve:
1. Guns in the United States will be banned, except for law enforcement officials and a limited number of qualified hunters and collectors. This ban will be phased in over a five year period.
2. Education programs about the realities of guns and their dangers modeled after the "Know Weapons" program and other educational initiatives.
3. All necessary enforcement and funding. Funding will come from a combination of general federal revenues, selected military cuts, and interjurisdictional revenue transfers.
4. Affirmative speeches will serve to interpret this proposal.

CONTENTION THREE: A GUN BAN WILL REDUCE JUVENILE CRIME AND SAVE LIVES

Decreased access to guns will help to control juvenile crime.

EDITORIAL, Roanoke Times & World News, December 26, 1995, Pg. A8, HEADLINE: OMISSIONS; GUNS AND BUTTER AND YOUTH CRIME // acs-VT97
     In Richmond, where violent juvenile crime is of acute concern, a city Youth Services Commission study discovered this:
 Among Richmond's sixth-graders, 23 percent said they had access to a gun; 38 percent said they had seen someone shot; 12 percent said they had carried a gun or knife to school; 18 percent admitted having threatened someone with a weapon. The city panel strongly stressed that availability of guns must be curtailed if juvenile violence is to be brought under control. 

A gun ban would be effective in reducing risks to children.

Gene Warner, Staff Writer, July 20, 1994 The Buffalo News, "10-Year Ban on Handguns Proposed by Gaughan, " p. 4 // NDI-VT97 
"Today in America there are 71 million handguns, and each one of them is designed, cast, tooled, calibrated, marketed, sold and loaded to end a human life, " Gaughan stated. "And because children are their predominant targets, it is time to tell the truth about the illogic of handguns. " Gaughan cited figures showing that in 1992 handguns were used to kill 13 people in Australia, 33 in Great Britain, 36 in Sweden, 60 in Japan, 128 in Canada and 13, 220 in the United States. 

The public will come to support a ban, and as the numbers of guns drop lives will be saved as the national ban takes effect.

Hartford Courant, November 1,1993, "Serious Talk About Handguns" // JB-VT97 
So long as the slaughter on our streets and in our homes continues, the public-opinion shift in favor of a handgun ban is likely to grow. Banishing concealable firearms in Connecticut would not eliminate gun- inflicted violence -- not so long as other states continue to allow easy access to guns. Washington, D.C., has a handgun ban and the highest homicide rate in the country because it can't stop the inflow of weapons. But a ban, together with tough law enforcement, would reduce deaths and injuries. It would reduce fatalities in so-called crimes of passion. It would no more infringe on constitutional rights to bear arms than the bans on owning a missile, a tank or a machine gun and other weapons do. 

Barriers to gun ownership are especially effective for juveniles

Hattie Ruttenberg - Asst. General Counsel, Children's Defense Fund - 1994 Yale Law Journal, May, Vol. 103, The Limited Promise of Public Health Methodologies to Prevent Youth Violence, //NDI-VT97
 If guns were generally less available they also inevitably would be less available to children, whose disposable income usually is less than that of adults. Rather than a Saturday night special costing about forty dollars and being readily accessible, guns would—and should-be expensive and hard for children to obtain.

Education programs will help deter juveniles from wanting guns in the first place.

Hattie Ruttenberg - Asst. General Counsel, Children's Defense Fund - 1994, Yale Law Journal, May, Vol. 103, The Limited Promise of Public Health Methodologies to Prevent Youth Violence, //NDI-VT97 p. 1904 
Public health advocates are beginning to implement public education campaigns in order to alter the behavior of those who are unaware of the risks associated with violence."' The one area where public education presents particular promise is in supplying information on the dangers associated with possessing a firearm. This information may help deter individuals from owning guns and may precipitate a public outcry to increase restrictions on gun ownership." 

Thus, we believe that an excellent approach to reducing crimes committed by and against juveniles is to remove the deadliest part of the situation -- the gun. We won't be able to save all children from gun injuries or stop all gun crimes, but we will be able to substantially reduce them, which will be a compelling reason to vote affirmative in this debate.

GUNS THREATEN AMERICA'S CHILDREN

THERE ARE HUGE NUMBERS OF GUNS IN AMERICA

Gus Hall, National Chairman of the Communist Party USA, "Crime and Violence: a class question" POLITICAL AFFAIRS, January 1994, p. 1 // ms-VT97 
In spite of the shocking statistics about crimes involving guns, in spite of all the talk about restricting guns, and despite some halt-baked efforts such as exchanging guns for toys and cash, the gun business is booming. There are nearly as many guns in our country as people. 

JUVENILE GUN CRIMES ARE INCREASING

The Plain Dealer, January 21, 1996; Pg. 2C, HEADLINE: HOLDING BACK A CRIME WAVE //acs-VT97
     Nearly one in four people - 23 percent - arrested for weapons crimes are juveniles.
The significance of that phenomenon is extraordinary. Never has this country been overrun with so many armed and violent teenage predators. Even as the number of teens in the nation declined during the past decade, the numbers of juveniles doing violence with weapons grew by 86 percent during just four years between 1988 and 1992.

Brigitte Dusseau, Agence France Presse, December 26, 1995, HEADLINE: America worries about its murderous youth // acs-VT97
     The number of minors taken into custody for offenses involving weapons has "more than doubled" in the last 10 years, Freeh said.
 In 1993, youths accounted for 23 percent of arrests for illicit possession of weapons. Just as worrying, these offenders are on average growing younger.

EDITORIAL, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, October 25, 1995, SECTION: Pg. 12A, HEADLINE: Multiple means needed to address juvenile crime // acs-VT97
     That feeling, in fact, is documented by the National Center for Juvenile Justice. Not just in Atlanta, but across the nation, a sharp increase in the rate of gun violence is being recorded among juveniles.

EDITORIAL, The Fresno Bee, November 29, 1995 , Pg. B4, HEADLINE: Children armed and dangerous // acs-VT97
     Nationally, the picture is just as bleak. Statistics released by the Justice Department show that nearly one in four people arrested for weapons crimes in 1993 were under the age of 18. From 1985 to 1993, weapons-related arrests for juveniles more than doubled, from under 30,000 to more than 61,000. President Clinton called those numbers "a chilling reminder" that juvenile crime, as it is in Fresno, is also the nation's No. 1 crime problem. He's right.

MORE GUNS CREATE MORE CRIME

Charles J. Kehoe, Director, Dept. of Youth and family services, Virginia "Combating violent juvenile crime: Virginia's strategy", THE STATE OF CORRECTIONS: PROCEEDINGS OF ACA ANNUAL CONFERENCES, 1993, p. 164 // ms-VT97 
The availability of guns, especially handguns and assault weapons, by juveniles is considered to be a major factor in the increasing rate of violent juvenile crime. 

Warren Preedman, Former Counsel and Assistant Sec. for Bristol-Myers, 1992 The Privilege to Keep and Bear Arms, p. 1 // NDI-VT97 
By the same token the number of advocates of control over firearms and guns has increased, particularly in view Of the acknowledged fact that there arc more firearms and more guns on the street, concomitant with the ever-increasing violent crime that has become an accepted relevant fact in the later 1 1980's. 

Chicago Tribune Editorial, 1993, June 8, p. 20, "America: Scared to Sobriety on Guns" // NDI-VT97 
The American people are coming to realize that the United States is in the grip of an epidemic of violence spread from the barrels of guns, and they are scared. Scared because children in many neighborhoods can't walk to school without worrying whether they'll be plugged in the back. Scared to the point that many elderly people no longer walk the streets in daytime, much less at night. Scared because once-safe neighborhoods are now dangerous. Scared because the notion of a "tough'' neighborhood is now quaint; those neighborhoods have become free-fire zones. 

MUST CONTROL GUNS TO CONTROL JUVENILE CRIME

EDITORIAL; The Washington Times, August 29, 1995, Pg. A12, HEADLINE: Rational gun control and the need for federal government action // acs-VT97
     The key issue is support of rational gun control in a society of 260 million people with record levels of crime surfacing in nearly every urban area - especially juvenile-crime escalation, as reported last week in a McNeill-Lehrer PBS-TV interview on recent events in Austin, Texas.

LAVONDA TAYLOR, THE COALITION FOR JUVENILE JUSTICE, APRIL 30, 1996, Federal News Service. HOUSE COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC AND EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES SUBCOMMITTEE ON EARLY CHILDHOOD, YOUTH AND FAMILIES // acs-VT97
     As long as juveniles have guns we cannot expect violence involving gun use by juveniles to decrease! In addition to data and research linking guns to the increase in violent juvenile crime, there has been extensive research into the factors that contribute to juvenile crime. There is much agreement on what some of these factors are - the list is extensive but includes: availability of drugs; family conflict including physical, emotional and sexual abuse; poverty; community attitudes that favor drug use, gun use and criminal activity; lack of job opportunities; academic failure; and portrayals of violence in the media. These factors involve every aspect of a young person's life. 

Warren Freedman, Former Counsel for Bristol-Myers, 1992, The Privilege to Keep and Bear Arms p. 66-67 // NDI-VT97 
Unless and until manufacturers and distributors of all guns are banned from the marketplace, criminals and crime rates will continue to soar due to the availability for a price of all Sons of guns. Gun control laws are but a step in the right direction until the people are sufficiently aroused to ban all guns from the marketplace. There is no reasons for citizens to turn to firearms for self-protection if criminals cannot have access to guns and the police power of the states is given supportive treatment. 

CHILDREN ARE BEING SLAUGHTERED BY GUNS AT AN INCREDIBLE PACE

Hattie Ruttenberg - Asst. General Counsel, Children's Defense Fund - 1994 Yale Law Journal, May, Vol. 103, The Limited Promise of Public Health Methodologies to Prevent Youth Violence' //NDI-VT97 p. 1893 
According to the National Education Association guns kill and injure approximately 40 children every day; on average 13 of those 40 children die from their gunshot wounds. 

Dr. Cesar Chelala, National Advisory Board of Physicians for Human Rights, Swiss Review of World Affairs, June 1, 1995, HEADLINE: Violence and Youth in the Americas // acs-VT97
     In the U. S. between 1979 and 1991, almost 50,000 children were killed by guns, a figure equivalent to the number of casualties suffered by the United States during the war in Vietnam. In 1991 the number of American children younger than 10 who died from firearms was twice the number of U. S. troops killed in the conflicts in both the Persian Gulf and Somalia. In the U. S., homicide is the second leading cause of injury death among children and adolescents and, according to the U. S. Centers for Disease Control, homicide is the leading cause of death in black males age 15-24.

Editorial, The Detroit News, April 12, 1996, HEADLINE: Notebook: Community institutions must rise to beat violence // acs-VT97
     The Children's Defense Fund this week reported that every 92 minutes a bullet permanently silences one of our children. Almost twice as many kids succumbed to gunfire in 1993 as a decade before.

Editorial, The Detroit News, April 12, 1996, HEADLINE: Notebook: Community institutions must rise to beat violence // acs-VT97
     Guns killed in excess of 40,000 Americans of all ages in 1993. But the 5,751 children under age 20 killed by gunfire was unprecedented. Included in the grim total were 3,661 homicides, 1,460 suicides and 526 accidents.
 Authorities were unable to classify 104 deaths in the tally, which represented a 94 percent increase in gunshot deaths among children during the decade.

Editorial, The Detroit News, April 12, 1996, HEADLINE: Notebook: Community institutions must rise to beat violence // acs-VT97
     There is also a racial dimension to the scourge. Although more than half of the child victims were white, black males ages 15-19 suffered the greatest proportional toll per 100,000.
 Young blacks were five times as likely as white males the same age to be gun victims and 10 times as likely to be murdered by a gun. More tragic still, the victims included 116 children under age 5, 85 of whom were murdered.

Senator John Chaffee, Oct. 1, 1992 Senate Judiciary Committee Hearings, "Children Carrying Weapons" p. 16 // JB- VT97 
If we do not want to see children killed or permanently disabled, if we do not wan: parents who live in fear of a phone call informing them of their child's death or injury, then we must do something about the handgun slaughter now going on. 

Senator John Chaffee, June 9, 1993 Senate Subcomm... Juvenile Justice, "Children Carrying Weapons" p. 7 // KR-VT97 
Given the sheer number of these handguns, there is no place, apparently, in our society where a child can find a safe haven. They can't find it homes, they can't find it in the parks. They can't find it, tragically enough, in their schools, in their playgrounds, in malls, in streets, yards, or buses. 

Charles J. Kehoe, Director, Dept. of Youth and family services, Virginia "Combating violent juvenile crime: Virginia's strategy", THE STATE OF CORRECTIONS: PROCEEDINGS OF ACA ANNUAL CONFERENCES, 1993, p. 164 // ms-VT97 
According to the Federal Bureau of investigation, more than 2,200 youths under age 18 were murdered in the United States in 1991, an average of more than six per day. Homicide is the second because of death among all adolescents. More than 70 percent of teenage homicide victims were shot to death. Of murder victims ages 15 to 19, 83 percent were killed with firearms. 

JUVENILES ARE THE SEGMENT OF THE POPULATION MOST THREATENED BY GUNS

Robert Michaels, MD (Dean Cornell Med School) 1994, Journal of the American Medical Association, "Firearm Violence and Public Health", April 12, p. 1281 // CR-VT97 
The burden of firearm violence is borne to a considerable degree by our country's most vulnerable population — its young people. Homicide is the leading cause of death for young black men aged 15 to 34 years ears and the second overall leading cause of death nationwide for individuals aged 15 to 24 years., Suicide rates for both children and adolescents have more than doubled in the past 30 years, doe primarily to the increased use of firearms. For many adolescents, guns have become a part of life, with surveys reporting that many high school students either carry guns or have easy access to them . 

STATISTICS REVEAL A VAST WAVE OF JUVENILE GUN CRIME

JAMES ALAN FOX, Dean Of The College Of Criminal Justice Northeastern University, FEBRUARY 28, 1996, Federal News Service, Before The Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee On Youth Violence The Impending Youth Crime Wave // acs-VT97
     The problem of kids with guns cannot be overstated in view of recent trends in gun-related killings among youth. As shown in Figure 3, since the mid1980s, the number of gun-homicides--particularly with handguns--perpetrated by juveniles has quadrupled, while the prevalence of juvenile homicide involving all other weapons combined has remained virtually constant. Guns are far more lethal in several respects. A 14-year-old armed with a gun is far more menacing than a 44-year-old with a gun. Although juveniles may be untrained in using firearms, they are more willing to pull the trigger over trivial matters--a leather jacket, a pair of sneakers, or no reason at all--without fully considering the consequences. 

Ted Gest; Victoria Pope, U.S. News & World Report, March 25, 1996; Pg. 28, HEADLINE: Crime time bomb // acs-VT97
     TEENAGERS AND GUNS Juvenile killings with firearms quadrupled between 1984 and 1994. Handguns were used in two thirds of the youth homicides involving guns over a recent 15-year span. Homicides by juveniles using guns In 1994, 82 percent of juvenile murderers used guns. 

JUVENILES SHOOT POLICE WITH GUNS

EDITORIAL; The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, October 29, 1995, Pg. 6C, HEADLINE: A SPECIAL Violence, Fear and Children // acs-VT97
     The fear is not confined to the general public. Police officers are also afraid. A study conducted by Emory University's Center for Injury Control found that 62 percent of metro Atlanta's law enforcement officers feel less safe on the job than they did five years ago. Many blamed the change on kids carrying guns.
 "I can ask an adult to put a gun down and 75 percent of them do it, but a juvenile will not," one police officer told a reporter. "The juvenile will fire it at me, or in the air, or flee with the weapon. His actions are much more fearless."

EDITORIAL, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, October 25, 1995, SECTION: Pg. 12A, HEADLINE: Multiple means needed to address juvenile crime // acs-VT97
     AS RECENTLY AS five years ago, according to a study by the Emory University Center for Injury Control, metro Atlanta police officers felt much safer patrolling the streets. Kids then were far less likely to be heavily armed.

JUVENILES GET GUNS BECAUSE THEY FEAR OTHER GUNS

EDITORIAL; The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, October 29, 1995, Pg. 6C, HEADLINE: A SPECIAL Violence, Fear and Children // acs-VT97
     Many juveniles are seeking security in the gun culture because they can't find it at home. They mistakenly turn to the drug trade for money or to gangs for acceptance.
 As those misguided youths turn to the gun culture for cash or comfort, they drive other youths to guns out of fear. Another phase of the Emory study found that many juveniles in metro Atlanta carried guns not with the intention to commit crimes, but to protect themselves.

GROWING UP IN GUN ENVIRONMENTS MAKE JUVENILES MORE VIOLENT THEMSELVES

Chicago Tribune, Editorial, 1993, June 8, p. 20, "America: Scared to Sobriety on Guns" // NDI-VT97 
Large majorities in the Harris poll said that the availability of guns has made their children more concerned about their safety in school and that their children have learned "to act tougher" to protect themselves. Nearly half said their children worry over the daily threat to their physical safety. Nearly one in five said they knew someone who had a child who was wounded or killed by another child with a gun. 

THE PRESENCE OF A GUN IS A TRIGGER FOR VIOLENCE WHICH WOULD NOT HAVE TAKEN PLACE OTHERWISE

Chief Anthony V. Bouza, Retired police chief, HOW TO STOP CRIME 1993, p. 381 // ms-VT97 
The proliferation of weaponry lends efficacy to every evil impulse. The toll exacted by our murderous firepower would be not only insupportable, not just Unthinkable, in other nations but would actually be more than enough to cause the expulsion of any national administration if it were the result of a war. 

JAMES ALAN FOX, Dean Of The College Of Criminal Justice Northeastern University, FEBRUARY 28, 1996, Federal News Service, Before The Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee On Youth Violence The Impending Youth Crime Wave // acs-VT97
     Also, the gun psychologically distances the offender from the victim; if the same youngster had to kill his or her victim (almost always someone known) with hands, he or she might be deterred by the physical contact. 

Ivins, Molly. Staff writer, Ft. Worth Star-Telegram. 1993. "Stop this carnage: let's just ban guns" Atlanta Journal And Constitution. March 13. //JB-VT97
In truth, there is no rational argument for guns in this society. This is no longer a frontier nation in which people hunt their own food. It is a crowded, overwhelmingly urban country in which letting people have access to guns is a continuing disaster. The argument that guns don't kill people is patent nonsense. Anyone who has ever worked in a cop shop knows how many family arguments end in murder because there was a gun in the house. Did the gun kill someone? No. But if there had been no gun, no one would have died. At least not without a good footrace first. Guns do kill. 

Webster, Daniel et al., Director of Violence Research at Washington Hospital Center. 1991. "Reducing Firearms injuries." Issues in Science and Technology, Spring. // KR-VT97 p. 76 
Virtually every industrialized country other than the United States either prohibits or severely restricts private ownership of handguns. Not surprisingly, the firearm homicide rate for young males in the United States is 12 to 273 times higher than in other industrialized countries. Of course, there are other ;reasons why the United States has so many homicides. But its non gun homicide rates are only 1.4 to 9.2 times higher than those of other industrialized countries. These data suggest that although social and cultural factors may make violence more common in the United States, the wide availability of handguns exacerbates these problems. 

JUVENILES WITH GUNS ARE ESPECIALLY DANGEROUS

TOM MORGANTHAU, Newsweek, December 4, 1995 , Pg. 40, HEADLINE: The Lull Before the Storm? // acs-VT97
     Fox estimates that teenagers now commit 4,000 homicides a year, and he predicts the toll will rise to 5,000 as the teenage population grows. "A 14-year-old with a gun in his hand is far more menacing than an adult," Fox told NEWSWEEK, "because a teenager will pull the trigger without fully considering the consequences. He'll pull the trigger over a leather jacket, a pair of sneakers or a joke." At a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science earlier this year, Fox bluntly predicted "a bloodbath of teenaged violence that will make 1995 look like the good old days."

JUVENILES WITH GUNS ARE ESPECIALLY DANGEROUS (CONTINUED)

JONATHAN SALTZMAN; Journal-Bulletin Staff Writer, The Providence Journal-Bulletin, April 22, 1996, Pg. 6C, HEADLINE: Salve Regina justice professor on youth crime and punishment // acs-VT97
     [Lawyer Robin L. Hoffmann, an associate professor of administration of justiceat Salve Regina University] When I first started teaching back in '88, I used to tell the officers that when they would arrest a juvenile, it was less likely that that juvenile would have a gun than an adult offender. However, that's no longer the case. I now warn my officers that it's increasingly likely that a juvenile will have a gun or a weapon. . . . It's also increasingly likely that that juvenile will use that weapon. Kids are different than adults. Kids are impulsive and they don't fully think through the consequences of their actions. And they're more likely to just act without restraint.

Nell Porter Brown, The Patriot Ledger, February 19, 1996 Pg. 01, HEADLINE: New gun law takes aim at juvenile crime // acs-VT97
     Youth Services Commissioner William D. O'Leary agreed.
 "A gun in the hand of a 14- or 15-year-old is just too high a risk," he said. "We need to take some action."

Marc Perrusquia, The Commercial Appeal (Memphis), March 10, 1996, Pg. 11A, HEADLINE: Morality not an issue for teens who rob // acs-VT97
     ''You put a .38 or a 9mm in (a delinquent's) hand and you've got a very dangerous little human being,'' said Richard Sweet, director of the Youth Habilitation Center, a Juvenile Court program designed to salvage hardcore offenders.
 Unlike assault, which tends to be reactive, most robbery requires some forethought or planning.

MANY JUVENILES ARE HORRIBLY WOUNDED IF NOT KILLED BY GUNS

Senator John Chaffee, Oct. 1, 1992 Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing, "Children Carrying Weapons" p.16// JB- VT97 
Let me emphasize that for every child who dies from a handgun wound, there are countless children who are horribly wound-d but not killed These injured children run a high risk of permanent, debilitating, and costly injury they may be paralyzed, or suffer brain damage . Certainly all experience the psychological trauma of being shot. 

James Alan Fox, Dean of College of Criminal Justice at Northeaster, and Glenn Pierce, Director for the center for social research at Northeaster, "American Killers are getting younger " USA TODAY MAGAZINE, Jan., 1994, p. 25 // ms-VT97 
Finally, the increased firepower of today's weapons have out paced the skills of emergency room doctors to repair damage done by gunfire. Meanwhile, most Americans can not seem to unite in opposition to guns. 

GUNS LEAD TO THE CRIME OF JUVENILE SUICIDE

Richard Worsnop - Assoc. Editor, CQ Researcher - 1994, Congressional Quarterly Researcher, June 10, Vol. 4, No.. 22, "Gun Control" // NH-VT97 
Numerous studies show that the risk of firearms-related . suicide is greatest among adolescents and young adults, who are more' prone to impulsive acts than older people. 

Chief Anthony V. Bouza Retired police chief, HOW TO STOP CRIME 1993, pp. 159-160 // ms-VT97 
Increases in the rate of suicide between 1962 and 1975 paralleled increases in the availability of firearms. Suicide by firearms rise from 4.9 to 7.1 per 100,000 population between 1953 and 1978, while suicides by other methods remained virtually unchanged. Suicide rates are much lower in states with stringent handgun control laws for purchasers and sellers, the rate is intermediate in states restricting either the buyer or the seller, but not both; and it is the highest in the states with few or no laws pertaining to either buyers or sellers of handguns. 

GUNS KILL 38,000 AMERICANS A YEAR

The Economist, March 26, 1994, "Land of the Free" p. 15 \\ CR-VT97 
Every year 38,000 Americans die of gunshot wounds. More than half of those deaths are accidental and suicides, caused or encouraged by the fact that a loaded gun was readily to hand. The main culprits were handguns. 

INHERENCY

IT IS LEGAL FOR JUVENILES TO HAVE GUNS IN 34 STATES

LAVONDA TAYLOR, THE COALITION FOR JUVENILE JUSTICE, APRIL 30, 1996, Federal News Service. HOUSE COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC AND EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES SUBCOMMITTEE ON EARLY CHILDHOOD, YOUTH AND FAMILIES // acs-VT97
     During the mid - 1980s, another influence began to figure prominently in juvenile crime. That factor is the availability and use of guns. In a period from 1976 to 1991, firearms were used by 65% of juvenile homicide offenders. Arrest rates for juveniles for weapons-related offenses increased by 103% between 1985 and 1994. In 1976, 59% of juvenile homicide offenders used a gun and that figure increased to 78% by 1991. Coupled with this increase in the use of guns is the fact that, at the end of 1993, only 16 states had laws prohibiting the possession of handguns by juveniles. Clearly, the availability of guns has had a markedimpact on the increasingly violent nature of juvenile crime. 

LOOSE GUN LAWS MEAN KIDS CAN GET GUNS EASILY

EDITORIAL, Roanoke Times & World News, December 26, 1995, Pg. A8, HEADLINE: OMISSIONS; GUNS AND BUTTER AND YOUTH CRIME // acs-VT97
     Of course, the legislature didn't intend for the new concealed-weapon law to put guns in the hands of children. Still, it's hard to believe that looser gun laws and wider availability don't ultimately make gun possession easier for juveniles.

BOB HERBERT, The New York Times, March 4, 1996, Section A; Page 17; HEADLINE: In America; Trouble After School // acs-VT97
     Tom Brokaw, who hosted a panel at the forum, asked a teen-ager how easy it would be to get a gun if he had $100. The teen saw no need to spend that much money. He said he could give a 10-year-old $40 and feel assured that the youngster would return in 20 minutes "with a loaded .22."

NO POLICY EXISTS TO STOP KIDS FROM GETTING GUNS

EDITORIAL, The Fresno Bee, November 29, 1995 , Pg. B4, HEADLINE: Children armed and dangerous // acs-VT97
     Sadly, there is no strategy either at the state or national level to interrupt the illegal trafficking of guns among the young. Even modest gun-control measures -- the Brady bill and assault-weapons bans -- are under attack in Congress and in state legislatures, and even those statutes are only marginal solutions.

NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION DOES ALL IT CAN TO STOP JUVENILE & GUNS FROM BEING CONNECTED

EDITORIAL, Roanoke Times & World News, December 26, 1995, Pg. A8, HEADLINE: OMISSIONS; GUNS AND BUTTER AND YOUTH CRIME // acs-VT97
     VIRGINIANS who have discounted evidence of the gun lobby's influence over state politicians may want to consider a curious omission in the reports of two task forces on juvenile crime. 
 The two panels - one Republican-oriented; the other, Democratic - spent months studying ways to reduce juvenile crime. While producing dozens of recommendations, neither addressed the issue of guns. Surprised? Don't be. The National Rifle Association and other pro-gun organizations enjoy considerable clout in Richmond, and are big contributors to compliant office-holders' campaigns. Politicians know which side of the bread is buttered - and by whom.

SOLVENCY

A HANDGUN BAN WILL SAVE CHILDRENS' LIVES

Hartford Courant, November 1,1993, "Serious Talk About Handguns" // JB-VT97 
So long as the slaughter on our streets and in our homes continues, the public-opinion shift in favor of a handgun ban is likely to grow. Banishing concealable firearms in Connecticut would not eliminate gun- inflicted violence -- not so long as other states continue to allow easy access to guns. Washington, D.C., has a handgun ban and the highest homicide rate in the country because it can't stop the inflow of weapons. But a ban, together with tough law enforcement, would reduce deaths and injuries. It would reduce fatalities in so-called crimes of passion. It would no more infringe on constitutional rights to bear arms than the bans on owning a missile, a tank or a machine gun and other weapons do. 

Webster, Daniel et al. Director of Violence Research at Washington Hospital Center. 1991. "Reducing Firearms Injuries." Issues in Science and Technology. Spring. // KR-VT97 p. 76 
A specific case study brings the point home. Canada has relatively strict laws governing the purchase and possession of handguns: perceived need for I self-defense. for example, is not sufficient justification for the issuance of a license. Sloan and colleagues' comparisons of violent crime rates in Vancouver and Seattle indicate that Seattle's firearm-assault and homicide rates are seven and five times higher, respectively, whereas rates for crimes that do not involve a gun are virtually identical to Vancouver's. 

Los Angeles Times, Editorial, 1993, October 15, p. B8, "Taming the Gun Monster that is Consuming America" // NDI-VT97 
The time has come for a historic about-face. America has far too many guns in circulation; strong measures are needed to restrict them to either special circumstances or a select group of people. The challenge is enormous and the change will be politically and emotionally difficult, but the long journey back from self-destruction must begin now. 

Los Angeles Times: Editor's desk. 1993. "Taming the monster: get rid of the guns; firearms won't make America safer -- they will only accelerate and intensify the heartache and bloodshed" Dec. 28. . //JB-VT97 p. 32 
No guns, period, except for those held by law enforcement officials and a few others, including qualified hunters and collectors. Without a drop in the number of guns already in circulation -- 200 million and rising hourly -- no legislative reform, no matter how comprehensive or masterly, will produce a drop in gun crime any time soon. Conversely, measures to reduce the existing supply of firearms will work only if they are coupled with a near-total ban on private gun ownership. 

Glenn Rogers, Medical Doctor, 1993, Los Angeles Times (Editorial), November 1, "Gun Control and Violence", pB6 // ndi-VT97
Many others believe that far less comprehensive measures would sharply reduce the rate of gun violence, measures such as stiffer penalties for gun-involved crimes and better enforcement of existing gun licensing laws. We agree that these measures could help -- but only a little. Without tough and nearly comprehensive national restrictions on manufacture, sale and ownership, the slaughter will continue. 

GUN RESTRICTIONS WILL DECREASE JUVENILE CRIME

The Commercial Appeal (Memphis), March 15, 1996, Pg. 10A, HEADLINE: RISING CRIME , Tougher laws needed against youth violence // acs-VT97
     Programs here and elsewhere prove that much can be done to help steer young people clear of crime, given enough funding and community commitment. This city can't afford to keep losing its young people to jails, prisons, violent deaths and wasted lives.
 But the community also has to show that it won't tolerate crime and violence. One strong message would be to go after the guns.

EDITORIAL, The Fresno Bee, November 29, 1995 , Pg. B4, HEADLINE: Children armed and dangerous // acs-VT97
     The grim casualty figures are also a reminder that the strategy adopted by state and federal lawmakers to deal with juvenile violence -- primarily increased incarceration -- is not enough to curb the epidemic of gun use. Violent crime among teen-agers has been growing steadily in recent years, even as the proportion of teens in the population has declined, and juvenile incarceration rates have soared.

SOLVENCY p. 2

BAN WILL DECREASE ACCIDENTS

Los Angeles Times: Editor's desk. 1993. "Taming the monster: get rid of the guns; firearms won't make America safer -- they will only accelerate and intensify the heartache and bloodshed" Dec 28. . //JB-VT97. 
When we comprehensively ban the private possession of handguns and assault weapons here, profound and welcome changes will follow. Accidental shootings should drop precipitously, including those tragedies that involve children playing with guns. Homicides should drop as well, even though the enormous number of guns already in circulation means that the incidence still will be higher than that abroad. The success of this endeavor will depend on the commitment by federal and local officials to tough enforcement. That will be vital. 

BARRIERS TO GUNS ARE EFFECTIVE WITH JUVENILES

Hattie Ruttenberg - Asst. General Counsel, Children's Defense Fund - 1994 Yale Law Journal, May, Vol. 103, The Limited Promise of Public Health Methodologies to Prevent Youth Violence, //Ndi-VT97
 If guns were generally less available they also inevitably would be less available to children, whose disposable income usually is less than that of adults. Rather than a Saturday night special costing about forty dollars and being readily accessible, guns would—and should-be expensive and hard for children to obtain.

TOUGHER PENALTIES FOR GUN USE WILL STOP JUVENILES

Felicia Cousart, The Fresno Bee, November 10, 1995 , Pg. B1, HEADLINE: Study: Early intervention key to fighting youth crime // acs-VT97
     * The state Legislature should make it a felony offense if a youngster is caught with a firearm.
* Local, state and federal law enforcement officials should crack down on the access minors have to firearms.

Nell Porter Brown, The Patriot Ledger, February 19, 1996 Pg. 01, HEADLINE: New gun law takes aim at juvenile crime // acs-VT97
     Sullivan, the Plymouth County district attorney, said the juveniles arrested on gun charges tend to be chronic offenders who commit the most serious crimes. He said the new law will ensure that they are punished on the gun charges as well as the other crimes.
"We're not going to get a new wave of juveniles into the system," Sullivan said "What we will get is a commitment to DYS of some of the most serious problem kids because there will be no option or alternative to commitment on the part of the court system."

POLICE NEED TO SEARCH FOR YOUTHS WITH GUNS

EDITORIAL, The Fresno Bee, November 29, 1995 , Pg. B4, HEADLINE: Children armed and dangerous // acs-VT97
     We're marching in the wrong direction. If we are to protect children, police must go after people dealing guns to kids. One successful experiment in Kansas City that targeted high-crime communities cut the number of armed robberies, assaults, homicides and drive-by shootings in half.

EDUCATION ABOUT GUNS WILL DECREASE DESIRE, OWNERSHIP, AND USE OF GUNS

Saker, Anne. 1993. "Poll: Majority would support outright ban on handguns" Gannett News Service. June 3. . //JB-VT97 
Frightened by the escalating toll of gun violence, especially among children, a majority of Americans favor stricter federal controls on handgun possession and even a ban on ownership, a poll released Thursday said. The bloody tide - 37,000 deaths in 1990 alone - apparently has pushed sentiment for the Brady bill to near unanimity, the survey found: 89 percent of those questioned support the measure's five-day wait before a handgun purchase. In addition, a whopping 68 percent who identified themselves as members of the National Rifle Association favors the legislation The April 3-12 study by LH Associates of 1,250 adults revealed what survey director Louis Harris called "an extraordinary change in public opinion on what should be done about handguns in America." The veteran pollster said he has been taking the nation's pulse on gun control questions for more than 20 years and has never seen such a surge in opinion for tighter regulation of handguns. 

Hattie Ruttenberg - Asst. General Counsel, Children's Defense Fund - 1994, Yale Law Journal, May, Vol. 103, The Limited Promise of Public Health Methodologies to Prevent Youth Violence, //NDI-VT97 p. 1904 
Public health advocates are beginning to implement public education campaigns in order to alter the behavior of those who are unaware of the risks associated with violence."' The one area where public education presents particular promise is in supplying information on the dangers associated with possessing a firearm. This information may help deter individuals from owning guns and may precipitate a public outcry to increase restrictions on gun ownership." 

Malcolm Beard - Pres. of Coalition to Stop Gun Violence - Oct. 1 1992 Judiciary Committee Hearing, "Children Carrying Weapons'' p.54 // JB-VT97 
Educating parents on the dangers of keeping a handgun in the home is the only way to reduce and eliminate the tragedy of kids killing themselves and their playmates with the family's self defense handgun . 

Hattie Ruttenberg - Asst. General Counsel, Children's Defense Fund - 1994 Yale Law Journal, May, Vol. 103, The Limited Promise of Public Health Methodologies to Prevent Youth Violence, //NDI-VT97 p. 1905 
Specifically, such education campaigns could disseminate information about the dangers of keeping a firearm in the home, especially when the household includes youngsters. According to a recent study, storing a gun in the home increases the risk of homicide in that home nearly threefold."' Moreover, [g]un ownership was most strongly associated with homicide at the hands of a family member or intimate acquaintance (adjusted odds ratio, 7.8 ...). In addition, an earlier study found that, for every case of self-protective homicide involving a gun in the home, there were forty three cases of suicide, criminal homicide, and accidental death by gunshot. For children—as well as adults—who carry a firearm out of fear for their personal safety, public education could work to dispel the myth that a gun provides protection. 

Hattie Ruttenberg - Asst. General Counsel, Children's Defense Fund - 1994 Yale Law Journal, May, Vol. 103, The Limited Promise of Public Health Methodologies to Prevent Youth Violence, //Nelson-VT97 
In addition, effective education campaigns could document the flow of legally owned firearms into the black market. of the guns used to commit crimes whose histories could be traced, fully 40% were stolen at some point. in sum, by educating the public about the low self-protective value I of guns and the large seepage of legally owned guns into the black market public health has the potential to turn the tide on the currently unregulated gun industry. 

EXAMPLE: THE "KNOW WEAPONS" PROGRAM

BOB MURA; STAFF WRITER, Asbury Park Press, December 24, 1995, SECTION: AA, Pg. 1, HEADLINE: A weapon against teen violence // acs-VT97
     Designed to reach teen-agers in small group settings at their high schools, the "Know Weapons" program would permit students to hear and read personal accounts of how life has changed for the pellet shooters and their victims since the attacks, said Wendel E. Daniels, an assistant county prosecutor who investigates juvenile crimes. 
 "We want to get students to stop and think once, before they do something," said Louis Pintaro Jr., another assistant county prosecutor.
"A lot of kids out there just don't understand the consequences of their actions," said Robert Engel, a Stafford Township patrolman and president of the Ocean County Juvenile Officers Association.

BOB MURA; STAFF WRITER, Asbury Park Press, December 24, 1995, SECTION: AA, Pg. 1, HEADLINE: A weapon against teen violence // acs-VT97
     The "Know Weapons" program, slated to be offered in some public high school classrooms by next month, will also feature open discussions between officers and students, a short film and a display of guns and other weapons, Daniels said.

GUN BAN DOES NOT COMPROMISE THE SECOND AMENDMENT RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS

The Economist March 26, 1994, "Land of the Free", March 26 \\ CR-VT97 p. 16 
So far as the Supreme Court is concerned, the second amendment is about state militias, and their ability to resist a suddenly tyrannical central government. It does not stand in the way of proper gun regulation. 

Los Angeles Times, Dec. 28, 1993. "Taming the monster: get rid of the guns; firearms won't make America safer -- they will only accelerate and intensify the heartache and bloodshed" //JB-VT97. p. 32 
Why should America adopt a policy of near-zero tolerance for private gun ownership? Because it's the only alternative to the present insanity. Without both strict limits on access to new weapons and aggressive efforts to reduce the supply of existing weapons, no one can be safer. Can Congress impose such a ban? Federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, have consistently upheld a variety of firearms restrictions, even prohibitions, over the last 60 years. In practice, the Second Amendment has not been an impediment to tighter gun laws, nor should it be in theory, given the amendment's origins in the colonists' desire for an organized state militia. 

Warren Freedman, Former Counsel and Assistant Sec... for Bristol-Myers, 1992 The Privilege to Keep and Bear Arms // NDI-VT97 P. 26 
The fourth phrase of the Second Amendment, "to keep and bear arms," is admittedly controversial because of its ambiguity. For example, the militia "bear" arms, while civilians "carry" arms, thereby restricting the "right" to members of the militia. Also, the militia ''keep" arms in that the arms are not private property but belong to the governments; an individual, not a member of the militia, would "possess" arms, at most.

Los Angeles Times, Editorial, 1993 October 15, p. B8, "Taming the Gun Monster that is Consuming America" // NDI-VT97 
Question: Why should anyone other than police officers possess a handgun? Until recently, it was enough to answer that the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution assures private citizens the right to possess guns. Or to say that because so many criminals are now armed -so heavily armed -- law-abiding citizens must be allowed to own a gun for self-defense. But those responses are no longer adequate. 

Taylor, Stuart Jr., 1993, The American Lawyer, Dec., , "Let's Get Serious: Ban All Handguns" // NDI-VT97 
Nor does the Second Amendment counsel against a hand gun ban. It states: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed " The first 13 words qualify the next 14, the Supreme Court ruled in 1939 in U.S. v. Miller; it held that the amendment "must be interpreted and applied" in light of its "obvious purpose to assure the continuation and render possible the effectiveness" of state militias. Since then courts have unanimously held that there is no broad individual fight to have a gun except as part of a state militia. 

NEED A FEDERAL APPROACH TO SUCCEED AGAINST GUNS

The Economist, 1994, "Land of the Free", \\ CR-VT97 p. 15 
Many Americans treat their guns with care and sense. Plenty do not. If any other common household objects were found to be so dangerous to health and safety, they would either be banned or be made subject to the most rigorous restrictions. As it is, those rules that exist are laughable. Experience shows that nothing small-scale, or local, stands a chance: city or state bans on handguns merely create a ready market for gun entrepreneurs in surrounding jurisdictions. Laws must be federal, or nothing. 

Webster, Daniel et al. Director of Violence Research at Washington Hospital Center. 1991. "Reducing Firearms Injuries." Issues in Science and Technology. Spring. // KR-VT97 p. 78 
The lack of strict laws at the federal level hinders the ability of any single state or local government to control the availability of guns in its jurisdictions. More uniform jaws across jurisdictions and increased efforts by police departments, the FBI, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (or its successor) to stop illegal gun trafficking would help to reduce the chances of criminals' getting guns. 

EVEN WITH A BLACK MARKET, MANY CRIMINALS WILL BE BLOCKED FROM GETTING GUNS

Richard Worsnop - Assoc. Editor, CQ Researcher - 1994 , Congressional Quarterly Researcher, June 10 Vol. 4, No. 22, "Gun Control" // NH-VT97 
Some prospective purchasers who flunked the background check doubtless turned to illegal channels, noted Northwestern University Law Professor Daniel D. Polsby, "but just as surely not all of them did." To the extent that individuals with a criminal record or a history of mental illness or drug abuse are blocked from getting firearms, gun control supporters reason, crime is marginally reduced. 

Los Angeles Times: Editor's desk. 1993, "Taming the monster: get rid of the guns; firearms won't make America safer -- they will only accelerate and intensify the heartache and bloodshed" Dec. 28 // jb-VT97 
Gun ownership advocates argue that a near-total ban on the manufacture, importation and private ownership of hand guns and assault weapons such as The Times advocates will simply fuel the black market in these firearms, leaving criminals heavily armed and law-abiding citizens defenseless. Even if everyone surrendered his or her weapons, their argument goes, evil would find a way - those bent on mayhem would fashion zip guns and other lethal devices. But consider the experience of the many foreign nations that tightly restrict private gun ownership: Those that limit firearms control gun violence more effectively. Gun crime is by no means unheard of in these nations, but even with a black market trade and homemade weapons, the incidence of gun homicide, accidents, armed robberies and other violent crimes is much lower than here. 

GUNS KILL 43 FOR EVERY ONE THEY PROTECT

Senator John Chaffee, 1992, Public Welfare, Fall, Its Time to Control Handguns // kr-VT97 
As for those who will argue that handguns in the home are needed for protection, they have not reviewed the horrific statistics detailing that handguns are far, far more likely to kill a loved one than an intruder For every case of self-protection homicide with a gun kept in the home, there are an estimated 43 murders, accidental deaths, and suicides. 

GUNS DO HUGE DAMAGE TO EDUCATIONAL AND MEDICAL SYSTEMS

Senator John Chaffee, 1992, Public Welfare, Fall, Its Time to Control Handguns, p. 19 // kr-VT97 
There is not a citizen in this nation who is not worried about two critical national needs: improving our education system and reducing the costs of our health care system. But progress on either matter is well-nigh impossible without recognizing the costs placed on each by our current handgun policy. Today, educators and children are distracted by the frightening presence of handguns in our schools. And efforts to hold down health care costs are being shot down by the billions of dollars worth of damage caused by handgun wounds.

PREVENTION PROGRAMS EFFECTIVE

EDITORIAL; St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 19, 1995, Pg. 7B, HEADLINE: YOUTH PROGRAMS HELP PREVENT CRIME // acs-VT97
     To reduce crime and improve the quality of life in our cities, we must deal with the cause and effect of crime.

John Foreman, THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC, February 25, 1996 Pg. H5, HEADLINE: PREVENTION NEEDED FOR CHRONIC YOUTHS // acs-VT97
     No one should be expect this prevention plan to work perfectly. It will be a success if it lowers the number of children committing crimes, reduces the number of their crimes, raises the age they begin committing crimes, or reduces the severity of the crimes.

Karina Bland, Staff writer, THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC, February 26, 1996, Pg. A1, HEADLINE: PRAISE FOR PROGRAMS THAT HELP YOUNGSTERS // acs-VT97
     What teenagers need are adults who care about them and a chance to prove what they can do, according to Changing the Odds, a Children's Action Alliance report being released this week. "We know what to do," said Carol Kamin, executive director of the Children's Action Alliance. "There are programs that work. What we have to do is focus on them and fund them." 

JAMES ALAN FOX, Dean Of The College Of Criminal Justice Northeastern University, FEBRUARY 28, 1996, Federal News Service, Before The Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee On Youth Violence The Impending Youth Crime Wave // acs-VT97
     Although early prevention has the greatest chance of influencing behavior, it is not possible to identify reliably the future chronic offenders at such an early age. Thus, much of our prevention resources will be devoted to children who may never come in contact with the law, much less become chronic delinquents. Regardless, we can still have a positive impact on the lives of many children-those who would have become serious offenders and those who would not. If the scourge of youth violence can motivate us all to invest in a generation of children, then we have done a good thing nonetheless. In the process of preventing violence, we can significantly enhance the quality of life for all children. 

JOSEPH BIDEN , SENATOR , Congressional Press Releases, February 28, 1996, HEADLINE: BIDEN WARNS OF RISING TIDE OF YOUTH VIOLENCE // acs-VT97
     "It is imperative that we act now if we are to turn around the current trend toward more crime and more violence by our young people," Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. warned today at a hearing of the senate Subcommittee on Youth Violence. "This means focusing quickly on the risks confronting our youth, identifying practical steps our communities can take to reduce these risks, and committing ourselves to the hard work and resources needed to steer young people to productive lives instead of wasted lives."

WALTER F. SULLIVAN, The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk), February 15, 1996, Pg. A12, HEADLINE: Treat The Causes Of Juvenile Violence // acs-VT97
     We know that early intervention and prevention are the least-costly, most-effective means to reduce juvenile crime. Virginia should support legislation like that coming from the Family Violence Prevention Commission and fully fund its budget requests. Let us be slow to pass legislation that will not in the end reduce violent crime among our juvenile population. Let us be swift to pass legislation that will treat some of the causes of violent crime. In the long run, Virginia will be safer if we treat the causes of violence and not merely its symptoms.

EMILY HANCOCK, Staff Writer, The Capital, March 24, 1996, Pg. A1, HEADLINE: Juvenile crime 'out of control' // acs-VT97
     Many officials who deal with juvenile crime say funds should be focused on crime prevention and early-intervention programs for kids who come in contact with the juvenile justice system.
 "The programs we should be funding we can't afford to," said Maryland Sen. Phillip C. Jimeno, D-Brooklyn Park.
 Mr. Jimeno stressed that the system could save money by spending on prevention programs, which are cheaper than incarceration.

PREVENTION PROGRAMS EFFECTIVE (CONTINUED)

The Boston Globe, March 24, 1996, Pg. 81, HEADLINE: THE YOUNG AND THE VIOLENT; Teen-agers are hurting others - and themselves // acs-VT97
     HEYMANN, a professor at the Kennedy School of Government and at Harvard's Law School : Getting too soft in general, and too lovey-dovey, even for me.     I believe in prevention. I believe in prevention because I think we ought to do anything that makes the streets safer. Safer for Patricia's child. We know who the people getting killed are; the people getting killed are the neighbors of the people who are killing. I think we have to make those streets safe. I believe in prevention because I think prevention can help make streets safe.

The Boston Globe, March 24, 1996, Pg. 81, HEADLINE: THE YOUNG AND THE VIOLENT; Teen-agers are hurting others - and themselves // acs-VT97
     HEYMANN, a professor at the Kennedy School of Government and at Harvard's Law School : . . . I think what we have to stand for is the proposition that punishment isn't all that this is about. Prevention - making the streets safe - is what it's about. Deterrents can only do so much to make the streets safe. We have to try to make people safer when they get out of prison. There's no particular reason to hold them forever, for the rest of their natural lives. At least I don't think so. I think there's plenty of punishment in 20 years. No other country in the world punishes an adult murderer by as much as 20 years. 

PENNY BENDER; Gannett News Service, March 7, 1996, HEADLINE: States take the lead in fighting juvenile crime // acs-VT97
     But to ignore the other side - crime prevention - "is a situation doomed to failure," said Howard Snyder, director of systems research at the National Center for Juvenile Justice, a research organization.
 The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the division of the Justice Department charged with fighting underage crime, is pushing prevention programs to states and localities, noting the lower cost.

DENNIS McLELLAN, TIMES STAFF WRITER, Los Angeles Times, April 24, 1996, Part E; Page 1; HEADLINE: SPEAKING UP; 'NO MATTER HOW LOUD I SHOUT'... IS BEING HEARD. // acs-VT97
     If there's a basic message in the book, Humes said, "it's that the problem ofjuvenile delinquency, by and large, is not an unsolvable one. It's possible to fix the system, save our kids and protect ourselves all at the same time."
 The fix, he believes, can't come too soon.

Randi Love, Franklin County Prevention Institute, The Columbus Dispatch, April 24, 1996, Pg. 8A, HEADLINE: PREVENTION IS KEY STEP; TO CURB JUVENILE CRIME // acs-VT97
     Frustrating, overwhelming and endemic social problems - such as poverty, racism, community and family disintegration, inequity of opportunity and substance abuse - that contribute to violence do not respond to quick fixes.
Although the public is understandably alarmed at the dramatic increases in juvenile crime, punishment is only part of the solution. Multiple strategies and activities that include both prevention and appropriate sanctions offer the most promise.

STEBBINS JEFFERSON, The Palm Beach Post, April 20, 1996, Pg. 12A, HEADLINE: DOING TIME, NOT BUILDING LIVES // acs-VT97
     To salvage a future in which we all are safe, we must unite to prevent youngsters from having to be locked up behind razor wire. Saving them on the free side of the fence is the only way to save ourselves.

JAMES AUSTIN, National Council on Crime & Delinquency, The San Diego Union-Tribune, April 23, 1996, Pg. B-7, HEADLINE: Let's have an honest debate on crime // acs-VT97
     Our leaders should be studying the issues and talking about how the progress can be sustained with comprehensive, well-planned public policy. Unfortunately, discussion of crime policy usually degenerates into simple rhetoric and sloganeering.
 A good place to start a more rational consideration of the issues would be with juvenile crime. While the crime statistics show an unprecedented drop incrime as a whole, violent juvenile crimes have increased at an alarming rate. A look behind the recent FBI statistics shows a serious weakness in youth crime prevention efforts.

Editorial; Austin American-Statesman, April 02, 1996: Pg. A8, HEADLINE: Teen crime not kids' // acs-VT07
By all accounts, the next decade will see an explosion in violent crime by juvenile offenders.
 The time to do something about that is now. Developing programs and projects to help kids, and their families, before they are caught up in the spiral of juvenile crime may ease some of the pressure tomorrow.

PREVENTION PROGRAMS EFFECTIVE (CONTINUED)

EDITORIAL; St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 19, 1995, Pg. 7B, HEADLINE: YOUTH PROGRAMS HELP PREVENT CRIME // acs-VT97
     No issue drives me more than the need to give citizens safe streets, schools and neighborhoods. It is not good enough to build an army of police to capture criminals and lock them away in prisons and jails we have yet to build.
 First, we must support local crime-prevention programs. Cities cannot afford to continue to hire, train and maintain a police force in correlation with increases in crime. Nor can we afford to build prisons to hold generations of young people "destined" to fall into a life of crime. If we do not support crime-prevention strategies, conditions will continue to decline.

THE PHOENIX GAZETTE, November 14, 1995; Pg. B5, HEADLINE: WE ALL FACE THE FEAR; TO BATTLE CRIME, WE MUST LOOK OUT FOR EACH OTHER // acs-VT97
     To prevent a child from turning to crime, they must be taught to set goals for themselves and, more importantly they must feel that they will have the opportunities to reach those goals. It will take more teen pregnancy prevention, more Head Start, more parenting skills, and more job retraining programs. It will take 10 to 15 years, if we start now. 

PATTY MASTERSON, The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk), November 21, 1995, Pg. A12, HEADLINE: Another View: Why Younger Kids' Crimes Are So Violent // acs-VT97
     More to the point, however, kids should not be committing violent crimes at all, and we should be spending at least as much time and money trying to prevent their doing so as we spend trying to decide what to do after the fact.

William C. Bishop, President Family Service Detroit and Wayne County, The Detroit News, August 10, 1995, HEADLINE: How should juveniles be dealt with? // acs-VT97
     As a community, we must educate ourselves about the value of prevention and respond by making sure the state spends a dime for prevention for every dollar spent on prisons.

Virgil Roberts, former state representative; Wisconsin State Journal, November 9, 1995, Pg. 13A, HEADLINE: SCHOOL-PARENT PROGRAM COULD CURB JUVENILE CRIME // acs-VT97
     It is time to develop some plan of early detection and action for prevention of juvenile crime and thus reduce the need for cure. If we can do anything to reduce the need for more jails and prisons, it will be well worth the effort.

GAIL D. RYAN, Univ. of Colorodo Program Specialist at the Kempe National Center for Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect, 1991; JUVENILE SEXUAL OFFENDING // jah-VT97 p. 394
Although tremendous resources have been enlisted to respond to the incidence and impact of both child sexual abuse and adult sexual assaults, intervention strategies have failed to prevent the occurrence, and prevention strategies have been aimed at potential victims. While selfprotection and defense, reporting, prosecution, and treatment programs are certainly called for in response to this problem, the ultimate solution is to prevent the development of new offenders so that future generations are no longer at risk. While recent intervention responses have been descriptive and reactive, the only pro-active approach to sexual abuse prevention is perpetration prevention. 

 DAVID SANDBERG, Lawyer, judge, and Director of the Program on Law and Child Maltreatment Boston Univ, 1989; THE CHILD ABUSEDELINQUENCY CONNECTION // am-VT97 p. 124
Amid all of this human tragedy—and the deplorable condition of this class of children m the United States is a tragedy—I submit that there is hope. More than this, the child abuse-delinquency connection offers an nary extraordinary opportunity to move beyond crisis management and burn out, which are as much the result of a lack of ultimate purpose within the child protection and juvenile justice systems as a lack of resources.
A threshold question in a world of limited resources is whether to concentrate at the front end of the problem when children are first identified as maltreated or the back end once a youth has been found to be delinquent. With out question, we need to target both adolescent delinquents and preadolescent abused and neglected children, keeping in mind that the former are often the latter partially grown op. Having said this, I will also say, as Andrew Vachss and lose Alfaro have before me, that if we are to win the war, it must be at the front end doing major intervention with young children as soon as they are identified as abused or neglected.
Some will argue that even this is too late, that the war can only be won by carrying out primary prevention campaigns. In an ultimate sense, they are probably right. However, we have before US hundreds of thousands of known abused and neglected children. They are the immediate concern. If we can do well by them, we will see major down line gains in terms of reduced delinquency and crime. 

PREVENTION IS MORE COST EFFECTIVE THAN OTHER SOLUTIONS.

Karina Bland, Staff writer, THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC, February 26, 1996, Pg. A1, HEADLINE: PRAISE FOR PROGRAMS THAT HELP YOUNGSTERS // acs-VT97
     "We have to be willing to invest for the long term. We have to be willing to sustain our effort," Maricopa County Juvenile Court Judge John Foreman said. "Prevention isn't going to show a profit in a year or two, but it's going to show a terrific profit in 10 or 15 years." 

GLORIA SUNDERMAN, Omaha World Herald, October 20, 1995; Pg. 19, HEADLINE: Nebraska Bar Is Told Jailing Youths Costly Prevention Effort Urged by Specialist // acs-VT97
     Communities should think about crime prevention and other alternatives because confinement is expensive, said Karen Francis-Shepard, grant administrator for the American Correctional Association in Laurel, Md. A Rhode Island study, for example, determined that confining juveniles cost as much as educating them at an Ivy League university, she said.
 "We have got to start to think about solutions now because it is costing too much money," she said.

PATTY MASTERSON, The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk), November 21, 1995, Pg. A12, HEADLINE: Another View: Why Younger Kids' Crimes Are So Violent // acs-VT97
     Yes, ''adult crimes'' warrant ''adult punishment.''
 But the truth of the matter is that the society that encourages incorrigible acts through its indifference and its negligence has no right to sit in judgment on those whose deprivation and despair it ignores. Governor Allen, Delegate Mims and the commission would do well to look to the roots of juvenile crime. They would find it much less costly - and probably far more profitable - in the long run.

William C. Bishop, President Family Service Detroit and Wayne County, The Detroit News, August 10, 1995, HEADLINE: How should juveniles be dealt with? // acs-VT97
     The Coalition for Juvenile Justice Reform has offered an Action Plan for Crime Control, which outlines how prevention programs can serve as a solution to the problem of increasing crime and violence. Prevention is more cost-effective in the long-term. Recent figures show that it costs more than $ 60,000 to keep a youthful offender in a public institution for one year. Family Service's Alternative Intervention Method (AIM) program offers a family six months of treatment for about $ 2,000. Out of more than 300 families helped by AIM since 1989, 78 percent of the kids have not gone back into the juvenile justice system.

JUVENILE CRIME NEEDS A COMPREHENSIVE SOLUTION

EDITORIAL, The Fresno Bee, March 14, 1996, Pg. B4, HEADLINE: Juvenile boot camps will help // acs-VT97
     But we must keep in mind that the causes of juvenile crime are many and there are no simple solutions. The problem won't be solved without law enforcement, schools, judges, probation officers, churches, businesses, parents and the young people themselves working together to build a better juvenile justice system.

John Foreman, THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC, February 25, 1996 Pg. H5, HEADLINE: PREVENTION NEEDED FOR CHRONIC YOUTHS // acs-VT97
     The only cost-effective way of dealing with serious, chronic juvenile offenders is a prevention program that is a part of a comprehensive plan to fight crime that goes well beyond the juvenile-justice system.

Randi Love, Franklin County Prevention Institute, The Columbus Dispatch, April 24, 1996, Pg. 8A, HEADLINE: PREVENTION IS KEY STEP; TO CURB JUVENILE CRIME // acs-VT97
     A comprehensive approach to prevention that includes skill building, community mobilization, raising awareness, alternative activities, advocacy and positive role modeling can build the resiliency in young people that will prepare them for productive adulthood.
 We owe it to future generations to determine what works in prevention and notsimply to rely on punishment to curb juvenile crime. 

EARLY PREVENTION IS KEY TO SOLVING JUVENILE CRIME

H.M. Cauley; STAFF WRITER, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, January 25, 1996, HEADLINE: Tripping up the truancy trap; Advocates aim to keep youths on right path //acs-VT97
      "Prevention and intervention are the way to go a economically, by saving the cost of crime and public assistance; and socially, by preventing the pain that comes from being a dropout. These kids are moving toward a number of things, all of them bad. If we can stop it early, we can have happy, productive kids and break the cycle that leads to teen pregnancy and juvenile crime. "

Roanoke Times & World News, January 21, 1996, Pg. F2, HEADLINE: PREVENTING YOUTH CRIME - BUT HOW? //acs-VT97
      Prevention is best begun early in a child's life, when values start to form. And it is better begun in early adolescence than later.
 In a report this past fall, the Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development said it concentrated on the earliest years of that age group because that is when "individuals adopt behavior patterns ... that can have lifelong significance." As the age of puberty continues to drop in well-fed Western societies, the age of early adolescence has dropped to as young as 10.

EDITORIAL, Roanoke Times & World News, December 21, 1995, Pg. A14, HEADLINE: COMMON GROUND ON JUVENILE CRIME // acs-VT97
     Lawmakers ought to produce a package of reforms that promote prevention over punishment - but with incarceration included as a form of prevention when it's a good bet a juvenile will go out and hurt more people. The reforms should focus on increased intervention, but at earlier stages of life paths that lead to criminality.

 SUSAN THOMAS, Staffwriter for Nashville Tennessean, edited by Shirley Dicks, 1995; JUVENILE JUSTICE & THE DEATH PENALTY, "Wrong side of a gun" // cjj-VT97 p. 58
"A lot of people don't understand what we're up against," says Metro Police Homicide Major Pat Griffin. "Most kids just don't get up one day, grab a gun and decide to kill somebody. The problems start a lot earlier. The kids start out shoplifting, committing burglary, or whatever, it's a gradual thing. If we're ever going to do anything about it, it has to be early, before they progress up the ladder to violent crimes." 

John Foreman, THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC, February 25, 1996 Pg. H5, HEADLINE: PREVENTION NEEDED FOR CHRONIC YOUTHS // acs-VT97
     We can begin the process of identifying the children at risk by the time they are born. We must identify at-risk children by the time they are in school. Then we must apply protective measures tailored to that child's needs. As a rule, the earlier we intervene, the more effective we will be.

JAMES ALAN FOX, Dean Of The College Of Criminal Justice Northeastern University, FEBRUARY 28, 1996, Federal News Service, Before The Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee On Youth Violence The Impending Youth Crime Wave // acs-VT97
     The hopeful news is that there is still time to stem the tide--to prevent the next wave of youth crime. But we must act now--by reinvesting in schools, recreation, job training, support for families, and mentoring. We must act now while this baby-boomerang generation is still young and impressionable, and will be impressed with what a teacher, a preacher, or some other authority figure has to say. If we wait until these children reach their teenage years and the next crime wave is upon us, it may be too late to do much about it. It is far easier and considerably less expensive to build the child than to rebuild the teen. 

JAMES ALAN FOX, Dean Of The College Of Criminal Justice Northeastern University, FEBRUARY 28, 1996, Federal News Service, Before The Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee On Youth Violence The Impending Youth Crime Wave // acs-VT97
     Many policy-makers have been pushing prevention programs--from education to recreation, but not always prevention that is early enough. For example, antiviolence curricula promoting conflict resolution skills have been introduced in many high schools across America. But that's far too little and much too late. Those teens whom we most need to reach are often not in high school. And if they are in high school, they're not listening. If they're listening, they don't care. We must instead locate these programmatic efforts in the primary grades where we can make a significant difference in the attitudes and behaviors of children before they are seduced by the temptations of street thrills, gang membership, drugs and crime. Of course, we then must be patient, for we will not see an impact of this investment on the crime problem for a number of years. 

EARLY PREVENTION IS KEY TO SOLVING JUVENILE CRIME (CONTINUED)

Gregory Freeman, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 12, 1996, Pg. 9B, HEADLINE: Some Questions On Crime Are Hard To Answer // acs-VT97
     I tire of that phrase that it takes a whole village to raise a child - largely because it's been much overused - but it's become more and more accurate these days. If parents aren't willing to raise their kids, someone else has to step forward and do it.
 To some extent, kids are like plants. They will grow, regardless of whether someone is there to help them. But if we don't want them to grow wild and get out of control, we've got to work with them when they're young and manageable. It's often too late if we wait until they're older.

PENNY BENDER; Gannett News Service, March 7, 1996, HEADLINE: States take the lead in fighting juvenile crime // acs-VT97
     The expense of incarcerating a young adult for five years - from the ages of 18 to 23 - is $ 1.1 million. But programs such as Head Start, which reaches out to at-risk children, cost $ 4,300 per year per child, the Justice Department reports.

John DiIulio, professor of politics Princeton University, The Ledger, March 23, 1996, Pg. A11, HEADLINE: Lock 'em Up Or Else Huge Wave Of Criminally Inclined Coming In Next 10 Years // acs-VT97
     What about the coming wave of juvenile crime? We need to break the problem down in terms of prevention, protection and restraint. There are a lot of kids ages 4 to 7 who in 10 years are going to be 14 to 17 years old, who are in the kinds of situations that produce criminals. Many of these kids can be saved. In a Philadelphia study we found that the mere presence of an adult in the lives of a kid a few hours a week over an 18-month period cuts the incidence of violent behavior by a third, and decreased school absenteeism by 50 percent. So there are many things we can do.

JIM GOGEK, editorial writer, ED GOGEK, psychiatrist, The San Diego Union-Tribune, March 1, 1996, B-5;HEADLINE: A good way to stop juvenile crime before it starts // acs-VT97
     Another problem with our bureaucracies is that instead of helping troubled kids as soon as they're identified, they wait until problems escalate. For example, after the first arrest, most juvenile-justice systems simply put the offender on probation with little or no supervision, even though this early stage is when kids can be turned around. Many disturbed kids are simply ignored by schools or juvenile authorities, when early treatment could reduce the likelihood of trouble later on.

LORI MONTGOMERY, KNIGHT-RIDDER NEWSPAPERS, Roanoke Times & World News, April 28, 1996, SECTION: HORIZON, Pg. 1, HEADLINE: IN 1994: 110,000 CHILDREN UNDER 13 ARRESTED FOR FELONIES // acs-VT97
     Across the country, the crimes of very young children often fall through the cracks, child welfare officials say: They're often too minor to draw the full attention of the juvenile justice system, which is focused on older, more menacing kids. And they draw little response from child-welfare workers preoccupied with younger kids in more immediate danger. Currently, a smattering of programs target these young offenders. More often,however, authorities say they have no good response.

DENNIS McLELLAN, TIMES STAFF WRITER, Los Angeles Times, April 24, 1996, Part E; Page 1; HEADLINE: SPEAKING UP; 'NO MATTER HOW LOUD I SHOUT'... IS BEING HEARD. // acs-VT97
     Changing the way juvenile court does business is another way.
 The court, he [Humes] believes, should be operated like a "legal ER."
 "Someone comes in the door, Bam! Complete triage," he said. "If a kid is heading in the direction you see he's going to commit more crimes, you can restrain him by locking him up: pretrial detention. You can start the kid on probation: pretrial supervision. If there's trouble in the home, get the parent into parenting classes. Don't wait five months to do something that needs to be done right away."

LORI MONTGOMERY, KNIGHT-RIDDER NEWSPAPERS, Roanoke Times & World News, April 28, 1996, SECTION: HORIZON, Pg. 1, HEADLINE: IN 1994: 110,000 CHILDREN UNDER 13 ARRESTED FOR FELONIES // acs-VT97
     At a recent Child Welfare League convention in Washington, Petit unveiled two studies of very young delinquents. One was from Sacramento County, Calif., wherea task force studied children arrested at ages 9 through 12. The other was Wiig's study of delinquents under 10 in Hennepin County, Minn., which includes Minneapolis. The studies show the teen criminals of tomorrow are ''literally being manufactured, programmed, hardwired to behave in a certain way,'' Petit said. ''We know right now who they are.''

EARLY PREVENTION IS KEY TO SOLVING JUVENILE CRIME (CONTINUED)

LORI MONTGOMERY, KNIGHT-RIDDER NEWSPAPERS, Roanoke Times & World News, April 28, 1996, SECTION: HORIZON, Pg. 1, HEADLINE: IN 1994: 110,000 CHILDREN UNDER 13 ARRESTED FOR FELONIES // acs-VT97
     Now, child advocates and law enforcement officials are teaming up to target these children for special intervention while they're still small - and while a frightened public might be persuaded to find them worth saving.
 ''It's no mystery to identify kids before they become serious offenders,'' said Michael Petit, deputy director of the Child Welfare League of America in Washington, D.C.
 ''If you see a kid that's 7 or 8 years old who is actually burglarizing buildings or being physically aggressive or has been involved with starting fires, you can't say he'll grow out of it. What we see is he grows into it more.''

EDITORIAL; The San Francisco Chronicle, APRIL 21, 1996, Pg. 6; HEADLINE: The National Crisis Of Juvenile Crime // acs-VT97
     It is unknown how steep the costs may be -- both in terms of dollars and societal upheaval -- if the crisis of juvenile crime is answered by simply coming down harder and with adult sanctions on young miscreants. But if society chooses to ignore efforts to intervene at the earliest ages with kids who are most at-risk to become criminals, the cost will certainly be astronomical.

Los Angeles Times, April 21, 1996, Part B; Page 8; HEADLINE: GROWTH SPURT IN JUVENILE CRIME // acs-VT97
     The community clearly is better off reaching youngsters before they commit crimes or at least before their crimes are violent.

Nick Gillespie, senior editor of Reason magazine & Joseph Overton, Mackinac Center for Public Policy, The Detroit News, April 21, 1996, HEADLINE: Swift punishment deters juvenile crime // acs-VT97
     It is particularly important for youthful offenders to learn that criminalityis a choice. Long-term patterns of violent criminal behavior generally begin during the juvenile years and grow in intensity. It is rare when a murder, rape or assault is a criminal's first crime. About one-third of all boys in the United States will be arrested before turning 18. While most will not be arrested again, for those who are, each successive arrest places them at a higher chance of being detained in the future, culminating in 90 percent probability for those with five or six arrests. University of Pennsylvania criminologist Marvin Wolfgang has identified the latter as the "chronic offenders," the 6 percent of boys who account for more than 50 percent of all arrests.

Bill Johnson, Detroit News editorial writer, The Columbus Dispatch, April 14, 1996, Pg. 2C, HEADLINE: KIDS AND CRIME; INTERVENTION COULD RESULT IN A BIG PAYOFF // acs-VT97
     The latest research shows that children arrested for crimes at an early age almost invariably grow up to commit serious crimes, unless there is some meaningful kind of intervention.
 Because of this, child advocates and law-enforcement officials in some areas are joining to see these children get special attention while they are young andwhile a frightened public might still be convinced that these young lives are worth saving. One thing should be made clear: No matter what their age, those who commit a crime should receive appropriate punishment.

The Boston Globe, March 24, 1996, Pg. 81, HEADLINE: THE YOUNG AND THE VIOLENT; Teen-agers are hurting others - and themselves // acs-VT97
     FOX, dean of the College of Criminal Justice at Northeastern University : It's far cheaper and more effective to build a child than to rebuild the adult. 

388The Boston Globe, March 24, 1996, Pg. 81, HEADLINE: THE YOUNG AND THE VIOLENT; Teen-agers are hurting others - and themselves // acs-VT97
     LOUGHRAN, former commissioner of the Department of Youth Services : . . . We have to reinvest in preschool programs, after-school programs, athletic programs, community programs, boys' and girls' clubs, YMCAs - whatever - just to make sure we involve ourselves with our kids.

EDITORIAL; St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 19, 1995, Pg. 6B, HEADLINE: AN OUNCE OF CRIME PREVENTION // acs-VT97
     Such programs are often lumped under the heading of "midnight basketball" and derided as spending on social programs, not crime. But just as the cost of college is cheaper than the cost of prison, money spent early on preventing crime is an effective, humane way to avoid spending more money on courts and jail cells later on - not to mention preventing the waste of lives. Treating youthful offenders properly is good; keeping them from becoming offenders is far better.

THE ANSWER TO SOLVING JUVENILE VIOLENCE IS PREVENTIVE FUNDING.

Jerry Regier, Director Oklahoma Department Of Juvenile Justice, March 12, 1996, Federal News Service, Senate Committee On The Judiciary Subcommittee On Youth Violence Hearing On "Funding Youth Violence Programs: Should The Strings Be Cut?" // acs-VT97
     - Quotas are not the answer Youth are placed in the system based on their acts, not their race. We do not plan to go out and arrest more Native American youth to get their numbers up, nor will we cease arresting African American juveniles who commit crimes. Youth are arrested and adjudicated based on their acts, not their race. Violent acts especially require the protection of the public. But, the answer to this is to ensure prevention monies get to the right neighborhoods and families so we can actually reduce the percentage of African-Americans coming into the System.. 

 BARRY KRISBERG, Pres. National Council on Crime & Delinquency, 1993; REINVENTING JUVENILE JUSTICE // cjjVT97 p. 186 
At the federal and state levels, serious consideration should be given to reducing the categorical approach to funding children's programs. This conventional budgetary approach contributes to a focus on symptoms rather than on underlying causes. Modest policy experiments promoting more flexible financing of prevention and intervention programs should be attempted. The basic objective of these field experiments should be treating the whole child in his or her family and community context.

THE SOLUTION TO JUVENILE CRIME RESTS IN VIEWING CHILDREN AS IMPORTANT.

Cheryl H. Wilhoyte, Madison Metropolitan School District's superintendent, Capital Times, August 21, 1995, Pg. 3C, HEADLINE: Revival Of Hope Only Remedy For Nation's Angry Kids // acs-VT97
     If you are looking for a solution to the problem of kids and crime, I don't think you'll find it in new juvenile justice codes. I don't think you'll find it in bootcamps. You certainly won't find it in a political climate in which funding for midnight basketball is considered political pork, and infant nutrition and youth employment programs are labeled ''wasteful government spending.''
 I think the solution rests in restoring children to their rightful place as our country's most precious national resource. Just as children have been systematically devalued over the course of the last 15 years, we need to start actively revaluing our young people.
We won't solve crime as long as we focus on crime. We'll solve it when we invest in the real antidote -- hope.

 THOMAS BERNARD, 1992; THE CYCLE OF JUVENILE JUSTICE //am-VT97 
p. 187 
Traditional societies lacked a problem of juvenile delinquency because juveniles in them were firmly embedded in a larger social context. They were born into a fixed place in society arid moved from childhood through adolescence and into adulthood with a clear understanding of the roles they would play and the functions they would have in the larger society. Such a firm embedding is not inconsistent with modem urban industrialized societies. European countries that have well-developed apprenticing programs for youths have lower delinquency rates. P Many middle- and upper-class youths in our own society also have a firm sense of being on a clear track that moves from childhood through adolescence and into an adulthood in which they will have a role and a function. Research suggests that such juveniles do not engage in juvenile delinquency. 

Mike Males and Faye Docuyanan, social ecology doctoral students at the University of California, Irvine, The Progressive, February, 1996, Pg. 24; HEADLINE: Giving up on the young; // acs-VT97
     Wayne Thompson, Oklahoma Juvenile Crime Prevention Program: "The alienation of young people from the traditional institutions is profound. This is the legacy we're leaving: armed camps. If we don't learn how to share with the people who are now powerless, this culture is ultimately going to acquire the means to bring our society to an end."

EXAMINING MENTAL HEALTH IS IMPORTANT IN SOLVING JUVENILE CRIME.

FOCUSING ON EMOTIONALLY DISTURBED CHILDREN IS THE KEY TO SOLVING JUVENILE CRIME.

JIM GOGEK, editorial writer, ED GOGEK, psychiatrist, The San Diego Union-Tribune, March 1, 1996, B-5;HEADLINE: A good way to stop juvenile crime before it starts // acs-VT97
     But we do know that emotionally disturbed youngsters are creating a precipitous rise in juvenile delinquency. The key to solving this problem is catching those troubled kids before they get in trouble.
Most of these children can be spotted before they begin lives of crime. Ask teachers, social workers, cops and juvenile authorities. They can all identify the small group of emotionally disturbed children who will grow up to become the majority of criminals.

FOSTERING AND BUILDING CHARACTER TRAITS IS KEY TO SOLVING JUVENILE CRIME.

 SUSAN THOMAS, Staffwriter for Nashville Tennessean, edited by Shirley Dicks, 1995; JUVENILE JUSTICE & THE DEATH PENALTY, "Wrong side of a gun" // cjj-VT97 p.61 
 A small number of violent juveniles are diagnosed as sociopaths, individuals incapable of feeling compassion or remorse, kids who just don't care. But, experts say, most violent kids today are children who somehow fail to acquire basic living skills such as respect, self-esteem, trust, character traits that could help them stop before they pick up a weapon and rob, rape, assault, or kill. 

Lisa Dwyer-Dantzler, The Herald (Rock Hill, S.C.), October 27, 1995, Pg. 1B, HEADLINE: Drugs boost youth crime // acs-VT97
     Shannon agreed. The psychiatrist said developing a child's self-confidence is the key to them resisting negative peer pressure.
 "We need to start early," she said. "We need to give children the building blocks."

JeanMundy, Parks & Recreation, March, 1996; Pg. 78; HEADLINE: Tipping the scales from risk to resiliency // acs-VT97
     Another encouraging body of research is the recent findings on resilient youth, youth who have grown up in adverse family and environmental situations and have nevertheless "made it." These youth have succeeded in overcoming, or being resistant to, the negative influences, that contribute to problem behavior in other youth. One researcher defines resiliency as the "successful adaptation following exposure to stressful life events," where the exposed child prevails in leading a normal, productive life in spite of the negative nature of his or her childhood environment.
 Two lines of thought identify resiliency as being rooted in 1) the innate physical and mental characteristics of the child; and 2) the existence of "protective factors' within the child's daily experiences.
 This article will focus on resiliency through the protective factors within the child's experiences. By exploring research findings, we can create a base for fostering resiliency through our programs and services. Protective factors that foster resiliency have been found within the family, school and community. These positive factors can be translated into strategies, which can then be applied within recreation and leisure systems to help protect at-risk youth and foster resiliency through recreation and leisure. Below, these protective factors are identified and then applied to leisure systems.

Jean Mundy, Parks & Recreation, March, 1996; Pg. 78; HEADLINE: Tipping the scales from risk to resiliency // acs-VT97
     In summary, research strongly indicates that there is hope for high-risk youth. Prevention strategies can be put into place within community systems and successfully surmount daily. adverse home and environmental experiences. By understanding the nature of youth at risk and many of the factors in their resiliency, we can learn how to tailor prevention strategies and successfully integrate them into recreation and park systems. Implementing, monitoring and measuring the effects of these strategies enables our profession to be a powerful preventative force within any community.

CHANGING SCHOOLS WILL BEGIN CHANGES TO STOP JUVENILE CRIME.

MORE FUNDING IS NEEDED FOR SCHOOLS IN ORDER TO REDUCE JUVENILE CRIME

Cheryl H. Wilhoyte, Madison Metropolitan School District's superintendent, Capital Times, August 21, 1995, Pg. 3C, HEADLINE: Revival Of Hope Only Remedy For Nation's Angry Kids // acs-VT97
     Some suggest that we have to get ''tougher'' on juvenile crime. .. they say young people have to be ''scared straight.'' If you look at the federal budget, this viewpoint is national policy. The 1995 federal budget includes $ 100 million for school building repair, while the crime bill passed in 1994 includes $ 1.3 billion a year for the next six years for state and local prisons. That is a $ 13 federal investment in prisons for every $ 1 investedschools.

Cheryl H. Wilhoyte, Madison Metropolitan School District's superintendent, Capital Times, August 21, 1995, Pg. 3C, HEADLINE: Revival Of Hope Only Remedy For Nation's Angry Kids // acs-VT97
     I don't think the problem is a lack of fear. Our young people have plenty of fear. The problem is there's not enough hope. We are writing a blank check for prisons, but put spending caps on schools. We blithely spend more and more every year on the failure of adults, but fret over the cost of investing in the success of young people. The federal government spends only $ 100 million to repair schools when its own General Accounting Office concludes that our nation's schools need $ 112 billion in basic repairs. But over a billion dollars every year for more prisons? No problem.

BOB HERBERT, The New York Times, March 4, 1996, Section A; Page 17; HEADLINE: In America; Trouble After School // acs-VT97
     "Most urban school systems are too strapped financially to provide the rich array of extracurricular activities that they offered a mere generation ago," said Mr. Price. Other recreational and cultural programs have vanished, or are in such dire shape financially they reach only a small percentage of the youngsters who need them. So the kids find things to do on their own. They do not all get into trouble by any means, but many find themselves sliding down the dangerous slope of drugs, sex, gangs and hard-core criminal activity.

CHANGING THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM WILL REDUCE JUVENILE DELINQUENCY.

ROBERT LITTLE, STAFF WRITER, The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk), November 22, 1995, Pg. A1, HEADLINE: Black Youths In Va. Get Harsher Penalties Than Whites, Study Says // acs-VT97
     ''This just points out the need to emphasize education - the need to emphasize counseling and one-on-one treatment,'' said Del. Clinton Miller, R-Woodstock, a frequent administration critic.
''We've got to get into more prevention programs and do away with this political mantra . . . that says lock them all up.''

 DAVID SANDBERG, Lawyer, judge, and Director of the Program on Law and Child Maltreatment Boston Univ, 1989; THE CHILD ABUSEDELINQUENCY CONNECTION // am-VT97 p. 124
If we are looking for an experience that offers young victims a potential offset to the harmful effects of maltreatment and the likelihood of later delinquency, none is more promising than a successful educational experience. The research is clear: Recidivist delinquents uniformly do not succeed in school. Put another way, youth who do well in school seldom wind up in delinquency court. In my own law practice, I cannot recall more than one or two of my delinquent clients graduating from high school. On the contrary, school has primarily been a bad experience for them almost from the day they first arrived in school as five- and six-year-olds, notwithstanding the dedicated efforts of some individual teachers, usually at the elementary level.
Therefore, it is exciting to think that if we can provide a meaningful educational experience for abused and neglected children, we will go a long way in reducing the risk for later delinquency. The key lies with insisting that all children have a meaningful educational experience and addressing all major impediments, including child abuse and neglect, to children having such an experience. 

NON-VIOLENT CONFLICT RESOLUTION WORKS

Joan Little, Staff Writer, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 2, 1995, Pg. 1B, HEADLINE: CONFERENCE STRESSES NEED FOR POSITIVE PARENTING // acs-VT97
     Children need to know that it takes more strength to walk away from a conflict, conference participants said.
 "We, as parents, have to teach them that nonviolence is a very powerful tool," said Phyllis Palmer, a city parent with grown children. "People of color have been able to use nonviolence as a very effective tool. Gandhi did it; Martin Luther King did it."

MICHAEL O'CONNOR, STAFF WRITER, Omaha World Herald, December 21, 1995; Pg. 17SF, HEADLINE: Survey Reflects Rising School Violence // acs-VT97
     Jerry Wilks, principal of Lincoln Northeast High School, said the number of fights among his students dropped by 50 percent over the last two years because of a program in which student mediators try to settle arguments between classmates before fights breaks out.
 But when fights do occur, they are more violent, Wilks said. He said a fight after school on the edge of the school's campus might involve a baseball bat instead of fists, for example.
Doug Kyles, principal of Morton Middle School in Omaha, agreed that while the number of fights has not increased, the violence of some of them has.

CHRISTOPHER ELSER; The Morning Call (Allentown), November 20, 1995, Pg. B1, HEADLINE: TASK FORCE: TEACH KIDS TO TALK, NOT FIGHT // acs-VT97
     Lorenzo Henderson, the coordinator of the district's mediation program, said it gives students a skill they will use for the rest of their lives. He hopes to start the program in elementary schools also.
 "By the time these kids get into middle school and the high school, they will know skills that will allow them to resolve conflicts," he said. "Kids don't know how to resolve conflicts now. They simply don't know what to do."

Linda Valdez, THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC, February 18, 1996 Pg. H1, HEADLINE: America's Least Wanted; In The Juvenile-Crime Wars, The Secret Weapon Is Us // acs-VT97
     Some schools teach young children non-violent methods of conflict resolution, which provide a protective counterbalance to the endless messages of might makes right. Hawkins notes that such programs need to be offered early in elementary grades so children grow up with the skills they need to manage and control their anger and violent impulses. It doesn't take politicians to make this happen. You can make sure the children at your local elementary school are learning how to handle anger. If your school can't afford to bring in a trainer to show the staff how it is done, you can organize a fund-raising event to pay for one. Parents have done that, says Jane Wabnik, who has been offering her "Building Harmony: The No-Hate Program" to Valley schools since 1992. 

QUALITY PRE-SCHOOL IS KEY TO REDUCING JUVENILE CRIME.

Linda Valdez, THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC, February 18, 1996 Pg. H1, HEADLINE: America's Least Wanted; In The Juvenile-Crime Wars, The Secret Weapon Is Us // acs-VT97
     One protective counterforce is high quality preschools. These programs, like the one offered at Isaac Preschool in Phoenix, are based on the High/Scope Perry Preschool model. They offer extensive services for parents, including parenting classes, English classes, GED classes and regular home visits designed to teach parents what children need to develop mentally and emotionally. Such programs have a record of success. A 27-year study of children who went through the Perry Preschool in Michigan in the 1960s showed that adult Perry alums had higher monthly earnings and significantly fewer brushes with the law than a similar group of children who did not attend the program. 

John Foreman, THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC, February 25, 1996 Pg. H5, HEADLINE: PREVENTION NEEDED FOR CHRONIC YOUTHS // acs-VT97
     We also have some quality at-risk preschools, such as Head Start programs. Head Start has been around for a while and it is helping. In 5 1/2 years on the Juvenile Court bench in hundreds of delinquency cases, I remember only two children who went through a quality preschool program. We will never feel the full protective effect of quality preschools until we provide them for all at-risk children.

STOPPING TRUANCY FROM SCHOOL IS KEY TO PREVENTING LATER JUVENILE CRIME.

The Boston Globe, March 24, 1996, Pg. 81, HEADLINE: THE YOUNG AND THE VIOLENT; Teen-agers are hurting others - and themselves // acs-VT97
     Martin, the Suffolk County district attorney:
 We don't talk honestly about the cost we incur, one way or another. Now, we may not want to pay for the alternative education program for that kid who's destructive . . . but we're going to pay for it sooner or later. And why wait until we have to expel that kid? I can tell you one thing that leads to mounting costs in the criminal justice system is a way we don't pay attention to truants. It's usually one of the first indicators that a kid is sliding down that slope to no good, and we don't pay any attention to it, we don't devote any resources to it, and it just makes it more likely that we're going to pay for him as a juvenile or an adult offender later. 

EDITORIAL; St. Petersburg Times, January 9, 1996, Pg. 8A, HEADLINE: Getting truants on track //acs-VT97
     Experts say truancy is caused by a combination of socioeconomic factors associated with the child's home and school environments.
Whatever the combination, most educators and child/student advocates are convinced that school is the one place youngsters need to be. 

H.M. Cauley; STAFF WRITER, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, January 25, 1996, HEADLINE: Tripping up the truancy trap; Advocates aim to keep youths on right path //acs-VT97
      Walsh, a past president of the Atlanta Bar Association, saw so many instances of truancy that outside help could improve a if not solve a that he launched the Truancy Intervention Project (TIP) four years ago. Since then, the joint effort of the Bar and the Fulton County Juvenile Court created Kids In Need of Dreams (KIND) Inc., a nonprofit group that coordinates the project's funding.
 Now, with almost 500 cases under their belt, KIND volunteers have put about half of those students back in the classroom.
 "The vast majority of truancy cases are kids going down the wrong path because of something else that's gone wrong in their lives," said Walsh, an attorney with Alston & Bird.

SCHOOL TO WORK PROGRAMS ARE EFFECTIVE IN CREATING SUCCESS FOR KIDS.

Karina Bland, Staff writer, THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC, February 26, 1996, Pg. A1, HEADLINE: PRAISE FOR PROGRAMS THAT HELP YOUNGSTERS // acs-VT97
     Another program cited in the report is Arizona School-To-Work Partnership, which helps teenagers stay in school or get back to school and find good jobs. In five years, 800 kids have gone through the program, and 87 percent graduated - that in a state with the third-highest dropout rate nationwide. After graduation, 92 percent of the kids either had jobs or were in the military or college. 

YEAR ROUND SCHOOL HAS MANY BENEFITS FOR CHILDREN AND COMMUNITIES ALIKE.

Kate Zernike, The Patriot Ledger, November 22, 1995 Pg. 06, HEADLINE: Keep schools open longer, state advises ; Rise in working parents cited // acs-VT97
     Recognizing the increasing numbers of working parents and latch-key kids, the state Board of Education is recommending that one in four schools in every community be open year-round, on weekends and beyond the traditional closing hour every afternoon.
"We need to be more aggressive in using the resources of our schools," said Paul Reville, the board member who headed a commission on the use of school time.
 "They are our most obvious expression of concern for young people, and they are the most obvious places to provide opportunities for young people."

TERRY BATEY, State Correspondent , The Tennessean, October 24, 1995, Pg. 4B, HEADLINE: Year-round school concept reconsidered // acs-VT97
     Conference participants noted that year-round school would encourage continuous learning and reduce overcrowding. It also could help prevent teacher and student burn-out and possibly reduce juvenile crime. 

AFTER SCHOOL ACTIVITIES ARE NEEDED TO PREVENT JUVENILE VIOLENCE

BOB HERBERT, The New York Times, March 4, 1996, Section A; Page 17; HEADLINE: In America; Trouble After School // acs-VT97
     Prevention, despite the canards from certain conservative quarters, is not a dirty word. The National Center for Juvenile Justice released a study last fall showing that the peak hours for juvenile crime are between 3 and 6 P.M., the period immediately after school. If adults saw to it that youngsters were constructively engaged in that period, crime would go down. Instead, for a variety of reasons, including relentless budget cuts, we are giving youngsters less and less to do after school.

Karina Bland, Staff writer, THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC, February 26, 1996, Pg. A1, HEADLINE: PRAISE FOR PROGRAMS THAT HELP YOUNGSTERS // acs-VT97
     The report says teenagers need someplace to go and something to do. It recognizes KidCo in Tucson, in which kids can attend sport and art camps or work on job skills. During summer 1993, juvenile crime in Tucson dropped by 52 percent, and police attributed the decline to KidCo and other such programs. 

John DiIulio, professor of politics Princeton University, The Ledger, March 23, 1996, Pg. A11, HEADLINE: Lock 'em Up Or Else Huge Wave Of Criminally Inclined Coming In Next 10 Years // acs-VT97
     With more public funds, schools can open their doors after hours. Churches can, too. Prevention programs shouldn't be sneered at. They're the modern replacement for the nosy neighbor across the street who used to keep an eye on the kids.

John DiIulio, professor of politics Princeton University, The Ledger, March 23, 1996, Pg. A11, HEADLINE: Lock 'em Up Or Else Huge Wave Of Criminally Inclined Coming In Next 10 Years // acs-VT97
     But there are kids out there we can keep from ever getting in trouble if we put our minds to it. The answer lies in prevention programs funded by public dollars. We can keep some children from becoming murderers, rapists, and drug addicts, if we give them attention and supervision. We already know where the problem lies: The typical hour for juvenile crime is 3 p.m. -- around the time when most schools let out.

JONATHAN SALTZMAN; Journal-Bulletin Staff Writer, The Providence Journal-Bulletin, April 22, 1996, Pg. 6C, HEADLINE: Salve Regina justice professor on youth crime and punishment // acs-VT97
     [Lawyer Robin L. Hoffmann, an associate professor of administration of justiceat Salve Regina University] 
You've identified a major problem. Some are advocating that inner-city kindergartens and first grades be smaller, so that teachers can recognize these warning signals. Many are advocating a complete change of our school system. . ..
 One possibility is to rethink what our schools should be, and when they closeand when they open. Schools are a community resource. They often have gyms. Theyoften have equipment that is nowhere to be found for these kids outside of school. Schools should not be closing their doors at 3 o'clock. . . . There should be after-school programs for these kids. There should be tutoring available for these kids. There should be structured sports activities for the kids, until 9 or 10 o'clock at night and, on weekends, maybe even later.

Kate Zernike, The Patriot Ledger, November 22, 1995 Pg. 06, HEADLINE: Keep schools open longer, state advises ; Rise in working parents cited // acs-VT97
     Secretary of Education Michael Sentance told the board that crime experts say juvenile crime rates can be reduced if schools offer students something to do in their non-academic hours.
 Sheets agreed. "Having the schools open takes young people off the streets for thousands of hours," he said.
 "Whether it's downtown Boston or downtown Quincy, it's very difficult for kids to find meaningful activities, and for parents to entertain them at home," Sheets said.

EDITORIAL; The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, October 29, 1995, Pg. 6C, HEADLINE: A SPECIAL Violence, Fear and Children // acs-VT97
     School is the most dangerous place for a young person. The peak time of day that juveniles both commit crimes and become crime victims is 3 p.m. We may need midnight basketball programs, but we need after-school recreation programs much more. Churches and other institutions should schedule youth activities before dinner, not after.

RECREATION PROGRAMS ARE EFFECTIVE IN PREVENTING JUVENILE VIOLENCE

EDITORIAL, The Baltimore Sun, July 14, 1995, Pg. 12A, HEADLINE: Curfew only part of solution // acs-VT97
     The best thing to come out of the scramble to write a new juvenile curfew law for Baltimore may be a greater investment in recreation centers. City officials have long acknowledged the importance of youth recreation programs in keeping young people away from drugs and crime. But they invest too little in city rec centers to gain all the benefits.
 That could change with the search for alternatives to curfew laws that keep succumbing to judicial review. Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke has asked the finance and recreation departments to see if some of the city's $ 1 million emergency fund can be used to keep swimming pools and rec centers open longer, perhaps with adult volunteers staffing them. He said information he has received from other cities indicates "having extensive recreation programs has more of an impact on reducing crime in urban areas among our youth than having curfews."

Harold Jackson, EDITORIAL, The Baltimore Sun, July 27, 1995, Pg. 15A, HEADLINE: Curfews, like speed limits, only selectively enforced // acs-VT97
     Good youth recreation programs can have a tremendous impact not only on juvenile crime but also on public education. Positive recreational activities usually generate positive attitudes that children will take to school.

PR Newswire, April 16, 1996, HEADLINE: "PROGRAMS THAT WORK" AGAINST JUVENILE CRIME, DRUG ABUSE, GANGS FEATURED IN NEW REPORT FROM NATIONAL RECREATION & PARK ASSOCIATION // acs-VT97
     The report, "Recreation in High Risk Environments -- Programs That Work," profiles 21 programs around the country, many of which have dramatically reducedthe incidents of crime, gang activity and vandalism in the communities. These include: 
 -- The Gang Alternative Prevention Program (G.A.P.P.) in Commerce, Calif, which combines outreach and counseling to give youth positive alternatives to gang and drug involvement.     
 -- A collaborative effort in Fort Worth, Texas called Comin' Up, that seeks to positively impact the lives of youths involved in gangs by providing need-based services and activities.
     -- Mayor's Night Hoops, a recreation-based program in Kansas City, Mo., that combines sports and education to help young people achieve broader goals.

PR Newswire, April 16, 1996, HEADLINE: "PROGRAMS THAT WORK" AGAINST JUVENILE CRIME, DRUG ABUSE, GANGS FEATURED IN NEW REPORT FROM NATIONAL RECREATION & PARK ASSOCIATION // acs-VT97
     Amidst national debate over juvenile justice, a new report from the NationalRecreation and Park Association (NRPA) gives evidence that some of the most successful and cost-effective at-risk youth programs are those coordinated by local park and recreation departments. It also points out an increasingneed for such programs in smaller communities as well as urban centers.

PR Newswire, April 16, 1996, HEADLINE: "PROGRAMS THAT WORK" AGAINST JUVENILE CRIME, DRUG ABUSE, GANGS FEATURED IN NEW REPORT FROM NATIONAL RECREATION & PARK ASSOCIATION // acs-VT97
     "These programs were selected for the report because they are results-oriented, cost-effective and replicable. They represent cooperative efforts to address a broad base of issues that local park and recreation departments and their communities face," said Barry Tindall, NRPA public policy director. "Our research shows that the majority of local park and recreation departments offer programs that specifically address at-risk youth issues such as gangs, drugs, teenage pregnancy and dropping out. Many of these programs have begun in just the last five years, and an increasing number are being started in smaller suburban communities." 

PR Newswire, April 16, 1996, HEADLINE: "PROGRAMS THAT WORK" AGAINST JUVENILE CRIME, DRUG ABUSE, GANGS FEATURED IN NEW REPORT FROM NATIONAL RECREATION & PARK ASSOCIATION // acs-VT97
     "Few people would disagree that preventing crime is preferable to bearing the high social and economic costs of dealing with crime after- the-fact," said R. Dean Tice, NRPA executive director. "Yet, many local park and recreation agencies are facing a shortage of resources, a political climate focused on law enforcement and incarceration, and a reluctance to invest in other prevention strategies.

PR Newswire, April 16, 1996, HEADLINE: "PROGRAMS THAT WORK" AGAINST JUVENILE CRIME, DRUG ABUSE, GANGS FEATURED IN NEW REPORT FROM NATIONAL RECREATION & PARK ASSOCIATION // acs-VT97
     "This report and our research demonstrate that local recreation- based programming must be part of the national solution to juvenile crime and related issues." 

A PUBLIC HEALTH APPROACH IS THE WAY TO SOLVE FOR YOUTH CRIME

 BARRY KRISBERG, Pres. National Council on Crime & Delinquency, 1993; REINVENTING JUVENILE JUSTICE // cjj-VT97 
p. 182
 First, serious youth crime must be reconceptualized as a public health problem as well as a law enforcement problem. As with most other health issues, this perspective would immediately direct our attention to preventive strategies. By definition a juvenile justice system is reactionary. A public health perspective would allow juvenile-offenders-to be understood as both victims and victimizers. The linkage is undeniable among physical abuse, parental neglect, and violent youth crime. This does not mean that young people are unaccountable for their behavior. However, a public health approach offers the possibility of comprehending the origins of youthful violence and formulating rational responses. 

 BARRY KRISBERG, Pres. National Council on Crime & Delinquency, 1993; REINVENTING JUVENILE JUSTICE /// cjjVT97 p. 183
To support the public health paradigm, the juvenile justice system must genuinely build knowledge about adolescent development into its basic policies and procedures. The best research on adolescent development must be incorporated in the professional education and training of juvenile justice practitioners. In addition, elected officials enacting laws and defining agency policies need more in depth understanding of the data on adolescent development.

 BARRY KRISBERG, Pres. National Council on Crime & Delinquency, 1993; REINVENTING JUVENILE JUSTICE: // cjj-VT97 
p. 183
 A public health approach to delinquency inevitably would point us to the exploration of environmental factors in the promotion of delinquency. Greater attention must be placed on the harmful impact of the easy availability of guns and drugs as well as on the mass media's commercialization of violence. We must better understand how violence becomes defined as an integral part of manhood in certain communities. and how these dangerous socialization processes can be modified. Moreover, a public health perspective would direct attention to community organizing and self-help strategies that have proven their efficacy in many other health promotion campaigns.

CHRISTOPHER JOHNS, THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC, November 5, 1995; Pg. F3, HEADLINE: An Ounce Of Prevention; Public Health Prescriptions Can Ease Juvenile Crime Wave // acs-VT97
     The other answer is adopting a public health model to fight juvenile crime. Many crime researchers have been advocating this approach for years. Children aren't mini-adults. They are different. Any realistic approach to dealing with them has to acknowledge this and that domestic violence, poverty, substance abuse and neglect environments are catalysts for crime.

CHRISTOPHER JOHNS, THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC, November 5, 1995; Pg. F3, HEADLINE: An Ounce Of Prevention; Public Health Prescriptions Can Ease Juvenile Crime Wave // acs-VT97
     So how would a public health model strategy work? Dr. J. David Hawkins, a professor at the University of Washington, makes the analogy to disease control in a research study for the U.S. Justice Department issued in August. To fight disease in this country, Hawkins says researchers determined what factors caused it. The risk factors for cardiovascular disease were identified as "tobacco use, high-fat diet, sedentary lifestyle, high stress levels, and a family history of heart disease." Researchers also found that certain protective factors like exercise and stress reduction prevent heart disease. Through a massive public campaign we are now reducing heart disease.

PRENATAL\PERINATAL CARE IS THE CORNERSTONE TO SOLVING SOCIETAL PROBLEMS

EDITORIAL; The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, October 29, 1995, Pg. 6C, HEADLINE: A SPECIAL Violence, Fear and Children // acs-VT97
     Healthy Families, a program started in Hawaii, is a national home- visiting program with a successful track record. At Grady Hospital in Atlanta, teenage mothers with certain risk factors are invited to participate. For five years, a trained professional visits weekly, teaching the family how to care for the child.

EDITORIAL; The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, October 29, 1995, Pg. 6C, HEADLINE: A SPECIAL Violence, Fear and Children // acs-VT97
     Studies show that the Healthy Families program dramatically improves the prospects for at-risk children in everything from health to education. In 1991, the U.S. Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect recommended the program be available to all newborns. Georgia would save millions of dollars in health, welfare and prison costs if it followed Hawaii's lead and implemented the program statewide. 

 ANTHONY WALSH, Ph.D. Dept. of Criminal Justice Boise State Univ., 1991; INTELLECTUAL IMBALANCE, LOVE DEPRIVATION AND VIOLENT DELINQUENCY: A BISOCIAL PERSPECTIVE // am-VT97 p. 184
Although it is beyond question that the kinds -of intervention studies reported produce positive outcomes, little or nothing is done on a society-wide scale to implement the kinds of strategies studied. We are far behind Canada and Western European nations in actually applying what we know to be useful and beneficial. These countries provide all their citizens with equal medical care (often at no cost), they provide paid maternal leave, and many pay family allowances for each dependent child. These services are available to all, not only to those who have demonstrated a special need (Coleman and Cressey, 1987:180). The United States has rates of violent crime (murder, rape, robbery, and so forth) approximately five times higher than any of these countries (National Institute of Justice, 1987); one cannot help but wonder how much of this difference is attributable to the less generous provisions we make for our citizens, especially our less fortunate citizens. 

 ANTHONY WALSH, Ph.D. Dept. of Criminal Justice Boise State Univ., 1991; INTELLECTUAL IMBALANCE, LOVE DEPRIVATION AND VIOLENT DELINQUENCY: A BISOCIAL PERSPECTIVE // am-VT97 1 p. 184
 Reducing these prenatal risk factors and assessing the outcome of doing so were the goals of the federally funded Prenatal/Early Infancy Project (Olds, 1984). This project provided a comprehensive array of medical, educational and counseling services, and nurse visitation services to young, unwed, lower SES women both prenatally and postnatally. Compared with a matched control group of women, women who received services gave birth to fewer premature and low birth-weight babies, smoked and drank less, were more likely to return to school, viewed their infants more positively, and played with them more often. Six percent of the serviced mothers were reported to have abused or neglected their infants compared to 20 percent of the unserviced mothers. The incidence of child maltreatment among the unserviced mothers rose over time, but no such trend was observed among the serviced mothers. This sophisticated longitudinal study showed that appropriate early intervention can significantly reduce the stresses and disabilities so prevalent among at-risk mothers. Reducing such stresses reduces the probability of abuse and neglect, improves the intellectual functioning of the children, and reduces the risk of future delinquency. 

 ANTHONY WALSH, Ph.D. Dept. of Criminal Justice Boise State Univ., 1991; INTELLECTUAL IMBALANCE, LOVE DEPRIVATION AND  VIOLENT DELINQUENCY: A BISOCIAL PERSPECTIVE // am-VT97 62
 It appears that neuronal metabolism is highly influenced by nutrition and infancy and early childhood stimulation, especially tactile stimulation. This observation paves the way for developing intervention strategies, especially for lower SES children. Prenatal and perinatal care and education among the poor in this country is primitive compared to what is available in other industrialized democracies; we now rank twentieth in infant mortality in the world. Malnutrition and improper medical care for mothers can leave their children vulnerable to poor brain development and, hence, to a level of intellectual functioning which will leave them severely disadvantaged in the struggle to become productive, law abiding members of society. We can be doing so much more than we currently are to raise intellectual functioning among the disadvantaged classes. Indeed, if we are serious about our desire to tackle the problem of delinquency and the issues of injustice and inequality in general, wemust do more.

ACCESSIBLE CHILD CARE WOULD RESULT IN LESS CRIME

SHIRLEY DICKS, 1995; YOUNG BLOOD: JUVENILE JUSTICE & THE DEATH PENALTY // cjj-VT97 p. 291 
Money—or the lack of it—lies at the root of much juvenile crime. A young mother trying to raise her children alone finds the cost of child care out of reach. Making minimum wage, she cannot pay a babysitter to watch her children, so the kids are left alone and to their own devices. They run the streets, get involved in gangs and drugs, and sooner or later become our young criminals. Free or reduced-rate child care would result in less crime because the kids wouldn't be out on the streets unsupervised. 

PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT AND RESPONSIBILITY ARE NEEDED IN ORDER TO SOLVE FOR JUVENILE CRIME

Jack Westman, prof of psychiatry at the UWisconsin Medical School, Wisconsin State Journal, October 26, 1995, Pg. 13A, HEADLINE: TO PREVENT JUVENILE CRIME PROVIDE ADEQUATE PARENTING // acs-VT97
     The steady rise in juvenile crime in Wisconsin has brought pressure for more punishment or more treatment for juvenile offenders. Neither will be effective if we continue to avoid facing the root causes of juvenile crime. 
 Research clearly shows that the most important causes of juvenile crime lie in the offenders' families and neighborhoods, where a background of child abuse or neglect often can be found. Male juvenile offenders straighten out when they have pro-social role models. But rather than trying to substitute adults and professionals in the community for parents, we should focus attention on the offenders' families.

TULSA WORLD, January 20, 1996; Pg. A2; HEADLINE: Taxes Won't Stop Juvenile Crime //acs-VT97
      Unless the government can take over the parent's role of instilling good, moral value and the importance of education, all the taxes in the world will not stop juvenile crime. 

 ELI GINZERG, HOWARD BERLINER, AND MIRIAM OSTOW, Research scholars at Conservation of Human Resources, Columbia Univ., 1988; YOUNG PEOPLE AT RISK: IS PREVENTION POSSIBLE? // am-VT97 /23
The combined inputs of race, poverty, single parenthood, adverse neighborhoods, and distorted values contribute a great deal to the malfunctioning of the local school. Educating the young requires the support and encouragement of interested and concerned parents who are in the best position to impress on their children the critical importance of adopting a positive attitude toward learning including the discipline required to do their homework, avoid truancy, and to learn to read for pleasure. Although a rare school may be able on its own to capture the imagination and participation of the young, it is generally recognized that parental support often makes the difference between the school's success and failure. And many minority families in low-income areas, fortunately by no means all, are unable to provide this critical support.

Joan Little, Staff Writer, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 2, 1995, Pg. 1B, HEADLINE: CONFERENCE STRESSES NEED FOR POSITIVE PARENTING // acs-VT97
     "You can't send your child to school and expect the teacher or the principal or the police to train them," said Ida Rogers, mother of eight children, four of whom are still in the St. Louis Public Schools. "If we do our part as parents, a lot of the problems in the schools will eliminate themselves."

Jack Westman, prof of psychiatry at the UWisconsin Medical School, Wisconsin State Journal, October 26, 1995, Pg. 13A, HEADLINE: TO PREVENT JUVENILE CRIME PROVIDE ADEQUATE PARENTING // acs-VT97
     When family relationships are strengthened, parents can be the pro-social models juvenile offenders need. Younger siblings are prevented from becoming delinquent as well. We all are relieved of the anti-social products of family dysfunction.
 We need to see juvenile crime as a cry for help from families in distress in a society that cannot find a way to show that it really cares about its young.

CHRISTOPHER JOHNS, THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC, March 3, 1996; Pg. H2, HEADLINE: CHILDREN AREN'T BORN CRIMINALS // acs-VT97
     In other words prevention and intervention programs can and do work. What the violent juvenile crime debate is really about is in which "institutions" should the public make its major investment in? More prison beds for kids or whole families?
 Representative Baird writes that "lack of morality" and ineffective parenting is at the core of the present crisis. His conclusion is that money alone can't change it. Agreed. But money in the right place can make a difference in a child's life. 

CHRISTOPHER JOHNS, THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC, March 3, 1996; Pg. H2, HEADLINE: CHILDREN AREN'T BORN CRIMINALS // acs-VT97
     First, prevention and early intervention in children's lives is an important way to stem the torrent of kids flowing into the criminal and juvenile justice systems. Second, no prevention or intervention program in the world is as powerful as a child with two (or at least one) loving, economically stable parents.

EDITORIAL, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, October 25, 1995, SECTION: Pg. 12A, HEADLINE: Multiple means needed to address juvenile crime // acs-VT97
     It's clear that most of what's wrong with today's troubled youth is a result of the breakdown in families, a rise in teenage parenthood, and the erosion of moral values. These are problems better addressed by churches and other private charities.
 The government, however, where possible, should forge social policies that foster responsibility. With the rate of juvenile crime continuing to rise, finding ways to infuse the next generation of parents with a greater sense of responsibility for their offspring is essential. It's our best hope of halting the harrowing trend of juvenile crime and violence.

PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT AND RESPONSIBILITY ARE NEEDED IN ORDER TO SOLVE FOR JUVENILE CRIME (CONTINUED)

Bill Johnson, editorial writer, The Detroit News, July 28, 1995, HEADLINE: Juvenile crime reflects on social institutions // acs-VT97
     Government lacks both the capacity and competence to tackle the myriad root causes of crime. Youth can turn to violence because parents abdicate their responsibility to be role models to gang leaders; because they are abused and neglected in dysfunctional homes, and because they don't see prison life as being worse than their seemingly hopeless circumstances in violent, drug-infested communities.

JUDY HILL, The Tampa Tribune, July 19, 1995, Pg. 1, HEADLINE: Only parents can solve crime problem // acs-VT97
     Neither curfew laws nor increased juvenile crime budgets nor intensified drug education programs nor boot camps nor any other bureaucratic nor governmental entity nor regulation will solve America's juvenile crime problem.
 Only parents can.

Ernie Baird, THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC, February 25, 1996 Pg. H5, HEADLINE: PERSONAL INVOLVEMENT BEATS U.S. PROGRAMS // acs-VT97
     I have become convinced that the programs and initiatives we have put into place, and will continue to put into place, must be continued, but that they will never solve the problem. This is not a problem of government finding just the right program for youth and just the right sentence for criminals.
 This is a problem of a lack of morality in our society and a failure of parents to raise their children. If parents would take their children to church and teach them right from wrong, it would have more impact than all the programs the state has implemented.

JOHN P. WALTERS, executive director of the Council on Crime in America, The San Diego Union-Tribune, January 14, 1996, Pg. G-1, HEADLINE: AT Risk Despite recently falling crime rates, violence still threatens millions of Americans //acs-VT97
      But advocates draw upon two of the most politically powerful themes of the current national rethinking of social policy: family values and personal accountability. In this case, parents are being held accountable for instilling at least the most basic of values in their children: Don't break the law.

JOHN P. WALTERS, executive director of the Council on Crime in America, The San Diego Union-Tribune, January 14, 1996, Pg. G-1, HEADLINE: AT Risk Despite recently falling crime rates, violence still threatens millions of Americans //acs-VT97
      Perhaps the broadest ordinance, the model for the Oregon statute, was passed in Silverton, Ore. An old logging town of 6,400 that has developed into a suburban bedroom community, Silverton holds parents responsible for the crimes of their children up until age 18.
 There, juvenile crime has dropped precipitously. During the first nine months since the ordinance took effect in January, juvenile crime dropped to 122 incidents, down 45 percent from the same period a year earlier, said the mayor, Ken Hector.
 Although there have been few prosecutions under the Silverton ordinance, Hector said, the public attention the law received has caused parents to focus more on their family responsibilities.

JOHN P. WALTERS, executive director of the Council on Crime in America, The San Diego Union-Tribune, January 14, 1996, Pg. G-1, HEADLINE: AT Risk Despite recently falling crime rates, violence still threatens millions of Americans //acs-VT97
      But Silverton's Hector said that, however subjective the standard may be, parents must in some way be held accountable not only for their own behavior but for their children's as well.
 ""We, as parents, have a responsibility to our kids and our community to do the best we can,'' he said. ""If we don't do that, I think there's a price to pay. ''

 RON HARRIS, Staffwriter Los Angeles Times, edited by Shirley Dicks, 1995; JUVENILE JUSTICE & THE DEATH PENALTY, "Should teens be tried as adults?" // cjj-VT97 p. 50
 "In some ways, the court can be the first parent that these kids have had," Reynolds says. The fact that you live in a house with people who stand in a position of authority over your life doesn't mean you have a parent. A parent is one who nurtures, who advises, who stands as someone to protect you. Most of the kids who come in here are here because they don't have that nurturing, they don't have a person who understands the system well enough to instruct and advise and guide.
The core issue is the family, or the lack thereof. That is the problem that has to be dealt with. The failure or success of a city in dealing with them is reflected in the number of children it has in those maximum security institutions and the intensity with which the children have adopted crime as their vocabulary.

COMMUNITY BASED, NOT GOVERNMENT BASED SOLUTIONS ARE NEEDED

EDITORIAL, Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale), April 12, 1996, Pg. 22A, HEADLINE: CRIME-FIGHTING STRATEGIES WORKING BUT PREVENTION MOST CRITICAL OF ALL // acs-VT97
     A less obvious but nonetheless vital trend is growing cooperation between police and ordinary citizens in neighborhoods. It can be referred to as community involvement or community policing, and its focus is working together to stamp out crime.
 This change is defined succinctly by Richard Overman, police chief of Delray Beach: Police officers are willing to be members of a community crime-fighting team, instead of being the entire team. With citizens less tolerant of crime, and more willing to pitch in and help, it's possible to work cooperatively, neighborhood by neighborhood.

EDITORIAL, The Dayton Daily News, December 2, 1995, Pg. 14A, HEADLINE: CITIZEN ACTION DOES WORK AGAINST CRIME // acs-VT97
     Once the crime wave set in, neighborhoods took all kinds of specific actions, from petitioning City Hall for speed bumps and traffic barriers that would make streets less attractive to a certain element, to the installation of gates that prevented drive-through traffic, to the application of pressure on crack-house landlords to change their ways.

EDITORIAL, The Dayton Daily News, December 2, 1995, Pg. 14A, HEADLINE: CITIZEN ACTION DOES WORK AGAINST CRIME // acs-VT97
     The figures that show Dayton outpacing most other cities in the speed with which crime is dropping suggest that the city's tradition of community activism and neighborhood organization is paying off.

EDITORIAL; The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, October 29, 1995, Pg. 6C, HEADLINE: A SPECIAL Violence, Fear and Children // acs-VT97
     Still, many communities are trying to provide structures to support children. Mentoring programs are among the most successful efforts. Hatchett said people should not overlook traditional organizations such as Boys and Girls Clubs and scout troops. In addition, corporations, churches and businesses are ideal for getting individuals involved in the lives of children in need.

Thomas W. Still, associate editor of the Wisconsin State Journal, Wisconsin State Journal, October 29, 1995, Pg. 1C, HEADLINE: TEENS, EX-OFFENDERS TALK ABOUT WHAT WORKS TO STOP CRIME // acs-VT97
     There is no single answer to halting the rise in juvenile crime. But there are a lot of solutions that can work for many, if not most, troubled teens. The new Juvenile Code may help in some ways, but the best hope for real change lies in the home, the schools and the community.

Editorial, The Detroit News, April 12, 1996, HEADLINE: Notebook: Community institutions must rise to beat violence // acs-VT97
     Most of these programs are provided not by government agencies but by community-based organizations. It becomes difficult, then, for critics to summon enough courage to say these programs are not getting the job done.

BRENDA INGERSOLL, POLICE REPORTER, Wisconsin State Journal, December 12, 1995, Pg. 1B, HEADLINE: EXPERT ARGUES AGAINST SENDING KIDS TO ADULT PRISONS // acs-VT97
     Solutions, he said, are encouraging community standards, and ''communities that really value everyone.''
 Maloney [Deschutes County Corrections Department in Bend, Ore. ] said widespread public support is crucial to carrying out an effective, ''balanced approach.''
 And that means money, he said, but not just for juvenile prisons.
 He compared spending on prisons, rather than human services, to a Wisconsin farmer who during hard times eats his seed corn, instead of planting it. ''We're eating our seed corn.''

COMMUNITY BASED, NOT GOVERNMENT BASED SOLUTIONS ARE NEEDED (CONTINUED)

Editorial, The Detroit News, April 12, 1996, HEADLINE: Notebook: Community institutions must rise to beat violence // acs-VT97
     Locking up chronic, hardened offenders in boot camps and other tough institutional settings would send a chilling message to potential violators. Yetthese efforts will be after the fact.
 The long-term solution for breaking the cycle of violence begetting violence falls largely outside of law enforcement. It continues to reside in those basic institutions -- the family, schools, religious institutions, community groups and Million Man March supporters and participants.

Editorial, The Detroit News, April 12, 1996, HEADLINE: Notebook: Community institutions must rise to beat violence // acs-VT97
     Until those responsible for instilling values and creating law-abiding citizens rise to meet the challenge, there will be no relief from the predators being bred within besieged neighborhoods.

PENNY BENDER; Tennessean Washington Bureau, The Tennessean, March 17, 1996, Pg. 1A, HEADLINE: Will more teens mean more crime? // acs-VT97
     But Barry Krisberg, president of the National Council on Crime and Delinquency, does not believe the coming generation is a lost cause.
 It is easy to get discouraged when juvenile crime is seen from a national perspective, he said. But from a local perspective, there are hundreds of people working for a solution.
"It is stunning how many nongovernmental task forces, coalitions, groups are out there, making up a new American community. It doesn't look like Ozzie and Harriet, but there are hundreds of thousands of people out there who care. When you take a problem block by block it becomes much more manageable."

BRADLEY PENISTON, Staff Writer, The Capital, March 12, 1996, Pg. A1, HEADLINE: COMBATING JUVENILE CRIME // acs-VT97
     While adult crime has been declining, violent juvenile crime is up, Ms. Reno said. She called for programs that keep at-risk kids from becoming offenders, saying efforts to strengthen communities and families are cheaper and more effective than building jails.
 "It's so much less expensive to pay for that than for juvenile detention centers," she said.

Jerry Regier, Director Oklahoma Department Of Juvenile Justice, March 12, 1996, Federal News Service, Senate Committee On The Judiciary Subcommittee On Youth Violence Hearing On "Funding Youth Violence Programs: Should The Strings Be Cut?" // acs-VT97
     - Prevention is the answer The answer to this problem is earlier intervention and prevention services. The families must be identified and provided proper services so that the younger youth in these homes do not continue to follow the same path that the older individuals within the family have chosen. The cycle must be broken by working in targeted areas in order to reduce the minority youth in the juvenile justice system. This can only be done through communities and agencies closely related to these families. 

PENNY BENDER; Gannett News Service, March 7, 1996, HEADLINE: More jails cells for juveniles lead to more crime, experts warn // acs-VT97
     Juvenile crime prevention cannot be left to government alone, experts on both sides of the political fence agree.
 Without the help of churches, nonprofit groups, volunteer mentors and others, "we will be faced with a psychological state of apartheid," said Rev. Eugene F. Rivers III, director of Boston's Ten Point Coalition, a juvenile outreach program, and a fellow at the Center for the Study of Values and Public Life at Harvard Divinity School.

Ernie Baird, THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC, February 25, 1996 Pg. H5, HEADLINE: PERSONAL INVOLVEMENT BEATS U.S. PROGRAMS // acs-VT97
     Government-sponsored programs will never be an effective substitute for parents raising children. Government is not even as effective as volunteer groups who are not tied up by legal requirements, expensive bureaucratic structures and political posturing.

COMMUNITY BASED, NOT GOVERNMENT BASED SOLUTIONS ARE NEEDED (CONTINUED)

Ernie Baird, THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC, February 25, 1996 Pg. H5, HEADLINE: PERSONAL INVOLVEMENT BEATS U.S. PROGRAMS // acs-VT97
     The community should stop looking to government for a solution. Each individual should take it upon himself or herself to affect a child's life - first the lives of their own children, and then those of other children. That would have a greater effect than all of the solutions devised by government.

MARY CURRAN-DOWNEY Staff Writer, The San Diego Union-Tribune, February 25, 1996, Pg. B-3, HEADLINE: Juvenile criminals cry for adult help, work, experts say // acs-VT97
     Juvenile crime here will never go away unless adults look to themselves, their communities, schools and churches for solutions, experts told a Scripps Ranch audience yesterday.
 The panelists -- who spend their days dealing with kids who kill, rob, rape and deal drugs -- advised: Forget building more prisons. Take a pass on believing "three strikes" will make a difference. And don't just say you care about children, but get involved to help them.

Linda Valdez, THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC, February 18, 1996 Pg. H1, HEADLINE: America's Least Wanted; In The Juvenile-Crime Wars, The Secret Weapon Is Us // acs-VT97
     Neighbors can unite. Any society that allows those kids to grow up feeling doomed has a death wish as strong as the one that drives a 14-year-old crack addict. Poor or not, neighbors can get together for block parties or potlucks at the local school or church. They can get to know each other and each other's children. That, says Carter, robs gang members of the cover of anonymity. Neighborhoods can also engage their youth in projects to repair homes and spruce up yards. It would give kids the protective factor that comes from knowing they've made a positive contribution to the community. Start it when kids are young enough and they will grow up knowing that respecting the 'hood involves more than fighting kids from other parts of town. One person can start it. You can start it. 

Editorial; The Capital, July 16, 1995, Pg. A8, HEADLINE: Our Say Prosecutors Can't Help Us Prevent Juvenile Crime // acs-VT97
     We know that any solutions must ultimately be community-based, not government-based. There are promising government programs here and there. But, in general, this is an era of funding cutbacks, and of disillusionment with bureaucratic remedies.
 So government can provide only limited help, and prosecutors and punitive laws come into play only after troubled young people are well on their way toward wrecking their lives and endangering their communities.
 That leaves homes, schools, community groups, churches, recreational organizations _ the basic institutions we rely on to convince young people that drugs don't enhance your life, that personal disputes shouldn't be settled with guns, and that dropping stones on moving vehicles isn't recreation.

WE NEED ADULT RESPONSIBILITY TO SOLVE FOR JUVENILE CRIME

The Cincinnati Enquirer, August 9, 1995, Pg. A08, HEADLINE: Guilty Blame adults for juvenile crime // acs-VT97
     People want the courts, government or social agencies to "fix" juvenile crime and leave them alone. But Grossmann [Juvenile Court Judge David Grossmann] warns:
"If we think we can protect and lead our children and do exactly as we please, we're living in fantasyland. Like it or not, adults, when making decisions, are going to have to ask, 'Is this going to be good for our kids - for mine and others?"'
 "This is not a system or a kid problem. It's an adult behavior and values problem."
 The judge is right. It's up to adults to marshal the will and energy to close the moral gaps that expose children to violence, abuse and crime.

MARY JO MELONE, St. Petersburg Times, October 24, 1995, Pg. 1B, HEADLINE: Don't lock the door and throw away the kid // acs-VT97
     I wish everybody who would lock the door on J.J. would spend a day with a juvenile judge and see what he sees. Or a day with a social worker. Or a cop. Or a schoolteacher. Or a parent who struggles to keep the wolf away from the door, the stinking influences that wash over her kids like so much dirtywater. And see how many of them would really just lock the door and throw away the kid - not the key, the kid. They would not. They are still trying.
 They are caught between decency and despair - and are still clinging to decency. And they get nothing but abuse for it. Social workers are said to be incompetent. Teachers are incompetent. And if only cops could crack a few skulls, then we'd settle with J.J. once and for all.
 Funny, isn't it, how there is all this talk about teaching kids to be responsible, but adults don't want to be? Not just at home, where these problems start, but in the wider world, where these problems end up.

MENTORING SOLVES FOR JUVENILE CRIME

FRAN HATHAWAY, The Palm Beach Post, December 24, 1995, Pg. 2F, HEADLINE: HELPING KIDS - BY THE NUMBERS // acs-VT97
     So here are some important stats about creating a better society. They show that teens who meet regularly with a Big Brother or Big Sister use less drugs and alcohol, do better in school and have better relationships.
The ''Bigs'' here are capitalized because they're part of Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America, one of the nation's oldest and best-known mentoring programs.

1079FRAN HATHAWAY, The Palm Beach Post, December 24, 1995, Pg. 2F, HEADLINE: HELPING KIDS - BY THE NUMBERS // acs-VT97
     The eight-year study has been called ''startling.'' The only startling thing about it is that it's the first to measure the impact of a major mentoring program on kids.
 The idea that we can prevent drug abuse, teen pregnancy and suicide, juvenile crime and other ills by matching lonely children with caring adults isn't news. Before we had government agencies that paid people to help others, it was conventional wisdom.
 We need to be reminded of that, which this study does. It was done by Public/Private Ventures of Philadelphia and paid for by private foundations. Researchers studied 959 children between the ages of 10 and 16 who applied to Big Brothers/Big Sisters programs in nine cities. Sixty percent were boys, half minorities - mainly African-American. Eighty percent were poor, 40 percent came from homes with a history of substance abuse and 30 percent came from homes with a history of serious domestic abuse. Almost all lived with one parent, usually a mother.

1080FRAN HATHAWAY, The Palm Beach Post, December 24, 1995, Pg. 2F, HEADLINE: HELPING KIDS - BY THE NUMBERS // acs-VT97
     When the stats were tallied, boys with Big Brothers were 46 percent less likely to start using drugs and 27 percent less likely to start using alcohol. Almost 37 percent were less likely to lie to parents. Half skipped school less often. Grades improved.

MARV BALOUSEK, COURTS REPORTER, Wisconsin State Journal, October 8, 1995, Pg. 1A, SERIES: We the People - The faces of juvenile crime: // acs-VT97
     Court officials say the best solution, however, might be simple human contact.
 ''The most effective thing is one consistent, caring, responsible adult -- not somebody who shoots in for a semester,'' said , who served as a juvenile court judge for nearly two decades.

JONATHAN SALTZMAN; Journal-Bulletin Staff Writer, The Providence Journal-Bulletin, April 22, 1996, Pg. 6C, HEADLINE: Salve Regina justice professor on youth crime and punishment // acs-VT97
     [Lawyer Robin L. Hoffmann, an associate professor of administration of justiceat Salve Regina University] 
The child who encounters multiple risk factors, yet does not become delinquent, is usually called the resilient child. And studies are being done onwhat it is that has caused these children to turn out okay, even faced with all the problems in which they grew up. And so far, it seems that most of these kidshave something in common: Most of these kids have had some adult who took an interest in them and cared about them. . . . And if your goal is prevention, which my goal is, you can look at that and say, "Well, what can we do to help these kids who are at great risk for future delinquency and criminality?" And many of the programs being implemented today deal with mentoring: providing somebody to be a positive role model for that child. They see something beside the incarcerated parent, the mother who is an alcoholic or a drug user, the boyfriend who is beating them up. . . .

SPENDING TIME WITH CHILDREN IS AN EFFECTIVE PREVENTION TO JUVENILE CRIME

Ernie Baird, THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC, February 25, 1996 Pg. H5, HEADLINE: PERSONAL INVOLVEMENT BEATS U.S. PROGRAMS // acs-VT97
     Many private programs provide substitute role models for these youths, Big Brother, Big Sister, and church youth organizations. These outstanding programs need to be expanded and duplicated. However, many children will not be identified or served by such programs.
 What is needed is for parents, families, friends, neighbors and church communities to spend time with children, read to them, help them with their homework, take them on activities, work with them in the yard and house. Time, especially one on one time, is the most precious gift that can be given to a child. It sends a message that the child is a person of worth and builds self esteem.

SOCIAL PROGRAMS ARE VITAL TO SOLVING FOR JUVENILE VIOLENCE

 BARRY KRISBERG, Pres. National Council on Crime & Delinquency, 1993; REINVENTING JUVENILE JUSTICE // cjj
VT97 l p.134 
 Similar to the results reported earlier, differences in incarceration rates among racial groups cannot be explained by differences in offense behavior among these groups (Pope & Feyerherm, 1990a). More important, juvenile justice officials themselves believed that institutional racism, and all of its attending consequences, is the primary cause of over representation. Thus, although some important reforms can be made within the juvenile justice system itself, addressing the preconditions and social framework for such over representation is far more important than attempting to reform juvenile justice. As long as African American youth have higher rates of poverty, single-parent families high school dropouts, and unemployment rates, these same factors should be counted in the calculus of possible causes for minority youth over representation in crime and thus incarceration. Reducing minority over representation requires fundamental changes in the larger social environment that forms the basis for these disparities (Duster, 1987). 

 HARRELL ROBERTS, Prof. Princeton Univ., 1987; THE INNER WORLD OF THE BLACK JUVENILE DELINQUENT // cjj-VT97 p. 6 
The social context in which the residents of the ghetto live out their lives pats an enormous degree of social pressure on both the individual and the community, creating chronic tensions that can be the seed bed for a variety of responses indicating personal stress. Besides the economic deprivation, racism imposes an added burden on the psychological adaptation of blacks by making direct assaults on the sense of self and self-respect of Black Americans. 

.SHIRLEY DICKS, 1995; YOUNG BLOOD: JUVENILE JUSTICE & THE DEATH PENALTY // cjj-VT97 p. 295
U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno espouses a philosophy that could stem the tide of juvenile crime. She says, "We have to begin to look at children as a whole. It costs a lot more to send someone to prison than to make an investment up front." Noting that the nation needs more efforts aimed at reducing drug dependency, truancy, and domestic violence, Reno observed, "I've become convinced that the child that watches his father batter his mother comes to accept violence as a way of life." Reno pledged to bring federal agencies together in a united front to aid the states' crime-fighting efforts. After praising the work done so far, the nation's first female attorney general said that the next frontier should be providing more drug and alcohol treatment programs. "If these drug treatment programs can help us cut the recidivism rate, we can save money and lives."

 THOMAS BERNARD, 1992; THE CYCLE OF JUVENILE JUSTICE //amVT97 p. 187
Today, we continue to attempt to change the behavior of juvenile delinquents and their parents because it is so inconvenient for us to attempt to change larger social conditions. Yet ultimately those conditions are the origin of the problem of delinquency, and changing them is the only way to solve that problem.

EDYE BENSON, The Times Union (Albany, NY), December 24, 1995, Pg. E4, HEADLINE: People should encourage kids not to be criminals // acs-VT97
     What about concentrating on making their lives less of a hell on earth so that turning to crime as a way out isn't so appealing. Sure, ''delinquent'' programs and reduced sentencing for those that try to rehabilitate themselves in prison was briefly mentioned, but again that is after the fact. How officials are supposed to do that when prison teachers and programs are being cut, I'm not sure.

PENNY BENDER; Gannett News Service, March 7, 1996, HEADLINE: More jails cells for juveniles lead to more crime, experts warn // acs-VT97
     But there is hope. City and state governments are forging private coalitions to reform youthful offenders and keep their younger brothers and sisters out of trouble in the first place. 
Programs that are showing promise include:
 - The Police Athletic League in New Castle County, Del. With the help of $ 3 million in corporate donations and the volunteer time of police officers, PAL built a state-of-the-art recreation center in Wilmington's worst neighborhood and opened it free to area youth with one condition: They had to stay in school and make good grades.
 The facility has provided tutoring, mentoring and athletics to a neighborhood of at-risk children who would otherwise be wandering the streets
 "We will be sending a lot of young men and women to college when they would have gone to jail," former police chief Thomas P. Gordon said. "Build five or six of these around Delaware and you can stop building prisons in the state."

SOCIAL PROGRAMS ARE VITAL TO SOLVING FOR JUVENILE VIOLENCE (CONTINUED)

John J. Dilulio, Prof. Politics Princeton University; FEBRUARY 28, 1996, Federal News Service, Before The Senate Judiciary Committee Fill Churches, Not Jails: Youth Crime And "Superpredators" // acs-VT97
     Scholars who study drugs and crime are only now waking up to the social consequences of raising so many children in abject moral poverty. Policymakers and the public-at-large should listen to what the academics have to say. But we don't need yet another library full of jargon-fiddled criminology studies to tell us what the Roman sages knew: what society does to children, children will do to society. The need to rebuild and resurrect the civil society (families, churches, community groups) of high-crime, drug-plagued urban neighborhoods is not an intellectual or research hypothesis that requires testing. It's a moral and social imperative that requires doing--and doing now. 

MARY JO MELONE, St. Petersburg Times, October 24, 1995, Pg. 1B, HEADLINE: Don't lock the door and throw away the kid // acs-VT97
     If kids turn into gun-toting packs, it's because their worlds have fallen apart and they are living in anarchy. And if I'm despairing, boss, it's because people around me are. Why else do we want to lock these kids up forever and forget them? Why else do we call them names, without bothering to look at the mess they come from, the mess adults made?

The Tampa Tribune, December 9, 1995, Pg. 14, HEADLINE: Shocking juveniles out of crime // acs-VT97
     But fighting juvenile crime should involve more than building detention centers. Efforts that help steer children from crime - which range from Head Start to Boy Scouts - are vital.

WE NEED SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN ORDER TO SOLVE FOR JUVENILE CRIME

 Jarvis Tyner, Chief of the Legislative and Political Action Commission of the Communist Party, USA, JAN 1994, "jobs not jails" POLITICAL AFFAIRS / /schnurer-VT97 p. 12
The death penalty does not deter crime and is only applied to poor people. What we need is not more prisons but more schools, free and accessible drug-treatment facilities, more recreation and health centers, decent housing for all and a guaranteed future for the youth. What is needed are tough laws against discrimination and racism and a commit ment to provide for children and families, assuring a more stable home life. What is need is a govern ment, and a political-economic system based on the principle of putting people before profits.

 RON HARRIS, Staffwriter Los Angeles Times, edited by Shirley Dicks, 1995; JUVENILE JUSTICE & THE DEATH PENALTY, "Should teens be tried as adults?" // cjj-VT97 p. 35
Juvenile justice officials say there are two underlying reasons for the change inside juvenile halls.
Children with more opportunities—such as good schools, recreation, supportive community organizations, involved churches, and stable families—end up in court less often. .
"Delinquency and lack of opportunity are two things that go together," said Robert Walavich, head of probation for suburban Chicago areas. "Opportunities can mean an end to delinquency for a kid because he's less likely to get into trouble in the first place." 

 BARRY KRISBERG, Pres. National Council on Crime & Delinquency, 1993; REINVENTING JUVENILE JUSTICE // cjj-VT97 
p. 110
Although we would not discourage such efforts, our analysis suggests that correcting the injustices of this system will come about largely through broad changes in society. The quest for juvenile justice is tied inextricably to the pursuit of social justice. Reforms will continue to fail, as they have in the past, if they do not address the maldistribution of wealth, power, and resources throughout society. 

 BARRY KRISBERG, Pres. National Council on Crime & Delinquency, 1993; REINVENTING JUVENILE JUSTICE // cjj-
VT97 p. 186
It is the challenge of modem-day juvenile justice reformers to build influential and powerful support for progressive juvenile justice and child welfare policies. Although such reforms can be justified on humanitarian grounds alone, it will be crucial to demonstrate the social utility of a more enlightened social justice agenda.
Besides reforming the juvenile court, the reinvention of juvenile justice must confront the stark economic and social trends we discussed in the beginning of this chapter. Unacceptable high school dropout rates, rising teenage pregnancies, disappearing job opportunities for urban youths, and the collapsed child welfare system will virtually guarantee even higher rates of youth crime in the next decade. A new generation of "child savers" may be required to advance the cause of the urgently needed social reconstruction of our communities.

WE NEED SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN ORDER TO SOLVE FOR JUVENILE CRIME (CONTINUED)

NICHOLAS EMLER AND STEPHEN REICHER, 1995; ADOLESCENCE AND DELINQUENCY // am-VT97 p. 226
This takes us on to our final category: enduring solutions. If delinquency is the expression of a negative orientation to formal authority - especially school authority - how is it possible to improve this orientation? To start with, it is necessary to realize that this question cannot be answered at a school level alone. In part adolescents reject school because of what they believe - and experience of life beyond school: unemployment and drudgery in the main. Without addressing the nature of the labour market, levels of unemployment and barriers to social mobility, educational initiatives can only ever be partially effective. Perhaps the greatest error of moves towards comprehensivization was to overstate their case. The dream of the 1960s that educational opportunity would bring about equality of its own accord underestimated the extent to which the educational process itself is permeated by inequalities. These need urgent attention. 

 NICHOLAS EMLER AND STEPHEN REICHER, 1995; ADOLESCENCE AND DELINQUENCY // am-VT97 p. 223
A second factor which affects discussion of delinquency has to do with the politics of law and order. It is impossible to separate out explanation from attributions of responsibility- and blame. Any theory highlights particular antecedents of crime and, as a corollary, downplays others. In so far as one of the prime concerns of government, at least within a liberal-democratic system, is to guarantee a peaceful social order, there will be considerable official resistance to any theories which place the causes of crime in domains over which government has responsibility. Crime cannot be caused by policies on housing, education, employment or whatever. It is generally put down to individual factors or else aspects of the private domain - such as parenting. Thus, in recent years government ministers have repeatedly denied a connection between unemployment and crime - even when privately admitting it to be self-evident. Equally, governments have instituted policies in order to appear tough on law and order (the most obvious example being the introduction of harsh penal regimes for young offenders) even when their own research had told them in advance that such policies would be counter-productive. 

 ELI GINZERG, HOWARD BERLINER, AND MIRIAM OSTOW, Research scholars at Conservation of Human Resources, Columbia Univ., 1988; YOUNG PEOPLE AT RISK: IS PREVENTION POSSIBLE? // am-VT97 131
Once children and young people have been seriously damaged as a result of inadequate nurturing and lack of Access to developmental opportunities, there are only a limited number of societal interventions that can hope to contain and reverse the outcomes of twenty years of cumulative deprivation. The answer to the question ';Is prevention possible" is both no and yes. No—if we mean low-cost or even highcost interventions such as more liberal income transfers and more Headstart programs. Yes—if society addresses the root causes of ineffective performance, racism, unemployment, and malfunctioning schools, all of which reinforce the inability of many minority families to nurture their young so that they are able to become self-supporting adults capable in turn of discharging their responsibilities as parents, workers, and citizens. 

 THOMAS BERNARD, 1992; THE CYCLE OF JUVENILE JUSTICE //amVT97 p. 159
An even greater mistake is the idea that juvenile justice policy alone can solve the problem of delinquency. While Massachosetts' juvenile justice system may be more effective than Florida's, it cannot "solve" the problem of delinquency either. The solution to this problem requires changes in the larger social and economic conditions in society. Those conditions, such as in New York in 1825 and Chocago in 1899, gave rise to the modem problem of juvenile delinquency in the first place. This problem did not arise because of inadequate or ineffective juvenile justice policies, and it will not disappear if adequate and effective policies are instituted. 

PENNY BENDER; Gannett News Service, March 7, 1996, HEADLINE: More jails cells for juveniles lead to more crime, experts warn // acs-VT97
     - A four-year project funded by the Ford Foundation in Milwaukee, Oklahoma City, Philadelphia, Saginaw, Mich., and San Antonio, Texas, targeted ninth- to 12th-graders in high poverty areas for community service projects, cultural field trips and college and job planning.
 The participants were more likely to get a high school diploma, enroll in college and stay out of trouble than those in their neighborhoods who did not participate.
 The average cost of the program was $ 2,500 a year per student, and researchers estimated it saved $ 38,650 in criminal justice costs for each child.

WE NEED SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN ORDER TO SOLVE FOR JUVENILE CRIME (CONTINUED)

EDITORIAL, The State Journal-Register (Springfield, IL), March 24, 1996, Pg. 15, HEADLINE: Good youth programs get the job done // acs-VT97
     Research shows that youth development programs produce positive societal values and behavior. Richard Mendel, author of "Prevention or Pork? A Hardheaded Look at Youth Oriented Anti-Crime Programs" (American Youth Policy Forum), cites projects that have been impressive in reducing criminal behavior in youths:
 IN FORT MYERS, Fla., the "Success Through Academic and Recreation Support" (STARS) program for high-risk youths aged 11-14, reduced its crime rate by nearly one-third. The crime rate among 11- and 12-year-olds in the city dropped 64.3 percent.
 In Lansing, Mich., the crime rate dropped 60 percent in two difficult neighborhoods after police, local schools and a social service agency opened a neighborhood network center and started an extensive youth development program. 

Mike Males and Faye Docuyanan, social ecology doctoral students at the University of California, Irvine, The Progressive, February, 1996, Pg. 24; HEADLINE: Giving up on the young; // acs-VT97
     Wayne Thompson in Oklahoma City takes prevention seriously. "We approach juvenile crime as a public-health problem, not a law-enforcement problem," says Thompson. "Intervene, then trace the pathology back to its source." The source inevitably turns out to be "the low social, educational, and economic status of the families and communities" violent youths come from.

John J. Dilulio, professor at Princeton, Chicago Tribune, December 15, 1995; Pg. 31; HEADLINE: MORAL POVERTY // acs-VT97
     We must be willing to use public funds to empower local religious institutions to act as safe havens for at-risk children (church-run orphanages, boarding schools, call them what you please), provide adoption out-placement services, administer government-funded "parenting skills" classes, handle the youngest non-violent juvenile offenders, provide substance-abuse treatment, run daycare and pre-school programs and perform other vital social and economic development functions.

WE SHOULD REWARD GOOD CHILDREN IN ORDER TO ENCOURAGE FURTHER PRODUCTIVE BEHAVIOR.

Judy Sheindlin, experienced juvenile court judge, New York Law Journal, February 9, 1996, Friday; Pg. 2, HEADLINE: Don't Pee on My Leg and Tell Me It's Raining // acs-VT97
     Reward the productive, not the unproductive. We should scale down our juvenile justice facilities and adult prisons to the bare minimum, offering offenders food, clothing and a bed, plus vocational and academic training. Period. Meanwhile, we should take the money we save from "dressing up" our detention facilities and spend it on the good kids who are struggling just to get by.

LAW-RELATED EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS SOLVE FOR JUVENILE VIOLENCE

LEE ARBETMAN, NATIONAL COORDINATOR YOUTH FOR JUSTICE, April 18, 1996, Federal Document Clearing House, HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMERCE, JUSTICE, STATE AND JUDICIARY FY 97 COMMERCE, JUSTICE APPROPRIATIONS // acs-VT97
     LRE/Youth for Justice is committed to involving young people in each state directly in identifying and implementing solutions to this nation's epidemic of violence. The program's approach is to teach young people about the law so thatthey can lead their lives within the law. In the last decade the National Program has reached millions of at-risk children and trained hundreds of thousands of teachers, juvenile justice counselors and law enforcement officials.

LEE ARBETMAN, NATIONAL COORDINATOR YOUTH FOR JUSTICE, April 18, 1996, Federal Document Clearing House, HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMERCE, JUSTICE, STATE AND JUDICIARY FY 97 COMMERCE, JUSTICE APPROPRIATIONS // acs-VT97
     Law-Related Education, despite its name, has nothing whatsoever to do with legal or pre-legal training. The National Coordinated Law- Related Education Program is a conflict resolution methodology and curriculum with a proven recordof success in juvenile delinquency and violence prevention; reaching at-risk children and juvenile offenders in school settings. halfway houses, detention centers and in both urban and rural environments. Youth for Justice meets its goals by developing and maintaining strong, viable LRE centers in each state. The National Program leverages a small federal investment of 2.8 million dollars, seven times over in private sector and state and local money and in in-kind support from the criminal justice and juvenile justice communities.

LEE ARBETMAN, NATIONAL COORDINATOR YOUTH FOR JUSTICE, April 18, 1996, Federal Document Clearing House, HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMERCE, JUSTICE, STATE AND JUDICIARY FY 97 COMMERCE, JUSTICE APPROPRIATIONS // acs-VT97
     Another success story comes from Betty Ackman's mock trial program at the Lorenzo Benn Campus, a YouthDevelopment Center, in Atlanta. Before she began her program, this campus had not sent any of its youngsters to college. But of the 76 students who have beenthrough her mock trial program, 16 have gone on to college, together receiving scholarships totaling more than $50,000. The recidivism rate among her studentsis about 11 percent, whereas the normal Youth Development Center rate is 75-80 percent.

LEE ARBETMAN, NATIONAL COORDINATOR YOUTH FOR JUSTICE, April 18, 1996, Federal Document Clearing House, HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMERCE, JUSTICE, STATE AND JUDICIARY FY 97 COMMERCE, JUSTICE APPROPRIATIONS // acs-VT97
     Youthfor Justice, the National Coordinated Law-Related Education Program has built a vital, cost effective program serving the needs of youth throughout our nation. This program:
 * Involves young people in every state in identifying and implementing solutions to the nation's epidemic of violence;
 * Promotes research based educational programs that strive for safe, disciplined and drug free schools and communities;
* Teaches young people acceptable ways to resolve conflict;
 * Fosters constructive attitudes towards authority figures, such as parents,teachers and police officers,
 * Provides young people with meaningful opportunities to serve their communities;
 * Promotes understanding of and reasoned commitment to the rule of law alongwith tolerance for varied points of view in a free and diverse society; and
 * Helps young people understand the democratic process and develop the critical thinking, decision-making, and problem solving skills to enable their full participation in that process.

LEE ARBETMAN, NATIONAL COORDINATOR YOUTH FOR JUSTICE, April 18, 1996, Federal Document Clearing House, HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMERCE, JUSTICE, STATE AND JUDICIARY FY 97 COMMERCE, JUSTICE APPROPRIATIONS // acs-VT97
     Youth for Justice is committed to providing leadership in the national effort to stop the outrage of violence committed by and perpetrated against this nation's youth. We have the capacity to involve young people directly in helping to identify and implement solutions. With the support of Congress, Youth for Justice is refocusing all programs to reflect the nation's growing concern about violence committed by and against young people in our schools and communities. LRE is one of the few juvenile delinquency programs with a proven record of reducing delinquent and antisocial behavior, increasing belief in the rule of law and developing responsible citizenship. 

LAW-RELATED EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS SOLVE FOR JUVENILE VIOLENCE (CONTINUED)

LEE ARBETMAN, NATIONAL COORDINATOR YOUTH FOR JUSTICE, April 18, 1996, Federal Document Clearing House, HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMERCE, JUSTICE, STATE AND JUDICIARY FY 97 COMMERCE, JUSTICE APPROPRIATIONS // acs-VT97
     The Law-Related Education program:
 * Law-Related Education is one of the few juvenile delinquency prevention programs with a proven record of reducing delinquent and antisocial behavior, increasing belief in the rule of law and developing responsible citizenship.

LEE ARBETMAN, NATIONAL COORDINATOR YOUTH FOR JUSTICE, April 18, 1996, Federal Document Clearing House, HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMERCE, JUSTICE, STATE AND JUDICIARY FY 97 COMMERCE, JUSTICE APPROPRIATIONS // acs-VT97
     * Law-Related Education focuses on violence prevention. In 1996 thousands of young people have gathered with public officials in nearly every state, participating in Youth Summits designed to help develop public policy to help prevent violence by and against youth. Across the entire country this spring youth from both school and juvenile justice settings have participated in Youth Summits. During this second season of summits, thousands of young people are taking a close look at the problem of violence by and against youth. Youngstersin Wyoming's Youth Summit actually wrote a violence prevention bill, lobbied thegovernor and the state legislature and were successful in having the bill passedthis session and signed by the governor. As a result of this bill, teen courts are being established throughout the state.

LEE ARBETMAN, NATIONAL COORDINATOR YOUTH FOR JUSTICE, April 18, 1996, Federal Document Clearing House, HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMERCE, JUSTICE, STATE AND JUDICIARY FY 97 COMMERCE, JUSTICE APPROPRIATIONS // acs-VT97
     * Law-Related Education is an extraordinarily effective prevention program, but it is also an intervention program -- Law- Related Education reaches juvenile offenders in school settings as well as halfway houses. detention centers, and other non-school settings.
 * While Law-Related Education targets at-risk children, it does so not just in urban settings but also in suburban and rural environments.
 * Law-Related Education is one of the most effective programs in mobilizing volunteer support from the criminal justice community, including law enforcementofficers, prosecutors and judges.

LEE ARBETMAN, NATIONAL COORDINATOR YOUTH FOR JUSTICE, April 18, 1996, Federal Document Clearing House, HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMERCE, JUSTICE, STATE AND JUDICIARY FY 97 COMMERCE, JUSTICE APPROPRIATIONS // acs-VT97
     The National Coordinated Law-Related Education Program is comprised of five not-for-profit corporations, each of which is recognized nationally and internationally as a leader in the field of law and civic education. The American Bar Association's Special Committee on Youth Education for Citizenship;the Center for Civic Education, the Constitutional Rights Foundation, the National Institute for Citizen Education in the Law, and the Phi Alpha Delta Public Service Center. By combining their expertise and experience as teachers,school administrators, juvenile justice professionals, attorneys and professors these five organizations have successfully administered a nationwide program in which they have:
* Established and maintained an effective network of delinquency prevention law and citizenship projects in all fifty states. the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, so that accurate information and effective materials can be efficiently distributed and widely used without costly replication of research and development efforts;
 * Provided annual funding and on-site technical assistance to the state projects in this network so that federal funding effectively leverages public and private funding appropriate to each state;
 * Established innovative law and citizenship programs for at-risk youth in urban, rural and suburban communities and Indian reservations;
 * Provided several hundred thousand hours of training for teachers, law enforcement personnel and other professionals who work with young people:
 * Developed and field-tested quality, research based curricular materials for children kindergarten through grade twelve - in public and private schools, juvenile detention centers, after-school programs and court-related diversion programs;
* Organized special initiatives on violence prevention, drug prevention, juvenile justice and urban education, publishing materials and sponsoring several thousand training events nationwide;
 * Mobilized thousands of volunteers with expertise in law, public policy, drug and alcohol abuse prevention, juvenile justice and other areas;
 * Provided leadership and organization for a season of Youth Summits in the Spring of 1996, involving youth and public policy makers in nearly every state in developing plans to solve the widespread problem of conflict and violence among our nation's youth.

LAW-RELATED EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS SOLVE FOR JUVENILE VIOLENCE (CONTINUED)

LEE ARBETMAN, NATIONAL COORDINATOR YOUTH FOR JUSTICE, April 18, 1996, Federal Document Clearing House, HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMERCE, JUSTICE, STATE AND JUDICIARY FY 97 COMMERCE, JUSTICE APPROPRIATIONS // acs-VT97
     The National Coordinated Law-Related Education Program acknowledges with pride the participation of dozens of organizations and thousands of individuals in the education, legal, law enforcement, judicial and juvenile justice organizations. The Program has had assistance from the executive branch and strong bipartisan support in Congress for the outstanding delinquency preventionprograms and materials it has developed and implemented.

LEE ARBETMAN, NATIONAL COORDINATOR YOUTH FOR JUSTICE, April 18, 1996, Federal Document Clearing House, HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMERCE, JUSTICE, STATE AND JUDICIARY FY 97 COMMERCE, JUSTICE APPROPRIATIONS // acs-VT97
     In addition, it is a particular source of satisfaction to note that similar partnerships have been developed in most of the states participating in this network. A small amount of federal support has provided the impetus to attract funding from local organizations, agencies and foundations as well as large numbers of volunteer hours. One important goal of this Program is to continue to provide the support and technical assistance necessary to enable allof the states to build their own public/private partnership networks, effectively leveraging a small amount of federal assistance to build strong, well funded local and state programs.

LEE ARBETMAN, NATIONAL COORDINATOR YOUTH FOR JUSTICE, April 18, 1996, Federal Document Clearing House, HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMERCE, JUSTICE, STATE AND JUDICIARY FY 97 COMMERCE, JUSTICE APPROPRIATIONS // acs-VT97
     Last year, for the first year in ten years, the National Coordinated Law-Related Education Program did not receive appropriations support in the Conference Report to accompany the Commerce, Justice, State Appropriation -- although we did receive support in the Senate Report. The reason, we believe, lies in a report by the House Appropriations Committee's investigative staff. While we have not seen the report, we understand that the report raises questions about the National Coordinated Law-Related Education Program. Needless to say, this news has been devastating for the staff of the National Program as well as for the thousands of dedicated teachers, juvenile justice counselors and law enforcement officials who are program volunteers.

LEE ARBETMAN, NATIONAL COORDINATOR YOUTH FOR JUSTICE, April 18, 1996, Federal Document Clearing House, HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMERCE, JUSTICE, STATE AND JUDICIARY FY 97 COMMERCE, JUSTICE APPROPRIATIONS // acs-VT97
     In addition, all of the evaluations of the efficacy ofLaw-Related Education over the period 1980 through 1994, some of them involving hundreds of hours of research and hundreds of thousands of dollars of effort, have found that Law-Related Education, when properly implemented, is a uniquely effective program for preventing and treating a variety of delinquent behaviors.In short, the National Coordinated Law-Related Education Program is fiscally sound, operationally sound and, on the merits, is one of the few programs proven to work in preventing and treating juvenile delinquency.

LEE ARBETMAN, NATIONAL COORDINATOR YOUTH FOR JUSTICE, April 18, 1996, Federal Document Clearing House, HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMERCE, JUSTICE, STATE AND JUDICIARY FY 97 COMMERCE, JUSTICE APPROPRIATIONS // acs-VT97
     In particular, a four-year national quantitative evaluation of Law-Related Education was carried out in 32 schools in six different states from 1980-1984. Conducted by the Center for Action Research and the Social Science Education Consortium of Boulder, Colorado, the evaluation found that:
 * Law-Related Education, when implemented properly, reduces those factors associated with delinquent behavior;
* Law-Related Education, more than any other subject, fostered a belief in students that laws are legitimate and should be obeyed; and
 * Some of the positive effects of Law-Related Education included reduction of school infractions, decrease in the use of alcohol and other drugs, and a decrease in other delinquent behaviors.

LAW-RELATED EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS SOLVE FOR JUVENILE VIOLENCE (CONTINUED)

LEE ARBETMAN, NATIONAL COORDINATOR YOUTH FOR JUSTICE, April 18, 1996, Federal Document Clearing House, HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMERCE, JUSTICE, STATE AND JUDICIARY FY 97 COMMERCE, JUSTICE APPROPRIATIONS // acs-VT97
     The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention has noted that evaluations of Law-Related Education Program have been "encouraging ... confirming the previous findings that such education serves as a significant deterrent to delinquent behavior". Eighth Analysis and Evaluation of Federal Juvenile Delinquency Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, OJJDP, p. 60 (1985).     The Twelfth Analysis and Evaluation of Federal Juvenile Delinquency Programspublished in 1988 similarly states, " A national study suggests that Law-RelatedEducation, when properly implemented, can reduce the tendency to engage in delinquent behavior".

LEE ARBETMAN, NATIONAL COORDINATOR YOUTH FOR JUSTICE, April 18, 1996, Federal Document Clearing House, HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMERCE, JUSTICE, STATE AND JUDICIARY FY 97 COMMERCE, JUSTICE APPROPRIATIONS // acs-VT97
     Dr. Timothy Buzzell of Drake University in Des Moines. Iowa, in 1992 published a study of one of the first Law-Related Education Programs in a juvenile justice setting. He found over the six year period of the study that aLaw-Related Education Program implemented at the state training school for boys positively influenced risk factors commonly correlated with delinquent behavior.

LEE ARBETMAN, NATIONAL COORDINATOR YOUTH FOR JUSTICE, April 18, 1996, Federal Document Clearing House, HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMERCE, JUSTICE, STATE AND JUDICIARY FY 97 COMMERCE, JUSTICE APPROPRIATIONS // acs-VT97
     * First, without congressional support it is now clear that Law- Related Education will be crippled and perhaps die. OJJDP has indicated that it will slash LRE funding for FY 96 by approximately 35 percent with deeper cuts in store for FY 97 and 98. OJJDP recognizes Law-Related Education's value but each new Administration understandably develops its own signature programs and in an era of limited funding, even established programs which are tested and proven can suffer.
* Second, it is also clear, as we have discussed, that LRE works and that itis one of the few programs proven to do so.
 * Third, the federal government and, in particular, the Congress, has made asubstantial investment over more than a decade in the creation of a National Coordinated Law-Related Education network and infrastructure including coordinating organizations in every state. This infrastructure will be undermined.
 * Fourth, only a national program will under-take national initiatives that benefit the entire country, such as national training, national technical assistance; state financial assistance, new program and curriculum development such as Law-Related Education's highly successful and acclaimed Youth Summits; and the replication of successful state programs and the avoidance of unsuccessful pilot programs. Across the entire country this spring youth from both school and juvenile justice settings have participated in Youth Summits. During this second season of summits, thousands of young people are taking a close look at the problem of violence by and against youth. Youngsters in Wyoming's Youth Summit actually wrote a violence prevention bill, lobbied the governor and the state legislature and were successful in having the bill passedthis session and signed by the governor. As a result of this bill, teen courts are being established throughout the state.
* Fifth, federal money is seed money used to sustain a national program which raises approximately seven times the federal support through state legislative support, private donations and in-kind support.

LEE ARBETMAN, NATIONAL COORDINATOR YOUTH FOR JUSTICE, April 18, 1996, Federal Document Clearing House, HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMERCE, JUSTICE, STATE AND JUDICIARY FY 97 COMMERCE, JUSTICE APPROPRIATIONS // acs-VT97
     There are enormous challenges facing the juvenile justice community and the Congress as all of us continue to wrestle with frequent, persistent and increasingly violent juvenile crime. It is a time to reassess and reevaluate. We would submit, however, that it is not a time to allow a multi-million dollar investment -- which has been proven to work to reduce juvenile delinquency and which in recent years has developed new and effective initiatives for youth violence, drugs and delinquency -- to perish.

THE "STREETWORKERS" PROGRAM SOLVES IN PREVENTING JUVENILE VIOLENCE.

 SUSAN GUARINO-GHEZZI, Prof. Criminal JusticeNortheastern Univ., 1996; BALANCING JUVENILE JUSTICE // se-VT97 p. 79
More and more eight- to twelve-year-olds are being swept up in the excitement and status that accompany gang membership and urban violence. To counter the influence of gang leaders and reduce incidents of violence among these youngsters, some cities have hired full lime "streetworkers"—residents of target areas who are street-savvy and who want change in their neighborhood. Streetworkers counsel youths in their natural environment, occupy them with activities and events, advocate for community programs tailored to their interests and needs, and act as liaisons between youths and police by sharing information and representing authority in a non threatening way.

COURT WORKER PROGRAMS RESULT IN LOWER REPEAT-OFFENDER CRIME RATES

LEE ARBETMAN, NATIONAL COORDINATOR YOUTH FOR JUSTICE, April 18, 1996, Federal Document Clearing House, HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMERCE, JUSTICE, STATE AND JUDICIARY FY 97 COMMERCE, JUSTICE APPROPRIATIONS // acs-VT97
     A 1993 study of a Law-Related Education diversion alternative in Kentucky's Designated Court Worker Program showed both improved perceptions of the police and a low recidivism rate (10 & 1/2% after one year).

CAUSES OF JUVENILE CRIME

This year the handbook doesn't have any topicality section. The reason for this is that the topic is largely lacking in limiting terms, except that whatever the affirmative does has to reduce juvenile crime. This section is intended to be used to build your own affirmative case addressing any of the many causes, as well as answering some (media violence causes juvenile crime, for example) others might use.
						page
Multiple causation				77
Single parent families			80
Decreased family values			81
Lack of parent-child attachment		82
Domestic violence & abuse			83
Exposure to violence			84
Media violence does NOT cause		85
Media violence DOES cause		87
Peer groups					89
Moral poverty				90
Guns						92
Declining neighborhoods			92
Poverty					93
Low self esteem				94
Teen pregnancies				95
Alcohol & drug use				95
Lack of trust in institutions			95
School truancy				96
Boredom and nothing to do			96
Unemployment				96
Hispanic & African American areas	97
Social forces					98
Increased minimum wage			98

JUVENILE CRIME HAS MANY DIFFERENT CAUSES

ROBERT SAMPSON, Prof. Harvard Univ., 1993; CRIME IN THE MAKING: PATHWAYS & TURNING POINTS THROUGH LIFE // seVT97 p. 247
We found that the strongest and most consistent effects on both of official and unofficial delinquency flow from me social processes of family, school, and peers. Low levels of parental supervision, erratic, threatening, and harsh discipline, and weak parental attachment were strongly and directly related to delinquency. In addition, school attachment had large negative effects on delinquency independent of family processes. Moreover, attachment to delinquent peers had a significant positive effect on delinquency regardless of family and school process. Despite this finding on peer influence, further analyses of delinquent siblings and attachment to peers revealed that family and school processes appear most important in the causal chain.' 

SUSAN GUARINO-GHEZZI, Prof. Criminal Justice, Northeastern Univ., 1996; BALANCING JUVENILE JUSTICE // seVT97 p. 164
Just like good families, effective juvenile justice systems manage to achieve complex goals by developing multidimensional programs and policies that adhere to basic, unwavering principles. While it is important that juvenile offenders "pay" for their crimes, it is equally urgent that they do not fall victim to mistakes of parents, politicians, juvenile justice officials, and other overseeing adults, well-intentioned or otherwise. Adult actions of neglect, of abuse, of oversimplifying problems, of rescinding needed resources, of stigmatizing youths, of sending mixed messages, of manipulating the crime problem to gain votes, and so on, will ensure that crime and criminal justice are our nation's most distinguishing features. I 

 3GERALD NELSON AND RICHARD LEWAK, Directors of the Del Mar Psychiatric Clinic, 1988, THE ABANDONMENT OF DELINQUENT BEHAVIOR, "Delinquency and Attachment" //am-VT97 p. 91
 Studies of juvenile delinquency implicate two factors that place a child at risk for developing delinquency. The first factor is a genetic one (Cadoret 1986). When a criminal has a twin, that twin is at least twice as likely to be a criminal himself if he is an identical twin rather than a fraternal twin. The natural parents of adopted children who commit crimes are more likely to be criminals than are the adoptive parents. Males are far more likely than females to commit violent or aggressive crimes. An aggressive tendency may appear in the early years of childhood. Eron (1982) has demonstrated the consistency of aggression over time and situations. Aggressive male adolescents and adults develop from aggressive little boys. Alcoholism is often associated with antisocial personality (Cadoret 1986). Alcoholism is genetically linked to alcoholism in the parents, and antisocial personality is genetically linked to antisocial personality in the parents as well (Cadoret, Troughton, and O'Gorman, 1987). 

Felicia Cousart, The Fresno Bee, November 10, 1995 , Pg. B1, HEADLINE: Study: Early intervention key to fighting youth crime // acs-VT97
     Longtime educational leader Nancy Richardson.
 In her fourth study, titled "Wild in the Streets," Richardson found common factors that point to a need for early intervention: poor family life; parents or siblings with serious criminal records; parents and other family members who are or were substance abusers (some of the offenders were prenatally exposed to drugs); poor performance in school; early brushes with the law; and getting involved with delinquent youth gangs.

CHRISTOPHER JOHNS, THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC, November 5, 1995; Pg. F3, HEADLINE: An Ounce Of Prevention; Public Health Prescriptions Can Ease Juvenile Crime Wave // acs-VT97
     Hawkins' research has identified risk factors associated with communities, families, schools and individuals that increase violent crime. When it comes to communities, for example, five factors are likely to increase the probability that a child become a criminal: firearm availability, community standards, violence in the media, run-down disorganized neighborhoods and economic deprivation.

CHRISTOPHER JOHNS, THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC, November 5, 1995; Pg. F3, HEADLINE: An Ounce Of Prevention; Public Health Prescriptions Can Ease Juvenile Crime Wave // acs-VT97
     Yes, individual responsibility is also important. We all know children (perhaps ourselves) exposed to high risk-factors who still succeed. Why? Just like in our heart disease model, certain protective factors help kids even when they are exposed to violence and abject poverty. Those factors include a resilient temperament, positive relationships where kids can bond with adults, and just plain healthy beliefs re-enforced by clear standards.

EDITORIAL; The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, October 29, 1995, Pg. 6C, HEADLINE: A SPECIAL Violence, Fear and Children // acs-VT97
     A subculture of children is raising itself. Like the children of "Lord of the Flies," these youngsters are left to their own devices, seeking family in gangs. Experts say the vast majority of juvenile delinquents are victims of parental neglect or abuse. Crack cocaine has been a major factor, although alcohol contributes.

JUVENILE CRIME HAS MANY DIFFERENT CAUSES (CONTINUED)

Editorial; The Capital, July 16, 1995, Pg. A8, HEADLINE: Our Say Prosecutors Can't Help Us Prevent Juvenile Crime // acs-VT97
     But new teams of attorneys and harsher penalties for offenders 16 or older _ which the General Assembly has already passed _ are treatments of the symptoms. They are not a cure for the disease. Mr Weathersbee can't specify that cure, and, to be honest, neither can we. We do know that the experts in law enforcement and social work tie this disheartening trend to the availability of guns, to drug use, and to the rising number of broken, single-parent homes.

THOMAS C. RAUP; trial court judge for 22 years, The Buffalo News, April 7, 1996, Pg. 7F, HEADLINE: POVERTY KEEPS INNER-CITY YOUTHS ON DOWNWARD SPIRAL // acs-VT97
     Humes' book poignantly reinforces the observations and conclusions of many professionals, myself included.
 The prime causes: systemic failure of schools, heavy concentrations of narcotics use, astronomic levels of children being born to children with no parenting skills or authority. There is rank poverty and multigenerational unemployment. Gangs are more likely to become established in large cities and are difficult to dislodge. Worse, there is rampant synergy: The whole is far bigger than the sum of the parts.

Bill Johnson, Detroit News editorial writer, The Columbus Dispatch, April 14, 1996, Pg. 2C, HEADLINE: KIDS AND CRIME; INTERVENTION COULD RESULT IN A BIG PAYOFF // acs-VT97
     Young offenders usually fit a pattern:
 Often these families are on welfare, and young wrongdoers have parents or siblings with criminal records, live in single-parent homes and have mothers whowere younger than 20 when they gave birth.

JAMES AUSTIN, National Council on Crime & Delinquency, The San Diego Union-Tribune, April 23, 1996, Pg. B-7, HEADLINE: Let's have an honest debate on crime // acs-VT97
     Clearly, the causes of crime and the programs that are effective at fighting crime are part of a complex equation of policing trends, community involvement, sentencing practices, demographics and economics.

JONATHAN SALTZMAN; Journal-Bulletin Staff Writer, The Providence Journal-Bulletin, April 22, 1996, Pg. 6C, HEADLINE: Salve Regina justice professor on youth crime and punishment // acs-VT97
     [Lawyer Robin L. Hoffmann, an associate professor of administration of justiceat Salve Regina University] 
There are risk factors which increase the likelihood that a juvenile will become delinquent and will commit delinquent acts. . . . However, you can take achild from the worst scenario, the most abusive family, impoverished, egregious situation - and not every child faced with that adversity will become delinquent. . . .

Lori Montgomery, Knight-Ridder Newspapers, THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC, April 14, 1996; Pg. A1, HEADLINE: LITTLE CRIMINALS, BIG CRIMES; MORE PRETEENS COMMIT VIOLENT ACTS // acs-VT97
     At a recent Child Welfare League convention in Washington, Petit unveiled twostudies of very young delinquents. One was from Sacramento County, Calif., wherea task force studied children arrested at ages 9 through 12. The other was Wiig's study of delinquents under age 10 in Hennepin County, Minn., which includes Minneapolis.
The studies show that the teen criminals of tomorrow are "literally being manufactured, programmed, hard-wired to behave in a certain way," Petit said.
 "We know right now who they are," he said.

Lori Montgomery, Knight-Ridder Newspapers, THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC, April 14, 1996; Pg. A1, HEADLINE: LITTLE CRIMINALS, BIG CRIMES; MORE PRETEENS COMMIT VIOLENT ACTS // acs-VT97
     The Minneapolis and Sacramento County studies go further. Both found that many arrested children shared other characteristics considered to be indicators of future delinquency.
 In Minneapolis, for example, 70 percent of the children had a parent or sibling with a criminal record. More than half had serious problems at school. And 91 percent came from families that were either receiving welfare or had received assistance in the past.

JUVENILE CRIME HAS MANY DIFFERENT CAUSES (CONTINUED)

GEORGE A. MITCHELL, Governor's Task Force on Corrections, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, April 28, 1996 : Crossroads Pg. 1 Crossroads, HEADLINE: THE BITTER FRUIT OF FAMILY CHAOS // acs-VT97
     A study I recently completed demonstrates a strong correlation between the background of Milwaukee prison inmates and that of children in dysfunctional households. This research was done under the direction of John DiIulio of The Brookings Institution. The full study, which focuses on inmate criminal histories, will be released Monday by The Wisconsin Policy Research Institute.
 One finding is that entry to prison is the last step in a cycle that begins years earlier, in households where the term "family" and "home" are misnomers. Thousands of children are affected. Their tumultuous lives are characterized by parental neglect, physical and sexual violence, emotional strife, and drug and alcohol abuse. These children are endangered and often harmed.

GEORGE A. MITCHELL, Governor's Task Force on Corrections, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, April 28, 1996 : Crossroads Pg. 1 Crossroads, HEADLINE: THE BITTER FRUIT OF FAMILY CHAOS // acs-VT97
     Regardless of racial background, these characteristics are common to Walker and most inmates:  A father rarely was present; parents often were unemployed and receiving public assistance.  Physical violence in the home was common. Drug and alcohol abuse was widespread.  Most did not have a high school degree; most with a General Equivalency Degree (GED) earned it in prison.  Many had fathered children with one or more single women.

GEORGE A. MITCHELL, Governor's Task Force on Corrections, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, April 28, 1996 : Crossroads Pg. 1 Crossroads, HEADLINE: THE BITTER FRUIT OF FAMILY CHAOS // acs-VT97
     According to Patrick F. Fagan of the Heritage Foundation, national data show " . . . a strong, well-documented pattern of . . . social evolution in the life of a future violent criminal." The pattern: parental neglect; the "embryonic gang" as a place to belong; violent crime and the full-fledged criminal gang; and birth of a new child and a potential new criminal.

LORI MONTGOMERY, KNIGHT-RIDDER NEWSPAPERS, Roanoke Times & World News, April 28, 1996, SECTION: HORIZON, Pg. 1, HEADLINE: IN 1994: 110,000 CHILDREN UNDER 13 ARRESTED FOR FELONIES // acs-VT97
     In Minneapolis, for example, 70 percent of the children had a parent or sibling with a criminal record. More than half had serious problems at school. And 91 percent came from families that were either receiving welfare or had received assistance in the past.

JIM MILLER, Indiana Juvenile Justice Task Force, THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR, January 22, 1996; Pg. A05 //acs-VT97
      Yes, discipline is needed, but so are a lot of other adult behaviors. While the "good old days" didn't always render these virtues, they are what we would like to remember and are values we would like to claim for today.
 We do the opposite when we "get tough" on kids:
When we fail to provide food, health and safety for young children and at the same time expect their behavior to be better than our own. When we lock up minorities and the poor, proving that, for many, money is the common denominator in the criminal justice system. When we permit middle- and upper-class children to be raised by peers and rock stars, while we are earning enough money to feel important. When we elevate hatred to violence, glamorize it in the media and then blame it all on kids for imitating us.
 When we blame judges and the Department of Correction for not fixing kids who were broken years ago. When we transfer kids from the juvenile justice system, which offers some hope for change, to the adult system, which has failed. When we fail to prioritize programs that help youth through prevention and rehabilitation.
 When we render quick, easy, politically correct "get-tough" statements that win votes, but fail to meet the basic needs of children.

Roanoke Times & World News, January 21, 1996, Pg. F2, HEADLINE: PREVENTING YOUTH CRIME - BUT HOW? //acs-VT97
      The report treats juvenile crime as just one of several manifestations of adolescent trouble. In its self-destructive effects, a young person's turning to violent crime is little different from his or her turning to substance addiction, unwed pregnancy or suicide - the rates of which also have been rising among the young.

Roanoke Times & World News, January 21, 1996, Pg. F2, HEADLINE: PREVENTING YOUTH CRIME - BUT HOW? //acs-VT97
      Many sources of new stress on the young are frequently cited. The decline of the two-parent family and the rise of the two-worker family. The easy availability of firearms and drugs. The condition of inner-city schools. The widening inequality of American incomes and decline in average hourly wages. The explosion of communications technology and incessant youthful exposure to the sometimes bizarre values implicit in many of the media's messages.

INCREASED NUMBER OF FAMILIES HEADED BY SINGLE WOMEN IS A CAUSAL FACTOR IN JUVENILE CRIME

GEORGE A. MITCHELL, Governor's Task Force on Corrections, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, April 28, 1996 : Crossroads Pg. 1 Crossroads, HEADLINE: THE BITTER FRUIT OF FAMILY CHAOS // acs-VT97
     The decline of the family was vividly illustrated with last week's release ofdata showing that nearly half of all births in Milwaukee County are to single mothers. This stunning number is nothing when compared to significant portions of Milwaukee where the total is 80%.
 Those issuing the data chose not to criticize young people who decide to start "families" before they're ready. Yet an increasing body of research shows that such individual decisions explain myriad social problems.

GEORGE A. MITCHELL, Governor's Task Force on Corrections, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, April 28, 1996 : Crossroads Pg. 1 Crossroads, HEADLINE: THE BITTER FRUIT OF FAMILY CHAOS // acs-VT97
     It can't be emphasized too much that these are typical stories. The followingconsensus about two major and related causes of the crisis emerges from analystsand observers with widely different political outlooks:
The two-parent family is critically important.
 Few correlations are stronger than that between (1) a single parent, particularly if unemployed, and (2) children headed for educational trouble and juvenile crime. Says David Popenoe, dean of social and behavioral sciences at Rutgers University:
 " . . . I have found few other bodies of evidence that lean so much in one direction as this . . . The decline of fatherhood is a major force behind . . . the most disturbing problems that plague American society: crime and delinquency, premature sexuality and out-of-wedlock births to teenagers; deteriorating educational achievement; depression, substance abuse, and alienation among adolescents; and the growing number of women and children in poverty."

GEORGE A. MITCHELL, Governor's Task Force on Corrections, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, April 28, 1996 : Crossroads Pg. 1 Crossroads, HEADLINE: THE BITTER FRUIT OF FAMILY CHAOS // acs-VT97
     Two-parent families, fewer unwed births and family-supporting jobs before families these factors can begin to address the daunting needs confronting children already in dysfunctional "homes." Intervening to help children already born will be much easier if we take real preventive action to keep the numbers of threatened children from growing. This means being clear that having childrenbefore you're ready to provide for them is wrong.

Stevan Rosenlind, The Fresno Bee June 18, 1995, Pg. A1, HEADLINE: Missing dads are missing link in children's healthy upbringing // acs-VT97
     Since 1960, the number of children living in fatherless homes in the United States has shot up from about 8 percent of all children to 23 percent -- more than 19 million children nationwide.
 At the same time, juvenile crime and gang memberships have increased dramatically; also increasing are adolescent emotional problems, teen pregnancy, drug use and dropout rates. More than a dozen studies have connected the two trends, said Dr. Wade Horn of the Pennsylvania-based National Fatherhood Initiative.
 "If we are ever to improve the well-being of children in America, first we will have to decrease the number of children who are missing their fathers," he said.

Stevan Rosenlind, The Fresno Bee June 18, 1995, Pg. A1, HEADLINE: Missing dads are missing link in children's healthy upbringing // acs-VT97
     Some of the statistics put forward by Horn and others active in the so-called fatherhood movement are frightening:
* Seventy-two percent of adolescent murderers grow up without fathers.
 * Sixty percent of the country's rapists grew up in homes without fathers.
 * Children who do not live with their fathers are 11 times more likely to exhibit violent misbehavior in school than those from two-parent families.
 * Three of four teen-age suicides occur in households where a parent -- usually the father -- has been absent.
 * Children from single-parent families have higher levels of mental and physical illness and resort to violence and drug use more often than those from two-parent families.
 * Children from father-absent families are five times more likely to be poor and 10 times more likely to be extremely poor than children in two-parent children.

Stevan Rosenlind, The Fresno Bee June 18, 1995, Pg. A1, HEADLINE: Missing dads are missing link in children's healthy upbringing // acs-VT97
     "There is a huge connection between fatherless kids and kids with problems," said Dr. Lou Markert of the Counselor/Education program at California State University, Fresno. "In fact, many experts believe fatherlessness is the central social ill of our times."

LACK OF FAMILY VALUES IS A CAUSE OF JUVENILE CRIME

JONATHAN SALTZMAN; Journal-Bulletin Staff Writer, The Providence Journal-Bulletin, April 22, 1996, Pg. 6C, HEADLINE: Salve Regina justice professor on youth crime and punishment // acs-VT97
     [Lawyer Robin L. Hoffmann, an associate professor of administration of justiceat Salve Regina University] 
 The most significant risk factor, I believe, is the breakdown of the Americanfamily. . . . If you're growing up in a single-parent home, there's less of a likelihood of being adequetely supervised. There's a greater likelihood of beingpoor, really poor. And there's a much greater likelihood of being abused and neglected. . . . About a third of marriages end in divorce. We've got 500,000 unwed teenagers a year having babies, keeping those babies. The whole family structure has really fallen apart in our society. And I think the kids are suffering because of it, and the kids are acting out aggressively because of it.. . .

COLETTE BAXLEY; The Post and Courier (Charleston, SC), January 21, 1996, Pg. 1, HEADLINE: Confusion clouds adolescent values //acs-VT97
      A juvenile breaks the law, and the automatic assumption is that he comes from a troubled home. A child abuses drugs, and society figures that his parents failed to teach him respect and discipline.
 Complaints about a lack of respect and responsibility among young people and an absence of family values bounce from political podium to coffee house.
 But the criticisms are not entirely true, according to a four-month Post and Courier study on American and family values.

COLETTE BAXLEY; The Post and Courier (Charleston, SC), January 21, 1996, Pg. 1, HEADLINE: Confusion clouds adolescent values //acs-VT97
      In The Post and Courier survey, youths also said adults were doing a poor job of teaching values, and they cite that as the top reason for juvenile crime. 

JAMES ALAN FOX, Dean Of The College Of Criminal Justice Northeastern University, FEBRUARY 28, 1996, Federal News Service, Before The Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee On Youth Violence The Impending Youth Crime Wave // acs-VT97
     While the negative socializing forces of drugs, guns, gangs and the media have become more threatening, the positive socializing forces of family, school, religion and neighborhood have grown relatively weak and ineffective. Increasingly, children are being raised in homes disrupted by divorce or economic stress; too many children emerge undersocialized and undersupervised. Too many of them do not have the benefit of a strong, positive role model in their lives. At this juncture, as many as 57% of children in America do not have fulltime parental supervision, either living with a single parent who works full-time or in a two-parent household with both parents working full-time. 

John J. Dilulio, Prof. Politics Princeton University; FEBRUARY 28, 1996, Federal News Service, Before The Senate Judiciary Committee Fill Churches, Not Jails: Youth Crime And "Superpredators" // acs-VT97
     Likewise, my friend Dan Coburn, a former Superior Court Justice and Public Defender in New Jersey, recently wrote that "This new wrote horde from hell kills, maims, and terrorizes merely to become known, or for no reason at all. These teens have no fear of dying and no concept of living." Maximum-security prisoners agree. When I asked what was triggering the explosion of violence among today's young street criminals, a group of long- and life-term New Jersey prisoners did not voice the conventional explanations such as economic poverty or joblessness. Instead, these hardened men cited the absence of people--family, adults, teachers, preachers, coaches--who would care enough about young males to nurture and discipline them. In the vacuum, drug dealers and "ganstarappers" serve as role models.

Roanoke Times & World News, January 21, 1996, Pg. F2, HEADLINE: PREVENTING YOUTH CRIME - BUT HOW? //acs-VT97
      The Carnegie report does not ignore such things, indeed discusses them in some detail. But in a key sentence, the report gets to the gist of the matter. Trouble is likelier to ensue, it says, when young adolescents' lives "lack two crucial prerequisites for their healthy growth and development: a close relationship with a dependable adult and the perception of meaningful opportunities in mainstream society."
 Controlling juvenile crime is about policing and prosecuting. But Virginia's lawmakers should keep in mind that it is also about providing young people with responsible adult guidance, and ensuring they have a sense of worth about themselves and their futures.

LACK OF PARENT-CHILD ATTACHMENT CAUSES JUVENILE CRIME

GERALD NELSON AND RICHARD LEWAK, Directors of Del Mar Psychiatric Clinic, 1988; THE ABANDONMENT OF DELINQUENT BEHAVIOR, "Delinquency and Attachment" //am-VT97 p. 86
Mental health professionals suspect that many of the problems our society is having at this time are caused by indifferent, erratic, and uncaring parenting. Our crime rate is high and rising rapidly, our literacy rate is 11 percent and increasing by 1 percent a year, and our incidence of drug and alcohol problems is very high. All of this is closely associated with delinquency.

GERALD NELSON AND RICHARD LEWAK, Directors of the Del Mar Psychiatric Clinic, 1988, THE ABANDONMENT OF DELINQUENT BEHAVIOR, "Delinquency and Attachment" //am-VT97 p. 87
Children and caretakers who arc insensitive to the feelings of each other have difficulty forming close, intimate attachments to each other. A large percentage of children who did not develop a trusting attachment to a parent or caretaker developed a delinquent behavior pattern. If we understand the attachment process and how its disruption results in a delinquent behavior pattern, perhaps we could intervene early in the development of a delinquency and prevent its development.

GERALD NELSON AND RICHARD LEWAK, Directors of the Del Mar Psychiatric Clinic, 1988, THE ABANDONMENT OF DELINQUENT BEHAVIOR, "Delinquency and Attachment" //am-VT97 p. 91
 The second factor implicated in juvenile delinquency is the environmental one. We suggest that there are two critical environmental factors: The first is parenting styles and the second is stress. In 1950, Sheldon and Eleanor Glucck reported a tenyear study of delinquent boys in which age, socioeconomic factors, and intelligence were held constant. They found that delinquency was the result of an interaction between a child's temperament and a parent-environment in which one or both parents were indifferent or hostile toward the child and used negligent and erratic discipline. 

GERALD NELSON AND RICHARD LEWAK, Directors of the Del Mar Psychiatric Clinic, 1988, THE ABANDONMENT OF DELINQUENT BEHAVIOR, "Delinquency and Attachment" //am-VT97 p. 90
We therefore find two different basic etiologies causing one neurophysiological response. Prolonged fear arousal from indifferent, uncaring, hostile, or abusing parents ultimately leads to diminished affective response to external stress. As a self-protective mechanism, some children "numb-out" their feelings in response to prolonged high arousal. This learned response eventually becomes a part of the child's personality. Children born with temperaments relatively insensitive to the feelings of others also have difficulty forming bonds to others because they are unable to sense and feel the feelings of their caretakers. They do not respond positively to their parents' efforts to care for them and therefore they are unrewarding to their parents. One might say that they are born " numbed out," a handicap difficult to identify in early infancy. As these numbed-out children grow older, they often develop the symptoms either of an attention deficit disorder—with or without hyperactivity—or of a conduct disorder. They are unable to learn how to behave, relate, or develop a conscience. These children are at great risk for later delinquency because their psychological state interferes with the attachment process, resulting in weak, non trusting bonds to their caretakers and other adults. These children do not internalize their parents or their parents' values and mores. They remain more or less unsocialized. 

GERALD NELSON AND RICHARD LEWAK, Directors of the Del Mar Psychiatric Clinic, 1988, THE ABANDONMENT OF DELINQUENT BEHAVIOR, "Delinquency and Attachment" // am-VT97 p. 86
In our work with troubled children and their families, we find an intimate relationship between the attachment process and delinquency. Children with a trusting bond to their parents do not tend to develop a delinquent behavior pattern. Fourteen years of clinical experience gave us the opportunity to study, treat, and follow many troubled children and their families. A significant number of these children developed a delinquent behavior pattern when they reached later childhood and early adolescence. Some of these children were "difficult to raise" from infancy and were so identified by capable natural parents, as well as by good foster and adoptive parents. We were able to observe firsthand the parenting efforts of these parents and we discovered that some of these children were so "difficult to raise" that, despite the efforts of competent parents and our best professional assistance, these children developed the behaviors, mannerisms, and personalities of juvenile delinquents. None of these children developed a trusting relationship with their caretakers or with their therapists. 

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, NEGLECT, AND ABUSE CAUSE JUVENILE CRIME

John Foreman, THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC, February 25, 1996 Pg. H5, HEADLINE: PREVENTION NEEDED FOR CHRONIC YOUTHS // acs-VT97
     The basic prevention strategy is simple: Identify early the children who are at risk and intervene.
 Some risk factors have a stronger link to criminal behavior than others. Children who are physically and sexually abused are strongly at risk to be involved in behaviors that lead to crime. Some risk factors are less obvious. Children who are not physically abused but who see their parents engage in violent behavior in the home are at risk.

Bill Johnson, Detroit News editorial writer, The Columbus Dispatch, April 14, 1996, Pg. 2C, HEADLINE: KIDS AND CRIME; INTERVENTION COULD RESULT IN A BIG PAYOFF // acs-VT97
     Young offenders usually fit a pattern:
They have histories of abuse and neglect and go from committing minor crimes to serious ones. Usually, two recent studies have found, budding criminals come from families that have been investigated by child-welfare authorities.

The Plain Dealer, January 15, 1996; Pg. 1E, HEADLINE: TEENS TALK OF DEALING WITH YOUNG CRIMINALS //acs-VT97
      When teenagers commit crime it is sometimes a result of how they have been raised or the kind of community they live in. If teenagers' parents are alcoholics or have beaten them while they were growing up there is a good chance those teenagers have hostility hidden inside.

WALTER F. SULLIVAN, The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk), February 15, 1996, Pg. A12, HEADLINE: Treat The Causes Of Juvenile Violence // acs-VT97
     We know that there is a high correlation between physical and sexual abuse or neglect and future delinquency and adult criminal behavior.
 Children are violent for a reason. Rather than focus on the more politically popular ''get tough on crime'' legislation, Virginia needs to put energy, creativity and scarce financial resources into treating a major cause of violence in children - domestic violence in the home.

LORI MONTGOMERY, KNIGHT-RIDDER NEWSPAPERS, Roanoke Times & World News, April 28, 1996, SECTION: HORIZON, Pg. 1, HEADLINE: IN 1994: 110,000 CHILDREN UNDER 13 ARRESTED FOR FELONIES // acs-VT97
     In her 1992 work, ''The Cycle of Violence,'' Cathy Spatz Widom compared children born in the same hospitals and living in the same communities and foundthat those who were abused or neglected were significantly more likely to be arrested for violent crimes than their better-raised peers.
 ''The new data is so hard to ignore,'' said Widom, a professor of criminal justice and psychology at the University of Albany in New York. ''We now know that abused and neglected kids are at demonstrably increased risk for these problems. And we need to intervene.'' The Minneapolis and Sacramento County studies go further. Both found many arrested children shared other characteristics considered to be indicators of future delinquency.

JONATHAN SALTZMAN; Journal-Bulletin Staff Writer, The Providence Journal-Bulletin, April 22, 1996, Pg. 6C, HEADLINE: Salve Regina justice professor on youth crime and punishment // acs-VT97
     [Lawyer Robin L. Hoffmann, an associate professor of administration of justiceat Salve Regina University] 
 There are a million documented cases a year of child abuse and neglect, and most people think that figure is too low. There are 3 million instances reportedof domestic violence a year. Who watches that domestic violence? The kids. The kids watch, the kids see, and they begin a cycle of violence which is very difficult to break.
 They're beaten at home, they're neglected at home. And when I'm talking aboutbeating, I'm not talking about spanking; I'm talking about being beaten with boards and extension cords, and being burned and scalded.
 Kids who are victims of abuse are much more likely to become delinquent. The statistics are just amazing.

Lori Montgomery, Knight-Ridder Newspapers, THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC, April 14, 1996; Pg. A1, HEADLINE: LITTLE CRIMINALS, BIG CRIMES; MORE PRETEENS COMMIT VIOLENT ACTS // acs-VT97
     In her 1992 work, The Cycle of Violence, Cathy Spatz Widom compared children born in the same hospitals and living in the same communities and found that those who were abused or neglected were significantly more likely to be arrestedfor violent crimes than their better-raised peers.
 "The new data is so hard to ignore," said Widom, a professor of criminal justice and psychology at the University of Albany in New York. "We now know that abused and neglected kids are at demonstrably increased risk for these problems. And we need to intervene."

SEXUAL ABUSE CAUSES JUVENILE CRIME

DAVID SANDBERG, Lawyer, judge, and Director of the Program on Law and Child Maltreatment Boston Univ, 1989; THE CHILD ABUSEDELINQUENCY CONNECTION // am-VT97 p. 3
 I am convinced that the child abuse-delinquency relationship is a major issue featuring a unique convergence of child abuse and delinquency elements. By this I mean that the connection encompasses more than just many delinquents have been abused when they were younger. For example, a teen age prostitute who was sexually abused in the home during preadolescence presents three basic phenomenon: He or she is an abuse victim and a delinquent, and something about the earlier sexual abuse seems to play an important part in the later prostitution. Another example is a teenager who commits acts of extreme violence and has a history of severe physical abuse as a young child. Again, three phenomenon are present: He or she is an abuse victim, and a delinquent, and something about the earlier, severe physical abuse very likely plays an important part in the later perpetration of violence. The connection is undeniable, particularly in light of research that suggests that teenage prostitutes have unusually high rates of sexual abuse histories, just as very violent delinquents have unusually high rates of early physical abuse. Something is occurring within the third category that is critical to a better understanding of many delinquents. 

EXPOSURE TO VIOLENCE CAUSES JUVENILE CRIME

MICHAEL GREENE, juvenile justice administrator NYC Office for Public Safety, January, 1993; CRIME & DELINQUENCY, "Chronic exposure to violence and poverty" // jah-VT97 p. 109
More than half of all homicides occur in the context of interpersonal conflict, that is, rage (Centers for Disease Control 1990). Young people growing up in poverty and around violence are very angry about what feels like everyone's inattention to their plight. Even though most habituate to their surroundings, they remain aware that violence can erupt around them at any time. It leaves them with a constant edginess. They know that they can be shot or stabbed if they inadvertently "look at a guy's girl the wrong way." Terry Williams (personal communication, 1991), an urban anthropologist at the New School for Social Research, has wryly termed this phenomenon a "lack of civility." Louis Ramey, a psychologist, calls it "free-floating anger" (as cited in Prothrow-Stith 1991, p. 6). Juveniles detained at the Spofford Juvenile Detention Center in the South Bronx told me that as much as they wanted to "go straight," it would be a matter of some luck to avoid reinvolvement in violence. Without intervention, these young people often strike out in anger: "Cause, if you upset, you got to take your anger out on somebody," said a student from Thomas Jefferson High School in the aftermath of two homicides at his school ("Life at 'JEFF"' 1992). "They resort to violence as a baby resorts to crying when hungry" (wrote a young East Harlem resident quoted in Prothrow-Stith 1991, p. 184). They use drugs or become involved in gangs or crews. Some turn their anger inward and become depressed. Some are able to survive into productive and fulfilling lives, albeit with scars. Attention must be paid.

MICHAEL GREENE, juvenile justice administrator NYC Office for Public Safety, January, 1993; CRIME & DELINQUENCY, "Chronic exposure to violence and poverty" // jah-VT97 1 p. 108
In short, growing up poor in urban America exposes children and adolescents, as well as their parents and guardians, to a tremendous degree of violence. Their response is understandable. As in all cultures, the children, and in this case the adolescents, tend to mirror what they see around them. That is, they all too frequently become involved in crime and violence themselves. Guns and knives are carried as status symbols and out of a perceived need for protection. About half of a small sample of delinquent youth I surveyed heard gunfire every day in their neighborhoods. Eric Pooley (1991) reports that 95% of the youth surveyed in the Bushwick section of Bmoklyn carried a concealed knife or gun, an understandable reaction in a city where one person is shot every 90 minutes (Marzulo 1991). 

MEDIA VIOLENCE DOES NOT CAUSE JUVENILE CRIME

CHILDREN WHO WATCH NONVIOLENT TV ARE MORE VIOLENT

Brian Siano, Reasearcher, Jan/Feb 1994, 'Frankenstein Must be destroyed: Chasing the monster of TV violence,' THE HUMANIST // ms-VT97 p. 22
Many of the studies report that children do demonstrate higher levels of interpersonalaggression shortly after watching violent, energetic entertainment. But a 1971 -study by Feshbach and Singer had boys from seven schools watch preassigned violent and nonviolent shows for six weeks. The results were not constant from school to school—and the boys watching the nonviolent shows tended to be moreaggressive.

AGGRESSIVE CHILDREN LIKE VIOLENT TV - WRONG CAUSALITY

Brian Siano, Reasearcher, Jan/Feb 1994, "Frankenstein Must be destroyed: Chasing the monster of TV violence" THE HUMANIST // ms-VT97
It's at this stage that Eron mentions television as a factor:
One of the best predictors of how aggressive a young Ihan would be at age 19 was the violence of the tele vision programs he preferred when he was 8 years old. Now, because we had longitudinal data, we could say with more certainty, on the basis of regression analysis, partial correlation, path analysis, and so forth, that there indeed was a cause and effect relation. Continued re. search, however, has indicated that the¢ causal effect is probably bidirectional: Aggressive children prefer violent tele vision, 2nd the violence on television causes than to be more aggressive. 

TV -VIOLENCE CONNECTION IS ATYPICAL

Brian Siano, Reasearcher, Jan/Feb 1994, "Frankenstein Must be destroyed" THE HUMANIST // ms-VT97 p. 24
But stories of media inspired violence are striking mainly because they're so atypical of the norm; the vast majority of people don't take a movie or a TV show as a license to kill. Ironically, it is the abnormality of these stories that ensures they'll get widespread dissemination and be remembered long after the more mundane crimes arc forgotten.

LIMITED NUMBER OF PEOPLE REACT PSYCHOTICALLY TO TV - WE CANT CENSOR

Brian Siano, Reasearcher, Jan/Feb 1994, "Frankenstein Must be destroyed, THE HUMANIST// ms-VT97 p. 24
Of course, there are a few crazies out there who will be unfavorably influenced by what they see on TV. But even assuming that somehow the TV show (or movie or record) shares some of the blame, how does one predict what future crazies will take for inspiration? What guidelines would ensure that people write act, or produce something that will not upset a psychotic? Not only is this a ridiculous demand, it's insulting to theI public as well. We would all be treated as potential murderers in order to gain a hypothetical 5 percent reduction in violence?

 VIOLENT TV TEACHES KIDS TO BE ALIVE

Brian Siano, Reasearcher, Jan/Feb 1994, 'Frankenstein Must be destroyed: Chasing the monster of TV violence" THE HUMANIST // ms-VT97 po. 25
I don't enjoy bad television with lots of violence, but I'd rather not lose decent shows that use violence for good reason. Shows like "Star Trek,' "X Men 'or the spectacular "Batman: The Animated Series" can give kids a sense of adventure while teaching them about such qualities as courage, bravery, and heroism. Even better, a healthy and robust spirit of irreverence can be found in Bugs Bunny, "Ren and Stimpy' and "Tiny Toons." Some of these entertainments—like adventure stories and comic books of the past-can teach kids how to be really alive. 

TV IS RESPONSIBLE FOR 5% OF VIOLENCE AT MOST

Brian Siano, Reasearcher, Jan/Feb 1994, "Frankenstein Must be destroyed: Chasing the monster of TV violence" THE HUMANIST // ms-VT97 p. 22
And even though Rowell Huesmann concurred with Eron in similar testimony before a House subcommittee, Huesmann's 1984 study of 1,500 youths in the United States, Finland, Poland, and Austmlia argued that, assuming a causal influence, television might be responsible for 5 percent of the violence in society. At most. 

MEDIA VIOLENCE DOES NOT CAUSE JUVENILE CRIME (CONTINUED)

TV VIOLENCE ISN'T UNIFORM AND IS TEMPORARY

Brian Siano, Reasearcher, Jan/Feb 1994, 'Frankenstein Must be destroyed: Chasing the monster of TV violence" THE HUMANIST // ms-VT97 p. 22
Another protocol, carried out in Belgium as well a" the United States separated children into cottages at an institutional school and exposed certain groups to violent films. Higher aggression was noted m 211 groups after the films were viewed, but it returned to a near baseline level after a week or so. (The children also rated the less violent films as less exciting, more boring, ! and sillier than the violent films - indicating that maybe kids like a little rush now and then ).

Mike Males and Faye Docuyanan, social ecology doctoral students at the University of California, Irvine, The Progressive, February, 1996, Pg. 24; HEADLINE: Giving up on the young; // acs-VT97
     In the thirty-one counties free of teenage killers, the same blood-soaked media and rock and rap music are readily available (more, since white suburban families over-subscribe to cable TV), and guns are easy to obtain. Nor can some "innate" teenage qualities be the cause, since by definition those qualities are as present in youths in areas where violent teenage crime is rare as in areas where it is common.

MEDIA VIOLENCE DOES CAUSE JUVENILE CRIME 

JOSEPH I. LIEBERMAN, U.S. Senate, The Buffalo News, December 31, 1995, Pg. 7F, HEADLINE: THERE'S GROWING SENSE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY HAS BECOME A THREAT // acs-VT97
     I like to put it this way: If television and music and movies have the power to educate, elevate and inspire -- which they do -- then they must also have the capacity to debase, to dispirit and demoralize -- and they do.
 Millions of children spend more of their lives exposed to this accumulation of cultural rot than to any other single influence in their lives, from school to church to their own parents.

JOSEPH I. LIEBERMAN, U.S. Senate, The Buffalo News, December 31, 1995, Pg. 7F, HEADLINE: THERE'S GROWING SENSE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY HAS BECOME A THREAT // acs-VT97
     If the connection between violence and sex in the media and behavior and attitudes in children has been well established by research and well understood by the average seventh-grader, it is difficult to see what is left to debate.
 We have epidemics of juvenile crime and unwed teen-age parenthood in this country that are significantly contributing to the deepening of poverty, the hopelessness of children and widespread social dysfunctions.

Daily Report Card, July 19, 1995, HEADLINE: TV VIOLENCE: PUBLIC HEALTH EPIDEMIC // acs-VT97
     David Walsh, a psychologist with Fairview Behavioral Services, remarked that the entertainment industry, despite harsh criticism, continues to produce violent entertainment because it is profitable. "...The fact is, the steady diet of violence fed to our children is both killing them and undermining the foundation of our society." 

EDITORIAL; THE PHOENIX GAZETTE, July 8, 1995: Pg. B8, HEADLINE: Prosecuting Truants: Is This The Answer? // acs-VT97
     Just as truancy may lead to juvenile crime, academic failure often leads to truancy. A child who is successful in school is rarely a discipline problem.
 The real problem before us is not getting these kids off the streets, but keeping them in the classroom to begin with.

EDITORIAL; THE PHOENIX GAZETTE, July 8, 1995: Pg. B8, HEADLINE: Prosecuting Truants: Is This The Answer? // acs-VT97
     Second, there is a close parallel between truancy and juvenile crime. Playing hookey is no longer an innocent holiday at the river bed or shopping mall. Instead, for some students it has become time for engaging in criminal activity.

Daily Report Card, July 19, 1995, HEADLINE: TV VIOLENCE: PUBLIC HEALTH EPIDEMIC // acs-VT97
     [Dr. Andrew Smith, president of The Minnesota Medical Association]
Smith, who noted that Minn. is not immune to the national increase in violent juvenile crime, said that "violence has become a public health epidemic, and it is clear that violence in the media, whether it be television, movies or video games, is taking a toll on our society...Too much time sitting in front of the TV or movie or video screen not only stimulates aggressive behavior, it also cuts down on the time children spend exercising, and exposes them to countless advertisements for unhealthy food."

Gordon Slovut; Staff Writer, Star Tribune, June 7, 1995, Pg. 2B, HEADLINE: Doctors seek to reduce onscreen violence kids see // acs-VT97
     The association representing Minnesota's 9,000 physicians has joined the campaign against TV, film and video-game violence, saying parents should shield their children from on-screen violence.
 The Minnesota Medical Association said Tuesday that it agrees with critics who say violent programs and games are partly responsible for the increase in violent crime by and against children.

Gordon Slovut; Staff Writer, Star Tribune, June 7, 1995, Pg. 2B, HEADLINE: Doctors seek to reduce onscreen violence kids see // acs-VT97
     David Walsh, a psychologist with Fairview Behavioral Services, said the average American child "will witness 200,000 acts of violence on television before he or she turns 18. This constant modeling desensitizes and redefines our norms about how we treat one another . . . The fact is, the steady diet of violence fed to our children is both killing them and undermining the foundation of our society."
 Walsh said violent entertainment "is aimed at children because it is profitable" even though "the scientific evidence linking violent entertainment with aggressive, violent behavior among children is clear and overwhelming."
 He added, however, that TV, films and video games aren't the only causes of violence. "The roots of violence include other things, such as racism, poverty and injustice," he said.
 He said it is important that "we don't just turn around and scapegoat the media as if we have no responsibility."

MEDIA VIOLENCE DOES CAUSE JUVENILE CRIME  (CONTINUED)

JONATHAN SALTZMAN; Journal-Bulletin Staff Writer, The Providence Journal-Bulletin, April 22, 1996, Pg. 6C, HEADLINE: Salve Regina justice professor on youth crime and punishment // acs-VT97
     [Lawyer Robin L. Hoffmann, an associate professor of administration of justiceat Salve Regina University] 
Very much. Personally, I don't think that violence on television alone is going to cause a kid to act out aggressively. But I think if you look at it in conjunction with the other risk factors . . . you're propelling that kid toward delinquency.

JO ANN WAITE, The Buffalo News, April 26, 1996, Pg. 2C, HEADLINE: PARENTS, NOT SCHOOLS, ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR TEEN PROBLEMS // acs-VT97
     If blame must be directed anywhere, look not only at the many homes where parents are indifferent to their children's problems and concerns and are often absent. Look also to place a large share of the blame on an entertainment industry apparently intent on showing children the pleasures of sexual experimentation without responsibility for the painful, unpleasant and often tragic results that can occur.

Linda Valdez, THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC, February 18, 1996 Pg. H1, HEADLINE: America's Least Wanted; In The Juvenile-Crime Wars, The Secret Weapon Is Us // acs-VT97
     Hawkins says another risk factor for juvenile violence is media portrayals of violence. Cut 'em up movies and shoot 'em up TV shows teach violence as the way to resolve conflicts. They can also warp a child's understanding of the consequences of playing with guns. Carter recalls the surprise of one kid who got shot: "I didn't know it would hurt," he told her. 

ANTHONY WALSH, Ph.D. Dept. of Criminal Justice Boise State Univ., 1991; INTELLECTUAL IMBALANCE, LOVE DEPRIVATION AND VIOLENT DELINQUENCY: A BISOCIAL PERSPECTIVE // am-VT97 p. 171
The themes of many television and movie shows often appear as though they were produced by some malignant juvenocracy specifically to challenge traditional notions of decency, and good character. Teachers are portrayed as helpless, bumbling idiots who are easily manipulated, intimidated, and outsmarted by crude (but "awesome") teenagers. Youths who study and behave respectably are characterized as "nerds" or "geeks" and are ostracized by the in crowd. Parents are "squares" and hypocrites (which, unfortunately, is all too often the case) who indulge their own sexual and chemical appetites while condemning those of their children. The family warmth of Ozzie and Harriet (although smarmy and unrealistic) has been replaced as a family role model by the equally unrealistic, and totally dysfunctional, Bundy and Simpson families. In the metallic crotch raw cacophony that passes for teenage music today, females are viewed as little more than sexual playthings whose favors, if not granted, may simply be taken. A particularly revolting example is a rap number by the Geto Boys in which some moron slits a woman's throat, watches her die, and then has sex with her corpse. Obnoxious self-indulgence of all kinds is promoted, while sensitivity, responsibility, altruism, and other indications of decency and character are pooh-poohed. 

ANTHONY WALSH, Ph.D. Dept. of Criminal Justice Boise State Univ.,1991; INTELLECTUAL IMBALANCE, LOVE DEPRIVATION AND VIOLENT DELINQUENCY: A BISOCIAL PERSPECTIVE // am-VT97 170
Television, the other half of the socialization equation, provides our youth with models and standards of behavior. More than anything else, television models and sells greed, hedonism, impatience, and impulsivity ("Go out and buy this or that and you'll feel great and the boys/girls will love you. Do it now!"). Our kids grow up seeing all kinds of complex problems solved in one hour (often by violent means) with six commercial breaks designed to sell us the "good life." Is it any wonder that our kids become narcissistic, lower their thresholds for violence, become desensitized to the suffering of others, and have difficulty delaying gratification? If kids are watching television an average of 6.8 hours a day (Roberts and Bachen, 1981), their highly impressionable minds have to be influenced by it. 

CONTACT WITH CRIMINAL PEER GROUPS CAUSES JUVENILE CRIME

National Public Radio, SHOW: All Things Considered, January 27, 1996, Transcript # 2105-1, HEADLINE: Should Juveniles Be Tried As Adults? //acs-VT97
     SCOTT HENGGELER, Director, Family Service Research Center: I mean, I think Secretary Kilgore's very accurate in saying that, traditionally, rehabilitation, whether coming from mental health or from juvenile justice, has not been very successful with serious offenders. What we're arguing is that there are very good reasons why these programs haven't worked, and the main reasons are that these programs don't address the factors that we know- We know what causes adolescent violence. We have those data. The strongest predictor of criminal activity in kids is who they hang out with, who they associate with, hanging out with deviant, drug-using peers. And what juvenile justice does is, essentially- Their solution is to throw these kids together for two years. I mean, little- little wonder that the kids come back worse after spending two years with a bunch of other equally anti-social kids. 

NICHOLAS EMLER AND STEPHEN REICHER, 1995; ADOLESCENCE AND DELINQUENCY // am-VT97 p. 8
The third and final aspect of our analysis has to do with the importance of social groups in the construction of delinquent and non-delinquent reputations. It would be very difficult for any single person, let alone an 11- or 12-year-old, to work out by him or herself the character of his or her institutional world. Such understandings are more likely to be cultural and to be conveyed through social relationships. The ideological models which determine the identities that individuals assume and the reputations that they seek are derived from their collective involvements. 

JUVENILE CRIME IS A PART OF GROWING UP

THOMAS BERNARD, 1992; THE CYCLE OF JUVENILE JUSTICE //amVT97 p. 168
Finally, some juveniles are hardened criminals, but most are adolescents acting the way adolescents always have: wild and crazy. After years of being children under the control of adults, they suddenly find they have the freedom to do what they want and adults can't stop them. They celebrate their freedom with exuberance and joy, but they have not yet learned that their actions can have hurtful consequences. They believe they can take all kinds of risks and nothing will ever happen to them. Like Supennan, they think bullets bounce off their chest. Adults warn them about the consequences of their actions, even yell and scream and threaten. But the adolescents laugh it off and ignore it. They are having a good time. Sooner or later, the consequences actually happen, either to them or to their friends. Someone flunks out of school and is kicked out of the house and takes a dead-end job or can't yet a job at all. Someone overdoses on drugs and suffers permanent brain damage. Someone is seriously injured or killed while driving drunk. Reality rears its ugly head, and the adolescents arc overwhelmed. Where before they felt confident and Joyful, now they feel vulnerable and frightened: that could happen to me, too. This process is called " growing up. " All adults have been through it and no matter how hard they try to save adolescents from the pain and danger of the experience, most need to experience it themselves. Experience, after all, is the best teacher.

MORAL POVERTY IS THE CAUSE OF JUVENILE CRIME

SCOTT HENGGELER, Prof. Psychology at U.S. International Univ. San Diego, 1989; DELINQUENCY IN ADOLESCENCE// am-VT97 p. 45
One of the most consistent findings in the literature is that delinquency is associated with parental criminality. In their longitudinal study, West and Farrington (1973) found that a relatively high percentage of boys with criminal fathers were arrested during adolescence. Robins, West, and Herjanic (1975) reported that children with two parents involved in criminal activity were at very high risk for extensive delinquent behavior. Likewise, in their review of the predictors of male delinquency, Loeber and Dishion (1983) concluded that the criminal and antisocial behavior of family members was a significant predictor. In addition, it seems that delinquent behavior is associated with parental antisocial behavior that is less overt than actual criminal activity. For example, Canter (1982) found in a general adolescent sample that family normlessness (i.e., the degree to which deviant methods are acceptable in meeting conventional family goals) was associated more strongly with adolescents' delinquent behavior than were affective and control measures of family relations. 

John J. Dilulio, professor at Princeton, Chicago Tribune, December 15, 1995; Pg. 31; HEADLINE: MORAL POVERTY // acs-VT97
     In the extreme, moral poverty is the poverty of growing up surrounded by deviant, delinquent, and criminal adults in abusive, violence-ridden, fatherless, Godless and jobless settings. In sum, whatever their material circumstances, kids of whatever race, creed or color are most likely to become criminally depraved when they are morally deprived.

JONATHAN SALTZMAN; Journal-Bulletin Staff Writer, The Providence Journal-Bulletin, April 22, 1996, Pg. 6C, HEADLINE: Salve Regina justice professor on youth crime and punishment // acs-VT97
     [Lawyer Robin L. Hoffmann, an associate professor of administration of justiceat Salve Regina University] 
Having an incarcerated parent is one of the greatest risk factors for delinquency. And they're still trying to work on why. One study that was done not too long ago showed that when a mother . . . is in prison, only 50 percent of kids get to visit. . . . So there's speculation that the bond has somehow been diminished, and the kids begin to act out because of that. . . . There's also speculation, which I hesitate to bring up because I don't subscribe to it, that heredity has something to do with it. But it's certainly something that hasto be examined and scrutinized. I think, more likely, it's a learned response: The kid has learned that criminality is okay.

EDITORIAL; Rocky Mountain News, April 23, 1996, Pg. 36A, HEADLINE: When children break the law // acs-VT97
     One of the nation's premier criminologists, John J. DiIulio Jr. of Princeton University, has written that ''over half of all kids inlong-term state juvenile institutions have one or more immediate family members (father, mother, sibling) who have been incarcerated. An estimated 75% of the most violent incarcerated juveniles are boys who have been abused by a family member. The same fraction have witnessed extreme violence. . . '' And so on.

John J. Dilulio, professor at Princeton, Chicago Tribune, December 15, 1995; Pg. 31; HEADLINE: MORAL POVERTY // acs-VT97
     The answer centers on a conservative theory of the root causes of crime, one that is strongly supported by all of the best science as well as the common sense of the subject. Call it the theory of moral poverty.
 But some Americans grow up in moral poverty. Moral poverty is the poverty of being without loving, capable, responsible adults who teach you right from wrong. It is the poverty of being without parents and other authorities who habituate you to feel joy at others' joy, pain at others' pain, happiness when you do right, remorse when you do wrong. It is the poverty of growing up in the virtual absence of people who teach morality by their own everyday example and who insist that you follow suit.

Sharon Mack, BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE), April 24, 1996, HEADLINE: The age of the Super Predator Mainers say soaring juvenile crime portends need for system overhaul // acs-VT97
     Many juvenile treatment experts believe that what is needed is not an after-effect solution, such as more jails or lockups, but a close look at the causes of violent behavior in children. The best solution lies in the home.
 "More and more we are seeing a job description for juvenile criminals," said Chitwood. "Required are: a deviant childhood, fatherlessness, Godlessness, and moral-less settings. Many of our children are being raised in moral poverty, without capable, loving, responsible adults that teach them right from wrong. "

MORAL POVERTY IS THE CAUSE OF JUVENILE CRIME (CONTINUED)

Howard Bluth ,The Baltimore Sun, January 30, 1996, SECTION: EDITORIAL, Pg. 7A, HEADLINE: A violent generation comes of age, and we are not prepared //acs-VT97
     What conventional wisdom fails to consider is that when the numbers get this large, we're no longer simply dealing with problems of individual deviance. We are now faced with a collective phenomenon, born of collective conditions which make crime a rational choice for all too many young men.
 As Marc Naison wrote in the journal Reconstruction, today's inner city is full of youngsters who feel "predatory activities are morally acceptable and economically necessary" (a mindset which -- except for the implied violence -- differs little from that of the modern corporate boardroom).

John J. Dilulio, professor at Princeton, Chicago Tribune, December 15, 1995; Pg. 31; HEADLINE: MORAL POVERTY // acs-VT97
     The abject moral poverty that creates superpredators begins very early in life in homes where unconditional love is nowhere but unmerciful abuse is common. One of the best ethnographic accounts of this reality is Mark S. Fleisher's book on the lives of 194 West Coast urban street criminals, including several dozen who were juveniles at the time he did his primary field research (1988 to 1990). Almost without exception, the boys' families "were a social fabric of fragile and undependable social ties that weakly bound children to their parents and other socializers." Nearly all parents abused alcohol or drugs or both. Most had no father in the home; many had fathers who were criminals. Parents "beat their sons and daughters--whipped them with belts, punched them with fists, slapped them and kicked them."

John J. Dilulio, professor at Princeton, Chicago Tribune, December 15, 1995; Pg. 31; HEADLINE: MORAL POVERTY // acs-VT97
     Such ethnographic evidence is mirrored by national statistics on the morally impoverished beginnings of incarcerated populations. For example, 75 percent of highly violent juvenile criminals suffered serious abuse by a family member; nearly 80 percent witnessed extreme violence (beatings, killings); more than half of prisoners come from single-parent families; more than one-quarter have parents who abused drugs or alcohol; nearly a third have a brother with a prison or jail record.

John J. Dilulio, professor at Princeton, Chicago Tribune, December 15, 1995; Pg. 31; HEADLINE: MORAL POVERTY // acs-VT97
     Among other puzzles, the moral poverty theory explains why, despite living in desperate economic poverty, under the heady weight of Jim Crow, and with plenty of free access to guns, the churchgoing, two-parent black families of the South never experienced anything remotely like the tragic levels of homicidal youth and gang violence that plague some of today's black inner-city neighborhoods.

John J. Dilulio, professor at Princeton, Chicago Tribune, December 15, 1995; Pg. 31; HEADLINE: MORAL POVERTY // acs-VT97
     It also explains why once relatively crime-free white working-class neighborhoods are evolving into white underclass neighborhoods. The out- migration of middle-class types, divorce, out-of-wedlock births and graffiti-splattered churches have spawned totally unsocialized youth white males who commit violent crimes and youth gangs that prefer murder to mischief.

GUNS LEAD TO JUVENILE CRIME

JAMES AUSTIN, National Council on Crime & Delinquency, The San Diego Union-Tribune, April 23, 1996, Pg. B-7, HEADLINE: Let's have an honest debate on crime // acs-VT97
     Those who support a non-criminal justice approach to fighting crime also have numbers to support their perspective. Changes in state gun laws and aggressive deportation of illegal-immigrant criminals have been acknowledged as positive contributors.
 The Immigration and Naturalization Service deported almost 32,000 illegal immigrant criminals last year, 15 percent more than in 1994 and a remarkable 75 percent more than in 1990. Since the Brady Bill has become law, thousands of illegal gun dealers have been put out of business and 44,000 criminals have beenprevented from purchasing guns.

Linda Valdez, THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC, February 18, 1996 Pg. H1, HEADLINE: America's Least Wanted; In The Juvenile-Crime Wars, The Secret Weapon Is Us // acs-VT97
     But why do some depressed kids snap out of it while others become self-trained kamikaze pilots? Researchers talk about risk factors and protective factors, which are the kind of put-me-to-sleep words researchers like to use. The concepts are pretty basic, though. The risk factors are things that make people say kids started out with three strikes against them. Protective factors help them overcome the odds. J. David Hawkins, who directs the University of Washington's Social Development Research Group, separates the risks into categories. Under neighborhoods, he lists the availability of guns, which are increasingly to blame for turning a flash of teenage anger into a trip to the morgue. Since 1985, the number of murders committed by juveniles with guns doubled, according to figures compiled from the FBI's Supplementary Homicide Reports. There was no increase in the number of kids committing non-gun homicides. 

COLLAPSE OF NEIGHBORHOODS HAS CAUSED JUVENILE CRIME

ELI GINZERG, HOWARD BERLINER, AND MIRIAM OSTOW, Research scholars at Conservation of Human Resources, Columbia Univ., 1988; YOUNG PEOPLE AT RISK: IS PREVENTION POSSIBLE? // am-VT97 p. 35
The combination of weak parental guidance and strong corrupting influences in the neighborhood goes far to explain the considerable numbers of young people who early in their adolescence become hooked on drugs, pursue illegal activities, or become pregnant and have a child. Such behavior carries risks but many young people minimize them.

HARRELL ROBERTS, Prof Princeton Univ., 1987; THE INNER
WORLD OF THE BLACK JUVENILE DELINQUENT // cjj-VT97 p. 7
It was the sociologists who undertook to relate delinquency to the social structure, minority and ethnic status, economic and class standing, and the various cultural traditions of American society. In doing this they used census data and police records to create statistical indices for the rates of delinquency and crime in the population. Being lower class and residing in a slum area, it was found, put youths at greater risk of having a police record in the central cones of major American cities in which the succeeding waves of immigrants lived, including black migrants from the South. Deteriorated neighborhoods, poor housing, poverty, and unemployment were correlated with high-delinquency rates and frequently seen as the causes of crime and delinquency. In other words, the pressures of the environment were regarded as the principal influences contributing to delinquency. 

Linda Valdez, THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC, February 18, 1996 Pg. H1, HEADLINE: America's Least Wanted; In The Juvenile-Crime Wars, The Secret Weapon Is Us // acs-VT97
     Another risk factor Hawkins cites is an attitude in the community that seems to condone crime. Carter, who works with a lot of children of the 1960s Flower Children, says some ex-hippie parents have a smokin' good attitude toward drugs that their kids pick up like lint. It's not surprising that drugs have been a factor in nearly 100 percent of the kids she's dealt with in her 20 years as a probation officer. 

Linda Valdez, THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC, February 18, 1996 Pg. H1, HEADLINE: America's Least Wanted; In The Juvenile-Crime Wars, The Secret Weapon Is Us // acs-VT97
     Keep the value of high expectations in mind when you ponder Hawkins' next neighborhood risk factor: extreme economic deprivation - otherwise known as poverty. This is one to be very careful with because being poor has become something of an excuse for failure in this country. Juvenile delinquents will justify their behavior by saying: "I didn't have anything when I grew up." But it isn't the lack of "things" that Hawkins and others cite as the problem. It is the neighborhood deterioration, the sense of despair and the dangerous atmosphere that puts a child at risk. 

POVERTY IS THE CAUSE OF JUVENILE CRIME

Cheryl H. Wilhoyte, Madison Metropolitan School District's superintendent, Capital Times, August 21, 1995, Pg. 3C, HEADLINE: Revival Of Hope Only Remedy For Nation's Angry Kids // acs-VT97
     We have to try to diagnose the real illness -- why are children more violent today? I think the answer is plain and simple. We as a society have devalued children.
 Nearly 16 million children in America -- one in every four -- are living in poverty today. More than 14 million children relied on food stamps in 1993, up 51 percent since 1989. Children are now the single poorest group in our society.     The number of children reported abused or neglected in 1993 was almost 3 million, triple the number in 1980.

Kay Lazar, Press Statehouse Bureau, Asbury Park Press, April 21, 1996, SECTION: C, Pg. 3, HEADLINE: Missing key connections in war on juvenile crime // acs-VT97
     If you think juvenile crime, welfare and child abuse are three unrelated dots on the page, think again.
New research on young offenders - children under 12 who are setting fires, robbing, even committing rapes - shows they have several key things in common. Most came from families with a history of abuse or neglect and many come from families that are receiving welfare or had received assistance in the past.
 The findings come from two separate studies, one from a task force in Sacramento County, Calif., the other from the prosecutor's office in Hennepin County, Minn., which includes Minneapolis.
 The research looked at crimes from 1993 and 1994 - before states started cutting back on welfare. Now, as New Jersey prepares to take a machete to its own welfare system in the name of reform, many are warning that already-stressedfamilies will be pushed to the breaking point.

Marc Perrusquia, The Commercial Appeal (Memphis), March 10, 1996, Pg. 11A, HEADLINE: Morality not an issue for teens who rob // acs-VT97
     For many teens involved in robbery, the issue is survival, Sweet [Richard Sweet, director of the Youth Habilitation Center] said. Sensing a need to make money for themselves and their families, but lacking ''fundamental life skills,'' they turn to crime.
 ''They don't know how to behave functionally in the first place,'' Sweet said. ''In that behavioral vacuum, they just do what seems sensible, and that's to survive by getting money. And to do that they sell drugs, they rob people. And it's not a moral issue with them. It's a functional issue.''

Mike Males and Faye Docuyanan, social ecology doctoral students at the University of California, Irvine, The Progressive, February, 1996, Pg. 24; HEADLINE: Giving up on the young; // acs-VT97
     In short, we are giving up on human beings at a younger and younger age.
 Juvenile crime is on the rise. But the reason is not media violence, rap music, or gun availability - easy scapegoats that have little to do with the patterns of violence in real life. Rather, the reason is rising youth poverty.
 Sensational press accounts make it seem as though juvenile crime is patternless. It is hardly that. Juvenile crime is closely tied to youth poverty and the growing opportunity gap between wealthier, older people and destitute, younger people. Of California's fifty-eight counties, thirty-one with a total of 2.5 million people recorded zero teenage murders in 1993. Central Los Angeles, which has roughly the same number of people, reported more than 200 teen murders.

Mike Males and Faye Docuyanan, social ecology doctoral students at the University of California, Irvine, The Progressive, February, 1996, Pg. 24; HEADLINE: Giving up on the young; // acs-VT97
     As youth poverty rises and becomes more concentrated in destitute urban neighborhoods, violence becomes more concentrated in younger age groups.

Linda Valdez, THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC, February 18, 1996 Pg. H1, HEADLINE: America's Least Wanted; In The Juvenile-Crime Wars, The Secret Weapon Is Us // acs-VT97
     E. Timothy Burns is an alcohol and mental health counselor who works with at-risk children in New Mexico. In his book Our Children, Our Future, he writes that in an environment of chronic stress "the 'need to survive' becomes the primary drive." That can actually delay mental development and result in "a teen or adult with lowered potential for learning, creativity and productivity." In other words, trouble. Growing trouble. Between 1976 and 1992 the number of juveniles living in poverty increased by 42 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. 

LOW SELF ESTEEM CAUSES JUVENILE CRIME

NICHOLAS EMLER AND STEPHEN REICHER, 1995; ADOLESCENCE AND DELINQUENCY // am-VT97 p. 16 
The response which won the day theoretically speaking, however, was less inclined to romanticize the pre-industrial era. It accepted that the cities were here to stay, but treated the crisis as primarily one of social control The old social ties which bound subordinates in their place had been disrupted, and the subordinates threatened to get out of hand. This was the paramount social reality in which modern social theory was formed. It was popularly supposed, and certainly accepted by Durkheim and his contemporaries, that the new urban working class, physically separated by the structure of industrial cities from the moral leadership of the ruling class and lacking the restraint of constant supervision would be out of control. There would be nothing to restrain them from riot and crime. Contained in this conclusion is an assumption so important to what followed in psychology that it needs to be set out quite explicitly: people will break the law and commit crimes when conditions render them anonymous. 

ELI GINZERG, HOWARD BERLINER, AND MIRIAM OSTOW, Research scholars at Conservation of Human Resources, Columbia Univ., 1988; YOUNG PEOPLE AT RISK: IS PREVENTION POSSIBLE? // am-VT97 p. 34
Growing up in poorly functioning families and in deteriorating neighborhoods where only an occasional person has a regular job and where only an occasional family lives on income earned from work, many children and adolescents develop early a pessimistic view of themselves and their future as a result of which they see no point in extending themselves to master their school work. Further distortions in their value structure are introduced by their awareness that the only people in their community who have made it, or made it big, are those who are engaged in managing one or another type of illicit activity, a perception that draws many of the young into early crime.

THOMAS BERNARD, 1992; THE CYCLE OF JUVENILE JUSTICE //am-VT97 1 87
Juveniles who engage in delinquency, however,, often lack just such a sense of having a role and place in the larger society. This is particularly true for juveniles in the lowest social classes, who are "left out" of meaningful roles. Such youths live in conditions that can generate extreme kinds of violent behavior. Until such conditions ate changed, we should expect to continue to have a serious problem with juvenile delinquency. 

ANNE SCHNEIDER, 1990; DETERRENCE AND JUVENILE CRIME:
RESULTS FROM A NATIONAL POLICY EXPERIMENT // am-VT97 p. 108
Analysis of intentions to avoid crime revealed that even though perceptions of certainty and severity were important, the best predictor of intentions was self-image as a good citizen, followed by the degree of remorse. Beliefs that the sanctions were fair also were related to lower intentions of reoffending. Sense of citizenship was related to lower intentions of reoffending in all six sites, and was statistically significant beyond 0.001 in all six.

JAMES ALAN FOX, Dean Of The College Of Criminal Justice Northeastern University, FEBRUARY 28, 1996, Federal News Service, Before The Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee On Youth Violence The Impending Youth Crime Wave // acs-VT97
     The causes of the surge in youth violence since the mid-1980s reach, of course, well-beyond demographics. There have been tremendous changes in the social context of crime over the past decade, which explain why this generation of youth--the young and the ruthless--is more violent than others before it. Our youngsters have more dangerous drugs in their bodies, more deadly weapons in their hands and a seemingly more casual attitude about violence. It is clear that too many teenagers in this country, particularly those in urban areas, are plagued with idleness and even hopelessness. A growing number of teens and preteens see few feasible or attractive alternatives to violence, drug use and gang membership. For them, the American Dream is a nightmare: There may be little to live for and to strive for, but plenty to die for and even to kill for. 

Mike Males and Faye Docuyanan, social ecology doctoral students at the University of California, Irvine, The Progressive, February, 1996, Pg. 24; HEADLINE: Giving up on the young; // acs-VT97
     "Poverty in a society of affluence, in which your self-esteem is tied to failure to achieve that affluence," is a more accurate explanation for our uniquely high level of violence, says Gilbert Geiss, a criminologist formerly with the University of California, Irvine. It's not just "poverty, per se."

Adrienne T. Washington; The Washington Times, January 23, 1996, Pg. C2, HEADLINE: More guards won't rescue our children //acs-VT97
      It's a mindset, according to Serek Matthews, 23, of Youth Inc., who works with young offenders. "They have no hope, no future, and they have given up on life, which makes them give up on their lives and care less about anyone else's."

TEEN PREGNANCIES CAUSE JUVENILE CRIME

Cynthia Tucker, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, January 28, 1996, SECTION: EDITORIAL, HEADLINE: A growing underclass born of neglect //acs-VT97
      It would be unfair to blame teenagers for the epidemic of out-of- wedlock births; teenage mothers are responsible for only 30 percent of children born outside marriage every year. But the problem of children conceived by unmarried teenage girls is more debilitating than the numbers suggest: Babies born to teenage mothers are more likely to be born into poverty, family instability and welfare dependency, forever locked outside the American mainstream.

Cynthia Tucker, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, January 28, 1996, SECTION: EDITORIAL, HEADLINE: A growing underclass born of neglect //acs-VT97
      In his speech, Clinton announced yet another well-intentioned program aimed at reducing the rate of pregnancies among unmarried teens. That's fine, as far as it goes. But this is too serious a scourge a teen pregnancy feeds every social problem from high school dropout rates to juvenile crime a to be treated as just another cause to be handled by grants from charitable foundations. It demands more.

ALCOHOL AND DRUG USE CAUSE JUVENILE CRIME

Lisa Dwyer-Dantzler, The Herald (Rock Hill, S.C.), October 27, 1995, Pg. 1B, HEADLINE: Drugs boost youth crime // acs-VT97
     Juvenile crime is on the rise everywhere and local experts say drugs have contributed to it.
 "Alcohol and drugs lead to violence," said Mitsuko Shannon, a child/adolescent psychiatrist with Piedmont Medical Center. "Maybe not all of the aggravated assaults, but a great many of them."

JUVENILES COMMIT CRIMES BECAUSE THEY DO NOT BELIEVE EXISTING INSTITUTIONS CAN SOLVE THEIR PROBLEMS

NICHOLAS EMLER AND STEPHEN REICHER, 1995; ADOLESCENCE AND DELINQUENCY // am-VT97 p. 150
If delinquency really is centrally a statement about relations with formal authority, then it should be associated with other even more explicit statements of the same relationship. For example, it should be associated with an adolescent's expressed beliefs and opinions about institutional authority as such. Evidence pointing to such a link is to be found in several places. Thus there are numerous reports of a relationship between delinquency and measures of attitudes to law (Brown, 1974b; Clark & Wenninger, 1964; Waldo & Hall, 1970; West & Farrington, 1973), to the police (Gibson, 1967) and to authority generally (Rigby & Rump, 1979). 

NICHOLAS EMLER AND STEPHEN REICHER, 1995; ADOLESCENCE AND DELINQUENCY // am-VT97 p. 146 
 For most individuals adolescence brings more extensive recognition of the degree to which activities are subject to legal regulation. In this period of life there are typically increasing opportunities to be in public places and to participate in activities beyond the direct supervision of parents or other adults . Young people are increasingly expected to exercise control over their own behavior and are increasingly held legally responsible for their actions. Whereas earlier in childhood parents stood between the child and the law, in adolescence this relationship becomes more direct. And indeed many young people will, over the course of their adolescence, have direct personal contact with the law-enforcing agencies and agents of the state.

NICHOLAS EMLER AND STEPHEN REICHER, 1995; ADOLESCENCE AND DELINQUENCY // am-VT97 p. 147
We suggest, therefore, that these are two broad ways of managing relations with others, two kinds of strategy which individuals and communities can adopt to cope with the requirements and hazards of social life. These two approaches are not entirely incompatible and young people will embrace a mixture of both. Delinquency can be regarded as expressing a greater commitment to the informal solution and rejection of the formal solution, while non-delinquency expresses a greater commitment to the institutional solution. 

NICHOLAS EMLER AND STEPHEN REICHER, 1995; ADOLESCENCE AND DELINQUENCY // am-VT97 p. 159
Children who find the bureaucratic regime uncongenial will adapt less positively to the demands of timetables, regulations, classroom interaction rules and teacher authority. Within this kind of structure they are liable as a result to work less effectively. Moreover, their conduct in school will be visibly different. It would be surprising if teachers did not react to such differences in conduct and attitude. 

SCHOOL TRUANCY CAUSES JUVENILE CRIME

JEROME PAUKER AND JACQUELINE DESNOYERS, Psychologists at the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry, 1988; ABANDONMENT OF DELINQUENT BEHAVIOR, "Keeping Kids in School: Who, How, Why and So What?" //am-VT97 p. 177
Why should this topic appear in a book about juvenile crime and other delinquency? After all, even truancy has not been considered to be more than a status offense, and even as such is tending to disappear from the juvenile crime statutes. Studies of nonattendance and of delinquency, however, repeatedly have shown that the two are linked, that school nonattenders are more likely to commit crimes than are attenders (and vice versa), and that there is a correlation between the two in amount of the conditions. Whether the relationship is a casual one, and, if so, in which direction and to what extent, is not clear. However, at the very least, the fact that the presence of truancy signals the presence of delinquency, and the fact that school nonattendance may precede the appearance of juvenile crime (e.g., Sommer 1985), make an examination of intervention into school nonattendance pertinent to a consideration of turnaround in delinquency.

B.G. GREGG, The Cincinnati Enquirer, June 21, 1995, Pg. C01, HEADLINE: Truancy teaches parents lesson // acs-VT97
     Truancy is closely linked to poor academic performance, high dropout rates and increased juvenile crime; so officials have cracked down on school- skipping in the past two years.

RAY HUARD, Staff Writer, The San Diego Union-Tribune,April 23, 1996, Pg. A-1, HEADLINE: San Diego loitering law targets truants, parents // acs-VT97
     Nearly 44 percent of violent crimes committed by juveniles occur between 8:30a.m. and 1:30 p.m., "when those very same juveniles are supposed to be in school," Golding said.

Los Angeles Times, April 21, 1996, Part B; Page 8; HEADLINE: GROWTH SPURT IN JUVENILE CRIME // acs-VT97
     Parents and schools need to increase their efforts to stop youngsters from dropping out. Lack of an education too often closes so many doors that juvenilesfeel they have no alternatives to crime. 

JEFF KASS, Los Angeles Times, March 31, 1996, Part B; Page 1; HEADLINE: Curfew Mulled As Way To Stem Truancy, Crime // acs-VT97
     However, truancy itself is seen as a steppingstone to criminal activity.
 Said Deputy Dist. Atty. Kim Menninger, who handles truancy cases: "I've never seen a gang member in Santa Ana who wasn't a truant first."

The Boston Globe, March 24, 1996, Pg. 81, HEADLINE: THE YOUNG AND THE VIOLENT; Teen-agers are hurting others - and themselves // acs-VT97
     MARTIN, the Suffolk County district attorney: Nan raised a point about what we do with kids who are destructive in schools. When we expel them without anything more, any streetwise cop will tell you, "You just made my job more difficult because that kid's now on the street running amok."

Joe Becvar, The Fresno Bee, December 8, 1995 , Pg. B4, HEADLINE: Get schools involved // acs-VT97
     Considering that on a national scale, 85 percent to 90 percent of prison inmates are high school dropouts, there must be a connection. There is no question that a lack of education contributes to crime and juvenile delinquency. 

NOTHING TO DO AFTER SCHOOL LEADS TO JUVENILE CRIME

EDITORIAL, The State Journal-Register (Springfield, IL), March 24, 1996, Pg. 15, HEADLINE: Good youth programs get the job done // acs-VT97
     The Justice Department says that the peak period for juvenile crime and sexual activity for adolescents and teens is 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. -- the hours immediately after school. Surely, parents, and working parents in particular, want their children involved in productive activities during these hours, when youngsters are most likely to be unsupervised and vulnerable to a variety of negative behaviors.

UNEMPLOYMENT CAUSES JUVENILE CRIME

JAMES AUSTIN, National Council on Crime & Delinquency, The San Diego Union-Tribune, April 23, 1996, Pg. B-7, HEADLINE: Let's have an honest debate on crime // acs-VT97
     On the economic front, the nation has experienced a steady decline in inflation and unemployment during recent years. Almost 1.4 million more people were employed in 1994 than in 1992 and the violent crime rate decreased almost 6percent during that period.

HISPANIC & AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITIES EXPERIENCE HIGH LEVELS OF JUVENILE CRIME

BARRY KRISBERG, Pres. National Council on Crime & Delinquency, 1993; REINVENTING JUVENILE JUSTICE // cjj-VT97 p. 129
Poverty and joblessness affecting minority youth are largely to I blame for high offense and incarceration rates for these individuals. Most officials express concern about the social and economic conditions that precede and contribute to delinquent conduct. In particular, AfricanAmerican youth have poor job prospects and economic opportunities and thus turn to nonlegal economic pursuits, such as selling drugs. Poor social and economic circumstances also lower self-esteem, thereby contributing to misconduct. It was viewed as no coincidence by the participants that neighborhoods with high crime and arrest rates also have the highest rates of poverty. 

HARRELL ROBERTS, Prof. Princeton Univ., 1987; THE INNER WORLD OF THE BLACK JUVENILE DELINQUENT // cjj-VT97 p. 3
The psychodynamic development of a black delinquent reared in a ghetto neighborhood is embedded in his experience within a family unit and with other individuals and groups who in turn play out their existence in the same social context. When attempting to analyze some possible connections between the antisocial behavior of an individual youngster and his psychodynamics the boy cannot be extracted from this social context. Nor is it possible to appreciate the nature and source of his delinquent behavior without grasping the manner in which the social, economic, and cultural forces operate to influence the psychological worlds of his parents, siblings, friends, and the other adults who come into his life, each of whom is affected by a shared environment and in torn influences the growing child by interacting with him. As the youngster lives among these people in their common ghetto neighborhood, the relationships with the significant others in his life bend and shape his psychological world, turning it in certain directions, preparing the youngster—sometimes even propelling him—to engage in acts that the mainstream society regards as antisocial and illegal. 

HARRELL ROBERTS, Prof. Princeton Univ., 1987; THE INNER WORLD OF THE BLACK JUVENILE DELINQUENT // cjjVT97 p. 6
 The stresses on the black population of living in a dehumanizing social system are many and take their toll in various ways. Considering the extent of the pressures on them, however, Black Americans have remarkably good mental health. The means of coping with their sense of discouragement, failure, and frustration, particularly as experienced by low-status blacks, are found with various degrees of success. When things become overwhelming, some resort to the use of alcohol, drugs, whereas others are faced with various levels of psychological difficulties. In the case of many ghetto youth, their so- called delinquent behavior may be seen as attempts to push away the sadness, pathology, and hate that encroaches on them. Their delinquent acts may be their way of establishing a sense of self-respect and efficacy—ways of feeling less victimized by the society and by their mothers and fathers who denied them the full measure of caring and the material goods that were supposed to make them feel good about themselves.

HARRELL ROBERTS, Prof. Princeton Univ., 1987; THE INNER WORLD OF THE BLACK JUVENILE DELINQUENT // cjj-VT97 p. 3
There is no doubt that a ghetto child grows up in a social context that may be conducive to antisocial behavior. A society can only elicit voluntary compliance with its standards of conduct when its members think the rules of behavior are legitimate and basically fair and beneficial m them. On the other hand, when the system is perceived by them as unjust, they may either rebel against it or accommodate to their inferior status grudgingly, taking a stance of passive resistance or apathy. For black youth reared in the underclass and confined to the poverty, social disorganization, and virtual hopelessness of life in the ghetto, the objective conditions of their surroundings and prospects do not encourage a belief in the equity or justice of the system. These beliefs and feelings may have a great impact on them from a very early age because the adults around them also carry the injuries inflicted on them by a dehumanizing social order. 

Denise Gamino, Austin American-Statesman, March 28, 1996; Pg. B1, HEADLINE: Youth crime could reach crisis levels // acs-VT97
     ''A greater proportion of Hispanic and African-American juveniles will be growing up in urban households likely to be poor and in environments that more frequently expose them to conditions that increase their probability of becoming involved in delinquent behavior,'' the report said. [Texas Criminal Justice Policy Council]

SOCIAL FORCES LEAD TO A CYCLE OF CRIME

THOMAS BERNARD, 1992; THE CYCLE OF JUVENILE JUSTICE //amVT97 p. 187
But the modem problem of delinquency, as urban property crime by lower-class youths, appeared in Westem Europe and America about two hundred years ago in connection with the birth of the modem, urban, industrialized world. As other nations have gone through the same modernization process since then, the same modem problem of juvenile delinquency appeared in them. Because this modem problem of delinquency appeared at some point in the past, it can also disappear at some point in the future. Thus, there is a sense in which the problem of juvenile delinquency actually can be "solved." Solving that problem cannot be accomplished merely by introducing a new juvenile justice policy. Rather, it requires changing the larger social conditions that gave rise to the problem in the first place. New York City in 1825 did not have a wave of juvenile delinquency because it had an inadequate juvenile justice system. Neither did Chicago in 1899. Those waves of delinquency occurred because of the larger social conditions associated with modernization, urbanization, and industrialization. In the language of the time, it was neither the "peculiar weaknesses of the children's moral natures," or their "weak and criminal parents," but the "manifold temptations of the streets" that were the source of the problem.

 THOMAS BERNARD, 1992; THE CYCLE OF JUVENILE JUSTICE //am-VT97 p. 4
There is a cyclical pattern in juvenile jutice policies in which the same sequence of policies has been repeated three times in the last two hundred years. I Present juvenile justice policies can be explained by this cycle and future changes in these policies predicted by it. The specific sequence of policies in the cycle is described in Table 1. The cycle begins at a time when justice officials and the general public are convinced that juvenile crime is at an exceptionally high level, and there are many harsh punishments but few Jenient treatments for juvenile offenders. In this situation, justice officials often are forced to choose between harshly punishing juvenile offenders and doing nothing at all. As a consequence, many minor offenders are let off scot-free because lenient treatments are not available and because justice officials believe that the harsh punishments will make the minor offenders worse.
Eventually, justice officials and the general public conclude that the "forced choice" between harsh punishments and doing nothing at all is part of the problem. That is, they come m believe that harsh punishment actually increases juvenile crime, and that doing nothing at all increases it too. The solution is to introduce lenient treatments for juvenile offenders. A major reform of juvenile justice policies accomplishes this task, and everyone is optimistic that juvenile crime rates will soon decline.
But both justice of officials and the general public remain convinced that juvenile crime is at an exceptionally high level. After some time, they begin to blame lenient treatments for the high crime rates. initially, responses to serious juvenile offenders are "toughened up," so that those offenders receive harsh punishments rather than lenient treatments. The responses for average or typical juvenile offenders are also "toughened up" so that they too receive harsh punishments. This process continues until there are many harsh punishments available for responding to juvenile offenders but few lenient treatments. At that point, justice officials and the general public remain convinced that juvenile crime is at an exceptionally high level and justice officials often are forced to choose between harshly punishing juvenile offenders and doing nothing at all. The cycle has returned where it started. 

HIGHER MINIMUM WAGE INCREASES JUVENILE CRIME

MIKE FANDEY, The Washington Times, November 23, 1995, Pg. A14, HEADLINE: A higher minimum wage means that more teen-agers will be unemployed // acs-VT97
     Every day we hear of another violent crime committed by juveniles.
 Of all methods of deterring teen-age violence, the most effective has involved employing teen-agers. Teen-agers with jobs don't have enough time to get into trouble, and they have more to lose if they do. With this in mind, recall President Clinton's call for laying off thousands of currently employed teen-agers.
President Clinton's demand for an increase in the minimum wage will result in a contraction in the labor market, a contraction that will hit teen-agers the hardest. Previous wage increases have increased the number of unemployed teen-agers. Mr. Clinton may not care about throwing teen-agers out of work. But I can assure you that victims of juvenile crimes do care.
 I don't believe that the liberals intend to make innocent people the victims of their policies, but in general, there seems to be a frightening correlation between the liberals' agenda and increases in crime.

GENERAL AND SPECIFIC NEGATIVE EVIDENCE

Specific Negative Evidence: Against cases and arguments likely to be made on this topic
						page
Juveniles are not evil criminals		100
Juvenile crime statistics are exaggerated 101
Juveniles are not in adult prisons & jails	103
The status quo is working well		104
Gun control will not solve			105
Curfews will not solve			106
Prevention will not solve			113
Parent responsibility laws will not solve	114
Corporal punishment good/bad		118
School uniforms				122
Open records of juvenile proceedings	123
Increased community police presence	123
School crime					124
Domestic violence and abuse		126

General Negative Evidence:
						page
Punishment Fails or is Counterproductive	130
Incarceration, boot camps, mandatory penalties, etc.

Rehabilitation Fails				152
Education, services, home confinement, electronic monitoring, intensive probation, etc.

JUVENILES IN AMERICA ARE NOT EVIL CRIMINAL BEASTS

Al Foskett, 27 years as Wisc State Trooper; Wisconsin State Journal, February 12, 1996, Pg. 5A, HEADLINE: BEWARE OF CRIME DATA; KIDS AREN'T THAT BAD // acs-VT97
     I'd say that 99.9 percent of our kids are great.

GARY STEIN, Commentary, Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale), November 12, 1995, Pg. 1B, HEADLINE: PUT CURFEW DREAMS TO BED RIGHT NOW // acs-VT97
     While many adults won't admit it, the fact is, not all kids are out selling crack every night and carrying semiautomatic weapons. There are actually kids who go to friends' houses at night to watch TV, shoot hoops, occasionally do homework. Some even work. Amazing, isn't it?

PAMELA WARRICK, TIMES STAFF WRITER, Los Angeles Times, April 22, 1996, Part E; Page 1; HEADLINE: HOW YOUNG IS TOO YOUNG? // acs-VT97
     Although national statistics show that 19% of those entering the justice system in 1994 for a violent crime were younger than 18, less than one-half of 1% of all the juveniles in the United States were arrested for murder, rape, robbery or aggravated assault that year.

DENNIS McLELLAN, TIMES STAFF WRITER, Los Angeles Times, April 24, 1996, Part E; Page 1; HEADLINE: SPEAKING UP; 'NO MATTER HOW LOUD I SHOUT'... IS BEING HEARD. // acs-VT97
     "The main focus of debate is how can we try more kids as adults," Humes said."The number of kids who commit murder under 15 is a fraction of all juvenile delinquents." Yet, he said, "we let that fraction drive the debate."

KEN CILCH, The San Diego Union-Tribune, February 24, 1996, Pg. 7 Ed. B-9;HEADLINE: Most disturbed youths are salvageable // acs-VT97
     Based on my 36 years experience as a California Youth Authority (CYA) parole agent and assistant probation officer, I would judge that less than 1 percent of delinquent youths could be described as sociopathic and that the other 99 percent are amenable to treatment and are salvageable.

COLETTE BAXLEY; The Post and Courier (Charleston, SC), January 21, 1996, Pg. 1, HEADLINE: Confusion clouds adolescent values //acs-VT97
      "Young people are not moral mutants who are genetically disposed to self-serving and short-sighted conduct," an analysis of a 1992 national survey by the Josephson Institute of Ethics concluded. "The survey data and written comments reveal that most young people want to do the right thing and many do. On the other hand, cynicism, selfishness and confusion as to what is right overcomes the good intentions of a large number of students."

JUVENILES COMMIT A SMALL PORTION OF TOTAL CRIME

National Public Radio, SHOW: All Things Considered, January 27, 1996, Transcript # 2105-1, HEADLINE: Should Juveniles Be Tried As Adults? //acs-VT97
     SCOTT HENGGELER, Director, Family Service Research Center: That's simply not true. The juveniles account for 18 percent of violent crime in this country. They're not leading the pack. And I think they're being scapegoated for the preponderance of violence, when, really, they account for a relatively small percentage. 

Mary E. Medland; Daily Record Legal Affairs Writer, The Daily Record, January 2, 1996, Pg. 1, HEADLINE: Crimes Down, Kids Locked Up Number of Adolescents Charged as Adults Showing Sharp Increase //acs-VT97
     Altschuler [adjunct associate professor in the department of sociology at the Johns Hopkins University] points out that of all juvenile arrests, less than 10 percent are serious violent crimes. He hastens to add that this phenomena should not be interpreted to understate the seriousness of the problem.

JUVENILE CRIME STATISTICS ARE GROSSLY EXAGGERATED

Mary E. Medland; Daily Record Legal Affairs Writer, The Daily Record, January 2, 1996, Pg. 1, HEADLINE: Crimes Down, Kids Locked Up Number of Adolescents Charged as Adults Showing Sharp Increase //acs-VT97
     "I think many numbers are grossly exaggerated," he said.
 Altschuler [adjunct associate professor in the department of sociology at the Johns Hopkins University] has studied violent crime in Maryland from 1988, when the number of juveniles committing crimes began its ascent through 1993.
 His research shows that as the overall number of homicides rose by 40 percent, there was a 48 percent increase in murders committed by young adults, but a 39 percent decline in murders committed by juveniles.

Linda Feldmann, Staff writer, The Christian Science Monitor, January 4, 1996, Pg. 1, HEADLINE: Cities Adopt Curfews, but Impact on Crime Is Debated //acs-VT97
      Arthur Spitzer, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) national capital area chapter, preaches caution on statistics. "Arrest rates are not synonymous with crime rates," says Mr. Spitzer, whose ACLU branch is suing D.C. over the curfew. "There are many factors that go into an arrest rate. Maybe it's down because there's no overtime budget for police."

Mary E. Medland; Daily Record Legal Affairs Writer, The Daily Record, January 2, 1996, Pg. 1, HEADLINE: Crimes Down, Kids Locked Up Number of Adolescents Charged as Adults Showing Sharp Increase //acs-VT97
     Altschuler [adjunct associate professor in the department of sociology at the Johns Hopkins University] maintains, and juvenile justice professionals agree, that juveniles often travel as a pack when they commit crimes. Therefore, while five juveniles might steal a car -- rather than five adults stealing five cars -- the number of stolen cars is only one.
"Arrest data tracks juveniles, not the number of crimes," he noted.

Mary E. Medland; Daily Record Legal Affairs Writer, The Daily Record, January 2, 1996, Pg. 1, HEADLINE: Crimes Down, Kids Locked Up Number of Adolescents Charged as Adults Showing Sharp Increase //acs-VT97
      "It is important to remember that when determining how many crimes juveniles commit, one must look at the clearance rate who is actually convicted of the crime and not the arrest rates." Altschuler [adjunct associate professor in the department of sociology at the Johns Hopkins University] 

Al Foskett, 27 years as Wisc State Trooper; Wisconsin State Journal, February 12, 1996, Pg. 5A, HEADLINE: BEWARE OF CRIME DATA; KIDS AREN'T THAT BAD // acs-VT97
     Don't believe it. Instead look to Robert Young's statement. He cautions ''against accepting juvenile crime statistics at face value...''
 Young is right. I know how numbers can be misleading. I was a state trooper for nearly 27 years, and numbers were worshiped by management.
 ''Juvenile arrests'' do not translate into juveniles arrested.
 When Eversen uses the term arrest rate (one in 10), he is comparing apples (juvenile arrests) to oranges (the total juvenile population). He should be comparing the total number of juveniles arrested to the total juvenile population.

MARV BALOUSEK, COURTS REPORTER, Wisconsin State Journal, February 4, 1996, Pg. 1C, HEADLINE: EXPERTS DISPUTE MEANING OF ARREST STATISTICS // acs-VT97
     Melissa Sickmund, a senior research associate at the National Center for Juvenile Justice in Pittsburgh, said the figures derived from the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting measure police behavior more than juvenile behavior.
 She said the figures reflect what crimes are reported by police. Informal dispositions, such as taking a youngster home for a curfew violation or letting parents handle a shoplifting incident, would not show up.
 ''It could mean that you care more so you don't let them get away with it,'' she said. ''It may be that your police departments just are better at their clearances.''

MARV BALOUSEK, COURTS REPORTER, Wisconsin State Journal, February 4, 1996, Pg. 1C, HEADLINE: EXPERTS DISPUTE MEANING OF ARREST STATISTICS // acs-VT97
     But Sickmund said how states define juvenile crime is a factor.
 ''In Iowa, they say they don't arrest kids,'' she said. ''They may catch kids for crimes and do a lot of processing but they don't arrest them.''
 She also said that Iowa recently switched its method of data collection, which makes it difficult to compare data from prior years.
 In some states, police contacts with juveniles are not counted as arrests. In Utah, which ranked second to Wisconsin, Sickmund said the biggest offense among juveniles is smoking -- a violation that would not be enforced in other states.
[Melissa Sickmund, a senior research associate at the National Center for Juvenile Justice]

JUVENILE CRIME STATISTICS ARE GROSSLY EXAGGERATED (CONTINUED)

MARV BALOUSEK, COURTS REPORTER, Wisconsin State Journal, February 4, 1996, Pg. 1C, HEADLINE: EXPERTS DISPUTE MEANING OF ARREST STATISTICS // acs-VT97
     She said other factors influencing the statistics may be the number of pre-school children in a state. These children don't commit crimes but a larger number of them would reduce the per capita figures.
 Arresting a gang of juveniles for a single incident also can drive up the figures, Sickmund said. [Melissa Sickmund, a senior research associate at the National Center for Juvenile Justice]

Carol Sternhell, Good Housekeeping, March, 1996; Pg. 69; HEADLINE: If Johnny breaks the law, should mommy go to Jail? // acs-VT97
     "People greatly overestimate both juvenile crime and the rate at which it's increasing," answers Melissa Sickmund of the National Center for Juvenile Justice in Pittsburgh. While juvenile crime increases and decreases depending on demographics, Sickmund says, over the long term juvenile crime rates have remained flat. They went up sharply in the mid-1970's, then dipped down again until the late 1980's, and now seem to be increasing. However, young people between the ages of 10 and 17, who make up about 10 percent of the population, now commit about 14 percent of violent crimes, up from about 8 percent in 1990.     "The talk right now sounds a lot like the talk just after World War II: This is the worst generation ever, we've never seen such violence, we'd better do something fast, our kids are our future.'" Sickmund says. "Every generation seems to talk like this, bemoaning its youth. It isn't based on much evidence."

DILULIO AND FOX ARE WRONG ABOUT THE COMING JUVENILE CRIME BOMB

TOM MORGANTHAU, Newsweek, December 4, 1995 , Pg. 40, HEADLINE: The Lull Before the Storm? // acs-VT97
     Still, there is a murmur of quiet dissent about the apocalyptic predictions that DiIulio and Fox have been making -- a sense, as one expert put it, that "DiIulio's rhetoric exceeds his facts" and that everyone "needs to keep some balance here." There is also an increasingly sharp debate between police commanders like New York's William Bratton and scholars who insist that population demographics are the primary determinants of U.S. crime trends. Bratton, who crows about seeing "the end of crime as we know it," recently confronted a roomful of academics in Boston, insisting that New York's crime bust is largely attributable to more effective tactics by the New York Police Department.

JUVENILES IN ADULT PRISONS ARE NOT A SIGNIFICANT PROBLEM NOW

LAURIE E. EKSTRAND, Associate Director, Administration Of Justice Issues, United States General Accounting Office, August 15, 1995, Juvenile Justice - Juveniles Processed In Criminal Court And Case Dispositions // acs-VT97
     A 1991 survey [A 1991 survey [27] of inmates in state correctional facilities reported that less 1 percent of state inmates were age 17 or younger. Few juveniles were incarcerated in the seven adult facilities we visited. Further, those juveniles were generally to be treated the same as the adult prisoners. [[27] This survey was conducted by the U.S. Bureau of the Census for the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics.

LAURIE E. EKSTRAND, Associate Director, Administration Of Justice Issues, United States General Accounting Office, August 15, 1995, Juvenile Justice - Juveniles Processed In Criminal Court And Case Dispositions // acs-VT97
     We could not find national estimates for the number of inmates at or below the maximum age of juvenile court jurisdiction in each state.
 However, results of the 1991 Survey of Inmates in State Correctional Facilities indicated that less than 1 percent of the 712,000 state prison inmates were age 17 or younger. [28] In addition, during visits to seven prisons in four states, we found that juveniles represented a small number of the inmate population, at the time of our visit. For example, as shown in table 16, 31 of the 857 inmates at the Western Youth Institution were age 17 or younger. 

Linda O'Neal, The Coalition For Juvenile Justice, March 28, 1996, Federal News Service, House Committee On Economic And Educational Opportunities Subcommittee On Early Childhood, Youth And Families // acs-VT97
     The separation requirement has also been part of the Act since 1974. In requiring that children be held out of the "sight and sound" of adult prisoners it reflected the fact, sustained in the research literature of the day, that children who were placed in adult facilities where they came into contact with adult inmates and even correctional staff were often the victims of physical, mental, sexual and emotional abuse. The most immediate and effective way to protect children from the possibility of abuse was to require this separation.

Jerry Regier, Director Oklahoma Department Of Juvenile Justice, March 12, 1996, Federal News Service, Senate Committee On The Judiciary Subcommittee On Youth Violence Hearing On "Funding Youth Violence Programs: Should The Strings Be Cut?" // acs-VT97
     Removal of Juveniles from Adult Jails - States have responded Jail removal has been very positive in the state of Oklahoma. It has become a very costly program in that we have built completely separate facilities for juvenile detention. We cannot continue to build these juvenile detention facilities due to the cost and expense of separation of physical plant. We also believe that juveniles who have been charged with certain heinous crimes should be exempt from the jail removal mandate. Murder, attempted murder & drive by shootings are examples. 

STATUS OFFENDERS ARE DEINSTITUTIONALIZED

Jerry Regier, Director Oklahoma Department Of Juvenile Justice, March 12, 1996, Federal News Service, Senate Committee On The Judiciary Subcommittee On Youth Violence Hearing On "Funding Youth Violence Programs: Should The Strings Be Cut?" // acs-VT97
     Deinstitutionalization of Status Offenders - States have completed the job. The National Academy of Sciences conducted a comprehensive study of the federal DSO effort during the period of 1979 - 1982 to assess the results and one of their five conclusions was, "the placement of status offenders in secure public facilities has been virtually eliminated..." Deinstitutionlization of status offenders In Perspective" Pepperdine Law Review. Nov. 2, 1991, Robert Sweet). 

THE STATUS QUO IS WORKING

JUST AS IT IS THE SYSTEM SERVES THE VAST MAJORITY OF JUVENILE DEFENDANTS APPROPRIATELY

Frank Green; Staff Writer, The Richmond Times Dispatch, November 22, 1995, Pg. A-1, HEADLINE: Alternatives To Jail Urged; Treatment Stressed For Young Offenders // acs-VT97
     ''Moreover, although recidivism among juveniles is a significant problem, 87 percent of all juveniles who enter the system for the commission of a nonviolent offense do not later commit a violent felony offense,'' he said. [Philip A. Leone, director of the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission]
 ''Therefore,'' concluded Leone, ''the intent of the juvenile code appears appropriate for most of the juveniles encountered by the system.''

A NUMBER OF UNRELATED POLICY MOVES WILL KEEP JUVENILE CRIME UNDER CONTROL

TOM MORGANTHAU, Newsweek, December 4, 1995 , Pg. 40, HEADLINE: The Lull Before the Storm? // acs-VT97
     Jeremy Travis, director of the National Institute of Justice, credits the rise of innovative police tactics for at least some of the national crime decline. He also says that federal initiatives like the Brady bill, coupled with stepped-up activity by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, may already be reducing the single biggest factor in the inner-city homicide rate-the wide-open availability of illegal handguns. 

FEDERAL JUVENILE JUSTICE ACTION PLAN IS AN EXCELLENT APPROACH

U.S. Newswire, March 27, 1996, HEADLINE: Attorney General Issues Call to Action on Youth Violence, Releases Action Plan to Help Communities Combat Juvenile Crime // acs-VT97
     "One of the strengths of the Action Plan is that it does not merely set goals, but also offers the information that communities need," said Bilchik. "For each objective, the Action Plan provides background information; an in-depth review of effective strategies and promising programs from across the nation; a description of initiatives from different federal agencies to assist states and local communities; and suggestions for state and local action." Bilchik added, "The Action Plan format allows users to focus on any specific objective appropriate to their community."

U.S. Newswire, March 27, 1996, HEADLINE: Attorney General Issues Call to Action on Youth Violence, Releases Action Plan to Help Communities Combat Juvenile Crime // acs-VT97
     The National Juvenile Justice Action Plan outlines eight objectives that Americans must engage in to reduce youth violence:
 1. Provide immediate intervention and appropriate sanctions and treatment for delinquent juveniles;
 2. Prosecute certain serious, violent and chronic juvenile offenders in criminal court;
 3. Reduce youth involvement with guns, drugs and gangs;
 4. Provide opportunities to children and youth;
 5. Break the cycle of violence by addressing youth victimization, abuse and neglect;
 6. Strengthen and mobilize communities;
 7. Support the development of innovative approaches to research and evaluation; and
 8. Implement an aggressive campaign to spread information on effective strategies to combat juvenile violence.

COMMUNITY PROGRAMS NATIONWIDE ARE SUCCEEDING NOW

SHAY BILCHIK, Administrator Office Of Juvenile Justice And Delinquency Prevention, April 24, 1996, House Committee On Appropriations Subcommittee On Commerce, Justice, State, The Judiciary And Related Agencies // acs-VT97
     I think we need to recognize that problems, like youth violence, did not arise overnight and probably won't be solved overnight. But I think there's some cause for cautious optimism in what's happening on a number of fronts. I know in my travels around the country, I have seen, for example, how the Chicago police use NIJ (ph) developed computer mapping technology to better track and respond knowledgeably to incidents about crime. And I talked recently with a drug court judge in Seattle who talked about lives he'd seen turned around and offenders who changed their behavior and stopped using drugs. And two weeks agoI was in Forth Worth and visited Weed and Seed site there and watched community police officers tutoring young children in an after school program, and three mothers came up to me and said, what a difference it had made that they could now feel that their kids were safe in what had been a very high crime area. In our National Institute of Justice research is showing good results as well, like the Kansas City police patrol experiment that's really looking at reducing gun violence and drive-by shootings, and what we've seen actually tangible results. Sixty-five percent more illegal gun seizures, 49 percent fewer gun crimes, and I think particularly significant, not displacement of crimes to adjoining neighborhoods which is often a problem.

PROGRAMS TO KEEP GUNS AWAY FROM JUVENILES ARE NOT THE ANSWER

The Plain Dealer, January 21, 1996; Pg. 2C, HEADLINE: HOLDING BACK A CRIME WAVE //acs-VT97
      Steps have been taken by the federal government and many state governments to make it harder for those under 18 to obtain handguns. But more government and more draconian measures to suppress teen crime don't present solutions.

Nell Porter Brown, The Patriot Ledger, February 19, 1996 Pg. 01, HEADLINE: New gun law takes aim at juvenile crime // acs-VT97
     Jack McDevitt, a Northeastern University criminologist: 
"Robbers and criminals continued to use (their guns)," he said. "What did stop was casual carrying, people for whom the year in jail was a serious thing." McDevitt said he doesn't see why mandatory jail time for juveniles would work any better.
 "For kids who carry guns in Massachusetts, a year or two in jail is not as much of a threat as their perception that they are going to be shot," McDevitt said. "I don't see these kids leaving their guns at home because they're afraid they'll be arrested."

EDITORIAL, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, October 25, 1995, SECTION: Pg. 12A, HEADLINE: Multiple means needed to address juvenile crime // acs-VT97
     The most common remedy being proposed is to limit access to guns. The increased incidence of kids packing weapons is, we think, a symptom of rising juvenile crime - not the cause.

Mark Johnson; Media General News Service; The Richmond Times Dispatch, November 13, 1995, Pg. A-2, HEADLINE: More Young People Take Up Arms; Weapons Regularly Used Against A Sea Of Troubles // acs-VT97
     Tougher narcotics enforcement and stricter gun laws can only provide a partial answer, Rodriguez wrote. Police and others will have to fashion more long-range solutions if they hope ''to save young lives.''

CURFEWS DO NOT REDUCE JUVENILE CRIME 

Metropolitan News-Enterprise; January 30, 1996, SECTION: Pg. 9, HEADLINE: Why Not a 24-Hour Curfew? //acs-VT97
      Some law enforcement officers claim that curfews help reduce crime and violence, but there is no firm data to support such claims. In fact, some studies have shown that curfews simply lead to crimes being committed earlier in the day.

Metropolitan News-Enterprise; January 30, 1996, SECTION: Pg. 9, HEADLINE: Why Not a 24-Hour Curfew? //acs-VT97
     As for Wilson's claim that San Diego's curfew worked wonders, the ACLU cites statistics from the city's police department that show otherwise. In a letter to the governor, ACLU attorneys wrote: "During the first year of San Diego's aggressive curfew enforcement policy, violent juvenile crime did indeed drop -- not by 'nearly a third,' as you claimed, but by 16.6 percent. Unfortunately for the position you promote, virtually all of that reduction occurred during hours when the curfew was not in effect. During the curfew period, between 10 p.m. and sunrise, there were merely 11 fewer arrests of juveniles for violent crimes over the course of the entire year."
 And this drop in crime was during the same period that other anti-crime laws were taking effect, so it is impossible to determine how much of an effect, if any, the curfew itself had.

Christopher Lee, Staff Writer, THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS, February 6, 1996, Pg. 1A, HEADLINE: Dallas youth crime down since curfew, chief says; Other factors may have helped spur sharp decline // acs-VT97
     Assistant Police Chief Marlin Price cautioned council members that it was impossible to determine how much of the reduction in juvenile crime was due to the curfew rather than other initiatives such as community policing.
 "To say that the curfew is solely responsible, I don't think that we could," Chief Price said. "And there's no way we can factor out other programs."

Nancy Lewis, The Washington Post, March 25, 1996, Pg. D03; HEADLINE: Juvenile Curfew Produces No Arrests in D.C. // acs-VT97
     The District's much-heralded juvenile curfew, passed in the summer by the D.C. Council, has not produced a single arrest for violating it, and D.C. police are picking up an average of only one juvenile a night.

Katherine Bouma, The Sentinel Staff, THE ORLANDO SENTINEL, March 15, 1996; Pg. 1, HEADLINE: Attorney Calls Curfew Frightening // acs-VT97
     The ACLU's Smith said he disputes such statistics. After Orlando's downtown curfew was enacted in 1994, crime in the area didn't drop at all, he said. "It accomplishes nothing," he said. "These are just political pronouncements."

Christopher Lee, Staff Writer, THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS, April 4, 1996, Pg. 41A, HEADLINE: Teen crime down less than was thought; Curfew critic says figures prove point // acs-VT07
 Carrie Sperling, regional director of the American Civil Liberties Union, said the faulty numbers show that the curfew isn't working as well as officials would have the public believe.
 "I think the numbers are part of the whole con game of the curfew itself," Ms. Sperling said. "The City Council and the police are trying to convince us that this thing is a good idea, when in fact crime in other jurisdictions with curfews hasn't gone down."

Adrienne T. Washington; The Washington Times, July 18, 1995, Pg. C2, HEADLINE: For kids' sake, we need more than a curfew // acs-VT97
     The effectiveness of a curfew on young hard-core thugs who have no regard for life or law will be nil. They'll just see the restriction as a joke and move their criminal enterprises underground.

Beth Frerking, Sacramento Bee, August 13, 1995, Pg. FO1, INNOCENT KIDS // acs-VT97
     Nonetheless, Ruefle [William Ruefle, a criminology professor at the University of South Alabama] says no one has done the kind of empirical study, one examining every possible factor affecting crime rates, that would pass the peer review required by academic journals. And the only recent study of that kind, a 1977 examination of a Detroit curfew law, showed that juvenile crime merely shifted from after curfew hours to the period between 2 and 5 p.m.

CURFEWS DO NOT REDUCE JUVENILE CRIME (CONTINUED)

Mike Doogan, Anchorage Daily News,October 6, 1995, Pg. 1C, HEADLINE: CURFEW LAW DELIVERS SWIFT, CERTAIN PUNISHMENT FOR THE INNOCENT // acs-VT97
     Here's the way the curfew will work: Responsible parents will tell their children to be home by midnight because that's the law. Responsible children will obey their parents. Juvenile crime won't be reduced one iota.
 Why not? Well, juvenile criminals don't seem to be responsible children who get bored on Friday night and start stealing car stereos. Juvenile confidentiality laws make it hard to tell for certain, but it seems that juvenile crime is like adult crime: A small percentage of the juveniles commit a large percentage of the crimes. Most of the hard-core kid criminals don't come from homes headed by nurturing, effective parents.

Mark Belko, Post-Gazette Staff Writer, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, October 5, 1995, Pg. B1, HEADLINE: Proposed curfew a mistake, ACLU says // acs-VT97
     The ACLU said a curfew would be costly to enforce, would distract police from more important duties and would be ineffective in reducing crime.
 It cited a recent report issued by the U.S. Justice Department's office of juvenile justice and delinquency prevention that found that violent juvenile crime -- murder, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault -- peaked at 3 p.m., trailed off during the evening hours and reached its lowest points between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m.
 The study was based on about 150,000 incidents reported to police in South Carolina in 1991 and 1992.

Mark Belko, Post-Gazette Staff Writer, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, October 5, 1995, Pg. B1, HEADLINE: Proposed curfew a mistake, ACLU says // acs-VT97
     Statistics compiled by the city's Public Safety Department also call into question the effectiveness of the proposed curfew.
 Those statistics, which cover all of 1993 through October 1994, show that violent juvenile crime hits its highest points at 6 p.m., 8 p.m. and 10 p.m., then drops rapidly after midnight before increasing significantly again in the early afternoon.

Mark Belko, Post-Gazette Staff Writer, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, October 5, 1995, Pg. B1, HEADLINE: Proposed curfew a mistake, ACLU says // acs-VT97
     The ACLU, again citing the juvenile justice report, said most of those victimized by juvenile crime -- and most of those who commit crimes against juveniles -- were family members, friends or acquaintances.
 ''If that's the case, a curfew is not going to stop crime,'' Walczak said. ''In fact, it may generate more crime'' because youths will be home more.

Mark Belko, Post-Gazette Staff Writer, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, October 5, 1995, Pg. B1, HEADLINE: Proposed curfew a mistake, ACLU says // acs-VT97
     Like other critics, such as Councilman Sala Udin, the ACLU contends that juveniles who commit violent crimes will not be deterred by the threat of a curfew.
 The ACLU touted after-school, recreational and educational programs in cities such as Philadelphia; Newark, N.J.; Fort Myers, Fla.; and Tampa, Fla., as being more effective in reducing crime.

PHILIP J. LaVELLE, Staff Writer, The San Diego Union-Tribune, November 27, 1995, Pg. B-1, "Curfew" // acs-VT97
     Police statistics show that from June 1994 through last May, the number of juveniles arrested for violent crime fell 18.5 percent during non-curfew hours and 4.7 percent during curfew hours, compared to the prior year. In the same period, the number of juvenile violent crime victims fell 9.5 percent during non-curfew hours and 4.5 percent during curfew hours.
 "I think people will be surprised -- if not startled -- to know the results of this pre-curfew and post-curfew comparison," Hills [of ACLU] said.

GARY STEIN, Commentary, Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale), November 12, 1995, Pg. 1B, HEADLINE: PUT CURFEW DREAMS TO BED RIGHT NOW // acs-VT97
     If police are put in the position of enforcing this law, just imagine how many people are being raped and mugged while a teen-ager is being forced to explain why he is out after 11.
Many cops hate the idea of enforcing a curfew. Shouldn't that tell you something?

EDITORIAL, Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale), November 10, 1995, Pg. 26A, HEADLINE: Youth Curfew Won't Solve Problems; Arrest, Punish Criminals Of All Ages // acs-VT97
     Other judges called it absurd and naive to think a teen now flouting laws banning drugs, rape or robbery will be deterred by a curfew law, or won't have a forged ID.

CURFEW LAWS WILL BE ENFORCED IN A RACIST MANNER
[LINKS TO RACISM DISADVANTAGE]

EDITORIAL; THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS, February 7, 1996, Pg. 20A, HEADLINE: YOUTH CURFEW; Dallas' firm stand paying dividends // acs-VT97
     Critics feel Dallas' curfew is discriminatory and leaves too much room for police abuses. Specifically, some think local officers have used the ordinance primarily to arrest minority teenagers.
 It is important for the youth curfew to be uniformly enforced. There can be no room for discrimination. At the same time, it is important to recognize the powerful role this ordinance is playing in the fight to control juvenile crime. The curfew is working. It's as simple as that

Christopher Lee, Staff Writer, THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS, February 6, 1996, Pg. 1A, HEADLINE: Dallas youth crime down since curfew, chief says; Other factors may have helped spur sharp decline // acs-VT97
     Ms. Sperling of the ACLU questioned whether police were unfairly targeting minority teens.
 "From what we've seen from complaints, the curfew is being selectively enforced - mainly against Hispanics and possibly against African-Americans, too," she said.

JEFF KASS, Los Angeles Times, March 31, 1996, Part B; Page 1; HEADLINE: Curfew Mulled As Way To Stem Truancy, Crime // acs-VT97
     Others fear that a daytime curfew could be another tool for overzealous officers to harass minorities.
"It's just another vehicle to use as a guide for looking at people who are at risk of joining gangs , or are suspected of being at risk," said John Palacio, with the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund in Santa Ana. "It can be misused against anyone, in particular, minority youth."

JEFF KASS, Los Angeles Times, March 31, 1996, Part B; Page 1; HEADLINE: CURFEW MULLED AS WAY TO STEM TRUANCY, CRIME // acs-VT07
 Some civil libertarians say that by potentially restricting movement, a daytime curfew pits the right of children to freely associate against the need to keep them in school. Others fear that a daytime curfew could be another tool for overzealous officers to harass minorities.
"It's just another vehicle to use as a guide for looking at people who are atrisk of joining gangs , or are suspected of being at risk," said John Palacio, with the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund in Santa Ana. "It can be misused against anyone, in particular, minority youth."

The Advocate, June 12, 1995; Pg. 6B; HEADLINE: Curfew law has potential to harm // acs-VT97
     The Baton Rouge juvenile curfew law which went into effect Thursday night has the potential to do more harm than good unless guidelines and guidance are provided for teen-agers, their parents and the police who must enforce the law.
 But the council failed to take the crucial step of providing the resources necessary to make the local curfew work, and law enforcement officials' assurances that they will use "discretion" in enforcing the law are not reassuring. Too often, discretion ends up meaning selective enforcement, which ends up meaning discrimination.
 
The Advocate, June 12, 1995; Pg. 6B; HEADLINE: Curfew law has potential to harm // acs-VT97
     "The good thing is that the officers have a great flexibility," said Cpl. Don Kelly of city police. "There is no blanket rule. It could be a situation where two officers handle it two different ways. " Lt. Col. Mike Barnett of the sheriff's office also stressed the discretion to be used by deputies in enforcing the curfew. "Whatever is the most convenient for us is the way it will be handled," he said.
 That much discretion leaves the potential for use of the curfew in a discriminatory manner against classes or groups of youngsters, and that cannot be allowed to happen. 

Harold Jackson, EDITORIAL, The Baltimore Sun, July 27, 1995, Pg. 15A, HEADLINE: Curfews, like speed limits, only selectively enforced // acs-VT97
     So, while a government-imposed curfew is a factor, it's not really the issue in trying to reduce the number of young people who are committing crimes or becoming crime victims. A curfew is just another one of those laws that the police selectively enforce in certain situations -- such as breaking up a crowd of noisy teen-agers.

EDITORIAL, Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale), November 10, 1995, Pg. 26A, HEADLINE: Youth Curfew Won't Solve Problems; Arrest, Punish Criminals Of All Ages // acs-VT97
     Curfews are so overly broad that they invite the abuse of arbitrary, discriminatory enforcement, especially against minorities.

CURFEW LAWS WILL BE SEEN AS A "QUICK FIX" AND WILL STOP MORE MEANINGFUL REFORMS
[LINKS TO QUICK FIX DISADVANTAGE]

PATRICK GRIFFIN AND LILLIAN THOMAS, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 7, 1996, Pg. F-1, HEADLINE: TEEN CURFEW STILL PROVOKES ITS OPPONENTS // acs-VT97
     Critics said it's a Band-Aid approach to a broader problem, that it's a wasteof city money and police time, and that it could land the city in court.

PATRICK GRIFFIN AND LILLIAN THOMAS, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 7, 1996, Pg. F-1, HEADLINE: TEEN CURFEW STILL PROVOKES ITS OPPONENTS // acs-VT97
     Some curfew opponents have voiced misgivings that have little to do with legal defects or the abstract rights of minors.
 ''(A curfew) is politically convenient and it sells,'' said Pittsburgh Councilman Sala Udin, who opposes one. ''It makes you look like you're doing something.''

PATRICK GRIFFIN AND LILLIAN THOMAS, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 7, 1996, Pg. F-1, HEADLINE: TEEN CURFEW STILL PROVOKES ITS OPPONENTS // acs-VT97
     The quick-fix response of a curfew simply doesn't address the problem of juvenile crime, Udin said. [Pittsburgh Councilman Sala Udin]
 A youth program that is ''prevention oriented, development oriented'' and incorporates education, job training, crime prevention and protection is what isneeded, he [Pittsburgh Councilman Sala Udin] said. ''If it were middle-class-and-up white youth who were dying, falling victimsto crime and addiction, there would be a real response - that is, one that is comprehensive and costs money.'' 

CNN: NEWS 11:21 am, October 27, 1995, Transcript # 1057-14, HEADLINE: Experts Agree on Crime Solutions, But Not on Semantics // acs-VT97
     VINCENT SCHIRALDI, Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice: Well, I think that curfews in general - and not just specific to New Orleans, but in general - are sort of the Pepto-Bismol approach to public safety. The notion being that, OK, we can continue to engage in all sorts of behaviors that make our ulcer worse. We can smoke cigarettes, we can drink coffee, we can eat fatty foods and just take this pink stuff at the end of the day and we'll feel better. And in a sense that's what curfew is about. Let's not deal with the issues of kid- every 12-year-old in New Orleans knowing where they can buy a gun or a rock of crack cocaine. Let's not deal with rampant unemployment amongst kids. Let's not deal with higher school class sizes and deteriorating schools. We have Pepto-curfews that will take care of the whole problem. 

CNN: NEWS 11:21 am, October 27, 1995, Transcript # 1057-14, HEADLINE: Experts Agree on Crime Solutions, But Not on Semantics // acs-VT97
     VINCENT SCHIRALDI, Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice: And that's exactly the point. I mean, New York crime dropped between 20 and 30 percent amongst juveniles. In San Francisco it dropped. In Los Angeles it dropped and those are towns that did not initiate curfews. The crime is dropping in cities around the country that don't engage in curfews. What I'm saying is that curfews divert all our attention away from the real solutions. 

GARY STEIN, Commentary, Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale), November 12, 1995, Pg. 1B, HEADLINE: PUT CURFEW DREAMS TO BED RIGHT NOW // acs-VT97
     The main beneficiaries of a curfew will be politicians, who will get to blather on that they are doing something about juvenile crime. Why not a curfew on blathering politicians? Don't trust kids - ever

EDITORIAL, Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale), November 10, 1995, Pg. 26A, HEADLINE: Youth Curfew Won't Solve Problems; Arrest, Punish Criminals Of All Ages // acs-VT97
     Curfews are a tempting, feel-good "cure" for vexing problems of juvenile crime and parental neglect. Nevertheless, curfews are a bad idea, for reasons much more practical than denial of rights of due process, equal protection, free assembly and privacy: Dade's police chiefs feared the curfew would squander scarce manpower, turn cops into babysitters and chauffeurs and distract them from real crime. Dade police estimated taxpayers would pay $ 1,212 for each kid taken to court. They feared huge legal judgments if a kid got hurt in custody or was wrongly busted.

CURFEW LAWS VIOLATE CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS

Metropolitan News-Enterprise; January 30, 1996, SECTION: Pg. 9, HEADLINE: Why Not a 24-Hour Curfew? //acs-VT97
     In his State of the State speech, Gov. Pete Wilson again let his admirable anti-crime passion go to far, and he proposed an idea more befitting a police state than the Golden State.
 The governor called for an expansion of curfew laws, an idea that he inaccurately claimed would prevent crime.

Metropolitan News-Enterprise; January 30, 1996, SECTION: Pg. 9, HEADLINE: Why Not a 24-Hour Curfew? //acs-VT97
      Problem is, curfews are nowhere near as effective as Wilson claims, and they go against every fiber of the U.S. Constitution.

Linda Feldmann, Staff writer, The Christian Science Monitor, January 4, 1996, Pg. 1, HEADLINE: Cities Adopt Curfews, but Impact on Crime Is Debated //acs-VT97
     The ACLU argues that curfews should be the domain of parents, not police officers or politicians. The group also argues that curfews violate the rights of young people, such as the freedom of speech and the right to assemble. Last month, a judge ruled against the San Diego ACLU, which has filed an appeal.

Katherine Bouma, The Sentinel Staff, THE ORLANDO SENTINEL, March 15, 1996; Pg. 1, HEADLINE: Attorney Calls Curfew Frightening // acs-VT97
     Robert Smith, an Orlando attorney for the ACLU.
 "That means the kids will be under house arrest," he said. "It's so unconstitutional it's frightening. You have a right to freedom of movement."
 City Attorney Don Smallwood said he will research the daytime curfew, which is part of a statute the Legislature recently approved for adoption by local governments.

Katherine Bouma, The Sentinel Staff, THE ORLANDO SENTINEL, March 15, 1996; Pg. 1, HEADLINE: Attorney Calls Curfew Frightening // acs-VT97
     Smith said the law could have repercussions.
 "There's a current notion in our country of 'Let's do away with people's constitutional freedoms,' " he said. "What people never think about is that this trend, once it starts, never stops."

PATRICK GRIFFIN AND LILLIAN THOMAS, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 7, 1996, Pg. F-1, HEADLINE: TEEN CURFEW STILL PROVOKES ITS OPPONENTS // acs-VT97
     Yet not everyone is jumping onto the curfew bandwagon. As widespread as juvenile curfews have become, their legality is still fiercely disputed. Opponents, generally led by the American Civil Liberties Union, charge that curfews violate the fundamental rights of all young people.
 ACLU challenges to curfews typically bristle with constitutional objections, contending that they stifle freedoms of speech, assembly, association and travel; that they violate family privacy; that they discriminate on the basis ofage; that they are so broad and vague as to invite arbitrary enforcement; and that they impose an apartheid-style ''pass system'' on the young, the poor and the black.

Mark Belko, Post-Gazette Staff Writer, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, October 5, 1995, Pg. B1, HEADLINE: Proposed curfew a mistake, ACLU says // acs-VT97
     The American Civil Liberties Union criticized a proposed curfew for city youths under age 17 yesterday as an unconstitutional ''martial-law'' type of measure that would be ineffective in reducing crime.
 In a letter to Mayor Murphy and members of City Council, Witold Walczak, executive director of the ACLU's Pittsburgh chapter, said a curfew ''is the most emblematic aspect of martial law'' in dictatorial regimes throughout the world.
''The only time we'd sign off on a curfew is if the Russians were bombing Pittsburgh in a state of war,'' he said.

PHILIP J. LaVELLE, Staff Writer, The San Diego Union-Tribune, November 27, 1995, Pg. B-1, "Curfew" // acs-VT97
     To the ACLU, the law is nothing less than a major assault on the Constitution -- too broadly written, with too few exceptions. Its lawsuit alleges illegal prior restraint on the exercise of fundamental rights; violation of rights to due process, free speech and free association; and violation of protections against unreasonable search and seizure.
 "San Diego's is one of the most broad and sweeping curfews, with the least amount of exceptions," said Juanita Brooks, a prominent San Diego defense attorney volunteering for the ACLU.

CURFEW LAWS PUNISH INNOCENT JUVENILES WITH HOME ARREST

Metropolitan News-Enterprise; January 30, 1996, SECTION: Pg. 9, HEADLINE: Why Not a 24-Hour Curfew? //acs-VT97
      This all would seem to indicate that there is no compelling reason to continue taking basic rights away from legal citizens via new curfew laws.
 As the ACLU points out, curfews amount to "virtual house arrest" for young people who have not been charged with any crimes. Curfews punish an entire class of citizens -- usually those under the age of 18 -- for the misdeeds of a small percentage of their peers.

Metropolitan News-Enterprise; January 30, 1996, SECTION: Pg. 9, HEADLINE: Why Not a 24-Hour Curfew? //acs-VT97
      With a curfew in place, a teenager can't watch a late movie, take in a night baseball game, attend midnight mass, go star-gazing at an observatory, or see his favorite rock band in concert. How ridiculous.

Metropolitan News-Enterprise; January 30, 1996, SECTION: Pg. 9, HEADLINE: Why Not a 24-Hour Curfew? //acs-VT97
      Rather than expanding curfews and restricting the rights of innocent citizens, legislators should pass laws which target the criminals themselves.
 If our goal is simply to lock up teenagers to keep them from committing crimes, we might as well institute a 24-hour curfew. But it would be better to lock up the criminals so teenagers and the rest of us can enjoy life in the land of the free.

Mike Doogan, Anchorage Daily News,October 6, 1995, Pg. 1C, HEADLINE: CURFEW LAW DELIVERS SWIFT, CERTAIN PUNISHMENT FOR THE INNOCENT // acs-VT97
     So unless the police sweep the streets with a drift net, the good kids will be forced to go home while the bad kids stay out. Is that what we want?

GARY STEIN, Commentary, Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale), November 12, 1995, Pg. 1B, HEADLINE: PUT CURFEW DREAMS TO BED RIGHT NOW // acs-VT97
     If the main idea of a curfew is to cut down on crime, why not have a curfew on adults instead, since adults commit more serious crimes than teen-agers. Oops. Sorry. Adults vote. End of story.

GARY STEIN, Commentary, Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale), November 12, 1995, Pg. 1B, HEADLINE: PUT CURFEW DREAMS TO BED RIGHT NOW // acs-VT97
     Dade's law says teens younger than 17 have to be off the streets by 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and by midnight on weekends.
 Think about that. A teen-ager could go to a baseball or basketball or hockey game, then stop for a burger, and get nabbed by the cops on the way home. Dandy.

GARY STEIN, Commentary, Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale), November 12, 1995, Pg. 1B, HEADLINE: PUT CURFEW DREAMS TO BED RIGHT NOW // acs-VT97
     Do we really have to enact laws that make teen-agers feel like they're criminals?
 Remember, some adults actually were teen-agers once. Hard to believe, I know. 

GARY STEIN, Commentary, Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale), November 12, 1995, Pg. 1B, HEADLINE: PUT CURFEW DREAMS TO BED RIGHT NOW // acs-VT97
     The appellate court judges, in their ruling on the Dade curfew, wrote "children, due to their special nature and vulnerabilities, do not enjoy the same quantum or quality of rights as adults."
 In other words, adults can walk the streets at night and teen-agers can't.
Kind of makes you proud to be an American, doesn't it?

EDITORIAL, Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale), November 10, 1995, Pg. 26A, HEADLINE: Youth Curfew Won't Solve Problems; Arrest, Punish Criminals Of All Ages // acs-VT97
     Curfews are based on a false assumption - that there is no reason for a child to be out late.
 Nonsense. The law itemizes many ways to avoid violating curfew: Running a family errand or going to and from work or an official and supervised school, church or recreational activity, but only with written parental permission. Driving across country (but not across town.) Standing on the sidewalk or swale just outside your home or next-door neighbor's home (but not two doors away.) Or even "exercising First Amendment rights" to free speech and assembly.

CURFEWS WASTE POLICE TIME

Patricia Zengerle, Reuters, January 14, 1996, HEADLINE: U.S. teen curfews in place, but are they enforced? //acs-VT97
      But opponents said police should not spend time detaining juveniles simply for walking down the street.
 "Is this really where we want our police resources to go? Or do we want that cop out there patrolling, trying to catch muggers and rapists and thieves," asked Chris Hansen, senior staff counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in New York, who coordinates the ACLU's work on curfew law.

CURFEWS ONLY WORK IF THEY ARE PAIRED WITH BROAD PREVENTION AND YOUTH ENRICHMENT PROGRAMS

CNN: NEWS 11:21 am, October 27, 1995, Transcript # 1057-14, HEADLINE: Experts Agree on Crime Solutions, But Not on Semantics // acs-VT97
     VINCENT SCHIRALDI, Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice: Well, I think, a good example here is the mayor's article in The Washington Post in which- Right away the article - Mayor Morial's article - talks about 'Our Juvenile Curfew is working.' And the first several paragraphs talk about curfew, curfew, curfew. Way down at the end of the article it talks about the fact that it tripled the availability of recreation centers and added 1,300 summer jobs for kids. The message that comes out, though, from the article is curfews work. When, in fact, what may have dropped the crime rate is more jobs and more recreation centers. 

CNN: NEWS 11:21 am, October 27, 1995, Transcript # 1057-14, HEADLINE: Experts Agree on Crime Solutions, But Not on Semantics // acs-VT97
     VINCENT SCHIRALDI, Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice: Let me give you the example of Phoenix. Phoenix has a curfew and they also extended recreation hours and crime went down in Phoenix. However, during the period of time when they stopped those extended recreation hours crime went back up. What that says to me is that curfews didn't do squat. It was the extended recreation hours that helped keep the crime problem down. 

CURFEW LAWS MAKE PARENTS LAZY AND IRRESPONSIBLE

Mark Belko, Post-Gazette Staff Writer, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, October 5, 1995, Pg. B1, HEADLINE: Proposed curfew a mistake, ACLU says // acs-VT97
     The ACLU suggested, however, that the curfew would supplant parental authority, not support it.

GARY STEIN, Commentary, Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale), November 12, 1995, Pg. 1B, HEADLINE: PUT CURFEW DREAMS TO BED RIGHT NOW // acs-VT97
     The curfew is just a great excuse for lazy parents to let the police do their work. These are the same lazy parents who want teachers to do all their work. Why not a curfew on lazy parents?

JUVENILE CRIME PREVENTION PROGRAMS FAIL

JAMES FINCKENAUER, Prof. Rutgers Univ., 1982; SCARED STRAIGHT! AND THE PANACEA PHENOMENON // am-VT97 p. 44
Delinquent behavior results from a host of complex and deeply internalized psychological, social, and psychosocial causes. Altering or redirecting it by psychological shock therapy seems to run counter to much of what we know about human behavior. The track record for delinquency prevention programs negates the easy, simple approach.

JAMES FINCKENAUER, Prof. Rutgers Univ., 1982; SCARED STRAIGHT! AND THE PANACEA PHENOMENON // am-VT97 p. 13
 Another possible explanation for unsound or unrealistic expectations being raised for a particular approach to delinquency prevention seems much more sinister to me. Earlier I reported that Lundman and Scarpitti suggested that researchers should expect future delinquency prevention projects to be unsuccessful. Although they had good reasons for making this recommendation, the reality is that most prevention efforts are not research projects, but are action projects that usually do not get evaluated. All prevention efforts require some amount of funding and resources such as staff, a building or storefront, etc. There is a great deal of competition for these scarce resources, particularly in urban areas where the juvenile crime problem is most serious. It doesn't seem realistic to me to expect planners and program developers to advertise their proposed projects as potential failures and yet expect to secure funding support. 

HARRELL ROBERTS, Prof. Princeton Univ., 1987; THE INNER WORLD OF THE BLACK JUVENILE DELINQUENT // cjj-VT97 p. 4
 These fears are justifiably voiced, but they do not cancel oat the need for a more adequate explanation of the genesis of delinquent behavior. The position of the social determinist—that the ghetto is a breeding ground for crime—fails to account for the wide variation of individual responses to the social conditions in the ghetto. In fact, it does not give sufficient credit to the capacities of ghetto residents to create personal stability in the midst of social chaos. Although an environment makes a palpable imprint on its residents, it is still not capable of turning out clones. The determinist argument implies a one-to-one correlation between social conditions and delinquency, one that simply does not exist. Only a small percentage of ghetto youth are arrested and jailed for delinquency, although many others have one-time brushes with the law during adolescence. Moreover, there are many middle-class youth who come from distinctly favorable backgrounds, but also commit antisocial acts (often considered "just pranks") and usually avoid being punished, almost never going to jail. 

Joan Little, Staff Writer, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 2, 1995, Pg. 1B, HEADLINE: CONFERENCE STRESSES NEED FOR POSITIVE PARENTING // acs-VT97
     "The majority of kids are good kids with a future, if we will make the commitment," Richardson said. "The bottom line is, the parent is responsible for the child, but the parent needs support. There is no quick fix for this problem. There's no pill that's going to cure this."

COLETTE BAXLEY; The Post and Courier (Charleston, SC), January 21, 1996, Pg. 1, HEADLINE: Confusion clouds adolescent values //acs-VT97
      We assume that values are learned - and should be learned - at home. The youths agree. As concern grows, we have looked to our churches, government and schools to fix our problems.
 But the survey suggests that those institutions are a poor conduit for instilling values in young people.
 The adolescents say they learn their values from family first. After that, they learn from friends and personal experiences.
Church, school and community are the last three places they learn values.

PARENTAL RESPONSIBILITY LAWS WON'T SOLVE JUVENILE CRIME AND MAY INCREASE IT

EDITORIAL; Chicago Tribune, March 30, 1996: Pg. 22; HEADLINE: CRIME DOESN'T PAY--SHOULD PARENTS? // acs-VT97
     Would punishing parents by way of their pocketbooks slow the pace of juvenile crime? Probably not, and it could be counterproductive.
 Most juvenile delinquents come from homes where there is no father, and more often than not the family is living in poverty. Fining the mother is less likely to change her child's behavior than it is to add more stress to an already overburdened household.

335EDITORIAL; Chicago Tribune, March 30, 1996: Pg. 22; HEADLINE: CRIME DOESN'T PAY--SHOULD PARENTS? // acs-VT97
     Would requiring parenting classes help keep kids in line? Maybe, if they started early enough. But by the time most kids reach the juvenile-justice system, their parents already have lost control--if they ever had it.

Carol Sternhell, Good Housekeeping, March, 1996; Pg. 69; HEADLINE: If Johnny breaks the law, should mommy go to Jail? // acs-VT97
     Critics aren't convinced. Chris Hansen of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) argues: "These laws are probably unconstitutional, certainly unwise, and extremely counterproductive. They end up giving power to the kid rather than to the parent. imagine a fifteen-year-old, already mad at his parents, thinking, Hey, if I shoplift tomorrow maybe Mom will go to jail. I can't imagine a worse way to set up a family dynamic."

USA TODAY, November 15, 1995, Pg. 12A, HEADLINE: Help stop kid crime // acs-VT97
     It would be naive to believe that laws like these will defuse the juvenile crime explosion in this country. Or even that they would help in every state or community. The problem is far more complex.
 Such laws also are easily overdone. If excessive, for instance, they could penalize parents who try to do the right thing. Putting parents in jail or hitting them with unreasonable fines wouldn't help anybody. And such laws aren't likely to work as well with older, more independent children or in high-crime inner cities.

PARENTAL RESPONSIBILITY LAWS WILL WASTE POLICE TIME

Mike Ward, Austin American-Statesman, January 02, 1996; Pg. A1, HEADLINE: Punishing Parents for their kids' misdeeds; An Oregon ordinance is model for a new Texas statute //acs-VT97
     Big-city police say they have too many, more serious crime problems to deal with to ticket bad parents. And judges have questioned whether the expected legal challenges could bog down an already overloaded court system.

PARENTAL RESPONSIBILITY LAWS WILL NOT SUCCEED IN IMPROVING PARENTING

San Diego Union-Tribune, January 14, 1996, Pg. G-1, HEADLINE: AT Risk Despite recently falling crime rates, violence still threatens millions of Americans //acs-VT97
      Others argue that the expectations of such laws are unrealistic, especially for single parents and those battling the corrupting influences of crime-ridden neighborhoods.
 ""If you're a single parent and working every day, how do you control your teen-ager's behavior to the extent we can penalize you for it? '' asks Miriam Rollin, director of the National Association of Child Advocates.

Mike Ward, Austin American-Statesman, January 02, 1996; Pg. A1, HEADLINE: Punishing Parents for their kids' misdeeds; An Oregon ordinance is model for a new Texas statute //acs-VT97
      Texas is not alone. In recent months, several other states have adopted similar parental responsibility laws in attempts to curb skyrocketing crime rates among teen-agers in the United States, despite criticism that such laws are misguided and unconstitutional.
 ''We wish parents were more responsible, and therefore we will order them to be responsible, even though we know many of them cannot because of factors beyond their control,'' said Barry Feld, a law professor and juvenile justice expert at the University of Minnesota. ''Now how much sense does that make?''

Mike Ward, Austin American-Statesman, January 02, 1996; Pg. A1, HEADLINE: Punishing Parents for their kids' misdeeds; An Oregon ordinance is model for a new Texas statute //acs-VT97
     ''Parents are trying to raise their kids the best way they can ... and who is the government to tell you you haven't done it the right way,'' Davidson said.
 ''Control is not something you just switch off and on. And the terrible thing is that it switches the burden of proof. The parents have to show their way of raising their kids was prudent.''

Carol Sternhell, Good Housekeeping, March, 1996; Pg. 69; HEADLINE: If Johnny breaks the law, should mommy go to Jail? // acs-VT97
     Many of the most vocal fans of parental responsibility laws seem to equate good parenting with strict parenting, to equate discipline with physical punishment. Stadeli, for instance, is an outspoken advocate of spanking. "When I was little and did something wrong, my dad would break off a cherry-tree branch with those little nubbins in it. That bites. That really makes you think."
Most child-care experts couldn't disagree more. In fact, they say, a parent who followed Stadeli's advice would be more likely to create delinquency than prevent it. "Most kids in trouble with the law have been spanked and treated in harshly punitive ways," says James Windell, a psychotherapist in Bloomfield Hills, MI. "Those forms of punishment may be a cause of the problem, not a solution. The problem with parental responsibility laws is that they put even more pressure on parents and may make them turn to more punitive methods to control their kids."

RAY HUARD, Staff Writer, The San Diego Union-Tribune,April 23, 1996, Pg. A-1, HEADLINE: San Diego loitering law targets truants, parents // acs-VT97
     Councilwoman Judy McCarty said it was unreasonable to subject parents to a possible jail term.     "The reality today is that there are a lot of families in trouble and they need help, not to be sitting in jail," McCarty said.
 If parents cannot control their children enough that they will stay in school, jail isn't going to help, she said.
"If there's jail time, it should be the kid's, not the parents'," McCarty said. "Let the kid be accountable for his actions."

PETER APPLEBOME, The New York Times, April 10, 1996, Section A; Page 1; HEADLINE: Parents Face Consequences As Children's Misdeeds Rise // acs-VT97
     Critics say that in the most troubled households, often low-income families with a single parent working one or two jobs, punishing parents will have no effect on juvenile crime and will only worsen problems in the household. And questions have been raised about the constitutionality of the laws.

PARENTAL RESPONSIBILITY LAWS INFRINGE ON INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS

JOHN P. WALTERS, executive director of the Council on Crime in America, The San Diego Union-Tribune, January 14, 1996, Pg. G-1, HEADLINE: AT Risk Despite recently falling crime rates, violence still threatens millions of Americans //acs-VT97
      Critics contend that such laws can be intrusive, a form of after-the-fact judicial second-guessing of the difficult and highly subjective decisions parents must make. The broadest laws also are challenged as unconstitutionally vague: How much discipline, how many heartfelt talks on right and wrong does it take for a parent to do enough?

JOHN P. WALTERS, executive director of the Council on Crime in America, The San Diego Union-Tribune, January 14, 1996, Pg. G-1, HEADLINE: AT Risk Despite recently falling crime rates, violence still threatens millions of Americans //acs-VT97
      Local attorney Jossi Davidson, however, is preparing to challenge the ordinance as unconstitutionally vague.
 ""A parent need not have done anything that they knew was wrong or that anyone knew was wrong at the time,'' he said.
 Moreover, the ordinance is an invitation for judges to impose their own values on families, Davidson contends. ""Part of being a free people is raising your children as you see fit,''

SHARON COTLIAR, Chicago Sun-Times, February 19, 1996, Pg. 1, HEADLINE: Parents Could Take Rap for Kids' Behavior // acs-VT97
     The American Civil Liberties Union already has raised questions about a provision in the bill that would require parents to prove their innocence.
 "What's problematic about this is that it shifts the burden of proof onto the parent," said Valerie Phillips, an ACLU spokeswoman.

218SHARON COTLIAR, Chicago Sun-Times, February 19, 1996, Pg. 1, HEADLINE: Parents Could Take Rap for Kids' Behavior // acs-VT97
     The ACLU also has questioned parental-responsibility laws in the past, arguing that people cannot be held responsible for the actions of another unless it can be shown that they contributed to those actions.

EDITORIAL; Chicago Tribune, March 30, 1996: Pg. 22; HEADLINE: CRIME DOESN'T PAY--SHOULD PARENTS? // acs-VT97
     But it is altogether different, and unreasonable, to hold parents legally liable for actions their children take while not under their supervision.

PETER APPLEBOME, The New York Times, April 10, 1996, Section A; Page 1; HEADLINE: Parents Face Consequences As Children's Misdeeds Rise // acs-VT97
     Joe Cook, executive director of the Louisiana American Civil Liberties Union,said: "We think the law is subject to challenge and are looking for a case to challenge it.
 "At the least it raises equal protection issues," he added. "The law is goingto be directed by its very nature toward those parents who cannot afford child care and don't have the support system needed to provide for themselves and their families."

PARENTAL RESPONSIBILITY LAWS ARE UNWORKABLE

Laurel Shaper Walters, Staff writer, The Christian Science Monitor, April 1, 1996, Pg. 3, HEADLINE: States to Parents: Pay for Your Children's Crimes // acs-VT07
 "The general idea of getting parents more involved with their kids when they are troubled is a good one," Soler [president of the Youth Law Center in Washington] says. "But there is a serious concern that these fines are going to hit people who don't have the money to pay for them. What are you going to do, put parents in jail if they can't pay the fine? What will that solve?"

JEFF KASS, Los Angeles Times, March 31, 1996, Part B; Page 1; HEADLINE: CURFEW MULLED AS WAY TO STEM TRUANCY, CRIME // acs-VT07
 Menninger [Deputy Dist. Atty. Kim Menninger] said prosecuting parents for their children's truancy is difficult.For example, she said, many schools are not familiar with the type of documentation needed by the courts. 

PARENTAL RESPONSIBILITY LAWS WILL BE JUST ANOTHER QUICK FIX WHICH WILL HALT MORE MEANINGFUL REFORMS 
[LINK TO QUICK FIX DISADVANTAGE]

Mike Ward, Austin American-Statesman, January 02, 1996; Pg. A1, HEADLINE: Punishing Parents for their kids' misdeeds; An Oregon ordinance is model for a new Texas statute //acs-VT97
      Other critics contend the wave of parental responsibility laws is little more than a fad -- ''designer justice'' some call it -- that likely will not live up to expectations. A few years ago boot camps were the rage and before that, it was counseling and therapy instead of time behind bars.

EDITORIAL; Chicago Tribune, March 30, 1996: Pg. 22; HEADLINE: CRIME DOESN'T PAY--SHOULD PARENTS? // acs-VT97
     The rising tide of juvenile crime is alarming, and Rep. Zickus is wise to be looking for innovative, effective means of stemming it. She's right, too, to be looking to the root of the problem: the family.
 But fining parents, like shackling them to their children, is the easy answer, not the right one.

PETER APPLEBOME, The New York Times, April 10, 1996, Section A; Page 1; HEADLINE: Parents Face Consequences As Children's Misdeeds Rise // acs-VT97
     But some criminal justice experts and groups are saying the laws are little more than political grandstanding.
 "Most of these laws are a complete waste of time," said Barry Krisberg, president of the National Council on Crime and Delinquency. "It's country club criminology. It sounds good in the suburbs but in reality it's an empty threat because if you carry it out you just further endanger and pull apart families."

PETER APPLEBOME, The New York Times, April 10, 1996, Section A; Page 1; HEADLINE: Parents Face Consequences As Children's Misdeeds Rise // acs-VT97
     As for the parental responsibility laws now being enacted, most experts say that to have much impact they would have to include additional money for counseling, referral or treatment programs.
 Without that, many fear the laws will become just another quick-fix approach to juvenile crime. 

Laurel Shaper Walters, Staff writer, The Christian Science Monitor, April 1, 1996, Pg. 3, HEADLINE: States to Parents: Pay for Your Children's Crimes // acs-VT07
 "The idea behind these laws is that parents are somehow at fault for failing to control their children," says Barry Feld, a professor of law at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. "Legislators want to show that they are doing something by getting tough on parents. But the problems of youth crime aretoo complicated to apply quick solutions like this."

Laurel Shaper Walters, Staff writer, The Christian Science Monitor, April 1, 1996, Pg. 3, HEADLINE: States to Parents: Pay for Your Children's Crimes // acs-VT07
 But critics view parental-responsibility laws as a desperate attempt to come up with a simple, politically appealing solution to the complex problem of juvenile delinquency.
 "It doesn't really solve anything for the state to give up and turn things over to the parents," says Mark Soler, president of the Youth Law Center in Washington. "It's too simplistic to say that if we can't control these kids, we'll make sure that the parents do."

 Laurel Shaper Walters, Staff writer, The Christian Science Monitor, April 1, 1996, Pg. 3, HEADLINE: States to Parents: Pay for Your Children's Crimes // acs-VT07
 What's needed, Mr. Soler [president of the Youth Law Center in Washington] argues, is more support for families before their children get into trouble. "It's much easier to pass a law saying that if the kids cause trouble, the parents are responsible. Yet many of these kids come from families that are not very functional or are in extreme crisis themselves." Mr. Feld [professor of law at the University of Minnesota] says the rush to hold parents liable for their children's misdeeds is just one more in a long line of juvenile-justice fads. "The whole field of juvenile justice is strewn with quick-fix solutions and simple-minded strategiesto deal with complex problems," he says. "I know of no systemic evaluation that demonstrates the effectiveness of these statutes."

CORPORAL PUNISHMENT SHOULD NOT BE BANNED AS REGARDS JUVENILES

ERIC BAILEY, TIMES STAFF WRITER, Los Angeles Times, January 28, 1996, SECTION: Part A; Page 3; HEADLINE: LEGISLATORS BRACE FOR DEBATE ON PADDLING //acs-VT97
     "These juveniles need to be held accountable for their actions," Conroy said. "It's straight forward and simple. Let's get back to basics. If you break the law or misbehave in class, you will be punished. Corporal punishment works."

ERIC BAILEY, TIMES STAFF WRITER, Los Angeles Times, January 28, 1996, SECTION: Part A; Page 3; HEADLINE: LEGISLATORS BRACE FOR DEBATE ON PADDLING //acs-VT97
     "Over the last 30 years we've failed to correct our youth with stern punishment," Conroy said. "As a result, school districts like Los Angeles Unified have more than 300 armed police officers walking the halls trying to keep the peace."
 He is certainly not alone in feeling frustrated and believing that corporal punishment could help. A 1994 national survey found that 68% of parents believed that spanking was appropriate, down from 94% in 1968 but still a solid majority. 

ERIC BAILEY, TIMES STAFF WRITER, Los Angeles Times, January 28, 1996, SECTION: Part A; Page 3; HEADLINE: LEGISLATORS BRACE FOR DEBATE ON PADDLING //acs-VT97
     Although opponents worry that overzealous teachers, bailiffs or even some parents could seriously injure children, Conroy is confident that school boards would establish strict guidelines to limit problems, and judges could act as proper guardians against abuse.

Dan Bernstein, Bee Capitol Bureau, Sacramento Bee, January 26, 1996, Pg. A1, HEADLINE: NEW SWING TAKEN TO PUT PADDLES BACK IN SCHOOLS //acs-VT97
     Glen Pitts has taught elementary school students both with the paddle and without it, and he is convinced that an occasional swat on the backside has helped many once-disruptive pupils become responsible adults.
 "As we have different kids with different behaviors, we need different methods of discipline," said Pitts, who has taught for 15 years in the Stockton Unified School District. "There are children out there who respond to corporal punishment."

Dan Bernstein, Bee Capitol Bureau, Sacramento Bee, January 26, 1996, Pg. A1, HEADLINE: NEW SWING TAKEN TO PUT PADDLES BACK IN SCHOOLS //acs-VT97
      But for Conroy, the evidence supporting corporal punishment is as plain as the daily headlines. Since paddling was banned in California schools, juvenile crime and truancy have risen, and school test scores have plummeted. "Kids have everything going their way with no fear of any penalty," Conroy said. "You can't educate society if you don't have discipline."

DAVID MILLER, The San Diego Union-Tribune, February 1, 1996, Ed. B-11; BODY: Is corporal punishment civilized or is it brutal? // acs-VT97
     Are public paddlings and floggings a threat to civilization as claimed by James Wood? Not if you compare Singapore's almost zero crime rate with our "civilization" and its world's highest, out-of-control crime rate. Our "civilization" is under a serious threat because of permissive attitudes that have evolved in the last 50 years, which excuse wrongdoers from taking responsibility for their actions and suffering the consequences. 

285WILLIAM P. O'BRIEN, The San Diego Union-Tribune, February 1, 1996, Ed. B-11; BODY: Is corporal punishment civilized or is it brutal? // acs-VT97
     Instead of asking how someone would feel to be publicly humiliated, James Wood might ask if public humiliation would modify behavior enough to prevent the crime being committed. Peer pressure is strong and it can work for, as well as against, civilization. It won't stop all crime, but public punishment will prevent a great deal more crime, particularly juvenile crime, than our current method of punishment. Public punishment cannot be lied about or glamorized, as can a trip to "juvie." 

GENE T. BAHLMAN , The San Diego Union-Tribune, February 1, 1996, Ed. B-11; BODY: Is corporal punishment civilized or is it brutal? // acs-VT97
     Paddlings, public floggings and chain gangs are not manifestations of those in power inflicted upon the less powerful; they are manifestations of civilized people attempting to civilize uncivilized people.
 I am sure that legislators advocating these forms of punishment would feel terribly humiliated if they or their children were to have these forms of punishment inflicted upon them for their misdeeds. This, after all, is the desired effect, which we hope would cause uncivilized persons to change their behavior. 

CORPORAL PUNISHMENT OF JUVENILES SHOULD NOT BE USED TO REDUCE JUVENILE CRIME

ERIC BAILEY, TIMES STAFF WRITER, Los Angeles Times, January 28, 1996, SECTION: Part A; Page 3; HEADLINE: LEGISLATORS BRACE FOR DEBATE ON PADDLING //acs-VT97
      While capturing headlines, the Republican Party's embrace of corporal punishment has come under a blistering assault. A host of paddling opponents -- armed with three decades of research they say proves the evils of corporal punishment -- have banded with Assembly Democrats for what has become an unremitting partisan fight.

ERIC BAILEY, TIMES STAFF WRITER, Los Angeles Times, January 28, 1996, SECTION: Part A; Page 3; HEADLINE: LEGISLATORS BRACE FOR DEBATE ON PADDLING //acs-VT97
      Foes say it is a myth with no basis in fact. They point to studies showing that paddling and other forms of physical punishment teach children the wrong lessons about violence while breeding resentment and anger among confused adolescents.

ERIC BAILEY, TIMES STAFF WRITER, Los Angeles Times, January 28, 1996, SECTION: Part A; Page 3; HEADLINE: LEGISLATORS BRACE FOR DEBATE ON PADDLING //acs-VT97
     They also raise constitutional questions. Despite a state attorney general's opinion arguing that Conroy's anti-graffiti legislation would pass legal muster, opponents suggest that paddling is barbaric and unconstitutional, a punishment that doesn't fit the crime.

ERIC BAILEY, TIMES STAFF WRITER, Los Angeles Times, January 28, 1996, SECTION: Part A; Page 3; HEADLINE: LEGISLATORS BRACE FOR DEBATE ON PADDLING //acs-VT97
      The pro-paddling legislation comes despite decades of research showing corporal punishment to be entirely ineffective as a disciplinary tool.
 Several studies have demonstrated a strong correlation between juvenile crime and the use of corporal punishment in the home. While spanking is seen as a quick fix, one four-year study of school troublemakers found that parents who used corporal punishment to correct problems reported that it only got worse in the long run.
 "The idea that spanking works when other things don't is one of those truisms that's false," said Murray Straus of the University of New Hampshire's Family Research Laboratory.

ERIC BAILEY, TIMES STAFF WRITER, Los Angeles Times, January 28, 1996, SECTION: Part A; Page 3; HEADLINE: LEGISLATORS BRACE FOR DEBATE ON PADDLING //acs-VT97
     Researchers also argue that corporal punishment can lead to embitterment, anger and, in the worst cases, produce symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder -- headaches, stomach aches and vomiting -- while teaching impressionable youths the contradictory lesson that violence is the way to solve problems.

ERIC BAILEY, TIMES STAFF WRITER, Los Angeles Times, January 28, 1996, SECTION: Part A; Page 3; HEADLINE: LEGISLATORS BRACE FOR DEBATE ON PADDLING //acs-VT97
      A 1965 clinical study by Stanford University found that children invariably imitate aggressive behavior. One recent nationwide statistical survey discovered that schools employing corporal punishment were experiencing a higher rate of vandalism.
 "It simply makes kids angrier, teaching them that might makes right," said Irwin Hyman of the National Center for the Study of Corporal Punishment and Alternatives at Temple University. "And there is overwhelming evidence that when people are given the power to inflict pain on others, it will be abused."

ERIC BAILEY, TIMES STAFF WRITER, Los Angeles Times, January 28, 1996, SECTION: Part A; Page 3; HEADLINE: LEGISLATORS BRACE FOR DEBATE ON PADDLING //acs-VT97
     Given such empirical findings, a host of organizations have pushed in recent years to ban corporal punishment, among them the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Medical Assn., American Bar Assn. and American Psychological Assn.

ERIC BAILEY, TIMES STAFF WRITER, Los Angeles Times, January 28, 1996, SECTION: Part A; Page 3; HEADLINE: LEGISLATORS BRACE FOR DEBATE ON PADDLING //acs-VT97
      Opponents also suggest that Conroy's measures have hidden costs, ranging from special training for court personnel who might have to carry out the punishment to the price of medical care or defending lawsuits if a child were seriously hurt.

CORPORAL PUNISHMENT OF JUVENILES SHOULD NOT BE USED TO REDUCE JUVENILE CRIME (CONTINUED)

ERIC BAILEY, TIMES STAFF WRITER, Los Angeles Times, January 28, 1996, SECTION: Part A; Page 3; HEADLINE: LEGISLATORS BRACE FOR DEBATE ON PADDLING //acs-VT97
     "This is typical of the Republican dark ages mentality about how to deal with a societal problem," said Rep. Sam Farr (D-Monterey), who sponsored the 1986 ban on classroom corporal punishment during his tenure in the California Statehouse. "Here you have a cold war gladiator, Mickey Conroy, who is adopting examples from Third World countries about how to publicly flog kids in schools and courtrooms."

Dan Bernstein, Bee Capitol Bureau, Sacramento Bee, January 26, 1996, Pg. A1, HEADLINE: NEW SWING TAKEN TO PUT PADDLES BACK IN SCHOOLS //acs-VT97
     Opponents of restoring corporal punishment say it promotes violence as a way to solve problems, generates hatred among students toward teachers and schools, and opens the door to child abuse and serious injury.

Dan Bernstein, Bee Capitol Bureau, Sacramento Bee, January 26, 1996, Pg. A1, HEADLINE: NEW SWING TAKEN TO PUT PADDLES BACK IN SCHOOLS //acs-VT97
      "There's a reason why every state in the country had corporal punishment 30 or 40 years ago and now only 22 states allow it," said Jeth Gold, assistant director of Legal Services for Children, a San Francisco-based, nonprofit law firm for youth. "The reason is that we found spanking kids and hitting them in school as a way to teach them doesn't work."

Dan Bernstein, Bee Capitol Bureau, Sacramento Bee, January 26, 1996, Pg. A1, HEADLINE: NEW SWING TAKEN TO PUT PADDLES BACK IN SCHOOLS //acs-VT97
      Opponents of paddling counter that juvenile crime and truancy also have risen in states that have corporal punishment in their schools. In addition, they argue, paddling often results in punishment disproportionate to the offense.

Dan Bernstein, Bee Capitol Bureau, Sacramento Bee, January 26, 1996, Pg. A1, HEADLINE: NEW SWING TAKEN TO PUT PADDLES BACK IN SCHOOLS //acs-VT97
     "The biggest risk is when you give people power to inflict pain on others, it will be abused," said Irwin Hyman, director of the National Center for the Study of Corporal Punishment and Alternatives at Temple University.

Dan Bernstein, Bee Capitol Bureau, Sacramento Bee, January 26, 1996, Pg. A1, HEADLINE: NEW SWING TAKEN TO PUT PADDLES BACK IN SCHOOLS //acs-VT97
     To drive home their point, opponents on Thursday held a press conference at which they displayed photographs -- collected by Hyman -- showing large bruises on children they said had been paddled in schools in other states.
 They also demonstrated the force of a wooden paddle by striking a mannequin so that it split a watermelon taped to its rear end.
 "I see this as a form of legalized child abuse in California," said Assemblywoman Jackie Speier, D-Burlingame.

Dan Bernstein, Bee Capitol Bureau, Sacramento Bee, January 26, 1996, Pg. A1, HEADLINE: NEW SWING TAKEN TO PUT PADDLES BACK IN SCHOOLS //acs-VT97
     Murray Straus, a sociology professor at the University of New Hampshire and author of a book on corporal punishment, said hitting a child may control behavior in the short term but it is damaging in the long run.
 "When teachers settle problems by hitting kids, it provides a very powerful example for kids to settle their problems with others by hitting them," said Straus, co-director of the university's Family Research Lab. He said one national study found a direct correlation between corporal punishment in schools and the rate of violence at those schools. He acknowledged that incidents of school violence could have prompted the punishment, but said at the very least, the study showed that hitting children does not reduce the level of school violence.

John Gaines, The San Diego Union-Tribune, January 22, 1996, Pg. B-1, HEADLINE: Apply corporal punishment? //acs-VT97
      The argument I hear most these days is that kids get in trouble because their parents listened to too many "liberal" experts who advised us to spare the rod. Parents got soft, the argument goes. Now we're paying the price.
 The truth is nothing like that. I suspect that most kids who get in trouble are well-acquainted with corporal punishment. They may not call it that, but these kids already know what it's like to get whacked.

CORPORAL PUNISHMENT OF JUVENILES SHOULD NOT BE USED TO REDUCE JUVENILE CRIME (CONTINUED)

Editorial, Los Angeles Times, January 11, 1996, Part B; Page 8; HEADLINE: A BETTER PENALTY THAN PADDLING //acs-VT97
     Paddling may provide some emotional satisfaction to those who want to strike a blow at crime, but its supporters' claims that youngsters will be reformed are dubious. The method is much more likely to confuse youngsters about whether violence is an appropriate way of righting wrongs.

Editorial, Los Angeles Times, January 11, 1996, Part B; Page 8; HEADLINE: A BETTER PENALTY THAN PADDLING //acs-VT97
      There are better ways of dealing with the problem. Moreover, renouncing corporal punishment as barbaric does not mean that those guilty of defacing the environment should be dealt with leniently.

Editorial, Los Angeles Times, January 11, 1996, Part B; Page 8; HEADLINE: A BETTER PENALTY THAN PADDLING //acs-VT97
     No doubt there are people who think that paddling is an effective get-tough approach to a vexing and costly problem. While the political lineup in Sacramento may have shifted to be more accommodating of that view, it's folly to regard paddling as anything other than a reflexive swipe at juvenile crime. 

MARY SULLIVAN, The San Diego Union-Tribune, February 1, 1996, Ed. B-11; BODY: Is corporal punishment civilized or is it brutal? // acs-VT97
     I have a question for proponents of paddling. How can we teach children that hitting others is wrong and that using violence to solve problems is wrong if, as adults, we use these methods to punish children? If we want to humiliate these kids, make them get up Saturday mornings and pick up trash at the parks where their friends are or in the neighborhoods in which they live, or donate their time to helping the elderly in their communities. Brutalizing children teaches brutality; let us not contribute to more violence. 

SCHOOL UNIFORMS ARE NOT THE ANSWER TO JUVENILE CRIME

Marylou Tousignant, Staff Writer, The Washington Post, March 01, 1996, Pg. A01, HEADLINE: Trying Uniforms on for Size; Policy Fad May Not Fix Schools // acs-VT97
     Uniform critics, though, say the superficial sameness glosses over deeply rooted social and academic problems, while opening the door to endless litigation over opt-out provisions, parental and student rights, and, indeed, even the fairness of such programs for families that cannot afford to buy uniforms.

Marylou Tousignant, Staff Writer, The Washington Post, March 01, 1996, Pg. A01, HEADLINE: Trying Uniforms on for Size; Policy Fad May Not Fix Schools // acs-VT97
     "This is just a Band-Aid on a much deeper wound. Problems with juvenile crime and behavior in school are not going to be solved by having uniforms. We're simply going to delay the problems or drive them deeper," said Kent Willis, director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia, which opposes uniforms in public schools as an infringement of the First Amendment's right of free expression.

Marylou Tousignant, Staff Writer, The Washington Post, March 01, 1996, Pg. A01, HEADLINE: Trying Uniforms on for Size; Policy Fad May Not Fix Schools // acs-VT97
     Fairfax School Superintendent Robert R. Spillane agrees it's a simplistic approach. "In a society that's shooting each other over designer coats, changing the clothing so we all look like the Communist Chinese solves the immediate problem of people shooting each other over designer clothes but doesn't solve the basic problem of why people think they can steal and hurt each other," he said.

Marylou Tousignant, Staff Writer, The Washington Post, March 01, 1996, Pg. A01, HEADLINE: Trying Uniforms on for Size; Policy Fad May Not Fix Schools // acs-VT97
     What's more, it's still unproved to many that having Johnny wear a tie to school, and Susie a plaid skirt, will help them learn better. And critics of uniforms point out that most policies have been adopted at the elementary school level, which is not where the serious problems of violence and gang activity have flared. In fact, when uniforms were tried at Forestville High School in Prince George's a few years ago, "the kids rebelled," said guidance counselor Cecilia Smith, because "it was going to take their individuality away."

Marylou Tousignant, Staff Writer, The Washington Post, March 01, 1996, Pg. A01, HEADLINE: Trying Uniforms on for Size; Policy Fad May Not Fix Schools // acs-VT97
     But Marcy C. Canavan, chairman of the Prince George's County school board, said she, for one, is not crazy about putting everyone in uniforms. "This whole thing is being done because parents are not living up to their responsibility," she said. "Parents should learn to say no to $ 200 jackets. But they don't, and so they're putting it off on the schools."

MAKING JUVENILE CRIME RECORDS AND PROCEEDING PUBLIC IS NOT THE ANSWER TO JUVENILE CRIME

PAMELA WARRICK, TIMES STAFF WRITER, Los Angeles Times, April 24, 1996, Part E; Page 1; HEADLINE: SHOULD YOUNG CRIMINALS BE NAMED PUBLICLY? // acs-VT97
     To liberate children from the mistakes of their youth, juvenile courts have traditionally expunged juvenile records once they leave the system. The value ofthat clean slate is inestimable, say some of the high-profile men and women who have benefited from it.
 A well-known federal judge who had served a juvenile sentence for car theft, for example, credits the system's institutional amnesia with clearing the way for him to attend Harvard University and become a lawyer. "I would not have beenable to become who I am today without the special protections of the juvenile justice system," says the judge, who asked to remain anonymous.

PAMELA WARRICK, TIMES STAFF WRITER, Los Angeles Times, April 22, 1996, Part E; Page 1; HEADLINE: HOW YOUNG IS TOO YOUNG? // acs-VT97
     Humes sides with other critics of the juvenile system in his belief that it is unrealistic to think public exposure will deter kids from crime. Adolescents,say many criminologists, don't usually think about cause and effect, and no research exists to indicate that they think very seriously about consequences atall before committing a violent act.

Editorial; Charleston Daily Mail, February 05, 1996, Pg. 04A, HEADLINE: Juveniles -- Criminal Records Should Be Open - And Not Just To School Employees // acs-VT97
     MEMBERS of the House of Delegates, many of them teachers, readily agreed that administrators, principals, teachers and regular school bus drivers should have access to students' criminal records. But parents of other students? Regular citizens? Heavens, no. Educator-legislators were horrified. Delegate Richard Browning, D-Wyoming, a school administrator, said disclosing students' criminal records to parents could lead to witch hunts.

INCREASING POLICE PRESENCE IS NOT THE ANSWER TO JUVENILE CRIME

SUSAN GUARINO-GHEZZI, Prof. Criminal Justice Northeastern Univ., April, 1994; CRIME & DELINQUENCY, "Reintegrative police surveillance of juvenile offenders" // jah-VT97 p. 133
 A second problem of controlling disorder is that aggressive police tactics, such as saturation patrol and suspicion stops, may actually increase disorder. Skogan (1990) warned that without a problemsolving model for low resource inner-city neighborhoods, police inevitably err on the side of mechanistic coercion rather than negotiation with community residents, fueling long-term resentment and frustration. Skolnick ( 1966) observed that the use of law enforcement to achieve order subordinates the ideal of conformity to the ideal of legality, highlighting the gap between normative and legal - boundaries. Interviews with Boston youths suggested that "stop and frisk" policies used by police in high-crime neighborhoods to confiscate weapons did not produce organized rebellion, but did increase defiance and frustration, weakening police-youth relations (Guarino-Ghezzi 1993).

 SUSAN GUARINO-GHEZZI, Prof Criminal Justice Northeastern Univ., April, 1994; CRIME & DELINQUENCY, "Reintegrative police surveillance of juvenile offenders" // jah-VT97 p. 138
 The current reactive model of police protection, which is generally considered to be a failed model by exports in policing, is particularly unresponsive to the needs of young people of color. There is a growing sentiment that high-crime communities are beyond the point where they can benefit from police investment (Wilson and Kelling 1982). In Bynum, Cordnor, and Greene's (1982) study of a medium-sized midwestern city, 82% of reported serious crimes that were brought to detectives' attention actually received little or no investigative effort. Indeed, the rate of homicide cases resulting in arrest in large cities has fallen considerably over the past two decades. Clearance rates for murders and non negligent manslaughters in the nation's largest cities, in which approximately half of all such crimes occur, are shown in Figure 2. The clearance rate for murders and non negligent manslaughters in cities with populations of 250,000 and over declined by nearly one fourth between 1971 and 1991, from 82% to 63% (U.S. Department of Justice 1972-1992a). The clearance rates for such crimes in smaller cities and rural areas declined by only a few percentage points, indicating that large city murders have become increasingly difficult to solve due to factors present in major urban areas. The mayor of Washington, D.C. believes that violent crime levels have surpassed the authority of police and that responsibility for controlling violent crime may be escalated to the National Guard (Berke 1993). 

MANY SCHOOLS DO NOT HAVE A VIOLENCE PROBLEM

James E. Boothe, et al., Assistant Professor of Education Xavler University, "America's schools confront violence", USA TODAY MAGAZINE, Jan. 1994, p. 34 // ms-VT97
The good news is that more than 60% of all administrators nationwide maintain that guns have never been involved in incidents at their schools.

SCHOOLS ARE SOLVING VIOLENCE PROBLEMS ON THEIR OWN

James E. Boothe, et al., Assistant Professor of Educational Xavier University, "America's schools confront violence", USA TODAY MAGAZINE, Jan. 1994, p. 34 // ms-VT97
Gun control, better weapons detection methods, more adult supervision of school sites, nonviolent alternatives, and teacher training in crisis prevention were some suggestions featured in a Newsweek article detailing a Chicago-based program called SAFE, aimed at stemming the flow of guns and violence at school. Episodes involving other dangerous weapons do not seem to be increasing significantly, except for urban and predominantly black school administrators.

James E. Boothe, et al., Assistant Professor of Educational Xavier University, "America's schools confront violence", USA TODAY MAGAZINE, Jan. 1994, p. 35// ms-VT97
 While schools haven't dramatically changed the way they do business, some administrators have attempted to address the violence issue. the majority of school executives report that a stricter discipline code is enforced.

James E. Boothe, et al., Assistant Professor of Educational Xavier University, "America's schools confront violence", USA TODAY MAGAZINE, Jan. 1994, p. 35 // ms-VT97
According to The American School board Journal, nearly 25% of the nation's largest schools routinely or randomly search students with metal detectors. Hand-held devices and mobile walk though detectors similar to ones use dot screen airline passengers are most common.

James E. Boothe, et al., Assistant Professor of Educational Xavier University, "America's schools confront violence", USA TODAY MAGAZINE, Jan. 1994, p. 35 // ms-VT97
Banning of gang clothing and insignia is the policy in one out of five schools, though almost half of administrators in the southwest report such steps. Administrators of predominantly Hispanic students and large schools are most likely to forbid gang clothing.

James E. Boothe, et al., Assistant Professor of Educational Xavier University, "America's schools confront violence", USA TODAY MAGAZINE, Jan. 1994, p. 35 // ms-VT97
Suspensions are considered a measure of student misbehavior. In-school-suspension (temporarily removing a student from class) is on the increase. the most dramatic rise is reported by administrators of predominantly black schools.

PUTTING COPS IN SCHOOL IS NOT THE ANSWER

NICHOLAS EMLER AND STEPHEN REICHER, 1995; ADOLESCENCE AND DELINQUENCY // am-VT97 p. 226
Perhaps the clearest example of such cosmetic panaceas comes in attempts to portray the friendly face of authority. For instance, there in many schemes which involve community policemen coming into schools and showing themselves to be kind, friendly and helpful human beings. The problem with this is that it ignores the fact that changing our views of one individual need not change our stereotype of the groups to which they belong - they can simply be dismissed as an exception to the rule (Hewstone & Brown, 1987). Moreover, as long as young people have i. experiences of the arbitrary we of police power elsewhere in their lives, the occasional smiling face will have little impact (Hewstone, Hopkins & Routh, 1992; Hopkins, 1994b). We are not suggesting that it is always i futile to change the ways in which young people see authority. Indeed Tyler's work suggests that, to the extent that people consider judicial procedures to be legitimate, they will view judicial authority positively even when they are punished by it (Tyler, 1990). However, demonstrating legitimacy is very different from changing the tone of interactions. Such changes m appearances will only work if they reflect changes at all levels of the relationship between young people and authority. 

SANDRA BARBIER, The Times-Picayune, March 30, 1996 Pg. A1, HEADLINE: TEACHERS SPLIT OVER POLICE ROLE ON CAMPUS // acs-VT97
     Although the campus police program has been successful at other schools, Licciardi said her school can't afford one and has more pressing needs. "If I had to choose between a policeman and an additional teacher to lessen the pupil-teacher ratio, I'm going to pick the teacher every time."

CLOSING CAMPUSES AT LUNCH TIME IS NOT EFFECTIVE

SHARON L. JONES Staff Writer, The San Diego Union-Tribune, October 8, 1995, Pg. A-1, HEADLINE: Should kids stay on campus for lunch? // acs-VT97
     Principals oppose closure district's senior high school principals are united in their opposition to closing the campuses. They question the costs and feasibility of keeping students on campus the entire scool day. And they challenge the accuracy of police data on juvenile crime near their schools.
 "For the few students who have poor judgment, we'll be punishing the greater number of students," said Rachel T. Flanagan, Mira Mesa High principal.

SHARON L. JONES Staff Writer, The San Diego Union-Tribune, October 8, 1995, Pg. A-1, HEADLINE: Should kids stay on campus for lunch? // acs-VT97
     Special committees at two high schools -- Patrick Henry and Serra -- considered the pros and cons of closed campuses in 1990. Both groups reached the same conclusion: Keep the campus open.

SHARON L. JONES Staff Writer, The San Diego Union-Tribune, October 8, 1995, Pg. A-1, HEADLINE: Should kids stay on campus for lunch? // acs-VT97
     Joe Ogilvie, Patrick Henry's head counselor and a parent, is ambivalent about closing the campus. On one hand, he understands parental concerns for safety. On the other, he believes a closed campus is too costly to administer.
 "If we're going to try to put a net around the place, it'll take every available person to do supervision," Ogilvie said. "Then we're going to have to deal with referrals of kids who leave anyway.
 "It's going to suck up time. And one of the issues in schools these days is your time is extremely precious."

SHARON L. JONES Staff Writer, The San Diego Union-Tribune, October 8, 1995, Pg. A-1, HEADLINE: Should kids stay on campus for lunch? // acs-VT97
     Alvarez, principal at Hoover High in City Heights. 
 Alvarez says few high school principals feel their staffs could feed all of their students in one lunch period. Principals say staggered lunch periods would create new incentives for skipping class.
 She and other principals challenge police statistics on juvenile crime that were presented to the mayor's task force on safe schools.

ENFORCEMENT OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE LAWS IS NOT AN APPROPRIATE WAY TO DEAL WITH JUVENILE CRIME

BECAUSE MANY BATTERERS HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE, PUNISHMENT WON'T DETER

Donna M. Welch DePaul Law Review, Summer, 1994, 43 DePaul L. Rev. 1133, SYMPOSIUM: VITAL ISSUES IN NATIONAL HEALTH CARE REFORM: COMMENT: MANDATORY ARREST OF DOMESTIC ABUSERS: PANACEA OR PERPETUATION OF THE PROBLEM OF ABUSE? // MS-VT97
 Under the Exchange Theory, though, it is likely that only men who have something to lose from arrest and prosecution are likely to be deterred. For example, employed abusers have more at stake in the community and thus more to fear from an arrest and subsequent prosecution. Unemployed men, with less to lose, may not be deterred by the costs of arrest and prosecution, and in fact seem to be more susceptible to the phenomenon of labeling. The danger is that these men will respond to arrest by committing future acts of violence against women. 

DETERRENCE CAN'T BE ACHIEVED BECAUSE MOST BATTERERS DON'T GO TO JAIL

Donna M. Welch DePaul Law Review, Summer, 1994, 43 DePaul L. Rev. 1133, SYMPOSIUM: VITAL ISSUES IN NATIONAL HEALTH CARE REFORM: COMMENT: MANDATORY ARREST OF DOMESTIC ABUSERS: PANACEA OR PERPETUATION OF THE PROBLEM OF ABUSE? // ms-VT97
 Whether the abuser is susceptible to the costs of battering given his individual circumstances, and whether the abuser will spend any time in jail following the arrest are factors which will impact whether he will be deterred from future acts of abuse. It is unclear, and empirically unsupported, that arrest without subsequent incarceration will deter recidivism. In smaller communities where the overcrowding of jails is not at issue, arrest and incarceration may indeed send a message to the batterer while affording the victim adequate time to protect herself. In urban areas, limited jail space coupled with a reluctance to prosecute and sentence offenders make it unlikely that batterers will face incarceration. Arguably, then, the cost of battering would not be significantly altered, and the likelihood of deterrence would be proportionately reduced.

MANDATORY ARREST IS NOT A PANACEA, IT WON'T SOLVE THE PROBLEM OF ABUSE

 Donna M. Welch DePaul Law Review, Summer, 1994, 43 DePaul L. Rev. 1133, SYMPOSIUM: VITAL ISSUES IN NATIONAL HEALTH CARE REFORM: COMMENT: MANDATORY ARREST OF DOMESTIC ABUSERS: PANACEA OR PERPETUATION OF THE PROBLEM OF ABUSE? // ms-VT97
 Critics assert that mandatory arrest statutes, if not implemented in tandem with coordinated efforts, are at best minimally effective and at worst counterproductive. Such efforts, instead, come "perilously close to encouraging greater jeopardy for victims unless accompanied by recommendations for massive changes in prosecutorial and judicial practices. In a judicial system which seldom tries spouse abuse offenders and rarely convicts them, women are seldom protected from violent reprisals." As the criticism of prosecutors and judges suggests, arrest alone is not a panacea for the problem of abuse.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CAN NOT BE SOLVED WITHOUT SUPPORT SERVICES FOR VICTIMS

Donna M. Welch DePaul Law Review, Summer, 1994, 43 DePaul L. Rev. 1133, SYMPOSIUM: VITAL ISSUES IN NATIONAL HEALTH CARE REFORM: COMMENT: MANDATORY ARREST OF DOMESTIC ABUSERS: PANACEA OR PERPETUATION OF THE PROBLEM OF ABUSE? // ms-VT97
 Although this Comment has primarily focused on programs which might deter the batterer, it should be noted that the problem of domestic violence cannot be curbed without offering commensurate support to the victims of domestic violence. Victim support services such as shelters and counseling programs are therefore critical components of any attempt to combat battering. A temporary shelter offers the battered women a safe place to stay as well as hope that the cycle of violence can be broken: "Women who left the authoritarian relationships within their homes were exposed to democratic decision making within the transition homes. They experienced women, who like them, had left the victimization and were now able to make their own decisions about housing, child rearing, and jobs." Shelters can encourage women to break the cycle of abuse by leaving their abuser, and can help victims explore their options within a secure environment. When the batterer is arrested and incarcerated, the victim is afforded time to change her situation. But this benefit is meaningless if the woman has nowhere to turn. The existence of social supports for the victim are necessary so that she can effect a change. In essence, by providing emergency shelters, counseling programs, and economic support, communities can help battered women help themselves. 

WITHOUT PROSECUTION, NOTHING WILL HAPPEN FOR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

Donna M. Welch DePaul Law Review, Summer, 1 994, 43 DePaul L. Rev. 11 33, SYMPOSIUM: VITAL ISSUES IN NATIONAL HEALTH CARE REFORM: COMMENT: MANDATORY ARREST OF DOMESTIC ABUSERS: PANACEA OR PERPETUATION OF THE PROBLEM OF ABUSE? // ms-VT97
 A successful law enforcement effort to reduce domestic violence must also address the issue of prosecution of offenders, because "unless there is prosecution following arrest, law enforcement is fiction."

ARRESTS FAIL WITHOUT THE CHANGES IS PROSECUTORIAL AND JUDICIAL GUIDELINES

Donna M. Welch DePaul Law Review, Summer, 1994, 43 DePaul L. Rev. 1133, SYMPOSIUM: VITAL ISSUES IN NATIONAL HEALTH CARE REFORM: COMMENT: MANDATORY ARREST OF DOMESTIC ABUSERS: PANACEA OR PERPETUATION OF THE PROBLEM OF ABUSE? // ms-VT97
 Mandatory arrest laws enacted independently of a coordinated community program are doomed to fail. Unless accompanied by prosecutorial and judicial guidelines, as well as support services for victims, arrest has not been shown to deter further violence. 

JUDGES WON'T SENTENCE BATTERERS

Donna M. Welch DePaul Law Review, Summer, 1994, 43 DePaul L. Rev. 1133, SYMPOSIUM: VITAL ISSUES IN NATIONAL HEALTH CARE REFORM: COMMENT: MANDATORY ARREST OF DOMESTIC ABUSERS: PANACEA OR PERPETUATION OF THE PROBLEM OF ABUSE? // ms-VT97
 The judicial response to battering has been equally criticized. Even if the police and prosecutorial hurdles are surpassed, victims often face judges who do not take domestic violence seriously and are reluctant to send batterers to jail. Judges often assume that the victim provoked the batterer or that the victim is abusing the court system by using it to resolve a family quarrel, and they often release even repeat offenders on minimal or no bail. in those cases where a batterer is convicted, judges routinely do not impose a sentence, but merely lecture the defendant and warn him that next time the judge will "throw the book" at him. 

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE WILL CONTINUE BECAUSE OF POOR PROSECUTION

Donna M. Welch DePaul Law Review, Summer, 1 994, 43 DePaul L. Rev. 11 33, SYMPOSIUM: VITAL ISSUES IN NATIONAL HEALTH CARE REFORM: COMMENT: MANDATORY ARREST OF DOMESTIC ABUSERS: PANACEA OR PERPETUATION OF THE PROBLEM OF ABUSE? // ms-VT97
 Prosecutorial response, characterized by low prosecution rates and high dismissal rates, has also garnered harsh criticism. Prosecutors often avoid prosecuting domestic abuse cases, believing them to be "family matters" which do not belong in court. As a result, many prosecutors have failed to treat domestic violence seriously. Compounding this reluctance to prosecute has been the concomitant reluctance of women to follow through with charges, which, admittedly, impedes the ability of the prosecutor to get a conviction. Ellen Pence, director of the domestic intervention pilot program in Duluth, Minnesota, suggests that in cases of domestic violence, the abuser, through coercion, promises, or emotional ties, uses the victim to shield himself from the legal system. However, the typical prosecutorial response -dropping cases where the woman is hesitant to follow through -- places the responsibility of pursuing the charge on the victim, and often results in inaction. 

THE PROBLEM WITH DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IS THE POLICE

Donna M. Welch DePaul Law Review, Summer, 1994, 43 DePaul L; Rev. 1133, SYMPOSIUM: VITAL ISSUES IN NATIONAL HEALTH CARE REFORM: COMMENT: MANDATORY ARREST OF DOMESTIC ABUSERS: PANACEA OR PERPETUATION OF THE PROBLEM OF ABUSE? // ms-VT97
 Law enforcement has been subject to a barrage of criticism for its response to domestic violence. Police response has traditionally been characterized by the " "unschooled discretion' of officers at the scene" and nonenforcement policies in domestic violence cases. 

THE PROBLEM OF ABUSE IS UNDER-REPORTING

 Donna M. Welch DePaul Law Review, Summer, 1994, 43 DePaul L. Rev. 11 33, SYMPOSIUM: VITAL ISSUES IN NATIONAL HEALTH CARE REFORM: COMMENT: MANDATORY ARREST OF DOMESTIC ABUSERS: PANACEA OR PERPETUATION OF THE PROBLEM OF ABUSE? // ms-VT97
 Moreover, due to the phenomenon of underreporting, the reality is graver than the statistics suggest. According to admittedly conservative FBI estimates, only one in ten incidents of domestic violence is actually reported. The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence believes that underreporting is even more dramatic, claiming that battered women report only one in one hundred incidents of domestic violence. 

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IS A CRIME BROUGHT ON BY POVERTY

Donna M. Welch DePaul Law Review, Summer, 1994, 43 DePaul L. Rev. 1133, SYMPOSIUM: VITAL ISSUES IN NATIONAL HEALTH CARE REFORM: COMMENT: MANDATORY ARREST OF DOMESTIC ABUSERS: PANACEA OR PERPETUATION OF THE PROBLEM OF ABUSE? // ms-VT97
 Family income is also closely related to violence between couples. It is estimated that impoverished women face a substantially greater chance of being beaten by a spouse or boyfriend. Unquestionably, poverty causes stress. Men in lower income brackets lack economic choices, which in turn increases their frustration and tendency toward violence. These men often feel force is the only alternative in facing intrafamilial conflict. As one writer noted: "Lower-class people have less prestige, money, and power, and consequently they suffer greater frustration and bitterness. They can make fewer decisions that do not depend upon their friends or spouses. They generally command fewer resources with which to achieve their aims .... Receiving less respect during the day from their experiences outside the home, they have less ability to withstand hurt and frustration in the home. "

ARRESTS DON'T DETER BATTERERS WHO ARE POOR OR UNEMPLOYED

Donna M. Welch DePaul Law Review, Summer, 1994, 43 DePaul L. Rev. 1133, SYMPOSIUM: VITAL ISSUES IN NATIONAL HEALTH CARE REFORM: COMMENT: MANDATORY ARREST OF DOMESTIC ABUSERS: PANACEA OR PERPETUATION OF THE PROBLEM OF ABUSE? // ms-VT97 
Data from the Milwaukee project indicated that an arrest deterred employed men from repeat violence, as evidenced by a 16 percent decrease in recidivism. Among the unemployed, however, being arrested increased repeat violence by 44 percent. The results forced Sherman to conclude that "mandatory arrests in domestic violence cases may cause more violence against women in the long run." This is particularly disturbing since poor men are more likely to be reported to the authorities for domestic violence than are middle- and upper-class abusers. 

BATTERING INCREASES WITH POVERTY 

Donna M. Welch DePaul Law Review, Summer, 1 994, 43 DePaul L. Rev. 11 33, SYMPOSIUM: VITAL ISSUES IN NATIONAL HEALTH CARE REFORM: COMMENT: MANDATORY ARREST OF DOMESTIC ABUSERS: PANACEA OR PERPETUATION OF THE PROBLEM OF ABUSE? // ms-VT97
 While battering is not exclusively a lower-income phenomenon, extreme physical violence is much more common among poorer segments of the population. Similarly, unemployment of the batterer often precipitates domestic violence. Specifically, unemployed men are more likely to beat their wives. Unemployment and its commensurate financial burdens contribute to stress and thus increase the threat of violence. 

TURN: WHEN WE LABEL CRIMINALS AS BATTERERS THEY INCREASE THEIR BATTERING

Donna M. Welch DePaul Law Review, Summer, 1994, 43 DePaul L. Rev. 1133, SYMPOSIUM: VITAL ISSUES IN NATIONAL HEALTH CARE REFORM: COMMENT: MANDATORY ARREST OF DOMESTIC ABUSERS: PANACEA OR PERPETUATION OF THE PROBLEM OF ABUSE? // ms-VT97
 Some theorists, however, disagree that punishment serves as a specific deterrent. They argue that punishment does not deter future crime, but instead actually predisposes the individual criminal to commit more crimes. This "labeling" theory suggests that punishment may increase recidivism by altering the way the offender sees himself and how he interacts with others. According to the labeling theory, once an offender is branded a criminal, he will act in accordance with that label and engage in future criminal deviance. 

ARRESTS ARE COUNTERPRODUCTIVE TO POOR PEOPLE FOR ABUSE

Donna M. Welch DePaul Law Review, Summer, 1994, 43 DePaul L. Rev. 1133, SYMPOSIUM: VITAL ISSUES IN NATIONAL HEALTH CARE REFORM: COMMENT: MANDATORY ARREST OF DOMESTIC ABUSERS: PANACEA OR PERPETUATION OF THE PROBLEM OF ABUSE? // ms-VT97 
The Milwaukee 95 and Omaha 96 studies suggest that arrest is counterproductive for men who are unemployed, as it serves to increase recidivism and undermine the goals of mandatory arrest. The risk, therefore, is that mandatory arrest will simply lead to more incidents of domestic violence among the poor.

PROTECTIVE ORDERS FAIL

Donna M. Welch DePaul Law Review, Summer, 1994, 43 DePaul L. Rev. 1133, SYMPOSIUM: VITAL ISSUES IN NATIONAL HEALTH CARE REFORM: COMMENT: MANDATORY ARREST OF DOMESTIC ABUSERS: PANACEA OR PERPETUATION OF THE PROBLEM OF ABUSE? // ms-VT97
 However, a host of pragmatic problems have accompanied the issuance and enforcement of protective orders. Access to protective orders is limited by the victim's unfamiliarity with the system, and the remedy is often discouraged by prosecutors and judges. Victims are also deterred by the length of time -- often months -- that it can take to obtain such an order. For those victims who persist and eventually obtain a protective order, its efficacy is further reduced by the reluctance of law enforcement officers to arrest batterers for violating the order, and by the reluctance of judges to sanction such violations. As a result, protective orders have proved grossly inadequate in preventing domestic violence. 

MANDATORY ARREST STATUTES ARE NOT UNIVERSALLY APPROPRIATE

Donna M. Welch DePaul Law Review, Summer, 1994, 43 DePaul L. Rev. 1133, SYMPOSIUM: VITAL ISSUES IN NATIONAL HEALTH CARE REFORM: COMMENT: MANDATORY ARREST OF DOMESTIC ABUSERS: PANACEA OR PERPETUATION OF THE PROBLEM OF ABUSE? // ms-VT97
 Despite their reservations, however, the results of this one study led to the enactment of mandatory arrest legislation. On a broader level, such results necessitate a close scrutiny of the viability of mandatory arrest statutes, for while they may be appropriate in certain locales under specific circumstances, they do not appear to be universally appropriate.

MANDATORY ARRESTS MUST DETER OR THEY HAVE NO PURPOSE

Donna M. Welch DePaul Law Review, Summer, 1994, 43 DePaul L. Rev. 1133, SYMPOSIUM: VITAL ISSUES IN NATIONAL HEALTH CARE REFORM: COMMENT: MANDATORY ARREST OF DOMESTIC ABUSERS: PANACEA OR PERPETUATION OF THE PROBLEM OF ABUSE? // ms-VT97 
To this end, this Comment considers the genesis of mandatory arrest as a method of deterring abuse and specifically discusses existing empirical data regarding the success of mandatory arrest statutes. It further attempts to analyze the deterrent value of mandatory arrest laws, because unless such laws serve to deter the batterer, they will ultimately prove ineffective at best, and detrimental at worst.

INCREASED PUNISHMENT FOR JUVENILES IS A POLICY DISASTER

INCAPACITATION WILL NOT SOLVE FOR JUVENILE CRIME

John Irwin and James Austin 1994 (Prof. emeritus, San Francisco state Univ.; national council on crime and delinquency) It's About Time: America's imprisonment Binge //tec-VT97 p. 166
The past decade Itas witnessed the uncritical adoption of a national policy to reduce crime by increasing' the use of imprisonment. That policy has failed. Despite a more than doubling of the correctional industrial complex and a tripling of criminal justice system costs, crime in general has not been reduced. Though there is evidence that property crimes committed against households have declined, all measures of crime are increasing .Moreover, it appears that crime is likely to increase in the near future.

INCREASING PRISON TERMS TO REDUCE CRIME FAILS.

John Irwin and James Austin 1994 (professor emeritus, San Francisco state Univ.; national council on crime and delinquency) its About Time: America's imprisonment Binge //tec-VT97 p. 167
The "prison reduces crime" theory has not worked. Crime especially-  violent crime, is not declining. We need to cut our losses and try crime prevention policies that Will work. IE may well take a decade e ore the e fruits of such an effort are realized, but we can no longer afford to keep investing in a widespread crime reduction policy that as failed so ubiquitously. 

PENNY BENDER; Tennessean Washington Bureau, The Tennessean, March  17, 1996, Pg. 1A, HEADLINE: Will more teens mean more crime? // acs-VT97
     On any given day in the United States, 19,000 juveniles are locked in detention centers, and 5,200 more are serving time in adult prisons, more than half of them for violent offenses.
   These grim statistics, many researchers and experts say, will only lead to more jailings, not less  juvenile crime.  Building cells instead of providing intervention programs to deter kids from crime will not work, they warn.
   "The allure of crime in terms of status, protection and profit is so much greater than the inhibitor of incarceration," said James Alan Fox, dean of the College of Criminal Justice at Northeastern University in Boston.

LOCKING CRIMINALS UP DOES NOT REDUCE THE SIZE OF THE CRIMINAL POPULATION AT LARGE

WILLIAM SPELMAN, Prof Public Affairs, Univ. of Texas, 1994; CRIMINAL INCAPACITATION [study utilizing national data from a survey by the RAND Corporabon]\\ acs-VT97 p. 4-5
One convenient assumption is that the number of offenders in jail or  prison does not affect the total number of active offenders, including  both those in jailand prison and those out on the street. That is, the size of the criminal  population  is set by circumstances beyond the control of the criminal justice system; we  may choose to keep some criminals in jail or leave them out on the street, but in so doing we do not cause noncriminals to enter the criminal population and we do not cause these or any other criminals to leave the population.

 INCAPACITATION CANNOT SOLVE THE CRIME PROBLEM

WILLIAM SPELMAN, Prof. Public Affairs, Univ. of Texas, 1994; CRIMINAL INCAPACITATION [study utilizing national data from a survey by the RAND  Corporation] \\ acs-VT97 p. 312
Finally, it is appropriate to restate (as if anyone could have missed it) that incapacitation cannot, by itself, solve the crime problem. Under the most favorable conditions considered in Chapters 6 and 7, no more than 22 percent of potential crimes can be prevented through incapacitation. Even the most favorable selective policy would reduce crime by no more than 7 percent.  Criminal justice policies that deter and rehabilitate individual offenders, broader- based policies aimed at ameliorating continuing social] problems such as chronic  poverty    and unemployment, teenage pregnancy and child abuse, and the like, and   entirely different approaches aimed at reducing the number of criminal  opportunities    rather than just the number of criminals, all deserve continued attention   Society will continue to incapacitate criminals, and selective policies can help  to   make incapacitation more effective; but the crime problem can never be  substantially    reduced through incapacitation alone.

INCAPACITATION HAS NO EFFECT ON CRIME

WILLIAM SPELMAN, Prof. Public Affairs, Univ. of Texas, 1994; CRIMINAL INCAPACITATION [study utilizing national data from a survey by the RAND  Corporation] \\ acs-VT97 p. 5
By incapacitating or failing to incapacitate any given offender, we do not affect the number and serious ness of the crimes that offender would have committed, had he or she been  free. More simply, the criminal justice system is deterring and  rehabilitating no one. 

Angeline Oyog and Darsha Damayanthi, Inter Press Service, January 11, 1996, HEADLINE: HUMAN RIGHTS/EUROPE: U.S. STYLE YOUTH DETENTION CENTERS CONDEMNED //acs-VT97
     Others reject the importation of U.S. penal systems when they are clearly failing to reduce crime. The United States has about 1.4 million criminals in various types of jails, as a proportion of its population, almost five times as many as Britain. Yet 24,526 murders were recorded in the U.S. in 1993.

JIM MILLER, Indiana Juvenile Justice Task Force, THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR, January 22, 1996; Pg. A05 //acs-VT97
     Here we go again, talking about how the most effective way to prevent juvenile crime is to lock kids up. Please, it's time to go beyond the rhetoric. Detention or incarceration is necessary in some cases in order to protect society, but it is not the answer some political figures would like for you to believe.

Mike Males and Faye Docuyanan, social ecology doctoral students at the University of California, Irvine, The Progressive, February, 1996, Pg. 24; HEADLINE: Giving up on the young; // acs-VT97
     If more prisons and surer sentences were the solutions to crime and delinquency, California should be a haven where citizens leave doors unlocked and stroll midnight streets unmenaced. California inaugurated the new era of imprisoning juvenile offenders in Ronald Reagan's second term as governor in 1971, and since then the state has incarcerated a higher percentage of its youths than any other state. By 1993, a state corrections study found teenagers served terms nearly a year longer than adults for equivalent offenses.

Ted Gest; Victoria Pope, U.S. News & World Report, March  25, 1996; Pg. 28, HEADLINE: Crime time bomb // acs-VT97
     Even if more youths are put behind bars, the projected violator totals are so high that "we can't build enough prisons to keep all of them locked up," says crime consultant Donna Hamparian of Columbus, Ohio.

Linda O'Neal, The Coalition For Juvenile Justice, March  28, 1996, Federal News Service, House Committee On Economic And Educational Opportunities Subcommittee On Early Childhood, Youth And Families // acs-VT97
     Status offenders, youth who engage in behaviors such as running away from home and truancy that would not be criminal if committed by adults, do not belong in secure confinement. Incarcerating status offenders and, very often, "non offenders" such as abused and neglected children, is an inappropriate way to deal with juveniles who have not been involved in any criminal behavior. 

The Boston Globe, March  24, 1996, Pg. 81, HEADLINE: THE YOUNG AND THE VIOLENT; Teen-agers are hurting others - and themselves // acs-VT97
     HOUSTON :   We are left with a solution that says let's eliminate this problem. Let's put them in an adult facility where we won't have to worry about their returning to  the streets anymore. Categorically, it's not different from the problem of adult crime that we have. We have over 1 million people in prison in the United States of America. We are the most incarcerating society on the face of the Earth with  the exception of Russia. That's our country. And if this is how we are to deal with these complicated problems . . . if our solution is to simply sweep them into an adult facility and leave them there with others, then I have grave questions about our future. 

Robert Polner, STAFF WRITER, Newsday, November  27, 1995, Pg. A06, HEADLINE: Cops Bust More Kids / But critics question long-range impact // acs-VT97
     "By cracking down on quality-of-life offenses, you're not really preventing the nonviolent youth from doing worse stuff down the line," said Sgt. Eric Adams, chairman of the Grand Council of Guardians, a fraternal group for black law-enforcement officers. "What you're doing is stigmatizing someone who already feels he has two strikes against him because, most likely, he is poor and a member of a minority group."

TOM McCLINTOCK, Institute of Psychiatry, British Medical Journal, October 21, 1995; Pg. 1037; HEADLINE: Creating new criminals: locking up juvenile offenders is more likely to result in them reoffending // acs-VT97
     The secure training order is opposed by every organisation working with young offenders, and the new proposals to send juveniles to military style correctional camps has already been opposed by the Prison Reform Trust. 10 Even the government acknowledges the high reconviction rates for such centres, and in the 1988 green paper Punishmerit, Custody and the Community it stated that "even a short period of custody is quite likely to confirm them as criminals, particularly as they acquire new criminal skills from more sophisticated offenders." 

Adrian F. Cerny; Wisconsin State Journal, July  27, 1995, Pg. 14A, HEADLINE:  JUVENILE CRIME  RISE BROUGHT ON BY SOCIETY // acs-VT97
     Let's face it, America is never going back to the bad old days of the family! We've even perverted the very word to mean anything and nothing! So go ahead and fill the prisons with 10-year-olds, it won't matter to the street families (gangs). They will always have replacements as long as we make endless numbers of orphans!

INCAPACITATION HAS NO EFFECT ON CRIME (continued)

LAURENCE HAMMACK, STAFF WRITER; Roanoke Times & World News, December  16, 1995, Pg. A1, HEADLINE: JUVENILE JUSTICE ON TRIAL // acs-VT97
     Robert Shepherd, a University of Richmond law professor who serves on the Commission on Youth task force, said tough punishment alone treats the so-called epidemic of  juvenile crime  after the fact and ignores the symptoms.
"It would be like if the medical community had dealt with polio 40 years ago  by saying that we're going to improve our iron lungs, and we're going to make better leg braces, but we're not going to invest any money or resources toward finding a vaccine."

RON HARRIS, Staffwriter Los Angeles Times, edited by Shirley Dicks, 1995; JUVENILE JUSTICE & THE DEATH PENALTY, "Should teens be tried as adults?" // cjj-VT97 p. 23
Increasingly, juvenile justice officials themselves have begun to see an  overriding correlation between juvenile delinquency and such factors as  poverty, physical and emotional abuse, neglect, family dysfunction, and  educational deficiencies. Consequently, many have concluded that just locking  up youths is not the answer. 

NICHOLAS EMLER AND STEPHEN REICHER, 1995; ADOLESCENCE AND DELINQUENCY // am-VT97 p. 224
The second category of solutions covers what we would call panaceas. These are proposals that might have short-term or localized impact on delinquent action but which only displace the problem elsewhere. They certainly don't provide a full solution. In one sense, the penal regimes we have just dealt with could be placed in this category. They are sometimes justified on the basis that at least people don't offend while inside. This is only partially true since inmates may and do offend against each other. None the less, the logic is that people don't offend as ]long as they are  constrained and supervised. That may be true. The only problem is that offending may increase as soon as the bonds are removed. The same can be argued about less coercive forms of surveillance.  

SHIRLEY DICKS, 1995; YOUNG BLOOD: JUVENILE JUSTICE & THE DEATH PENALTY // cjj-VT97 p. 56
Many assume prisons exist not only for the just punishment of crimes, but also as an effective  deterrent against further commission of crimes. Others assume that prisons exist primarily for the rehabilitation of criminals. The facts clearly show that our penal systems as they presently exist at the federal, state, and local levels are fulfilling the functions of neither deterrence nor rehabilitation. Quite simply, our penal systems are failing. 

 INCARCERATION DOES NOT WORK/ MUST MOVE TO ALTERNATIVES

Elias, 1993 (Robert, Prof of Politic, chair of Legal Studies at Univ. of San Francisco, VICTIMS STILL) // JB-VT97 p. 121
Criminal penalties should be reevaluated and reduced. Imprisonment does not achieve its penological objectives; it generates more crime instead. Incarceration should be mandated only as a ]last resort, and more effective prison  alternatives should instead be incorporated into the criminal law (Box-Gminger, 1986,Currie, 1985:Flicker, 1990). 

BARRY KRISBERG, Pres. National Council on Crime & Delinquency, 1993; REINVENTING JUVENILE JUSTICE // cjjVT97 p. 175 
The political environment supporting harsher juvenile court penalties exists in several jurisdictions "Get tough" policies are popular with politicians who are responsive to continued public fears about crime. But the most immediate consequences of tougher sanctions have been overcrowded facilities and demands for increased funding for correctional agencies. There is no credible research evidence -that these tougher penalties actually have reduced youth crime.

MUST MOVE TO DECARCERATION TO DECREASE CRIME

Elias, 1993 (Robert, Prof of Politic, chair of Legal Studies at Univ. of San Francisco, VICTIMS STILL) // JB-VT97 p. 130
Conventional crime policy promotes harsh criminal punishments, which are ineffective, repressive, and even counterproductive: We have both the world's highest incarceration rate and one of the world's highest crime rates. Harsh penalties achieve no legitimate correctional goals: They do not deter, reform, treat, or rehabilitate. Most prisoners initially are not a threat to society, but they become increasingly dangerous the longer they are imprisoned. Building more prisons does not stop crime, it only warehouses increasing numbers of outcasts from American culture. Instead, a productive correctional strategy requires equity, decarceralion, and prisoners' rights. 

DETERRENCE THEORY IS FLAWED -- CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR IS NOT DETERRED BY PUNISHMENT

JAMES FINCKENAUER, Prof. Rutgers Univ., 1982; SCARED STRAIGHT! AND THE PANACEA PHENOMENON // am-VT97 p. 37
Finally, there is the reality that one of the easiest and simplest steps to be taken against juvenile crime  is to increase the harshness of penalties and to make them applicable to a larger number of  youngsters. This is, however, another *example* of a simplistic solution to a complex  problem. The result is that the severity of punishment, which I have already tried to show has little or no deterrent effect, is increased; whereas certainty, which may have some deterrence value, is not and cannot be so readily increased. As a result, the juvenile justice system becomes more like the adult system—higher on severity, but still low on certainty. This is so because the odds of being arrested, convicted, and punished are difficult to increase when some of the conditions affecting these odds are beyond the reach of juvenile authorities, and when relatively small improvements in efficiency and effectiveness would require more money and resources than we are willing to provide. Perhaps an even more important explanation is our unwillingness to pay the costs in due process trade-offs that would be necessary to significantly increase the certainty of juvenile punishment. The latter, in my judgment, is fortunate because it suggests we have been willing to go only so far in giving up our individual freedoms to make our crime control capacity more effective. So far, we have found a "police state" approach to be unattractive.  

JAMES FINCKENAUER, Prof. Rutgers Univ., 1982; SCARED STRAIGHT! AND THE PANACEA PHENOMENON // am-VT97p. 35
Kids who have beaten the system and gotten away with it are not likely to be deterred. Others,  and particularly those who commit the most violent crimes, are psychologically unlikely or  unable to rationally calculate the risk of penalties. For example, they may have little inner  control; and, they may act on impulse with little intellectual or moral understanding of what  they are doing. Still others may be willing to run what they know are great risks in order to  maintain their status in the eyes of their peers. After all, peers are the single most important  reference group for adolescents. Finally, it is in part the elements of danger and adventure that  make delinquent behavior exciting and attractive in the first place. 

OFFICE OF JUVENILE JUSTICE AND DELINQUENCY PREVENTION, edited by Shirley Dicks, 1995; JUVENILE JUSTICE & THE DEATH PENALTY, "The young criminal years" // cjj-VT97 p. 113
What, if anything, can we do to break the persistence of the violent and chronic offender? Incarceration has long been viewed as the ultimate means of breaking the pattern of criminal behavior. Yet our data indicate that the institutional experience, for both juveniles and adults, did not have the desired effect. While generalizations are difficult, it is clear that few of our juvenile cohort members desisted after their day in court or a stay in a juvenile training school. This suggests that our juvenile justice system has little deterrent effect on future juvenile, and adult, misconduct.

ERIC JENSEN, Prof. Sociology, Univ. Idaho, Jan., 1994; CRIME & DELINQUENCY, "A test of the deterrent effect of legislative waiver on violent juvenile crime" // jah-VT97 p. 103
AS indicated above, we should not be surprised by the absence of a deterrent effect of the threat of more punitive sanctions. Research on adult populations indicates that support for the general deterrence argument is weak (Nagin 1978).
In summary, our findings were consistent with the overall conclusion of the research in New York State: There does not appear to be a deterrent effect of legislative waiver on rates of juvenile violent crimes, This is particularly interesting because of the vastly different states in which these studies were conducted. New York is highly urbanized and has high crime rates whereas Idaho is rural with low crime rates. In both cases, however, the movement away from the traditional juvenile court model to the more punitive criminal justice system did not deter youth from committing violent crimes. 

DETERRENCE THEORY IS DEPENDENT ON THE "RATIONAL DECISION MAKER" MODEL OF CRIMINALITY

ANNE SCHNEIDER, National Science Foundation, 1990; DETERRENCE AND JUVENILE CRIME: RESULTS FROM A NATIONAL POLICY EXPERIMENT [Study of national data from a six city study] \\ acs-VT97 p. 105
Modern American society is permeated by the belief that human beings are driven by self-interested behavior and that public policies can influence behavior by manipulating the costs, benefits, or risks of alternative actions. Simplified versions of expected Utility theory hold that behavior  is contingent upon net utility and that it does not matter much, if at all, whether one seeks to change behavior by altering the benefits, altering the costs, or reducing uncertainty. The modern revival of deterrence theory as a guide to criminal and juvenile justice policy rests precisely upon these contention.  if criminal behavior might be reduced.

RATIONAL UTILITY THINKING -- LIKE DETERRENCE -- HAS SEVERAL DEADLY FLAWS

ANNE SCHNEIDER, National Science Foundation, 1990; DETERRENCE AND JUVENILE CRIME: RESULTS FROM A NATIONAL POLICY EXPERIMENT [Study of national data from a six city study] \\ acs-VT97 p.105
Expected utility theory, including deterrence theory, has several drawbacks, however, as a guide to policy as well as a general theory of behavior. First, individuals make numerous errors in their estimates of benefits, costs, and risks, therefore making it very difficult for them to make decisions that will be consistent with objective estimates of net utility. Second, expected utility theory does not take into account the predecision I processes through which individuals frame situations, seek ideas, and devise courses of actions. Third, even v. hen persons are directly confronted with choices and relatively clear information, they usually do not choose options on the basis of net utility, particularly under conditions of uncertainty. Instead, most rely on decision heuristics, short cuts, or rules of thumb, that are used in lieu of calculations about the future consequences of various alternatives.

INCREASED JUVENILE INCARCERATION DOES NOT INCREASE DETERRENCE OR PERCEPTIONS OF SEVERITY

ANNE SCHNEIDER, National Science Foundation, 1990; DETERRENCE AND JUVENILE CRIME: RESULTS FROM A NATIONAL POLICY EXPERIMENT [Study of national data from a six city study] \\ acs-VT97 p. 4
For the most chronic offenders in the study (those with six or more priors), there was a relationship between perceptions of punishment severity and reduced recidivism. However, the overwhelming. helming evidence for all groups included in the research is that incarceration had no discernable effect on perceptions of certainty and severity of punishment, Instead incarceration and detention increased remorse. but also damaged the individual's self-image. These effects of punishment offset one another, leaving punishment policies with about the same results as less coercive programs such as restitution and probation.

MAINTAINING POSITIVE YOUTH SELF-IMAGE IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN SEVERITY

ANNE SCHNEIDER, National Science Foundation, 1990; DETERRENCE AND JUVENILE CRIME: RESULTS FROM A NATIONAL POLICY EXPERIMENT [Study of national data from a six city study] \\ acs-VT97 p. 110
In contrast with the deterrence variables, a sense of citizenship and remorse was an important variable in understanding recidivism. The findings  provide far more support to decision heuristic theories that emphasize   the importance of basic values and self-image than to deterrence the ories that focus on perceptions of certainty and severity of punishment.

SELF-IMAGE AS A GOOD CITIZEN IS FAR MORE IMPORTANT AT DETERRING JUVENILE CRIME THAN SEVERITY OF PUNISHMENT

ANNE SCHNEIDER, National Science Foundation, 1990; DETERRENCE AND JUVENILE CRIME: RESULTS FROM A NATIONAL POLICY EXPERIMENT [Study of national data from a six city study] \\ acs-VT97 p. 108
Analysis of intentions to avoid crime revealed that even though perceptions of certainty and severity were important, the best predictor of intentions  was selfimage as a good citizen, followed by the degree of remorse. Beliefs that the sanctions were fair also were related to lower intentions of reoffending. Sense of citizenship was related to lower intentions of reoffending in all six sites, and was statistically significant beyond 0.001 in all six.

NOTHING SIGNIFICANT HAS CHANGED IN THE DETERRENCE LITERATURE BETWEEN  1978 -- AND NOW -- DETERRENCE DOES NOT WORK

WILLIAM SPELMAN, Prof. Public Affairs, Univ. of Texas, 1994; CRIMINAL INCAPACITATION [study utilizing national data from a survey by the RAND  Corporation] \\ acs-VT97 pp. 301-2
Daniel Nagin (1978), in reviewing the work completed during the 1960s and 70s, found that  despite the immensity of the research effort, the empirical evidence is still not sufficient for providing a rigorous confirmation of the existence of a deterrent effect. Perhaps more important, the evidence is woefully inadequate for providing a good estimate of he magnitude of whatever effect may exist.... There is still considerable uncertainty over whether this effect is trivial (even if statistically detectable) or profound. (pp. 135-136)  Detenence effects doubtless exist for law-abiding citizens, and they may be important for even the most dangerous offenders: but a aggregate-based, econometric approaches have been unable to measure these effects with much validity. More recent reviews (Brier & Fienberg, 1980; Schmidt & Witte, 1984) indicate that the situation has not changed since 1978.

SCOTT HENGGELER, Prof. Psychology at U.S. International Univ. San Diego, 1989; DELINQUENCY IN ADOLESCENCE// am-VT97 p. 111
Deterrence theory, which has become increasingly popular among criminologists, suggests that the threat or the imposition of sanctions for criminal acts can decrease rates of delinquent behavior in adolescents. In a longitudinal study with a large sample of high school students, Thomas and Bishop (1984) evaluated whether the imposition of formal sanctions (e.g., arrest) or informal sanctions (e.g., school suspension) were associated with increases in perceived certainty of punishment and decreases in delinquent behavior, as deterrence theory would suggest. The researchers found that sanctions were associated with increases in self-reported delinquent behavior and were not associated with changes in the perceived certainty of punishment. The former finding probably reflects the well-established association between rates of delinquent behavior and the probability of being sanctioned, and the latter finding most likely reflects the very low probability of actually being sanctioned for a particular misbehavior. In a similar vein, institutionalization has been advocated as an effective sanction for chronic offenders (Murray & Cox, 1979). Yet, there is little evidence that institutionalization suppresses rates of subsequent delinquent behavior more than community treatments (Lundman, 1986).  

THOMAS BERNARD, 1992; THE CYCLE OF JUVENILE JUSTICE //am-VT97 p. 164
The worst aspect of this reform is that punishing serious juvenile offenders may actually increase crime. Research suggests that recidivism among the most violent delinquents can be reduced up to 70% in small, secure, treatment-oriented juvenile facilities. This same type of juvenile does poorlywhen punished in large custody-oriented juvenile institutions. The adult system has even less to offer these offenders and they cause many problems in it, both as victims and offenders.  

Marc Perrusquia, The Commercial Appeal (Memphis), March  10, 1996, Pg. 11A, HEADLINE: Morality not an issue for teens who rob // acs-VT97
     Problem is, juvenile offenders tend to be rash and impulsive. ''He doesn't calculate the consequences of his actions,'' Sweet said. ''He just bursts out.'' [Richard Sweet, director of the Youth Habilitation Center]

INCARCERATION DOES NOT DETER

PENNY BENDER; Gannett News Service, March  7, 1996, HEADLINE: More jails cells for juveniles lead to more crime, experts warn // acs-VT97
     "The allure of crime in terms of status, protection and profit is so much greater than the inhibitor of incarceration," said James Alan Fox, dean of the College of Criminology at Northeastern University.

Melbourne Z. Myerson, Sacramento Bee, February 18, 1996, Pg. N8, HEADLINE: HARSH SENTENCES MAY DETER YOUTHS FROM COMMITTING CRIMES // acs-VT97
     This is one amazing aspect of kid crime, and probably of adult crime, too. There is little or no foresight of possible recriminations. All the perpetrators can envision at the moment is the "fun" aspect. Does one ever say to his ally in crime, "I hope we get away with this," or possibly, "They'll never know who did this."

John J. Dilulio, professor at Princeton, Chicago Tribune, December  15, 1995; Pg. 31; HEADLINE: MORAL POVERTY // acs-VT97
     Moral poverty begets juvenile superpredators whose behavior is driven by two  profound developmental defects.  First, they are radically present-oriented. Not only do they perceive no relationship between doing right (or wrong) now and being rewarded (or punished) for it later. They live entirely in and for the present moment; they quite literally have no concept of the future. As several researchers have found, ask a group of today's young big-city murderers for their thoughts about "the future," and many of them will ask you for an explanation of the question.

JAMES ALAN FOX, Dean Of The College Of Criminal Justice Northeastern University, FEBRUARY 28, 1996,  Federal News Service, Before The Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee On Youth Violence The Impending Youth Crime Wave // acs-VT97
     Often these are juveniles who care little about the future, who have a reckless disregard for their own physical safety, and who don't expect to live past their 21st birthday. The prospect of a long-term prison sentence or even the death penalty will not dissuade them in the least. 

MARY TOOTHMAN, The Tampa Tribune,  January 17, 1996, Pg. 1, HEADLINE: Jury is out on boot camp; a family waits //acs-VT97
      Asked what might work in terms of convincing kids that crime does not pay, the kid had a depressing answer. "Nothing," he said. "Because it does pay." 

The Boston Globe, March  24, 1996, Pg. 81, HEADLINE: THE YOUNG AND THE VIOLENT; Teen-agers are hurting others - and themselves // acs-VT97
     Participants readily concluded that the Legislature's recent crackdown legislation - which requires that any youth 14 or older accused of murder be adjudicated as an adult - will have little effect. As James Alan Fox, professor  of the College of Criminal Justice at Northeastern University, put it, "These are kids who face violence, and indeed death, every day . . . and as far as they are concerned, the criminal justice system might as well just take a number and  wait in line with all the other people who want to go out and get them."

INCREASED PUNISHMENT SEVERITY WILL INCREASE JUVENILE CRIME

RON HARRIS, Staffwriter Los Angeles Times, edited by Shirley Dicks, 1995; JUVENILE JUSTICE & THE DEATH PENALTY, "Should teens be tried as adults?" // cjj-VT97 p. 22
"Kids need to be held accountable, but not by punishing them by putting them in a brutal, dehumanizing institution for six to eight months, where they continually learn to survive by intimidating other people, where they lose more respect for authority, which, in turn, increases the odds that when they are released from that institution they are going to engage in similar or worse criminal activity," he said.

NICHOLAS EMLER AND STEPHEN REICHER, 1995; ADOLESCENCE AND DELINQUENCY // am-VT97 p. 224
 The one other false proposal that needs to be commented on is the idea that strict, punitive regimes, 'short sharp shocks' or other 'aversion therapies' are the solution to delinquency in general. We have already noted their popularity in certain sectors and the evidence of their failure. This is hardly surprising. On the one hand, an experience of formal authority as cold, impersonal and punitive is hardly likely to improve one's attitude towards it. On the other, to celebrate physical 'hardness', to force one into the company of others who offend and to cut one off from all other social contacts is the ideal way of ensuring that individuals  will act upon this hostility. Indeed the basic premise of such regimes - that delinquents offend because they don't have an adequate fear of punishment - is a profound misreading of delinquent psychology. 

RON HARRIS, Staffwriter Los Angeles Times, edited  by Shirley Dicks, 1995; JUVENILE JUSTICE & THE DEATH  PENALTY, "Should teens be tried as adults?" // cjj-VT97 p. 22
It is clear, say those who monitor the juvenile court system, that more and longer incarceration does not appear to be working. As the incarceration rate has gone up, so has the percentage of juveniles who are rearrested for crimes after their release.   "The way the system is set up now, they're coming out worse than when they went in," said Lambert of the Youth Law Center. "They come out embittered, hardened."   Consequently, some states are beginning to reevaluate the way they handle children, and are seeking more cost-effective methods.

INCREASED PUNISHMENT SEVERITY WILL INCREASE JUVENILE CRIME (continued)

LEE ROMNEY, STAFF WRITER, Los Angeles Times, March  26, 1996, Part A; Page 1; HEADLINE: O.C.  JUVENILE CRIME  STATS LEAP IN 1995 // acs-VT97
     Dean Allen, supervising attorney for the juvenile branch of the public defender's office, warned that harsher prosecution probably will not solve the county's youth crime problem.
   "To a large extent it's somewhat self-defeating," Allen said. "You put kids who are really nuisances into the Youth Authority, and all of a sudden they become dangerous.

INCREASED SEVERITY INCREASES JUVENILE CRIME - ALTERNATIVE SUGGESTIONS WERE CONSIDERED AND REJECTED IN THE SIX CITY STUDY

ANNE SCHNEIDER, National Science Foundation, l 990; DETERRENCE AND JUVENILE CRIME: RESULTS FROM A NATIONAL POLICY EXPERIMENT [Study of national data from a six city study] \\ acs-VT97 p. 109
Why do juveniles who think they will be caught and who believe they will be punished severely commit more offenses? A host of methodological explanations were examined and all were rejected. Analyses were conducted to determine whether severity of punishment would be important if certainty was high enough; this was rejected. Another analysis examined whether certainty would be important for persons who believed they would be punished severely. This, too, was rejected. A proposition      that certainty and severity would be important at  first but the effects I   would decay over time was examined and found not to be important. A  macho explanation was attempted, in which juveniles who enjoyed crime  (i.e., viewed it as fun.'' "exciting." 'dangerous," and so forth) would  overestimate certainty and severity of punishment, thereby masking the  true relationship between the deterrence variables and recidivism. There  was no support for this contention in the data. either. A proposition that  certainty and severity of punishment would become important for   especially high rate offenders was partially supported. as perceptions of  severity of punishment were related to lower offending for persons with six  or  more prior offenses. This suggests that there may be a point in a juvenile  career where some of the youths recognize the severity of future actions  and intentionally reduce or cease their criminal activity. Most juveniles,  however, do not seem to reduce their criminal activity as a result of perceived    certainty and severity.

CERTAINTY AND SEVERITY OF PUNISHMENT DO NOT INFLUENCE JUVENILE CRIME, BUT GUIDING YOUTH INTO PRODUCTIVE ROLES DOES

ANNE SCHNEIDER, National Science Foundation' 1990; DETERRENCE AND JUVENILE CRIME: RESULTS FROM A NATIONAL POLICY EXPERIMENT [Study of national data from a six city study] \\ acs-VT97 p. 3
Social control theory, as articulated by Hirschi (1969. 1986), also assumes that individuals weigh costs and benefits of alternative lifestyles. But the emphasis here is more on the benefits  to be gained from conventional behavior, the likelihood of success in legitimate lifestyles, and commitment to the moral codes of society. Thus, the effectiveness of juvenile court interventions depends less on whether the sanction enhances perceptions of certainty and severity of punishment. and more on whether it improves the individual's capacity for success in law-abiding activities and strengthens the person's commitment to the moral codes of society. Probation should be a more effective approach than detention or incarceration because it should have greater potential for building the individual's capacity for law-abiding behavior. Restitution could have the same effect, particularly if it enhances the juveniles' ability to obtain and hold a job, encourages them to accept the responsibility for repaying victims, and demonstrates to the youths that they have the capacity lo be successful in legitimate activities.

ANNE SCHNEIDER, 1990; DETERRENCE AND JUVENILE CRIME: RESULTS FROM A NATIONAL POLICY EXPERIMENT // am-VT97 p. 105
Expected utility theory, including deterrence theory, has several drawbacks, however, as a guide to policy as well as a general theory of behavior. First, individuals make numerous errors in their estimates of benefits, costs, and risks, therefore making it very difficult for them to make decisions that will be consistent with objective estimates of net utility. Second, expected utility theory does not take into account the predecision processes through which individuals frame situations, seek ideas, and devise courses of actions. Third, even when persons are directly confronted with choices and relatively clear information, they usually do not choose options on the basis of net utility, particularly under conditions of uncertainty. Instead, most rely on decision heuristics, short cuts, or rules of thumb, that are used in lieu of calculations about the future consequences of various alternatives. 

ANNE SCHNEIDER, 1990; DETERRENCE AND JUVENILE CRIME: RESULTS FROM A NATIONAL POLICY EXPERIMENT // am-VT97 p. 110
In contrast with the deterrence variables, a sense of citizenship and remorse was an important variable in understanding recidivism. The findings provide far more support to decision heuristic theories that emphasize the importance of basic values and self-image than to deterrence theories that focus on perceptions of certainty and severity of punishment.

CERTAINTY AND SEVERITY OF PUNISHMENT DO NOT INFLUENCE JUVENILE CRIME, BUT GUIDING YOUTH INTO PRODUCTIVE ROLES DOES (continued)

ANNE SCHNEIDER, 1990; DETERRENCE AND JUVENILE CRIME: RESULTS FROM A NATIONAL POLICY EXPERIMENT // am-VT97 p. 109
Analysis of actual recontact with the juvenile or adult court during the  two or three-year follow up period, however, revealed a markedly different pattern for the deterrence variables of certainty and severity. Persons who believed they were more likely to be caught actually committed more subsequent offenses, rather than fewer, and those who believed they would be punished more severely also committed more, rather than fewer, offenses. On the other hand, the sense of citizenship and sense of remorse were related as expected to lower recidivism rates. Juveniles with a self-image as a good citizen were considerably less likely to recidivate, as were those who were more remorseful)  

ANNE SCHNEIDER, 1990; DETERRENCE AND JUVENILE CRIME: RESULTS FROM A NATIONAL POLICY EXPERIMENT // am-VT97p. 110
There are several plausible explanations. One is that juveniles who are committing crimes and engaging in a criminal lifestyle at the time of the interview and those who fully intend to continue committing crimes KNOW they will be caught, and they KNOW they will be punished severely, In other words, high rate offenders are simply realistic about their prospects of capture and punishment. Unfortunately for advocates of deterrence and punishment, however, these perceptions do not translate into reduced offending. Another plausible explanation is that perceptions of certainty are highly contingent upon context and there is no generalized sense of the certainty of arrest. Thus, a person's perception of certainty will vary dramatically depending upon the context; the certainty of capture that is relevant for offending is that which stems from the actual crime situation that is being contemplated. Assessments of punishment severity may follow the same pattern. Offenses may not begin with the intent to commit a particularly serious crime, hence the perception of severity is underestimated. 

ANNE SCHNEIDER, 1990; DETERRENCE AND JUVENILE CRIME: RESULTS FROM A NATIONAL POLICY EXPERIMENT // am-VT97 p. 2
Other theories of choice, however, suggest that decisions are governed more by heuristics—mental shortcuts, or rules of thumb—than by estimates of gains or losses, particularly when the actual results of behavior are difficult to predict. Uncertainty about the outcome of action makes it difficult or impossible for most individuals to adhere to the principles of strictly rational weighing of gains and losses as suggested by deterrence and other utility maximizing theories. Decision heuristic theories suggest that individuals adopt simple rules of thumb that guide behavior, and that many choices are better explained by a person's values, self-image, and the circumstances or context within which the decision emerges than by an analysis of the actual benefits, costs, or risks involved.

ANNE SCHNEIDER, 1990; DETERRENCE AND JUVENILE CRIME: RESULTS FROM A NATIONAL POLICY EXPERIMENT // am-VT97 p. 4
The results of the analysis may be profoundly disturbing to some, profoundly satisfying to others, and in either case there are substantial public policy implications. In six different cities in the United States, juvenile delinquents convicted of felonies and serious misdemeanor offenses, did not reduce their propensity to commit subsequent crimes as a function of their perceptions of the certainty or severity of punishment. In fact, the relationships sometimes were statistically significant in the wrong directions. Those who believed they would be punished more severely and those who perceived a higher likelihood of being caught professed a more marked intention of not committing crimes; but these juveniles actually committed more crimes during the two- to three-year follow up period. In contrast, juveniles who had a greater sense of citizenship, as reflected in self-images as good, honest, law-abiding persons, and those who expressed more remorse for previous crimes, were substantially less likely to continue committing delinquent or criminal acts.

ANNE SCHNEIDER, 1990; DETERRENCE AND JUVENILE CRIME: RESULTS FROM A NATIONAL POLICY EXPERIMENT // am-VT97 p. 2
Labeling theory rests on the assumption that punishment, or even nonpunitive interventions by the juvenile justice system, will stigmatize juveniles, damage self-esteem, increase the likelihood that the juvenile will identify with a "lawbreaking" self-image rather than a "good citizen"   image, and interfere with the juvenile's ability to be successful in normal v activities such as school or work.

PUNISHING JUVENILES IGNORES THE NEED FOR SOCIAL CHANGE

RON HARRIS, Staffwriter Los Angeles Times, edited by Shirley Dicks, 1995; JUVENILE JUSTICE & THE DEATH PENALTY, "Should teens be tried as adults?" // cjj-VT97 p. 33
Nationally, an estimated seven in ten children who are placed in long-term custody will be back, juvenile delinquency officials say. Consequently, many officials have begun to question the nation's emphasis on simply putting, without additional therapy, children where they can do no harm for the moment. "Right now we're just simply punishing kids," says Huggins, the judge who sentenced Gregory. "We are addressing their delinquent behavior, but we are not addressing the problems that spawned these children, the same problems we are going to send them back to when they are out of custody.'' 

William Raspberry. Washington Post Writers Group, Chicago Tribune,  January 23, 1996; Pg. 13; HEADLINE: DO WE NEED TO BUILD PRISONS? //acs-VT97
     Robert Gangi, head of the Correctional Association of New York, said in one letter to the editor that prison building "skews government priorities." He may have had in mind the experience in California where investments in prison-building have drained away resources for family support, job training and even such basics as public education--all thought to be helpful in reducing crime. Gangi thought alternative punishments and drug treatment, would be a more effective response than incarceration, at least for less-serious offenders.

JAMES F. DOYLE, Prof. Philosophy Univ. of Missouri St. Louis, 1995; SOCIAL JUSTICE, "A radical critique of criminal punishment" // jah-VT97 p. 20
Justifying a reliance on criminal punishment is made even more difficult by two other paradoxes that appear to be inherent in this institution. From the perspective of the ethics of obligation, punishment is considered to be practically necessary to the maintenance of moral, political, and legal authority. However, punishment cannot create authority that does not already exist in a society. The weaker these kinds of authority in a society, the more it relies on punishment to bolster that authority and maintain social control. As it happens, these are the social conditions in which punishment is least effective in achieving these social purposes. Indeed, reliance on punishment may only exacerbate the problems of weak authority and social control. Paradoxically, a society that enjoys strong and legitimate authority has little actual need to rely on punishment.

JAMES F. DOYLE, Prof. Philosophy Univ. of Missouri St. Louis, 1995; SOCIAL JUSTICE, "A radical critique of criminal punishment" // jah-VT97 p. 20
From the perspective of the ethics of social relations, reliance on individualistic criminalization and punishment to maintain authority and counteract crime gives rise to a complex institution that is at war with itself and with the larger society it is expected to serve. The more powerful and pervasive this institution becomes, the more it isolates and excludes individuals and thereby weakens the moral and social influence of intermediate  groups between the individual and the state. This in turn makes the apparent need for expanded punishment self-fulfilling, as intermediate groups, from the family and schools to the community as a whole, lose their capacity to induce social cooperation among their members. Commenting on this paradox at the heart of the reliance on criminal punishment, David Garland (1990: 288-289) points out that "it is only the mainstream processes of socialization (internalized morality and the sense of duty, the informal inducements and rewards of conformity, the practical and cultural networks of mutual expectation and interdependence, etc.) which are able to promote proper conduct on a consistent and regular basis." As a result, he argues, "punishment is fated never to 'succeed' to any great degree because the conditions that do most to induce conformity—or to promote crime —lie outside the jurisdiction of penal institutions" (Ibid.: 289). From this argument Garland draws the practical conclusion that a society "which intends to promote disciplined conduct and social control will concentrate not upon punishing offenders but upon socializing and integrating young citizens—a work of social justice and moral education rather than penal policy" (Ibid.: 292).

JAMES F. DOYLE, Prof. Philosophy Univ. of Missouri St. Louis, 1995; SOCIAL JUSTICE, "A radical critique of criminal punishment" // jah-VT97 p. 20 
A second paradox is that punishment can be, at the same time, practically necessary for the maintenance of a form of authority and yet very limited or even self defeating as an institution for controlling crime. Garland argues that this combination of traits is what makes punishment tragic (Ibid.: 80-81). He claims that attempted philosophical justifications of punishment—whether based on the Enlightenment belief that punishment can perform a positive, utilitarian role or the retributive belief in ultimate justice and a redemptive moral community—have obscured this intrinsically tragic character of the institution. Thinking about punishment as intrinsically tragic helps us appreciate Garland's description of it as a civil war in miniature between a state and its citizens. The lesson he draws is this: "However well it is organized, and however humanely administered, punishment is inescapably marked by moral contradiction and unwanted irony—as when it seeks to uphold freedom by means of its deprivation, or condemns private violence using a violence which is publicly authorized" (Ibid.: 292). He might have added the further ironies that punishment condemns killing by authorizing execution and excludes and deprives mostly those who are already victims of social exclusion and deprivation

RONALD KRAMER, Prof. Sociology Western Michigan Univ., 1995; SOCIAL JUSTICE, "The iron fist and the velvet tongue" // jah-VT97 p. 87
  Societies characterized by high degrees of structural inequality AND social injustice will typically experience high rates of crime and violence.  Political states in such societies will typically pursue repressive social control policies in an effort to maintain order and to protect legitimacy by trying to provide at least a minimum of social peace. These policies include capital punishment, extensive use of imprisonment, and other rituals of exclusion. More egalitarian societies, which generally have far less violent crime, tend to respond to trouble with less punitive means and with various forms of ritualized reconciliation (Michalowski, 1985; Pfohl, 1985).  

HARDLINE PENALTIES OVER INCARCERATE THE POOR WHICH LEADS TO REVOLUTION, CIVIL WAR AND GENOCIDE

Jonathan Simon (expert in criminology) 1993, Poor Discipline \\YK-VT97 pp. 252-3
In contrast, today's "underclass" finds itself virtually ignored by the state and federal government, except as a demonized other for use in the electoral process. In a very real sense the penal system, along with the welfare system, has become the predominant government of the poor. We would not be far off if we speculated that on any given day at least half the young males in the underclass population are under the custody of the penal system.  There is virtually not a household in the zones of hardened poverty where someone is not under custody at some point.
It is a peculiar form of government. Politically it is bereft of selfgovernment rights. Legally it involves diminutions of the general constitutional protections against searches and seizures by the police. Beyond the formal institutions of government, how ever, the situation gets even grimmer. The poverty zones are left unsecured and unregulated by the post industrial economy and its forms of mass surveillance.  As their involvement with the labor market has been attenuated and their involvement with the criminal justice system intensified, the new urban poor are being separated into a distinct political society (as the term "underclass" itself seems to express). In the course' of human events, such divisions of political society have invariably lead to revolutions, civil wars, and genocides.

JUVENILES SHOULD NOT BE PUNISHED LIKE ADULTS

NICHOLAS EMLER AND STEPHEN REICHER, 1995; ADOLESCENCE AND DELINQUENCY // am-VT97 p. 228
There is one final solution that all the evidence (if not all the theories) : point to: time. At the age of 15 or 16 most delinquent action will cease. ' The danger is that overly draconian responses to adolescent misdemeanors will impede this decline by metaphorically and/or literally, imprisoning people in a criminal milieu. There is also a danger that  overly dramatic theories of delinquency will facilitate - or at least justify such measures. One important remedy is therefore to retain balance in our theories of delinquency, to resist demonization of delinquents and to recognize that delinquent action is a fairly widespread activity amongst many people who are later seen as respectable members of the. community.  

DONNA BISHOP, Prof. Criminal Justice Univ. Central Florida, April, 1996; CRIME & DELINQUENCY, "The transfer of juveniles to criminal court" // jah-VT97 p. 185
Although we would be the first to recommend replication of our research with better matches and controls and in other jurisdictions, we also would be remiss if we did not state the obvious. There may be no way to "explain away" the results. Transfer to criminal court may indeed increase the likelihood of recidivism. In other words, perhaps the context in which sanctions are administered matters. Certainly the original "Child Savers" would not be surprised by our results. Proponents of the labeling and social reaction perspectives have warned about the negative consequences of criminal sanctions for children. Consequently, we wonder about the messages that the juvenile versus criminal systems communicate to offenders, and how they are received. Certainly, the findings of this study are consistent with the idea that the criminal system sends a more negative message. Braithwaite's (1989) theory of reintegrative shaming cautions about the adverse impact of sanctions that reject and exclude, and the implications these have for future offending. Perhaps transfer from juvenile to criminal court signals to young offenders that they are outcasts. Although stigma is undoubtedly attached to juvenile justice processing, the stigma associated with criminal court conviction  and adult sentencing is greater and more enduring than its juvenile counterpart. Social responses in the family, the community, and the workplace to a criminal conviction are condemnatory. In American culture, the sins of youth are more readily forgiven and forgotten than the sins of adults. From this perspective, transfer denotes more than process and procedure. It is symbolic of status transformation from "redeemable youth" to "unsalvageable adult." Faced with that prospect, youths may surrender selfrestraint, accept the negative attributions of the culture that has excluded them, and seek out the companionship of others who tolerate or support continued deviation from societal norms.

DONNA BISHOP, Prof. Criminal Justice Univ. Central Florida, April, 1996; CRIME & DELINQUENCY, "The transfer of juveniles to criminal court" // jah-VT97 p. 183
Did the transfer of juveniles to criminal court make a difference? Advocates of transfer clearly think it should, and our research showed that it did. However, the effect was not in the direction its advocates expect. In these data, transfer actually aggravated short-term recidivism.
The transfer group recidivated at a higher rate than the non transfer group. This was true within all seven classes of offense that resulted in subjects' inclusion in the study. Despite being incarcerated for longer periods of time, transferred youths nonetheless committed more offenses. When time at risk was controlled, the rate of reoffending in the transfer group was significantly higher than in the non transfer group both in terms of time to failure and in terms of arrest rates. Further group comparisons revealed that transferred offenders were more likely than matched non transferred youths to commit a subsequent felony offense. Comparing pre- to post-levels of offending among those who reoffended, more of the non transfer matches improved their behavior over time. Among those rearrested, the offense transitions showed A significantly greater tendency toward rearrest for a lesser offense for the nontransfer group than for the transfer group.
Overall, the results suggest that transfer in Florida has had little deterrent value. Nor has it produced any incapacitative benefits that enhance public safety. Although transferred youths were more likely to be incarcerated and to be incarcerated for longer periods than those retained in the juvenile justice system, they quickly reoffended at a higher rate than the nontransferred controls, thereby negating any incapacitative benefits  that might have been achieved in the short run.

JUVENILES SHOULD NOT BE PUNISHED LIKE ADULTS  (continued)

TRAVIS HIRSCHI, Prof. Sociology Univ. Arizona, April, 1993; CRIME & DELINQUENCY, "Rethinking the juvenile justice system" // jah-VT97 p. 268
There is good historical reason to believe that fears of excessive punitiveness toward children are unjustified. But to the extent we have a choice in these matters it seems to us that the evidence suggests that the drift of public policy should be in the other direction—i.e., that we should as far as possible attempt to replace the current system with a system modeled more on the juvenile than on the criminal justice system. Evidence in favor of this direction of change is amply provided by experience in the United States.
Statistics from the United States show that as of 1987 there were on any given day something like 41,000 juveniles detained for serious crimes; "he same count for adults in the same year shows something like 600,000 incarcerated in state and federal prisons. This in spite of the fact that in any given year juveniles (those 18 or younger) account for about a third of arrests for serious crimes.
If we were applying the system to adults we now apply to children, there would be a crisis in prison construction in the United States of unheard of proportions — but the problem would not be insufficient cell space. Looked at from the other direction, if we applied the adult incarceration rate to the juvenile arrest rate, we would experience a seven-fold increase in the number of juveniles behind bars. 

BRENDA INGERSOLL, POLICE REPORTER, Wisconsin State Journal, December  12, 1995, Pg. 1B, HEADLINE: EXPERT ARGUES AGAINST SENDING KIDS TO ADULT PRISONS // acs-VT97
     The adult prison system ''is the most failed system in the world,'' so why emulate it for delinquent youth? asked Dennis Maloney, a Green Bay native widely recognized for his work with juveniles and adults as head of the Deschutes County Corrections Department in Bend, Ore. ''At least in the juvenile system, we ask, 'what's causing the problem?' and  try to fix it,'' he said.

EDITORIAL, Roanoke Times & World News, December  21, 1995, Pg. A14, HEADLINE: COMMON GROUND ON  JUVENILE CRIME  // acs-VT97
     Indeed, in other states that have tried it, crime rates haven't significantly come down. Studies show that juveniles tried as adults have a higher recidivism  rate once out of prison. And 78 percent of Virginia's juvenile-court judges who  responded to a survey oppose mandatory adult trials. Their opinion shouldn't be  discounted.

Jack Westman, prof of psychiatry at the UWisconsin Medical School, Wisconsin State Journal, October 26, 1995, Pg. 13A, HEADLINE: TO PREVENT JUVENILE CRIME PROVIDE ADEQUATE PARENTING // acs-VT97
     The basic error in our approach to juvenile offenders is to treat adolescents as adults. They want look like adults. They want to be treated like adults. They commit adult crimes. We give them adult rights in health care and in commitment proceedings. We remand them to adult courts. But we overlook the fact that adolescents need parenting as much as do younger children.

EDITORIAL, Christopher Johns, THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC, April  9, 1996; Pg. B5, HEADLINE: THE MYTH OF HARD TALK ON  JUVENILE CRIME  // acs-VT97
     At least that's what University of Florida researchers found in a study published in this month's Crime & Delinquency, a national law journal. Florida was one of the first states to inaugurate automatic transfer policies. But researchers found that by every scientific measure they used, re-offending was greater among juveniles who were transferred to adult court as opposed to those charged with similar crimes who remained in the juvenile justice system. Their conclusion suggests "that transfer in Florida has had little deterrent value" or"enhanced public safety."
   In other words, when you hear "get tough" and "send a message," what you are normally listening to is another criminal justice "myth." Automatic transfer is just another process to deal with dangerous kids.

EDITORIAL, Christopher Johns, THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC, April  9, 1996; Pg. B5, HEADLINE: THE MYTH OF HARD TALK ON  JUVENILE CRIME  // acs-VT97
     People can differ about an approach to crime, but they shouldn't ignore facts. The bottom line is that there is no empirical data that supports automatic transfer as a solution to violent  juvenile crime.  That's what's so tragic about the muscle-flexing by the governor, legislators and the judiciary.     In fact, automatic transfer may actually increase recidivism. It also, for whatever reason, ends up that minorities are transferred more often.

REGINA AKERS, Staff Writer, THE KANSAS CITY STAR, June  26, 1995; Pg. B1, HEADLINE: Critics: Law won't slow youth crimes; But lowering the age minimum on felonies may restore faith in the system, proponents say. // acs-VT97
     A new Missouri law allowing children of any age to be tried as adults for some offenses may reduce public concern about violence but will not reduce  juvenile crime,  critics say.
   The critics take comfort, however, in the likelihood that the new law will be applied only in a small number of juvenile cases. Officials at the Missouri Juvenile Justice Association estimate that of about 73,000 children referred annually to juvenile courts statewide, only 5 percent are accused of serious and violent offenses that would be eligible for prosecution under the new law.

Nick Gillespie, senior editor of Reason magazine & Joseph Overton, Mackinac Center for Public Policy, The Detroit News, April  21, 1996, HEADLINE: Swift punishment deters  juvenile crime  // acs-VT97
     But it is far from clear whether the most politically popular reform, lowering the age at which offenders can be tried as adults, will have much, if any, effect on violent  juvenile crime.  Designed to let courts impose longer sentences on children (in Michigan, convicted juveniles cannot be incarcerated beyond their 21st birthday, regardless of the crime), it is inherently a rear-guard action.

JUVENILES SHOULD NOT BE PUNISHED LIKE ADULTS  (continued)

JONATHAN SALTZMAN; Journal-Bulletin Staff Writer, The Providence Journal-Bulletin, April  22, 1996, Pg. 6C, HEADLINE: Salve Regina justice professor on youth crime and punishment // acs-VT97
     Hoffmann says that harsher sentences for juveniles, including imprisonment with adults, will not solve the problem, and may worsen it. [Lawyer Robin L. Hoffmann, an associate professor of administration of justiceat Salve Regina University]

Rev. Steven Matthews, THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC, March  3, 1996; Pg. H1, HEADLINE: To Break  Juvenile-Crime  Wave, Restrict Freedoms At An Early Age // acs-VT97
     To resolve the problem of  juvenile crime,  we must effect a number of changes in how we relate to our young people.
   2. Increase the age of maturity. In decades past, social and familial conditions were such that an 18-year-old was emotionally, psychologically and socially mature enough to leave the home, marry and raise a family. No longer. The typical 18-year-old today is not much more mature than the average 13-year-old of yesteryear. It is illogical to expect the young of today, whose culture is more violent, and to whom we seem to grant more liberties, to react in a mature and responsible manner. They are less able to cope and yet are given more to cope with. We must reverse this process. The youth of today need to be treated more like the children they are and less like miniature adults.

The Boston Globe, March  24, 1996, Pg. 81, HEADLINE: THE YOUNG AND THE VIOLENT; Teen-agers are hurting others - and themselves // acs-VT97
     JAMES ALAN FOX, dean of the College of Criminal Justice at Northeastern University : 
   The point we have to understand is that a 14-year-old first offender, even though he may commit a murder, and it may be an adult-like crime, very frequently the motivation, the thought process behind that crime, is immaturity. That 14-year-old perhaps would not have acted the same way if he were 24. He may be someone who is committing the murder because his friends told him to, or he said he was going to or he was dared to. That's how 14-year-olds think and act,  they're not the same as adults. We can pretend that they're acting like adults,  but they don't think like adults. 

Ted Gest; Victoria Pope, U.S. News & World Report, March  25, 1996; Pg. 28, HEADLINE: Crime time bomb // acs-VT97
     Hard-liners favor trying teen suspects as adults. Their aim is to give young criminals longer sentences than they could get in juvenile courts, which lose control when convicts reach either 18 or 21.
    But the technique may be counterproductive. 

Mary E. Medland; Daily Record Legal Affairs Writer, The Daily Record, January 2, 1996, Pg. 1, HEADLINE: Crimes Down, Kids Locked Up Number of Adolescents Charged as Adults Showing Sharp Increase //acs-VT97
      David Altschuler, a researcher at the Johns Hopkins Institute for Policy Studies and adjunct associate professor in the department of sociology at the Johns Hopkins University, is not in favor of incarcerating juveniles alongside adults.
 "I don't think this is effective," he said. "When we look at serious violent crime committed by juveniles over the last decade, the strategy of transferring these offenders to the adult system hasn't been effective in preventing further violent juvenile crime. "

The Plain Dealer, January 15, 1996; Pg. 1E, HEADLINE: TEENS TALK OF DEALING WITH YOUNG CRIMINALS  //acs-VT97
      Juveniles should be given a chance to become aware of better influences before they are given the same penalties as an adult. They have not experienced or learned enough to be treated as an adult. If there were more people who cared for children and teenagers and worked to improve their lives, there would a great decrease in juvenile crime. 

The Plain Dealer, January 15, 1996; Pg. 1E, HEADLINE: TEENS TALK OF DEALING WITH YOUNG CRIMINALS  //acs-VT97
     Juveniles should not face the same penalties as adults, no matter what the offense. They should be given help in changing their lives and outlooks.

PUTTING JUVENILES INTO CUSTODY/DETENTION/PRISON MAKES THEM INTO HARDENED CRIMINALS

TOM McCLINTOCK, Institute of Psychiatry, British Medical Journal, October 21, 1995; Pg. 1037; HEADLINE: Creating new criminals: locking up juvenile offenders is more likely to result in them reoffending // acs-VT97
     Research shows that most institutions do not concern themselves primarily with rehabilitation, 7 and even those which adopt constructive regimes invariably produce high reconviction rates for juveniles. British studies from the 1970s of juveniles released from secure institutions showed this pattern despite a tendency for the secure units to take younger and less delinquent children than in the previous decade. The Darlington Social Research Institute study found a 76% reconviction rate for boys released to the community, with most then undergoing a further spell in an institution, usually a borstal. As the authors observed, "for the majority of boys the secure units provide a brief sojourn in an expensive anteroom to the penal system." 8 Cawson and Martell found that 78% of their sample reoffended within a year and 40% of them committed six or more offences during the year. 9 These researchers concluded that admission to such units increased the probability of reoffending, especially for younger children; and by a comparison with previous records they also concluded that admission to such a unit increased the likelihood of further crimes. Later studies produced no evidence to change this view.

Editorial; Charleston Daily Mail, October 18, 1995, Pg. 04A, HEADLINE: JUVENILES -- THE STATE SHOULDN'T BE MIXING VIOLENT OFFENDERS WITH DELINQUENTS // acs-VT97
     Keeping kids out of adult jail is a sensible, life-saving move. But housing juveniles in centers for delinquents has its downside. Not all teen-agers wind up in centers for minor crimes. Some have committed very adult crimes. Mixing murderers with school skippers is dangerous, no matter what age the murderer might be. 

Editorial; Charleston Daily Mail, October 18, 1995, Pg. 04A, HEADLINE: JUVENILES -- THE STATE SHOULDN'T BE MIXING VIOLENT OFFENDERS WITH DELINQUENTS // acs-VT97
     Billie Davis, a school guidance counselor and member of the Legislative Commission on Juvenile Law, noted the other day: "We probably are creating a different breed of criminal by putting people with serious charges in with people much younger.' 

REGINA AKERS, Staff Writer, THE KANSAS CITY STAR, June  26, 1995; Pg. B1, HEADLINE: Critics: Law won't slow youth crimes; But lowering the age minimum on felonies may restore faith in the system, proponents say. // acs-VT97
     "The one thing that I don't think anyone wants to do is send a young child into the prison system to become more hardened and come out worse than they were before," Steward said. [Missouri Division of Children and Youth Services ]
 "It scares me that so many states are making changes when they haven't really looked to research to show whether it is a good idea or not," said Melissa Sickmund, a senior research associate with the Pittsburgh association. "You have big questions remaining in terms of whether it works to give kids harder sanctions."

JONATHAN SALTZMAN; Journal-Bulletin Staff Writer, The Providence Journal-Bulletin, April  22, 1996, Pg. 6C, HEADLINE: Salve Regina justice professor on youth crime and punishment // acs-VT97
     [Lawyer Robin L. Hoffmann, an associate professor of administration of justiceat Salve Regina University] 
You're absolutely correct that society is getting more punitive, and society does not want to look at these as youths with a problem. Society is taking the perspective that, "They did the crime, they should do the time." However, as someone very involved in the field of juvenile justice, who is quite conversant with all the literature and studies which have been conducted, I think it is short-sighted to take that approach. We can waive 13- and 14- and 15-year-olds to adult criminal court, we can prosecute them as adult criminals, we can lock them up in adult criminal institutions, and what's going to happen to those kids? Will we as a society have more to fear from those children when they get out?
   And what are they going to be like when they get out? They're not going to have any social skills. They're going to have grown up in an adult prison institution being victimized by adult prisoners. . . . They're not going to have any vocational skills. They're not going to be able to get out and get a job andreturn to society as socially acceptable members. So what have we done?

SARAH METZGAR;  The Times Union (Albany, NY), April  26, 1996, Pg. B2, HEADLINE: Justice for juvenile offenders is debated // acs-VT97
     ''Warehousing juvenile offenders in adult prison facilities is not the answerto  juvenile crime, '' said Jane Spinak, attorney in charge of the juvenile-rights division of the Legal Aid Society in New York City. ''Young, unsophisticated offenders will be commingled with and exposed to older, more experienced adult criminals and are likely to see crime as a way of life.''

Linda O'Neal, The Coalition For Juvenile Justice, March  28, 1996, Federal News Service, House Committee On Economic And Educational Opportunities Subcommittee On Early Childhood, Youth And Families // acs-VT97
     Another reason offered by those who were involved in research and in day- to- day dealings with children is that allowing them to be in contact with adult prisoners often provided the children with a "training school" in criminal behavior. The reasons that led to the adoption of this mandate are still relevant. 

PUTTING JUVENILES INTO CUSTODY/DETENTION/PRISON MAKES THEM INTO HARDENED CRIMINALS (continued)

Angeline Oyog and Darsha Damayanthi, Inter Press Service, January 11, 1996, HEADLINE: HUMAN RIGHTS/EUROPE: U.S. STYLE YOUTH DETENTION CENTERS CONDEMNED //acs-VT97
      "An imprisoned minor may come out of jail an animal," Pierre Laurent, adviser to the Autonomous Federation of Police Unions told IPS. "We ought to know, because we are on the front lines." The proposed systems may also breach international conventions on the rights of the child, he said.

National Public Radio,  SHOW: All Things Considered, January 27, 1996, Transcript # 2105-1, HEADLINE: Should Juveniles Be Tried As Adults? //acs-VT97
     SCOTT HENGGELER, Director, Family Service Research Center: Well, I think this is a totally political decision. I think we know from data that sending- Think about sending a 15-year-old kid off to an adult prison for 10 years. This kid is going to come back worse and perpetrate more crime, and they will have cost the state during those 10 years $400,000. 

JONATHAN SALTZMAN; Journal-Bulletin Staff Writer, The Providence Journal-Bulletin, April  22, 1996, Pg. 6C, HEADLINE: Salve Regina justice professor on youth crime and punishment // acs-VT97
     [Lawyer Robin L. Hoffmann, an associate professor of administration of justiceat Salve Regina University] 
   What we've done is we've incapacitated them, so they can't commit a crime against society while they're behind bars. But have we really done anything to stem this flood of violence?
The initial studies that have been done show that kids who are sentenced to adult correctional institutions are statistically more likely to recidivate than kids who serve time in juvenile institutions - and when they recidivate, their crimes are more serious. The inference is that they're learning how to be bettercriminals from the hardened criminals who are behind bars. So I think that society is making a really serious mistake by waiving all of these kids over to the adult penal institutions.

The Plain Dealer, January 15, 1996; Pg. 1E, HEADLINE: TEENS TALK OF DEALING WITH YOUNG CRIMINALS  //acs-VT97
      Adults should be treated like adults and juveniles should be treated like juveniles. It won't do any good to throw a 16-year-old in prison with hardened, middle-aged inmates. Young kids could be open game for prison violence and, if they get out, will be even more angry with the world.

LENIENT SENTENCES ARE BETTER THAN HARSH SENTENCES

THOMAS BERNARD, 1992; THE CYCLE OF JUVENILE JUSTICE //amVT97 p. 8
I believe that fairness requires us to choose kinder, gender policies for responding to delinquents. The cruel and harsh policies favored today are only one stage in the cycle of juvenile justice. Past experience suggests that these policies will fail and that they eventually will be abandoned as the cycle of juvenile justice moves to its next stage.
These harsh policies are based on an illusion that delinquency is a problem that can be solved. That illusion has been extremely costly in human and financial terms. Let us abandon these policies now, since we will eventually abandon them in the future anyway. Let us instead adopt fair and reasonable policies that respond to delinquency as a continuing presence in modem society. We cannot ignore the dangers of delinquency, but neither should we ignore "he fact that our own choices play a central role in creating and maintaining this problem  

THOMAS BERNARD, 1992; THE CYCLE OF JUVENILE JUSTICE //amVT97 p. 166 
Second, once we choose the extent to which leniency is available, then we must expect that a certain portion of the juveniles receiving leniency will go on to commit serious offenses. We will then be tempted to "toughen up" the leniency to further reduce juvenile crime. To do so: would continue the cycle of juvenile justice. The belief that tougher penalties reduce juvenile crime is based on an "unfair comparison" because in actual practice a certain portion of juveniles receiving tougher penalties also go on to commit serious crime. If we go that route, we ultimately will end up back where officials must choose between harsh punishments and doing nothing, and then a new reform will reintroduce leniency.

THOMAS BERNARD, 1992; THE CYCLE OF JUVENILE JUSTICE //am-VT97 p. 178
 Finally, there is no place in a modem juvenile justice system for large, custody-oriented juvenile institutions. So far as I can tell, the primary function of these institutions is to provide the public with a false sense of security that we are "getting tough" with delinquents. A second function is to provide jobs to state employees. Neither of these functions would be maintained in an ideal juvenile justice system.   

THOMAS BERNARD, 1992; THE CYCLE OF JUVENILE JUSTICE //am-VT97 p. 177
The "idea of juvenile justice"  a system of communication using threats, convincer punishments, and coerced treatments is based on the actual performance of the existing juvenile justice system. Thus, it is not necessary to defend this idea against the argument made about earlier "ideas of juvenile justice": that the actual performance of the reform will not measure up to the good intentions of the reformers.
To a considerable extent, this " idea of juvenile justice" is not a reform at all, but a defense of the existing system against attacks of the "get tough" reformers. I believe those attacks only advance the cycle of juvenile justice, moving us along to an untenable position of the "forced choice" between harshly punishing and doing nothing at all. Once we get to that point, leniency will be reestablished in a new major reform. In my opinion, the most important thing at present is to break the cycle of juvenile justice by stopping the movement of the cycle toward greater toughness.  

BOOT CAMPS FOR JUVENILES ARE A FAILURE

Peter S. Canellos, Contributing Roporter, BOSTON GLOBE, April 30, 1989, PAGE: 29 SHERIFFS, LAWMAKERS EXPLORE ALTERNATIVES TO JAIL //acs-VT97
At least one former supporter of boot camp has turned into a skeptic, however. Larry R. Meachum, who opened the first prisoner boot camp in the nation while serving as commissioner of corrections in Oklahoma, opposed such a proposal when it came up in Connecticut, where he now serves as corrections commissioner.
Meachum, a one-time acting corrections commissioner in Massachusetts, cited three potential pitfalls in the program, said Connecticut corrections spokesman William Flower.
- The "widening-net syndrome." Judges, seeing the boot camp as a positive alternative for jail inmates, will sentence to jail young delinquents who would otherwise be placed on probation, adding to the corrections population rather than reducing it.
- Limited effectiveness. "That 'scared straight' philosophy doesn't work for everyone," Flower said. "Some of the street toughs like it. They like the violence of it."
- Brutality. "It can lead to training instructors going into excess," Flower said. Instructors have a hard time taming the street kids, he said, and respond, as in the military, by demanding more and more physical exercise.
"He started the first one in the country in Oklahoma," Flower said of Meachum. "What he discovered is the support systems for the program have to be in place before you do a boot camp. It's not the simple solution that it appears to be. It's not the panacea that people think it is."

JONATHAN SIMON, teaches at Univ. Miami Law School, 1995; SOCIAL JUSTICE, "They died with their boots on: The boot camp and the limits of modern penality" // jah-VT97 p. 27
The most common official goals of boot-camp programs are to reduce recidivism and costs (Ibid.). Preliminary findings suggest that recidivism differences are marginal and that costs are saved only where selection procedures limit access to the prison bound (MacKenzie, 1994). (Even then, the savings are counterbalanced by any tendency to return boot-camp graduates to prison for violations at a higher rate than other offenders.) Hopes that the rigors of bootcamp 'life, with its emphasis on self discipline coupled with rehabilitative education or training, would result in a better success rate after release to the community have yet to be borne out by the data (Parent, 1994).

JONATHAN SIMON, teaches at Univ. Miami Law School, 1995; SOCIAL JUSTICE, "They died with their boots on: The boot camp and the limits of modern penality" // jah-VT97 27
Hints of failure, still provisional, have done little to dampen the boot camp's popularity. During a period of massive public concern with crime, when many policy matters have set criminal justice officials against  politicians and the public against both, the boot camp has been one of the few initiatives that seems to resonate with all three. Penal administrators have recognized the need to improve their public profile at a time when the public expresses little confidence in the penal system (even as they support longer sentences). As Norval Morris (1993: 834-835) recently noted:
"Many prison administrators support the boot camp movement, not because they think that the short, sharp shock of military-style discipline will reform the criminal, but because that ides appeals politically, and to the public, and will allow a shortening of the prison term and a movement to a follow-up period of community-based treatment for drug abusers so sentenced."

 AMERICA'S FOREMOST EXPERT ON BOOT CAMPS SAYS THEY DO NOT REDUCE RECIDIVISM -- THEY FAIL

GARY MARX, Chicago Tribune, Oct. 12, 1994, From: NewsHound@sjmercury.com HARD TIME: BOOT CAMPS FORCE OFFENDERS TO SHAPE UP? \\ acs-VT97
''The simplistic view that military and physical training will work (in reducing recidivism) is wrong," says Doris MacKenzie, a University of Maryland criminologist who is the nation's foremost expert on boot camps. ''Many boot camps Use punishment for punishment's sake. They try to make it look tough for the public, but they are not doing what really works."

MARY TOOTHMAN, The Tampa Tribune,  January 17, 1996, Pg. 1, HEADLINE: Jury is out on boot camp; a family waits //acs-VT97
      One young man interviewed recently about his lengthy juvenile criminal record scoffed at the concept of boot camps. "They get you into shape all right," he said. "Then you can run faster from the cops."
 Hmmm. Not exactly what they had in mind at the boot camp.

BOOT CAMPS ARE NOT WORKING

GARY MARX, Chicago Tribune, Oct. 12, 1994, From: NewsHound@sjmercury.com HARD TIME: BOOT CAMPS FORCE OFFENDERS TO SHAPE UP? \\ acs-VT97
There's only one problem: boot camps aren't working, or at least not as well as politicians and other proponents said they would. Nationwide, more than one-third of all offenders who enter boot camps drop out before they graduate. And boot camp graduates do not have significantly lower recidivism rates than inmates with similar backgrounds who are put on probation or serve time in regular prisons, studies show.

BOOT CAMPS JUST DUMP INMATES BACK ONTO THE STREET WITHOUT A SOCIAL SUPPORT NETWORK

GARY MARX, Chicago Tribune, Oct. 12, 1994, From: NewsHound@sjmercury.com HARD TIME. BOOT CAMPS FORCE OFFENDERS TO SHAPE UP? \\ acs-VT97
''In the military, when you finish boot camp you become a member of a pro social network," explained Martin Horn, executive director of the New York State Division of Parole. ''You get a job, housing, food and health care. It gives you an identity. When you finish a prison boot camp, you go back to the streets."

BOOT CAMPS DO NOTHING TO HELP INMATES ADJUST AFTER THEY ARE RELEASED

GARY MARX, Chicago Tribune, Oct. 12, 1994, From: NewsHound@sjmercury.com HARD TIME: BOOT CAMPS FORCE OFFENDERS TO SHAPE UP? \\ acs-VT97
Criminologists say boot camps put too much emphasis on military training and physical exercise rather than helping inmates improve their low educational-and job skills and kick drug and alcohol habits -- things experts say are critical for reducing criminal activity.

 BOOT CAMPS ARE TOO SHORT - - -ONLY A FEW MONTHS - - - TO CHANGE CRIMINAL BEHAVIORS

GARY MARX; Chicago Tfibune, Oct; 12, 1994, From: newshound@sjmercury.com HARD TIME: BOOT CAMPS FORCE OFFENDERS TO SHAPE UR?. \\ acs-VT97
 Another strike against boot camps is that they only LAST for several months: Criminologists say it's tough for any program of limited duration to change CRIMINAL behavior that's developed over a lifetime -- something experts say differentiates military boot camps from prison boot camps.

PROSPECTS FAR DIMMER FOR BOOT CAMP GRADUATES

Sarah Glazer, Congressional Quarterly, March 13, 1994, in DALLAS MORNING NEWS , "Is bootcamp structure, discipline enough to reform troubled youths?; Studies show the recidivism rate rises the longer its graduates stay on streets //  js-VT97
Prison boot camps lack a key aspect of military boot camps, says Dale Parent, a senior analyst at the Cambfidge, Mass., consulting firm Abt Associates who studied boot camps in 1989. After military training, he says, recruits graduate to several years of guaranteed employment, education, housing and opportunity for advancement. Prospects are far dimmer for prison boot camp graduates.

NO EVIDENCE THAT BOOT CAMPS WORK

STAFF WRITER March 4. 1994 PHOENIX GAZETTE, RETHINK THE BOOT CAMPS // js-VT97
 That's the same assessment made by Dennis Palumbo, professor of Justice studies at Afizona State University, who braced the criminal histories of 68 participants in the state's shock incarceration program, a similar prison diversion program designed for young adult offenders. "It's good public relations, but there's no evidence whatsoever that these programs work," he said in an interview earlier this year. Professor Palumbo said it is unrealistic to assume that three months of military style discipline can make up for a lifetime of dysfunctional behavior and family life.

BOOT CAMPS BETTER FOR WAR THAN REHABILITATION

MARLENE SOKOL December 19, 1993, St. Petersburg Times; Buying an unproven remedy // js-VT97
But critics say the enthusiasm over boot camps seems to have overlooked basic questions such as whether an inner-city drug dealer can be reformed by a drill instructor demanding snappy salutes, shiny shoes and push-ups in the dirt. While most experts agree it's too early to evaluate, the more skeptical are questioning the entire strategy, saying such camps are well-suited to preparing young people for war, but not for teaching kids how to exist in a civilized society.

BOOT CAMPS INCREASE PRISON POPULATION, CROWDING, AND COSTS

ADAM NOSSITER, Specialto The New York Times December 18, 1993 New York Times ;Shock' Punishment, New Doubts: A special report.; As Boot Camps for Cfiminals Multiply, Skepticism Grows // js-VT97 
A new boot-camp study for the institute is now being completed by Prof. Doris L. MacKenzie, a criminologist at the University of Maryland. She has found no significant difference between camp graduates and former prison inmates in the rate at which they are returned to custody for subsequent offenses. And Mr. Parent, a senior analyst at Abt Assodates, a research firm in Cambridge, Mass., concluded in a recent article that boot camps were in fact "more likely to increase prison population, crowding and total correctional costs than to decrease them."

MARLENE SOKOL December 19, 1993, St. Petersburg Times Buying an unproven remedy // js-VT97 
Such harshness may satisfy the public urge for punishment, but it has drawn criticism from academics and child welfare advocates Thomas Blomberg, a criminologist at Flofida State University, calls boot camps "a quick fix" for "a very complicated social problem," meaning the poverty and hopelessness that he says produce these serious offenders. He'd rather see tax money spent on jobs and job training programs. Several studies say the camps do not reduce recidivism or prison populations, and probably do not even reduce costs. Some experts say the disciplinary tactics can do more harm than good.

BOOT CAMPS INCREASE PRISON POPULATION, CROWDING, AND COSTS (continued)

Mark Oswald, The Santa Fe New Mexican, November  17, 1995, Pg. B1, HEADLINE: BOOT CAMP?  AGENCY HEADS DIVIDED OVER APPROACH TO  JUVENILE CRIME  // acs-VT97
     At a legislative committee meeting a bit later, David Schmidt, head of the New Mexico Council on Crime and Delinquency, called boot camps "throwing good money after bad" and said there is no study showing boot camps save money or reduce recidivism among teen lawbreakers.

Angeline Oyog and Darsha Damayanthi, Inter Press Service, January 11, 1996, HEADLINE: HUMAN RIGHTS/EUROPE: U.S. STYLE YOUTH DETENTION CENTERS CONDEMNED //acs-VT97
      Conservative governments across Europe are responding to reports of rises in juvenile crime by advocating the introduction of tough youth detention centers where the daily regime is modelled on U.S. mlitary-style prison camps,
 Such centers, say the critics, will be little more than training centers for crime that will turn youthful petty offenders into full-fledged adult criminals who are fitter, leaner and more aggressive.

Angeline Oyog and Darsha Damayanthi, Inter Press Service, January 11, 1996, HEADLINE: HUMAN RIGHTS/EUROPE: U.S. STYLE YOUTH DETENTION CENTERS CONDEMNED //acs-VT97
      "Boot camps will not work," said Harry Fletcher, assistant general secretary of the British National Association of Probation Officers. He said the British government tried them in 1981, dubbing the regimes "short, sharp shocks," and abandoned them four years later as a failure.

Angeline Oyog and Darsha Damayanthi, Inter Press Service, January 11, 1996, HEADLINE: HUMAN RIGHTS/EUROPE: U.S. STYLE YOUTH DETENTION CENTERS CONDEMNED //acs-VT97
      A British Prison Service delegation which visited a Maryland boot camp in the United States two years ago was shocked to discover inmates being routinely referred to as "maggots, dummies and trash."
 Their report concluded that the detainees were "utterly dominated and controlled," and there was "there was precious little room for self-discipline or the development of initiative and personal growth."

MARY TOOTHMAN, The Tampa Tribune,  January 17, 1996, Pg. 1, HEADLINE: Jury is out on boot camp; a family waits //acs-VT97
      But a new study has been released that casts doubt on whether boot camps work well in terms of keeping kids out of trouble. More than one of every three troubled teens sent to a boot camp, wilderness camp or residential-treatment program get in trouble again within a year of release, the study says.

DAVID NITKIN; Staff Writer, Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale),  January 24, 1996, Pg. 1B, HEADLINE: BOOT CAMP PROGRAM SUPPORTED; COMMISSIONERS AGREE TO HELP PAY FOR PROJECT //acs-VT97
      The criticism was heightened by an internal county report released earlier this month that says a pilot boot camp for adults failed to reduce the number of inmates returning to crime.

NO INDICATION THAT BOOT CAMPS REDUCE RECIDIVISM IN LONG TERM

ADAM NOSSITER, Special to The New York Tlmes December 18, 1993 New York Times ;Shock' Punishment, New Doubt: A special report.; As Boot Camps for Criminals Multiply, Skepticism Grows // js-VT97 
Passage of both bills came little more than six months after the General Accounting Offfice, the investigative and auditing arm of Congress, issued a report concluding that although most states' camp programs were too new for an entirely meaningful evaluation, "there is no clear indication that boot camps have measurably reduced recidivism." Further, the report said, whatever marginally lower recidivism rates have already been recorded tend to diminish over time.

DESPITE MONITORING BOOT CAMPS DO NOT REDUCE RECIDIVISM

ADAM NOSSITER, Spedal to The New York Times December 18, 1993 New York Times ;Shock' Punishment, New Doubts: A special report.; As Boot Camps for Cfiminals Multiply, Skeptidsm Grows // js-VT97
Despite intensively monitored probation that routinely follows graduation from a camp program, recidivism rates are high, state figures show. In Louisiana, 14.3 percent of boot-camp graduates are back in custody within six months, as against 15.4 percent of parolees from regular prisons. The figures reported by New York are 11.4 percent vs. 15.5 percent within a year, by Flofida 25.3 percent vs. 27.8 percent within two years, and by Georgia 42.7 percent vs. 51.4 percent within three years.

BOOT CAMPS DO NOT EASE PRISON OVERCROWDING OR SAVE MONEY

ADAM NOSSITER, Special to The New York Times December 18, 1993 New York Times ;Shock' Punishment, New Doubts: A special report.; As Boot Camps for Criminals Multiply, Skepticism Grows // js-VT97  
These experts say the camps, heralded as a crime-fighting and cost-saving alternative to prison when the first of them opened a decade ago, have so far achieved meager results belying their popularity among politicians and the public. From state to state, the experts note, as many as half of camp inmates -and in some cases even more - are unable to conform to the rigors of military life and fail to graduate from the program, which generally lasts from three to six months. Even among those who graduate, recidivism rates are not substantially lower than among convicts released from regular prisons. For these and other reasons, the critics say, the camps are likely to prove unsuccessful in achieving two central goals for which they were created: easing prison overcrowding and restraining the increase in the states' prison costs.

BOOT CAMPS ARE LAST VEHICLE TO USE FOR REHABILITATING YOUTH

MARLENE SOKOL December 19, 1993, St. Petersburg Times Buying an unproven remedy // js-VT97
Wood, a former Marine, says the goals of a military boot camp are completely at odds with those of a juvenile delinquency program. A boot camp weeds out candidates who cannot handle stress, teaches wartime skills and instills a sense of pride and loyalty for the group in which the candidate belongs, Wood wrote in the rehabilitation publication, Youth Today. Given such goals, " boot camps are the last vehicle one should choose for rehabilitating juvenile offenders."

ADAM NOSSITER, Special to The New York Times December 18, 1993 New York Times ;Shock' Punishment, New Doubts: A special report.; As Boot Camps for Criminals Multiply, Skepticism Grows // js-VT97
Further. those recidivism rates measure only the graduates. The cream of the camp's crop. Large numbers of inmates. unable or unwilling to submit to a military kind of life. are dismissed from camp programs or drop out of them. This despite the fact that many inmates enroll in the camps in return for a reduction in sentence that may have to be served at a regular Dfison if they fail to graduate. State figures show that an average of 37 percent of inmates fail to complete New York's six-month camp program. The numbers are 50 percent in Flofida, which has a three-month program; 43 percent in Louisiana, where the program ranges from Uhree to six months, and as high as 80 percent in Wisconsin, whose program is six months long.

BOOTS CAMPS INCREASE POTENTIAL FOR INSTRUCTOR ABUSE

ADAM NOSSITER, Spedal to The New York Times December 18, 1993 New York Times ;Shock' Punishment, New Doubts: A special report.; As Boot Camps for Cfiminals Multiply, Skepticism Grows // js-VT97 
In Addition, some corrections experts see in the vast authority of the drill instructors too much potential for physical abuse. There have been few such incidents so far, although five deputies were indicted in Harfis County, Tex., last year on charges of beating and choking camp inmates. Two of those deputies were acquitted earlier Uhis year, two are awaiting trial, and the fifth, whose jury deadlocked, may be retried.

BENEFIT TO BOOT CAMPS IS EXTREMELY NARROW

ADAM NOSSITER, Special to The New York Times December 18, 1993 New York Times ; Shock Punishment, New Doubts: A special report.; As Boot Camps for Criminals Multiply, Skepticism Grows // js-VT97 
But among a number of other officials, the innovation has been less well received. Richard Dugger, former head of Florida's correctional system, says he found that the benefit of the camps was limited to the obvious: lower costs to confine camp inmates who otherwise would have been sentenced to longer terms in regular prisons, who completed the camp program and who then stayed out of trouble Given recidivism and dropout rates, that benefit was extremely narrow. As a result, Mr. Dugger resisted -- successfully legislative efforts to expand Florida's program.

BOOT CAMPS REINFORCE NEGATIVE BEHAVIOR

Jill Ferrell October 14, 1994 DALLAS MORNING NEWS Boot camp not always good idea // js-VT97
Studies have shown that military boot camps tend to lead to more aggressive behavior and more callous attitudes toward others. When kids get punished, the response reinforces their existing beliefs - namely, that force and control are what matters. That is precisely the kind of behavior we should be helping kids unlearn. The use of dehumanizing experiences - tearing down individuals and then trying to build them back up has no place in juvenile corrections In fact, the image of people as deserving of degrading or dehumanizing treatment is troubling, especially when the inmates involved are children and are disproportionately minorities.

MANDATORY PENALTIES FAIL TO STOP JUVENILE CRIME

Casey Gwinn of the San Diego City Attorney's Office: 
Gwinn also was struck by the teens' reaction to the "three strikes" law.  "Each boy was willing to say that if they were facing their third strike and they were being chased by a cop, they would kill the cop if it was the only chance to get away," he said.

EDITORIAL, Roanoke Times & World News, December  21, 1995, Pg. A14, HEADLINE: COMMON GROUND ON  JUVENILE CRIME  // acs-VT97
     The fundamental problem with the proposal is its mandatory aspect. Not every  teen who commits a violent crime is unrepentant or unsalvageable, or should be locked up in a special facility until age 18, then thrown in with hardened criminals in an adult prison. Sometimes mitigating circumstances should be taken into account, especially where youngsters are concerned.

JUVENILE COURT IS HARSHER THAN ADULT COURT, SO SENDING JUVENILES TO ADULT COURT TO GET PUNISHMENT IS SILLY

LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER; Roanoke Times & World News, December  18, 1995, Pg. A1, Headline: Old Enough To Do The Crime; But Are Juveniles Old Enough To Do Adult Time? // acs-VT97
     But sending a juvenile to adult court does not always guarantee a harsher sentence. In Circuit Court, the offender's age suddenly becomes a mitigating factor for a judge accustomed to seeing more mature killers and robbers.
   Of the 412 juveniles sent to Circuit Court statewide in 1992, 25 percent received no incarceration, according to the Commission on Youth's study.
   "The myth is that if you send them to adult court they will get walloped," Jones said. "That just does not happen."

The Brown University Child and Adolescent Behavior Letter, November,  1995; Pg. 5; HEADLINE: 'Getting tough' won't deter most juvenile criminals;  // acs-VT97
     Except for a small number of juvenile offenders, the prospect of transfer to adult court did not appear to provide a deterrent to crime, according to a recent study. Although trying young offenders as adults has been seen as one way to "get tough" on  juvenile crime,  the study refutes the proposition that juveniles transferred to adult court would receive greater punishment than they  could expect in juvenile court. Researchers examined 111 juvenile cases transferred to adult court, and compared them with a random sample of delinquents adjudicated in juvenile court for conduct that would constitute felonies if committed by an adult. Cases transferred to adult court were far more likely to be pending and unresolved, as compared to the sample from the juvenile justice system. 

The Brown University Child and Adolescent Behavior Letter, November,  1995; Pg. 5; HEADLINE: 'Getting tough' won't deter most juvenile criminals;  // acs-VT97
     For most cases, transfer to adult court didn't mean that the court was tougher. Of the young men sent to adult court, 6.3 percent were sent to prison, and another 17 percent were put on probation. By contrast,  nearly one-half of the sample that went through juvenile court were put on probation, and 20.7 percent were placed with the Division of Youth Services and  sent to an institution.

EDITORIAL, Roanoke Times & World News, December  21, 1995, Pg. A14, HEADLINE: COMMON GROUND ON  JUVENILE CRIME  // acs-VT97
     But, as this newspaper's Kids & Crime series of stories recently pointed out, trying a juvenile in adult court does not guarantee that will be the outcome. Of 412 juveniles sent to Circuit Court in 1992, 25 percent received no incarceration.

Don Noel, The Courant's political columnist, THE HARTFORD COURANT, June  7, 1995; Pg. A17, HEADLINE: GET-TOUGH APPROACH WON'T STEM  JUVENILE CRIME  // acs-VT97
     One reason for those options, not widely understood, is that juvenile courts  may in fact be tougher on young offenders than adult courts. "In adult court, 'Burglary 1' isn't such a big deal," says Rep. Michael P. Lawlor, D-East Haven,  a former prosecutor, now House Judiciary Committee chairman and a principal author of the bill. "In juvenile court it is -- or should be."

INCARCERATION PRODUCES JUVENILE SEX OFFENDERS73

GAIL D. RYAN, Univ. of Colorodo Program Specialist at the Kempe National Center for Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect, 1991; JUVENILE SEXUAL OFFENDING // jah-VT97 p. 186
Far from being a way to protect community safe, incarceration without treatment may further jeopardize community safety. Thirty-five to eighty percent of sex offenders released from prisons where they have not been treated commit more sexual crimes. Many of their new victims are then at risk to become perpetrators because experiencing victimization is one of the ways juveniles learn to become perpetrators. 

GAIL D. RYAN, Univ. of Colorodo Program Specialist at the Kempe National Center for Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect, 1991; JUVENILE SEXUAL OFFENDING // jah-VT97 p. 186
Far from being a deterrent, incarceration without treatment fosters the very condition that leads to further sexual acting-out: High stress, no out" lets for healthy expression of feelings, no healthy sexual outlets, isolation from family supports, inadequate supervision, availability of victims—these are conditions present in every prison—and they are all factors that support sexual acting-out. 

INCARCERATING JUVENILES IS INCREDIBLY EXPENSIVE

PENNY BENDER; Gannett News Service, March  7, 1996, HEADLINE: More jails cells for juveniles lead to more crime, experts warn // acs-VT97
     Juvenile lockups cannot continue to be the answer, said Howard N. Snyder, a director at the National Center for Juvenile Justice in Pittsburgh. "Prisons are too expensive. We can't wait until they are already having problems.
   "It costs $ 50,000 to $ 60,000 to keep a child in an institution. There has to be a more economical way of doing it than we are doing it."

Amy Latham, TULSA WORLD, March  28, 1996; Pg. A16, HEADLINE: 'Community Policing' Advocated In Fight Against  Juvenile Crime  // acs-VT97
     "We can't afford it," Edmondson said.  "It will break us if we try to lock them all up. " [Attorney General Drew Edmondson]

JAMES AUSTIN, National Council on Crime & Delinquency, The San Diego Union-Tribune, April  23, 1996, Pg. B-7, HEADLINE: Let's have an honest debate on crime // acs-VT97
     The total cost of America's criminal-justice industrial complex is $100 billion per year and is the fastest-growing segment of the local, state and federal government.  Unfortunately, this massive buildup has not had a significant impact on crime.  In fact, states that rely upon prisons at their primary crime-fighting technique have the highest crime rates.

Paula Mergenhagen, a frequent contributor to American Demographics, American Demographics,  February, 1996: Pg. 36, HEADLINE: The Prison Population Bomb // acs-VT97
     All of these services require highly trained staff and sophisticated equipment, which makes prison an expensive proposition for taxpayers; the average day in prison costs about $ 40 per inmate, or almost $ 15,000 a year. That figure does not include construction costs, which can add hundreds of millions of dollars to a state budget.

Paula Mergenhagen, a frequent contributor to American Demographics, American Demographics,  February, 1996: Pg. 36, HEADLINE: The Prison Population Bomb // acs-VT97
     Prison overcrowding is a serious problem in many states, so the construction costs should continue. Increasingly, judges have no choice but to use probation, parole, and other alternatives to incarceration. Keeping someone on parole or probation costs about $ 10 to $ 15 a day. The number of probationers increased almost 165 percent between 1980 and 1994 -- from 1.1 million to nearly 3 million. The number of parolees increased 213 percent, from 220,400 to 690,200.

The Boston Globe, March  24, 1996, Pg. 81, HEADLINE: THE YOUNG AND THE VIOLENT; Teen-agers are hurting others - and themselves // acs-VT97
     MARTIN, the Suffolk County district attorney : Well . . . it's to recognize that we pay a cost in lost human capital,  in lost human potential, and we pay a very hard financial cost, by the time it gets to the point where a juvenile has to go to a secure facility where we pay up to $ 60,000 per year, or where we send them away as an adult, where we pay about 30,000 grand a year. So let's figure out how to amortize those costs at an earlier time, and have more of an impact . . . 

INCARCERATION IS VERY COSTLY -- A TOTAL OF OVER $40,000 A YEAR

WILLIAM SPELMAN, Prof. Public Affairs, Univ. of Texas, 1994; CRIMINAL INCAPACITATION [study utilizing national data from a survey by the RAND Corporation] \\ acs-VT97
The costs of building and operating these cells are straightforward enough. Cavanagh (1990) estimates the annualized cost of building a prison cell to be about 54,500, and the annual operating costs to be about 520,000. The costs differ greatly from state to state. For example, daily operating costs per cell range from 522 in Arkansas to 569 in Alaska. Although some of the disparity is due to differences in accounting for administrative costs (Cory & Gettinger, 1984), it is  nearly certain that the costs of jail and prison expansion are much higher in some states than in others. To avoid needless complexity, let us continue to consider the nationwide average. The newly incarcerated inmates and their dependents will also incur costs. According to a 1989 survey of prison inmates, most inmates worked full time at low paying jobs before they were incarcerated (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1991b). Cavanagh (1990) estimates the cost of lost employment to be about 59,000 per inmate per year, which fits the prison survey data fairly well. \Welfare payments to dependents of inmates amount to about $8,400 (Cavanagh; 1990).

WILLIAM SPELMAN, Prof. Public Affairs, Univ. of Texas, 1994; CRIMINAL INCAPACITATION [study utilizing national data from a survey by the RAND Corporation] \\ acs-VT97 p. 222
These costs total to a minimum of 533.500 per inmate per year. A more  realistic estimate is 540,000 (Cavanagh, 1990). Higher values are not  unreasonable, but they are without a firm research basis.

JUVENILE DETENTION CENTERS ARE VIOLENT

RON HARRIS, Staffwriter Los Angeles Times, edited by Shirley Dicks, 1995; JUVENILE JUSTICE & THE DEATH PENALTY, "Should teens be tried as adults?" // cjj-VT97 p. 22
  There have been many stories of abuses inside juvenile facilities. In Florida, until a court order ended such practices in 1988, tenyear-olds sent to reform school for petty. thievery were hog tied and thrown into strip-cell isolation, sometimes for as long as sixty days. In Oklahoma, prior to a court settlement in 1985, children were placed in straitjackets and put in isolation. In Idaho, thirteen- and fourteen-year-olds were "given the standing wall," in which they stood with noses pressed against the wall for as long as sixteen hours a day for such infractions as talking. In Arizona, children were handcuffed naked to beds or had their feet and hands handcuffed to the four corners of their bunk. In New Orleans, juvenile offenders complain that they are routinely beaten by sheriff's deputies at the local detention center. "We're talking about kinds of physical and mental punishment that don't go on even in adult institutions," said David Lambert, an attorney for the Youth Law Center, which has filed and won numerous cases regarding the treatment of juveniles in state facilities. 

CAMERON McWHIRTER, The Cincinnati Enquirer, April  26, 1996, Pg. A10, HEADLINE: At age 14, violent offenders can be tried as adults, but not   imprisoned with them   // acs-VT97
     Forty-two juvenile inmates in Ohio required medical attention because of assaults by other juvenile prisoners in 1994, the latest year for which data areavailable. The worst state in the nation for juvenile prisoner violence was Pennsylvania, with 200 assaults. Ohio was a little higher than the national average for juvenile prisoner assaults.

CAMERON McWHIRTER, The Cincinnati Enquirer, April  26, 1996, Pg. A10, HEADLINE: At age 14, violent offenders can be tried as adults, but not   imprisoned with them   // acs-VT97
     Grim statistics
   Nationwide, 45 juvenile prisoners died in state prisons or detention centers in 1994. Twelve of those were homicides, 16 were suicides and 16 deaths were from other causes, including disease.

Mike Males and Faye Docuyanan, social ecology doctoral students at the University of California, Irvine, The Progressive, February, 1996, Pg. 24; HEADLINE: Giving up on the young; // acs-VT97
     Gary Taylor, deputy director of Legal Aid of Western Oklahoma, recounts his agency's efforts to reform a juvenile prison system whose brutality and punitive excesses had been exposed nationally. "Beatings, sexual assaults, hog tying, extreme medical punishments, extreme isolation," said Taylor. "It was kid-kid; it was staffkid."

PUNISHMENT AGAINST JUVENILE OFFENDERS IS INCREASING IN THE STATUS QUO

RON HARRIS, Staffwriter Los Angeles Times, edited by Shirley Dicks, 1995; JUVENILE JUSTICE & THE DEATH PENALTY, "Should teens be tried as adults?" // cjj-VT97 p. 42
Across the nation, penalties for juvenile offenders are tougher, sentences are longer, facilities are overflowing as the percentage of young Americans behind bars reaches a new high, and the cost of keeping kids in lockup nears $3.2 billion annually. But, in spite of all this, the number of violent crimes committed by children and youths has begun to rise. 

RON HARRIS, Staffwriter Los Angeles Times, edited by Shirley Dicks, 1995; JUVENILE JUSTICE & THE DEATH PENALTY, "Should teens be tried as adults?" // cjj-VT97 p. 15
But in the tough-minded '70s and '80s, rehabilitation took a back seat. States passed laws calling for more and longer incarceration of the young, and when punishment inside juvenile facilities was deemed too soft, the states enacted measures allowing thousands of children to be tried and sentenced as adults. Few inside the juvenile justice system believed that longer, stiffer sentences would rehabilitate children. In fact, studies in California show a correlation between longer sentences and how often minors return to crime. The public, however, wanted retribution, and many voices argued that as long as kids were in custody, at least they couldn't cause more trouble. Increasingly, as children were locked up in large, prison like juvenile halls, youth camps, and training schools, the facilities became overcrowded—breeding grounds for abuse and violence. "The juvenile code now is a punishment model," said Jerome Wasom, director of the Washington state Division of Juvenile Rehabilitation. "There's a much greater emphasis on sending kids to state institutions. 

Mike Males and Faye Docuyanan, social ecology doctoral students at the University of California, Irvine, The Progressive, February, 1996, Pg. 24; HEADLINE: Giving up on the young; // acs-VT97
     "These kids are at risk of extinction if they depend upon adults to protect them," Thompson says. It is not just parents who fail them, but an adult society increasingly angry and punishing toward its youth. "That is the perception of the young people who are being ground up in this culture and the grinder of the juvenile-justice system. Their perception of their situation is very correct."

FOCUSING ON RETRIBUTION AND REVENGE AGAINST JUVENILES IS A TERRIBLE POLICY

JAMES F. DOYLE, Prof. Philosophy Univ. of Missouri St. Louis, 1995; SOCIAL JUSTICE, "A radical critique of criminal punishment" // jah-VT97 p. 9
This philosophical approach to criminal justice makes the notion of punishment itself tendentious and question-begging in a variety of important ways. First, by identifying all punishment with formally authorized state punishment, this approach invests punishment with the cloak of legitimacy surrounding state actions, especially where the state is believed to be effectively subject to democratic and constitutional controls. This creates a biased presumption in favor of punishment. Second, the focus on the punishment of individuals reinforces a strongly individualistic view of responsibility for crime and its social consequences. Social responsibility—whether of groups, agencies, corporations, associations, institutions, or other social policymakers—is ignored or at most is acknowledged as a secondary problem, not the primary problem of punishment. Third, by treating all punishment as a necessary and Gtting response to crime and guilt, this approach prompts us to think of punishment as inherently retributive and for this reason at least just in principle, if not in practice.  

SHIRLEY DICKS, 1995; YOUNG BLOOD: JUVENILE JUSTICE & THE DEATH PENALTY // cjj-VT97 p. 56
In the light of human reason, human decency, and human dignity, prisons stand as a tragic reflection of the failure of society and ourselves to achieve community. Ironically, prisons victimize not only the keepers and kept alike, but society as well. Lamentably, prisons and jails survive and thrive because of an adherence to the alleged value of punishment that precludes a rational system of individual and community protection.

SHIRLEY DICKS, 1995; YOUNG BLOOD: JUVENILE JUSTICE & THE DEATH PENALTY // cjj-VT97 p. 54
 Our human attempts at administering justice have gone seriously awry. The crime problem is not abating, and often the very agency supposed to right wrongs perpetrates injustices. All too often the goal of our criminal justice system is retribution against the wrongdoer; such a goal effects no positive change  in either the offender or the offender's situation in the community. Our criminal justice system often reflects the injustices in our society, victimizing the powerless and disenfranchised members of our communities.

FOCUS ON RETRIBUTION AND VENGEANCE ONLY MAKES THE SITUATION WORSE

JOHN IRWIN & JAMES AUSTEN, Prof Soc. SF State Univ. & VP of Natl. Council on Crime & Delinquency, 1994; IT'S ABOUT TIME: AMERICA'S IMPRISONMENT BINGE \\ acs-VT97 \\p. 169
Moreover, seeking vengeance is a pursuit that brings more frustration than satisfaction. It has not only been an obstacle in solving many social problems and in developing cooperative, communal attitudes (the lack of which are one of the important causes of the crime problem), but it is in itself a producer of excessive amounts of anxiety  and frustration. Ultimately, vindictiveness erects barriers between I I people, isolates them, and prevents them from constructing the cooperative, communal social organizations that arc so necessary for meaningful  satisfying, human existence. Ironically, it is just these social structures that contain the true solution to our crime problem.

DEATH PENALTY FOR JUVENILES DOES NOT DETER CRIME

VICTOR STREIB, Prof. Law at Cleveland State Univ., edited by Shirley Dicks, 1995; JUVENILE JUSTICE & THE DEATH PENALTY, "Juveniles on death row'. // cjj-VT97 p. 176
Unfortunately, no one yet has the cure for violent juvenile crime. It seems clear, however, that the death penalty for juveniles has been given a long trial period and has been found wanting. It's societal costs are enormous, and it delays our search for a rational and acceptable means of reducing violent juvenile crime.  

Jarvis Tyner, Chief of the Legislative and Political Action Commission of the Communist Party, USA, JAN 1994, "jobs not jails" POLITICAL AFFAIRS // ms-VT97
The use of the death penalty has not worked either. Murder rates in states with the death penalty are usually slightly higher that in non-death penalty states. Reducing crime by increasing incarceration and through capital punishment has been a costly failure.

PRISONS INCUBATE TUBERCULOSIS

PRISONS AND JAILS ARE INCUBATORS FOR DRUG RESISTANT TB

Charley Rsese, of The Sentinel Staff THE ORLANDO SENTINEL, September 4,1994, Pg. G2 HEADLINE: 'CONQUERED' INFECTIOUS DISEASES ARE COMING BACK, IN DEADLY STRAINS // MS-VT97
And guess what? We're creating incubators for drug-resistant TB in  our prisons and jails where the TB bacteria, which is airborne, can  take root in the HlV-infected prisoners. Prisoners eventually get out.  Guards go home to their families.

IF DRUG RESISTANT TB GETS OUT ONE THIRD OF THE WORLD POPULATION WILL DIE

Charley Reese, of The Sentinel Staff THE ORLANDO SENTINEL, September 4, 1994, Pg. G2 HEADLINE:'CONQUERED' INFECTIOUS DISEASES ARE COMING BACK, IN DEADLY STRAINS // MS-VT97 
"All told, approximately one-third of the world's population, more than one and a half billion people, harbors Mycobacterium tuberculosis," Fisher writes. "Should drug resistant strains come to prevail in this enormous reservoir, tuberculosis has the potential to sow death on a truly millennial scale."

REHABILITATION OF JUVENILE CRIMINALS WILL FAIL

GENERALLY, REHABILITATION OF JUVENILE CRIMINALS IS NOT A GOOD POLICY OPTION

Ernest Van Den Haag, Author, May 30, 1994 "How to cut crime," NATIONAL REVIEW // ms-VT97 p.34
Rehabilitative programs, even if more successful than now, would not be remotely cost-effective. Further, even if all offenders were rehabilitated—not a realistic prospect—the rate of instrumental crimes would scarcely be reduced: Just as a retired teacher, editor, or prostitute  is likely to be replaced as long as the activity is perceived as profitable, so would the rehabilitated criminal. Rehabilitation does not reduce the profitability of crime. The crime rate can be decreased only by making crime less profitable through raising its costs to criminals.

SIMPLE SOLUTIONS WILL FAIL TO SOLVE SUCH A COMPLEX PROBLEM

JAMES FINCKENAUER, Prof. Rutgers Univ., 1982; SCARED STRAIGHT! AND THE PANACEA PHENOMENON // am-VT97 13
 Programs are often started on an ad hoc basis, or are founded upon so-called theories which are naive or already proven wrong. Absence of grounding in theory leads to simple solutions being posed for complex problems—and juvenile delinquency is a complex problem, if nothing else. These same simple solutions lend themselves to being readily sold as panaceas. This is because they are easy to understand and perhaps make good common sense. For example, the recreation idea mentioned by Burns and Stern is one of the more popular prescriptions for preventing delinquency. It is frequently put forth as the cure-all for the problem of delinquency. All we have to do, its promoters say, is get kids off the street and give them something to do. You and I can probably agree that recreation for kids is good, but it obviously isn't going to solve the delinquency problem all by iself.

ATTEMPTING TO RAISE OFFENDERS' MORAL, SOCIAL, INTELLECTUAL SKILLS IS INEFFECTIVE

NICHOLAS EMLER AND STEPHEN REICHER, 1995; ADOLESCENCE
AND DELINQUENCY // am-VT97 p. 223
Given such powerful pressures towards obfuscation, it is remarkably hard to gain a hearing for any balanced discussion of how delinquency should be tackled. Nevertheless, this renders the attempt all the more important. From our perspective, it is possible to put proposed solutions into three categories. First of all, there are false proposals which will at best be ineffective and may even exacerbate the problem. It should be clear by now that we have little faith in those interventions which are based on the notion that delinquents need help to remedy supposed deficits, This would include such things as attempts to raise offenders' levels of moral reasoning, social skills training and programmes to enhance intellectual growth.   

JUVENILE CRIMINALS ARE SIMPLY "TOO HARD" TO BE REHABILITATED

EDITORIAL;Chicago Tribune,  January 31, 1996, SECTION:  Pg. 14; HEADLINE: GRIM REALITY CHECK ON YOUTH CRIME // acs-VT97
      Increasingly, however, the theoretical basis for our different ways of handling adult criminals and juvenile delinquents is being challenged by the harrowing reality of young "superpredators" like Eric's killers. The violence of their crimes and the apparent hardness of their hearts mock our notions of "treatment" and "rehabilitation."

John Foreman, THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC,  February 25, 1996 Pg. H5, HEADLINE: PREVENTION NEEDED FOR CHRONIC YOUTHS // acs-VT97
     Our most serious challenge comes from about 10 or 15 percent of the offenders who commit as much as 75 percent of the serious, violent crime. It is difficult and expensive for the juvenile-justice system to tear down anti-social beliefs that have grown for 10 years or more and to rebuild a pro-social personality.

HUMANISTIC BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION STRATEGIES FAIL

SCOTT HENGGELER, Prof. Psychology at U.S. International Univ. San Diego, 1989; DELINQUENCY IN ADOLESCENCE// am-VT97 p. 84
 Although psychodynamic, humanistic, and behavior modification therapies are still in wide use as treatments, for juvenile offenders, many professionals have become extremely skeptical of the efficacy of these approaches. In part, this skepticism is based on the findings from several literature reviews that were published during the late 1970s (Greenberg, 1977; Lipton, Martinson, & Wilks, 1975; Lundman, McFarlane, & Scarpitti, 1976; Romig, 1978, Wright & Dixon, 1977). The reviewers concluded that, in general, extant preventative and treatment efforts had been largely ineffective. Since the 1970s, the majority of delinquency treatment research has been conducted by behavior therapists who have used treatment strategies derived from operant, cognitive-behavioral, and social learning paradigms. In a review of a substantial subset of this research Blakely and Davidson (1984) concluded that these interventions were often ineffective and that, when they were effective, therapeutic change was rarely shown to generalize across situations. 

RESIDENTIAL TREATMENT FAILS 33% OF THE TIME

BILL MOSS, St. Petersburg Times, January 12, 1996, Pg. 5B, HEADLINE: Many kids find their way back to boot camps //acs-VT97
      Florida's $ 420-million investment in juvenile justice is paying for a lot of programs that don't work, a new report says.
At least one in three teenagers sent to boot camps, wilderness camps or residential treatment programs get in trouble again within 12 months of their release, the Juvenile Justice Advisory Board has found.

HOME CONFINEMENT AND ARREST FAILS

HOUSE ARREST DOES NOT REHABILITATE YOUTH

Richard Bau, criminologist, 1988; HOUSE ARREST AND CORRECTIONAL POLICY, p. 69 // kv-VT97
 Some staff believe that the standards and expectations applied to youths should be more uniform. These workers argue that too much variation among workers' decision making (with respect to revocation and return to the detention home, for example) is unfair to those youths who happen to have a "strict" worker. And, since some youths are placed on home detention status more than once, these youths may be confused and even "set up" for failure if, over time, they are supervised by workers with significantly different "tolerances." 

CRIME RATES RISE WHEN HOUSE ARREST IS IMPLEMENTED

Richard Bau, criminologist, 1988; HOUSE ARREST AND CORRECTIONAL POLICY, p. 71 // kv-VT97
  A number of highly respected researchers have concluded that the movement toward "community based corrections," discussed in the previous chapter, has not had the results  we expected, especially with respect to the number of youths held in detention facilities and other institutions (both public and private). instead of declining, this population of detained youths has actually risen, and in some states the increase has been dramatic (Vinter et al., 1976; Rutherford and Bengur, 1976; Lerman, 1980; Center for the Study of Youth Policy, 1986).

HOME CONFINEMENT IS A GOVERNMENTAL INVASION OF HOME

 DOROTHY K. KAGEHIRO; Senior Research Associate for a national trial consulting firm located in the New York area, SPRING, 1993 ,  Saint Louis University Law Review PSYCHOLEGAL ISSUES OF HOME CONFINEMENT // jsVT97
 Home confinement candidates' co-residents must also make risk assessments or social comparisons of home  confinement versus whatever criminal justice alternatives are offered. Investigation of co-residents' decision-making processes and the effect on home  confinement may be of particular importance for judicial assessments of home confinement. Courts have traditionally been very concerned about and' very protective of the privacy of citizens within their homes. Home confinement represents a governmental invasion and a conversion of a citizen's home into a place of confinement for an individual under some type of criminal  justice scrutiny. the defendant or offender. as well as for individuals who have committed no ad justifying official scrutiny. the coresidents.

HOUSE ARREST IS WIDENING THE NET

DOROTHY K. KAGEHIRO; Senior Research Associate for a national trial consulting  firm located in the New York area. SPRING, 1993 , Saint Louis University Law Review PSYCHOLEGAL ISSUES OF HOME CONFINEMENT // jsVT97
 In summary, there may be a widening of the net at both ends of the criminal justice process to include those defendants who could safely be released on bail or on their own recognizance, and those routine parolees who do not require the additional. restriction (and expense) of home confinement. Monitoring agencies should evaluate home confinement programs to determine whether they operate as genuine alternatives for some fixed pool of candidates or as an expansion of the candidate pool.

HOUSE ARRESTS LESS SUCCESSFUL IN ASSURING EQUAL PROTECTION, DETERRENCE, AND PRISON OVER CROWDING

 DOROTHY K. KAGEHIRO ; Senior Research Associate for a national trial consulting firm located in the New York area. SPRING, 1993 , Saint Louis [Jniversity Law Review PSYCHOLEGAL ISSUES OF HOME CONFINEMENT // js-VT97
 In addition, to the extent that home confinement programs are successful in restricting eligible candidates to "safe risks" (i.e., those charged or convicted of nonviolent crimes, considered low-flight-risk etc.), they may be less successful I in fulfilling if  the following criminal justice goals.
 1. Equal protection: Perceptions of a two-class criminal justice system, one for the very poor and homeless and one for the affluent, may be exacerbated.
 2. Specific deterrence may be lessened because white-collar offenders may have little difficulty in repeating their crimes, if they so chose, from within the comfortable environs of their homes, assuming ,hat they have access to an unmonitored telephone tine, a personal computer, and a modem.
 3. Prison overcrowding. If preference is given to "safe-risk" candidates, then the alleviation of prison overcrowding touted by home confinement programs may be primarily in the minimum and mediumsecurity facilities, not the maximum-security facilities where overcrowded conditions are of highest concern.

HOME CONFINEMENT DOESN'T ALLOW FOR TREATMENT OF CRIMINAL'S PROBLEMS

DOROTHY K. KAGEHIRO. Senior Research Associate for a national trial consulting firm located in the New Yark area. PSYCH0LEGAL ISSUES OF HOME CONFINEMENT (c) 1993 Saint Louis University School of Law, Saint Louis university Low Review SPRING, 1993. 37 ST.. Louis L.J. 647// SP-VT97
 In an attempt to reduce program costs, the monitoring agency may respond inconsistently with the originally stated goals of the home confinement programs. The agency may raise confinee-to-supervisor ratios, thus running the risk that the home confinement program may devolve into a mere surveillance program, at the expense of counseling or treatment opportunities for the confinees. Home seclusion may hide the need for treatment of a confiners' appetitive-addictive disorders underlying the misconduct that led to their home confinement. For example, a home confinee convicted of DUI may be prevented from driving while drunk, but home confinement does not prevent drinking.

ELECTRONIC MONITORING FAILS

EVEN IF THE SYSTEM IS STATE OF THE ART, IT CAN'T STOP A CRIMINAL FROM C0MMITTING MORE CRIMES

Jerry Thomas and Andrew Martin Chicago Tribune, November 16, 1992, Pg. 1; ZONE: C, HEADLINE: Electronic monitoring no cure-all for crime // ms-VT97
 But most experts note that even if the system is state of the art, it ultimately cannot prevent crime.   "The people who think that strapping a transmitter on a person will ensure public safety are being misled," said Richard Angulo, the director of marketing and sales for the Digital Products Corp. in Pompano Beach, Fla., which supplied the devices to New Jersey.   "The technology is only a tool," he said. "It has to be used as part of a program with good risk assessment. There is not a circuit anybody can come up with that will make it fail-proof.''

ELECTRONIC MONITORING PROGRAMS ACTUALLY INCREASE PROBLEMS -- NCCD OKLAHOMA STUDY

JOHN IRWIN & JAMES AUSTEN, Prof. Soc. SF State Univ. & VP of Natl. Council on Crime & Delinquency, 1994; IT'S ABOUT TIME: AMERICA'S IMPRISONMENT BINGE \\ acs-VT97 \\p. 131
 As with the ISP evaluations, rigorous studies of electronic monitoring programs have found neither negative nor positive results relating to rearrest." Offenders admitted to such programs respond the   same as or worse than offenders placed under normal supervision in   fact, the NCCD study of the Oklahoma electronic monitoring  program found that released inmates placed on electronic monitoring  did worse, as a greater proportion were returned to prison for not abiding by the strict house arrest rules imposed by the electronic monitoring   program. 

  EXTENDED PERIODS OF ELECTRONIC MONITORING CAUSES DRUG  DEPENDENCE AND INCREASE IN VIOLENCE

  Bonnie Berry and Roger Matthews, The Futurist, Sept.,  1990; "Electronic Monitoring and House arrest:   Making the Rlght Connections"; Pg. 55// jah-VT97
  In addition, only offenders who would serve very short prison   sentences are considered suitable, since extended periods of home   confinement could lead to alcohol and drug dependency or   heightened domestic conflict and violence, say the authors.

 13EM REQUIRES STAFF WHO OFTEN MAKE MISTAKES

Jerry Thomas and Andrew Martin Chicago Tribune, November 16, 1992, Pg. 1; ZONE: C, HEADLINE: Electronic monitoring no cure-all for crime // ms-VT97 In other areas, officials have complained that the people overseeing the equipment are poorly trained, overburdened with too many cases or simply not paying attention. In New Jersey, for example, a man slipped out of the system earlier this year and eluded authorities for four months before he was captured and charged with the murder of another man.

SOME EM TECH IS OLD AND MALFUNCTIONS

Jerry Thomas and Andrew Martin Chicago Tribune, November 16, 1992, Pg. 1;  ZONE: C, HEADLINE: Electronic monitoring no cure-all for crime // ms-VT97
 Experts say such incidents point to the inherent problems in the monitoring devices. Some of the equipment, such as that used by Lake County, is old and prone to malfunctioning. The technology has not kept pace with the rising demands on the system.

ELECTRONIC MONITORING TECH IS NOT PERFECT

NANCIE L. KATZ; The Houston Chronicle April 18, 1993, A; Pg. 5, HEADLINE: Heading off domestic violence; Electronic monitoring tested as method to deter stalkers // msVT97
"We're not protection, we're an additional tool," between jailing an offender and setting him free without supervision, said company co-founder David O'Neil. ""This is an 80 percent community-based program. People who think the technology is a panacea are mistaken. "

SOME LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS ARE OPPOSED TO EM BECAUSE THEY HAVE SEEN BLATANT EQUIPMENT FAILURES

Jerry Thomas and Andrew Martin Chicago Tribune, November 16, 1992, Pg. 1; ZONE: C, HEADLINE: Electronic monitoring no cure-all for crime // ms-VT97
 Richard Witney, the former supervisor of the sheriff's monitoring program, said he urged Lake County Sherifl Clinton Grinnell to get out of the program because he didn't trust the equipment.  "l evaluated the equipment and determined it was unreliable," Witney said. "I couldn't go to bed at night (not) knowing that everybody was where they were supposed to be."

 17PLACES LIKE NEW JERSEY FAILED IN THEIR EM TECHNIQUES BECAUSE  THEY LACKED PERSONNEL

Jerry Thomas and Andrew Martin Chicago Tribune, November 16, 1992, Pg. 1;  ZONE: C, HEADLINE: Electronic monitoring no cure-all for crime // ms-VT97
 "What we determined was that the program is a very, very good worthwhile program, but the problem we have is it grew too fast and we did not grow with the program," said New Jersey state Sen. Louis Kosco, who chairs the Senate's Law and Public Safety Committee.
 New Jersey, which once had more than 800 people in its program, now has no more than about a hundred. Kosco said the state Department of Corrections will not add any new people to the program until it retrains its personnel on how to work with the state's new equipment that is more difficult to circumvent.

Lou Carlozo and Douglas Holt, Staff Writers. Chicago Tribune June 12, 1994 Sunday, MONITORING SYSTEM PUT TO TEST AGAIN; TROUBLED PROGRAM RAISES MANY DOUBTS // JS-VT97
 Leg monitors initially were billed as a cost-effective way to relieve jail overcrowding and keep tabs on those under house arrest. But problems with the system began to spring up almost from the moment it went on-tine. Top Lake County court administrators said in a series of memos in August 1989 that the system was becoming unreliable and should be scrapped. Mike Mortensen, a deputy court administrator, wrote then that "the program has been running on-Band-Aids ever since it began. The current monitor boxes are junk."

EM SYSTEMS DON'T ALWAYS WORK, ONE IN TWENTY-FIVE COMMITS A NEW CRIME

Jerry Thomas and Andrew Martin Chicago Tribune, November 16, 1992, Pg. 1; 
ZONE: C, HEADLINE: Electronic monitoring no cure-all for crime //ms-VT97
But there is one potentially explosive problem: The electronic leg monitoring systems don't always work. According to national statistics, about one in 25 prisoners wearing the electronic equipment commit new crimes.

INTENSIVE SUPERVISION PROGRAMS FAIL

ISP CLAIMS OF REDUCED RECIDIVISM ARE FLAWED

JOAN PETERSILIA AND SUSAN TURNER. Ph.D.s, Director of the Criminat Justice Progrom, RAND, & Senior Researcher in the program. ARTICLE: CRIMINOLOGY: AN EVALUATION OF INTENSIVE PROBATION IN CALIFORNIA (c) 1991 Northwestern School of Law. ]Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology, Fall, 1991 82 J. Crim. L. 610// sp-VT97 
 But despite the apparent promise of ISP programs, it is premature to claim that they are responsible for the observed outcomes. The low recidivism rates may actually reflect systematic differences between the types of offenders who are sentenced to routine probotion or to prison. Because ISP programs ore still experimental, judges exercise great caution in sentencing offenders to them. Most of the programs limit participation to property offenders with insubstantial criminal records, •which undoubtedly helps explain the low recidivism rates. Further although  judges may be asked to certify that offenders who ore directly sentenced to ISP would hove gone to prison if the ISP alternative were not available, such certification can hardly be considered proof that the offenders were truly prison-bound. Unless the participants actually would have been imprisoned,' the claims of cost savings are exaggerated. Moreover, post ISP evaluations have not employed methodologies that permit differentiation between program and participant effects. Thus, claims about the effects of ISP on recidivism and public safety are suspect.

SUPERVISION PROGRAMS FAIL AND INCREASE COST

Todd R. Clear, Prof. Rutgers, 1992; SMART SENTENCING, p. 322; jb-VT97
By contrast, intensive supervision programs that focus on high risk offenders- as illustrated by the Bureau of Justice Assistance's intensive supervision experiments -appear to have very high failure rates (Petersilia & Turner, l99O). These programs have selected the highest failure-risk cases from regular supervision for close m monitoring    and control. It should be no surprise that they do often fail. Yet the high failure rate, combined with the high costs of intensive supervision, means these programs actually add to the costs of corrections (Petersilia & Turner, 1990).

INTENSIVE SUPERVISIONS PROGRAMS ONLY GIVE PAROLE OFFERS OPPORTUNITIES TO WIDEN THE NET

JOHN IRWIN & JAMES AUSTEN, Prof Soc. SF State Univ. & VP of Natl. Council on Crime & Delinquency, 1994; IT'S ABOUT TIME: AMERICA'S IMPRISONMENT BINGE \\ acs-VT97 \\p. 131
 The higher technical violation failure rates for ISP cases is simply the result of programs that provide more supervision but not many more services. Consequently, parole and probation officers are able to  detect more petty behavior than before. But more important, the parole officer is able to use this information against the inmate to justify revocation and recommitment to prison .

INTENSE SUPERVISION WIDENS THE NET OF SOCIAL CONTROL

Todd R. Clear, Prof. Rutgers, 1992; SMART SENTENCING, p. 326-7; jb-VT97
 The  traditional   literature in behalf of  intermediate sanctions is not promising. Early studies of intensive supervision, for example, did not seem to show promise (Banks, Porter, Rardin, Silver, & Unger, 1977). Offenders given intensive supervision often did worse than their counterparts receiving less attention. Remarkably, intensive programs often failed to become really intensive—clients in smaller caseloads were seen no more frequently than those in the comparison large caseloads (Niethercutt & Gottfredson, 1974).  Likewise, studies of attempts to divert offenders have often shown that the programs actually serve to widen the net of social control in two ways: Either they directly select clients from lesser levels of control or they so heavily sanction their program participants that there is a secondary effect of increased control.

PROBATION AND PAROLE HAVE A HIGH RATE OF RECIDIVISM

Michael Geerken & Hennessey Hayes, Tulane Univ., 1993; CRIMINOLOGY, November, "Probation vs. parole" // jb-VT97 pp. 553-4
 Regardless of the degree of inconsistency in reported success or failure of probation and parole across studies, one general conclusion emerges: if the criterion for failure is rearrest, a significant proportion of offenders placed on probation or parole will recidivate before their term expires. Including results obtained from our own data, from one-third to two-thirds of all probationers were rearrested, and from one-quarter to one-half of all parolees were rearrested. These failure rates are substantial enough to warrant concern over the future use of probation and parole. Given the high failure rates and large number of offenders under probation or parole supervision,  it can be argued that the elimination of these alternatives would result in a significant decrease in crime. Indeed, the potential effect on the crime rate of reducing the use of probation and parole—and substituting imprisonment—is important for policy. But the proper measure of this effect is not the probation or parole failure rate, regardless of the criterion one uses to measure failure. Instead, the percentage of all crimes committed by persons on probation or parole provides an estimate of the potential effect on the crime rate of replacing these forms of supervision with imprisonment and, therefore, of the incapacitative effect lost through these alternatives. To our knowledge, such a calculation has not been made. 

COUNTERPLANS
	page
Eunomic Justice Counterplan	158

This counterplan uses the revolutionary new trheories of eunomic justice of Bianchi. The concept calls for all vestiges of punishment in the criminal justice system to be scrapped for an integrative community based approach which empohasizes restitution, atonement, and forgiveness. As long as the affirmative has some element of punishment or requirements, this counterplan will compete, because all of the advtantages of eunomic justice can only be gained in the absolute absence of punishment. This one takes some getting used to, so an explanartion page is supplied. Please do not read it in a debate. This counterplan might also prove useful as an affirmative case.
	page
Softline Rehabilitation Counterplan	180

Not quite as radical as the abobe counterplan, this one calls for a rehabilitative approach to juvenile crime, and should work well against an afffirmative calling for more punishment.

EUNOMIC JUSTICE COUNTERPLAN

We offer the following counterplan. Its function will be to eliminate the criminal punishment system and replace it with a non-punitive alternative system of crime control.

Through minimally sufficient non-topical means:
1. Ban all admissions to jail and prisons. As they empty, certain facilities will be turned into sanctuaries.
2. Adopt the eunomic crime control system outlined by Law Professor Herman Bianchi in 1994. Including but not limited to:
a. Establishment of Neighborhood Assemblies, Neighborhood Justice Centers, Youth Courts, and Sanctuaries as the focus of eunomic crime control.
b. These facilities will then utilize a non-punitive approach to crime control, aimed at voluntary offender-victim negotiation, reconciliation, restitution, and
atonement with the participation of neighbors, friends, and families.
c. Non-punitive institutionalization of repeat murderers in mental institutions.
3. Educate the public about the realities of the criminal punishment system and the procedures of eunomic crime control.
4. Negative speeches will serve to interpret this proposal.

OBSERVATION ONE: COUNTERPLAN IS NOT TOPICAL

A THE COUNTERPLAN IS NOT JUST JUVENILE CRIME. 

B. TOPICAL COUNTERPLANS ARE APPROPRIATE AS LONG AS THEY CLEARLY COMPETE WITH THE AFFIRMATIVE.
In a bidirectional topic like this, the only way to preserve ground for BOTH sides would be to allow topical counterplans as long as they compete. Otherwise, the negative would not be allowed to counterplan to reduce juvenile crime.

OBSERVATION TWO: EUNOMIC CRIME CONTROL IS COMPETITIVE WITH THE AFFIRMATIVE

The affirmative operates within the structure of a punitive criminal system. They advocate punishment. This means that their plan cannot exist along with eunomic crime control and any attempt to do so will destroy any and all counterplan advantages.

A. MUTUAL EXCLUSIVITY: EUNOMIC CRIME CONTROL AND PUNISHMENT CANNOT BE MIXED.

This evidence shows that there can be no permutation of eunomics with punishment.

PUNISHMENT AND EUNOMIC CRIME CONTROL DO NOT MIX -- THEY ARE LIKE FIRE AND WATER

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Law School, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994, JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ ACS-7 1, p. 57
A eunomic system needs concern and interest. The responsibilities are laid on the shoulders of all concerned, with a precept for action Above all, when setting forth the character of eunomie in this book I am describing formulas and rules facilitating the regulation of crime conflicts without punishment, for punishment and eunomie are like fire and water: they don't mix.

 B. NET BENEFITS: PUNISHMENT STOPS EUNOMIC CRIME CONTROL FROM SUCCEEDING AT CRIME REDUCTION 

THE BASIC CONCEPTS OF EUNOMIC CRIME CONTROL CANNOT BE INTEGRATED WITH A PUNITIVE SYSTEM [this also answers any potential permutation]

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Law School, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994; JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ ACS-71, pp.41-42
Reversion, conversion, repentance, forgiveness, atonement, reconciliation, penitence: all these concepts are entirely ignored in the punitive model of criminal law.' An appropriate terminology for them is entirely absent, and the administrators of punitive justice would be at a loss if they had to apply them in their pain inflicting activities. 

C. NET BENEFITS: NEGATIVE WILL REDUCE CRIME WHILE NOT HAVING THE DISADVANTAGES OF PRISON, JAIL, AND PUNISHMENT WHICH AFF USES. 

OBSERVATION THREE: EUNOMIC CRIME CONTROL SYSTEM IS PRACTICAL

A. EUNOMIC CRIME CONTROL EXPLAINED

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Law School, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994; JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ ACS-71, p. Xl
To make a new system of conflict resolution stand out against the conventional punitive system, I introduce one such term, eunomic, in chapter 2. 
The present system of law is anomic or alienating, because it frustrates the main participants in a crime conflict, whereas its opposite, a eunomic, or integrative, system of law, offers both participants a way out.

B. EUNOMIC CRIME CONTROL CAN BE EASILY ADOPTED

EUNOMIC CRIME CONTROL USES RATIONAL MECHANISMS WHICH BETTER MEETS SYSTEM GOALS

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Law School, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994; JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ ACS-71, p. 68
A eunomic system, on the contrary tends to be functional. It appeals to capacities for conflict resolution that are latently present in all human beings. The people most concerned are themselves involved in reaching solutions. The chances of reaching intended aims are much greater when a rational and organic set of rules is used.

 ADVANTAGE ONE: DECREASED CRIME

A. PUNISHMENTS CAUSE JUVENILE CRIME

ANNE SCHNEIDER, National Science Foundation, 1990; DETERRENCE AND JUVENILE CRIME [study of national data from a 6 city study], p.4 // acs-VT97
In six different cities in the US, juvenile delinquents convicted of felonies and serious misdemeanor offenses, did not reduce their propensity to commit subsequent crimes as a function of their perceptions of the certainty or severity of punishment. In fact, the relation ships were sometimes statistically significant in the wrong direction. Those who believed they would be punished more severely and those who perceived a higher likelihood of being caught professed a more marked intention of not committing crimes; but these juveniles actually committed more crimes during the two to three year follow up period.

B. EUNOMIC CRIME CONTROL REDUCES CRIME

EUNOMIC APPROACH TO CRIME WILL PROVIDE SUPERIOR PROTECTION FOR SOCIETY FROM CRIMINALS

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Law School, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994; JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ ACS-71, p. 48
	The question is what the participants in a crime-control system expect from it. Most of all they want protection of society from criminality. But if offenders get opportunities to acquit their guilt, there will be protection, since there will be fewer recidivists. If victims can participate m negotiating c conflict resolutions, there will be protection; if victims and offenders are reminded of their rights and duties, criminality will decrease. And all of society will finally experience the meaning of genuineness in crime control.

 ADVANTAGE TWO: EUNOMIC CRIME CONTROL ADDRESSES THE REAL CAUSES OF CRIME

A. PUNISHMENT IGNORES THE REAL CAUSES OF CRIME

REP. JOHN CONYERS, 1979, EBONY MAGAZINE, Aug. p.l32 
This and other evidence of the close link between economic distress and criminal behavior confirm a theory first brought to my attention by the distinguished criminologist and former police commissioner of Boston, Robert DiGrazia: serious crimes are the products of ''poverty, unemployment, broken homes, rotten education, drug addictions... and other social and economic ills about which the police can do little, if anything."

B. WITHOUT THE SYMBOLIC ACT OF PUNISHMENT, SOCIETY WOULD ADDRESS THE REAL CAUSES OF CRIME

EUNOMIC CRIME CONTROL AND REJECTION OF PUNISHMENT WILL FORCE GOVERNMENTS TO DEAL WITH THE REAL CAUSES OF CRIME

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Law School, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994; JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ ACS-7 1, p. 103
	The punitive urge in crime control often prevents legislators from taking the right legal measures in the case of abuses of license and order. If they become aware of some new undesirable activity going on in society, they may argue: "Let's deter the evildoers by punitive measures, fine or incarceration. We know that it does not help very much, but at any rate we have done something." It is, however, Iegislation based on embarrassment, not on insight into the problem. Suspension of license is a better measure than punishment, as long as the licensees know that they may lose their license in the case of abuse. Punitive measures are often based on legislative indolence.

 ADVANTAGE THREE: EUNOMIC CRIME CONTROL REDUCES RACISM

A. PUNISHMENT SYSTEM FUELS RACISM

STRICT PUNISHMENT HAS DIVIDED AMERICA ALONG RACIAL LINES

LOIS FORER, 16 year criminal trial judge, 1994; A RAGE TO PUNISH // ACS-48 p. 8
	This warning was not Instead, sentencing laws have exacerbated racial hostilities and have widened the gulf between the affluent and the poor. We are now a nation divided between them, the prisoners who are largely poor and non-white, and us, who are not incarcerated and who are largely white and non-poor.

B. RACISM MUST BE REJECTED

Sacramento Observer, MAY, 28,1992, Article Tille: Stop Denying Racism in America! Volume & Number: V.29; N.27, Page: p. C1//schnurer-emv
	The volatile fuel that was ignited by the spark of the verdict in the King case has been and continues to be stored in gigantic social fuel tanks located in nearly every community and neighborhood in the country
	The name of this fuel is racism. The high octane numbers of this fuel help to generate poverty, exploitation, degradation, oppression and genocide against people of color. 

NOTES ABOUT EXPLAINING EUNOMIC CRIME CONTROL
THIS IS NOT A BRIEF, BUT AN EXPLANATION
-A. C. Snider-

Because this is a new system ( 1994), you will have to explain it to your opponents and the judge. YOU must be able to do this. Here is some advice.

WHAT IS A EUNOMIC CRIME CONTROL SYSTEM VERSUS A PUNISHMENT (ANOMIC) CRIME CONTROL SYSTEM?

Punishment system = anomic [from anomie. alienation]
1. Says crimes are a sin, laws are universal moral standards, so sinners must be made to suffer. It has a moral element.
2. Punishment system is punitive, it inflicts pain, it causes suffering, mostly through
jails and imprisonment.
3. Punishment is a sufficient approach to violent crime.

Eunomic system = Bianchi's model [from eunomie, integration and inclusion].
1. Results are important -- creating a safe and happy community -- not morality.
2. Law is not a universal truth. The focus should be in the process of determining right
and wrong among individuals in a participatory fashion.
3. FOCUS should be on preventing crime by reintegrating the offender and the community. Avoid stigmatization and punishment to stop future crime.
4. Participation in eunomic crime control is voluntary. The victim is included in proceedings.

HOW IT WORKS:

1. Someone brings a charge for a demonstrable harm.
2. Neighborhood Assembly or Neighborhood Justice Center helps negotiate an agreement
between the victim and the offender to determine reconciliation, restitution, and atonement. The victim can never be fully restored to their previous condition, but no system can do that. The focus is on re integrating the offender to stop future crime.
3. Acceptance of the agreement is voluntary. Offenders who cannot reach agreement must go to sanctuary
4. Existing prisons and jails will be converted (we will only need a very few) to sanctuaries. These are non-punitive locations where the offender will remain safe but cannot leave without reaching an agreement.
5. Multiple murderers will be institutionalized in non-punitive mental institutions. There are very, very few of them.

WON'T VIOLENT CRIMINALS BE RUNNING AROUND KILLING PEOPLE IF WE DO NOT LOCK THEM UP?
1. Eunomic crime control addresses the real causes of crime. [see 
advantage]
2. Prisons actually create crime: they are schools for crime and create lifetime stigma which forces people into crime. We eliminate this.
3. Eunomic crime control will work at reducing crime [solvency evidence]
4. The very, very few multiple murderers will be institutionalized.
5. A few violent criminals will commit crimes again, but overall crime will be reduced.
6. Offenders have every incentive to reach an agreement. Once re integrated into the community, the cycle of crime is broken.

COMPETITION -- YOU MUST CHOOSE BETWEEN THE AFFIRMATIVE PLAN AND EUNOMIC JUSTICE, BECAUSE THEY CAN'T BE MIXED TOGETHER

NO REFORM CAN SUCCEED IF IT UTILIZES PUNISHMENT

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Law School, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994; JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ acs-VT97 1, p. IX
As long as the idea of punishment is kept intact as a reasonable reaction to crime, one cannot expect any good from a mere reform of the system. In short, we need a new and alternative system of crime control, no longer based on a punitive model but on different ethical. and Iegal principles so that incarceration or any other kind of physical repression becomes for the most part unnecessary. 

CONFLICT RESOLUTION IS THE IDEAL SUBSTITUTE FOR PUNISHMENT, NO MATTER WHAT REFORMS AFF PROPOSES

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Law School, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994; JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ acs-VT97 1, p. X
One cannot make a repressive system humane, just as war car. never be made humane. The concept of = humanization.-. in itself does not offer a perspective for better law. Consequently, what I propose is not a humanizing reform of the present system of crime control. This book presents a wellgrounded draft for a nonpunitive but effective system of controlling criminality, based on conflict resolution. 
Discontent regarding the punitive system of crime control ..as been prevalent for quite some time. In particular the twentieth century has brought many proposals to reform or alter the system.. Usually the proposals are intended to change the type of punishment while leaving the punitive system itself intact. Changing the type of punishment - that is, introducing so-called alternative punishment — might be a risky enterprise, Icading to a worse situation.

RESTITUTION AND COMMUNITY SERVICE CAN ONLY SUCCEED WITHIN A STRUCTURE OF EUNOMIC CRIME CONTROL

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Law School, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994; JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ acs-VT97, p. 171-2 
So Called alternative kinds of punishment, such as community work, constitute a great danger for fair justice and legal. morality as long as they are embedded in a repressive system of punishment. They should be allowed only if based on fair .legislation providing Iega. protection of participants Finally, a new state function must be established by law: that of pretorship. The pretor would be in charge of surveying the course of crime conflict resolution and dispute settlement, with the duty to intervene if the eunomic system is abused. 

 JUST SOFTENING THE PUNITIVE SYSTEM WILL NOT PRODUCE DESIRED RESULTS AND WILL ONLY MAKE THINGS WORSE -- WE MUST REJECT THE PUNITIVE SYSTEM

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Law School, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994; JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ acs-VT97 1, p. 2
Without even asking whether punishment - the hallmark of the present system — belongs to a system of justice at all and assuming that punishment is a self-evident, necessary, almost natural. and unavoidable type of crime control, they usually propose, out of the goodness of their heart, a softening of this repressive system. Their lack of philosophical reflection on the concept of justice usually makes the results they achieve practically nil or even the very contrary of what they intended.

IMPOSED PENANCE/RESTITUTION/PUBLIC SERVICE IS STILL PUNISHMENT AND MUST FAIL

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Law School, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994; JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ acs-VT97, p. 133
When convicts laid gas pipelines in the streets of Baltimore in the nineteenth century, they did no penance; they were convicts engaged in servitude, similar to those persons who were sold into white slavery in colonial America or the British convicts who were deported to Australia and the Russian chain gangs sent to Siberia. When penance is imposed and inflicted, it is immediately perverted into its diabolic opposite. Voluntary penance is the road to reconciliation if all other means have failed. Forced labor and imposed community service lead to nothing but humiliation, degradation, and labeling.

COMPETITION (continued)

NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL MEANS A REJECTION OF THE PUNISHMENT CONCEPT WHICH GOVERNMENTS APPROVE OF

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Law School, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994; JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ acs-VT97 1, p. 2
It is not difficult to convince rulers and punitive authorities that new times need new types of punishment. Often they are the first to agree. They do not mind instituting new types of punishment so long as they can continue to punish and so long as their implicit idea of justice is not brought into discussion. The variety of possible punishments is, however, limited, mere variations on a theme. To avoid the real risk that authorities will fall back on ancient types of punishment in new guises, we need first and foremost to form an implicit idea of justice. Such a tool can be used not only to assess and reject the present system but also to conceive a new system of crime control.

TO SUCCEED, THE ENTIRE JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM MUST BE SCRAPPED

The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk), June 27, 1995, Pg. A14, HEADLINE: JUVENILE-JUSTICE REFORM; GETTING SERIOUS // acs-VT97
     That's why the commonwealth's 121 prosecutors agree: ''Tinkering'' with the juvenile criminal-justice system ''is simply . . . tacking boards on a rotten foundation.'' Or as Virginia Beach Commonwealth's Attorney Bob Humphreys told a subcommittee of the Governor's Commission on Juvenile Justice Reform, ''the system is so severely broken . . . that we really do need to go back to the drawing board. . . . (W)e are manufacturing criminals rather than rehabilitating them.''

MUST REJECT PUNITIVE SYSTEM IN ORDER TO EMBRACE A NON-PUNITIVE SYSTEM

JAMES F. DOYLE, Prof. Philosophy Univ. of Missouri St. Louis, 1995; SOCIAL JUSTICE, "A radical critique of criminal punishment" // jah-VT97 p. 22
If we adopt the ethical perspective of rights-in-social-relations, we can see more clearly why a society concerned about protecting all of its members from violations of their claims of right should rely on institutions other than criminal punishment. Changing and strengthening families, health-care institutions, childcare institutions, preschool and more advanced educational institutions, economic institutions, and community-governance institutions will clearly pay much higher personal and social dividends for the same social investment than will the attempt to expand and strengthen the institution of criminal punishment. If this approach does not in practice reduce the incidence and harm of criminal violations to socially acceptable levels, the ethics of rights-in-social-relations would challenge us to devise new institutional arrangements and communities through which nonpunitive, nonviolent, and restorative criminal justice can be achieved.

 THE PUNISHMENT SYSTEM MAKES FORGIVENESS BETWEEN CRIMINAL AND VICTIM IMPOSSIBLE

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Law School, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994; JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ acs-VT97, p. 47
I have never heard of a punishment system that promotes forgiveness. The punitive model can be compared to medical science in the period when bloodletting was still considered proper treatment. Some patients survived and recovered, not because of the treatment but in spite of it. And sometimes offender and victim may find reconciliation in spite of the punitive model. But that is a miracle.

PUNISHMENT SYSTEM DESTROYS RECONCILIATION, WHICH REQUIRES GIVE AND TAKE OF NEGOTIATIONS

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Law School, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994; JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ acs-VT97, p. 132
The present repressive system of criminal law has resulted in an erosion of the concept of reconciliation, even in our legal lanuguage. When raised in legal discussion, the topic of reconciliation is often ridiculed. Yet reconciliation is the royal way toward peace of mind and peace in society. Reconciliation, though, is not a favor; it is not free. It takes time, work, and the solidarity of many people around those who need to reconcile. It is more than just repair, restoration, restitution, compensation, satisfaction, indemnification. It is a process of giving and taking on both sides.

THE PUNITIVE SYSTEM MAKES THE ACHIEVEMENT OF RESTITUTION AND ATONEMENT IMPOSSIBLE

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Law School, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994; JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ acs-VT97, p. 42
There is another hazard. Kind people in the field of criminal law, intending to do good, have advocated reform by introducing forgiveness instead of punishment, atonement instead of blame, without realizing that these acts are simply out of the question in a punitive model. It is not lack of good will that causes administrators of punitive justice to be unacquainted with such concepts. It is simply the reality that the punitive system does not allow for them.

DEFINITION OF TSEDEKA MODEL OF JUSTICE USED IN EUNOMIC CRIME CONTROL

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Law School, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994; JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ acs-VT97 1, p. 48
Earlier I proposed a provisional. definition of tsedeka: not an intention, but the incessant diligence to make people experience the genuine substantiation of confirmed truth, rights, and duties and the eventual. release from guilt, within a system of eunomic law. Now, having gathered all the material we need, we may come to the conclusion that the final definition does not necessarily vary from the provisional one.

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS UNIVERSAL, ETERNAL LEGAL PRINCIPLES

LOIS FORER, 16 year criminal trial Judge, 1994; A RAGE TO PUNISH // ACS-VT97 p. 12 
Laws do not have a universal and timeless quality. What is licit and illicit varies from place to place and from generation to generation. 

PUNISHMENT OF CRIME AS SIN IS AN INAPPROPRIATE THEOLOGICAL CONCEPT

LOIS FORER, 16 year criminal trial judge, 1994; A RAGE TO PUNISH // acs-VT97 p. 149
Punishment for sin is a theological concept; it is a perversion of law in a democratic society that is not a theocracy. 

 BIANCHI'S SYSTEM IS SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED FOR WESTERN SOCIETIES LIKE THOSE OF NORTH AMERICA

Herman Bianchi, 1994; JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY, p. 157
In this book I have, generally speaking, dealt only with the crime control system of the Western world. The focus has always been on the Western system at large. That is possible because, in spite of differences and variations in intensity, the basic philosophy and presuppositions concerning crime control in North America and Western Europe are largely the same.

EUNOMIC CRIME CONTROL IS NOT UTOPIAN

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Law School, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994; JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ acs-VT97 1, p. 170
Some people might call the ideas in this book utopian. They would be wrong, because these ideas are based on sound legal principle: conflict resolution. And anyway, such critics forget that many utopian proposals have become reality. They should read or reread the work of Thomas More, who coined the word Utopia. They will see that quite a few of his proposals have come true.

 THE ASSENSUS MODEL WORKS IN ALL OTHER AREAS OF SOCIAL INTERACTION, IT WILL WORK IN EUNOMIC CRIME PROGRAMS AS WELL

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Law School, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994; JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ acs-VT97, p. 856
We can see the assensus model all around us; in ass our social patterns, all our interactions. Except in the present crime-control system it is omnipresent in the legal. system, for the assensus model is nothing out of the ordinary. Unlike consensus and dissensus, assensus is the ground principle of our culture and our legal system. We practice the law when we shop, drive, discuss politics, vote, and settle neighborhood disputes. Though reactionaries might argue that people in modern society have unlearned to partake in law-and-justice interactions, the contrary is true. People are still as capable and eager in law interactions and discussions as they have ever been, notwithstanding the complexity of modern Iegislation.

NEIGHBORHOOD BASED CRIME CONTROLS OF THE EUNOMIC SYSTEM ARE FEASIBLE

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Law School, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994; JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ acs-VT97, p. 57
A punitive model arises, it is sometimes argued, because the growth and mobility of the population no longer allows communitybased crime control. But many institutions, such as schools, churches, companies, and crafts, continue to exist on a small scale. Why then can we not have community-based, anomie-preventing crime control? It is time to put our mind in real earnest to the study of an alternative, nonpunitive model of crime control, no longer obstructed by the argument of its infeasibility in large-scale industrial societies. 

CONSENSUS MODEL OF COMMON TRUTHS ABOUT CRIME SHOULD BE REPLACED BY THE ASSENSUS MODEL OF CONTINUAL DISCUSSION OF RIGHT AND WRONG

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Law School, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994; JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ acs-VT97 1, p. Xl
The common belief that our interpretations of norms and values need to be based on consensus is the sting in the present punitive system. It cannot but result in I repression, nestled in the arrogance of power. To the consensus model I oppose the assensus model, which posits an unending, neveraccomplished search for interpretations of norms and values.

 EUNOMIC CRIME CONTROL USES DISPUTE SETTLEMENT

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Law School, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994; JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ acs-VT97, p. 98
Dispute settlement following crime is the attempt to create patterns of negotiation 
for the resolution or regulation of conflicts between disputing groups in order to transform repressive and punitive power into negotiative power, aimed at the eventual redress of harm caused by an offense.

EUNOMIC CRIME CONTROL USES SANCTUARIES NOT JAILS

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Law School, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994; JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ acs-VT97 1, p. 149
Before examining questions surrounding the establishment of new sanctuaries, I need to state exactly what I mean by the term modern sanctuary. A modern sanctuary is a place of immunity and refuge where fugitives from prosecution, persecution, or revenge by Iegas authorities or any other power can be secured against / arrest or violence on condition that they contribute to negotiating a resolution of their conflicts.

EUNOMIC CRIME CONTROL USES SANCTUARIES

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dern of Law Schooi, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994; JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ acs-VT97 1, p. 171
To facilitate conflict resolution in cases of violent crime, the = state must allow the foundation and maintenance of locations of sanctuary in several regions of the country. The law would provide the rules for such institutions.

 SANCTUARIES ARE APPROPRIATE MECHANISMS FOR MODERN CRIME CONTROL

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Law School, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994; JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ acs-VT97 1, p. 156
Objection: A sanctuary is an ancient institution improper for the present time.
I have discussed this argument a ready, and it is invalid. Internal asylum is not an institution alien to our legal. system. And nobody would ever assume that a modern sanctuary would be operated in the way sanctuaries operated several. centuries ago. Times change, and so do sanctuaries. But the concept of sanctuary does not contravene our legal system and has therefore the right to exist.

SANCTUARIES WILL NOT BECOME NEW PRISONS

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Lsaw School, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994; JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ acs-VT97 1, p. l55
Objection: A sanctuary may in no time develop into a new kind of prison.
The argument is invalid. Prison inmates are not there by free will; they cannot escape except by committing another illegal. act. They have entirely lost their identity. They suffer the daily humiliation of loss of human rights, lack of trust and self-respect, and exposure to possible violent acts of other inmates.
The residents in a sanctuary, on the other hand, are not in a place of confinement; they can leave at any moment they wish. They do not lose their human rights, are not debased by the extreme power of prosecution officers and guards, are able to surround themselves with those they love and trust, and are not I exposed to violence. They are able to watch over their own conflict and keep their own situation in their own hands. Their responsible behavior is evoked, not their dishonesty. They remain full and complete human beings. While it is true that if a prosecuting authority is keen on apprehending them, their freedom of departure may be an illusion, but such departure can always be prepared by negotiation. As a matter of course, no sanctuary should ever allow a governmentappointed warden to be its boss, as that might be the first step toward an eventual prison structure.

 SANCTUARIES WILL NOT BECOME NEW CENTERS FOR CRIME

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Law School, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994; JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ acs-VT97, p. 155-6
Objection: A sanctuary may develop into a place from which to launch violent acts of terrorism, raids, and assaults. The argument is not fair. A modern prison serves this purpose much more than a sanctuary would. No maximum security prison in the world has ever been so tight as to make contacts between inmates and the outside world utterly impossible. The German Baader Meinhoff terrorist group confined in Germany's maximum security prison participated successfully in the preparation of terrorist activity in the world outside, and similar feats have occurred in other countries. In a sanctuary the chances are smaller because other residents have more opportunities to observe what is going on. And if the sanctuary statutes include a clause forbidding the preparation of new crimes, the abusers could be thrown out and end up in prison. 

SANCTUARIES WILL NOT BECOME NEW KINDS OF GHETTOS

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Law School, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994; JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ acs-VT97 1, p. l SS
Objection: A sanctuary may soon develop into a new kind of ghetto.
In view of the ever-shifting population of a sanctuary, this is doubtful, In history the inhabitants of ghettos were forced to live I there for Jife, but the residents of a modern sanctuary are expected to Ieave as soon as their dispute has been settled.

SANCTUARIES WILL NOT DEVELOP INTO NEW FORMS OF ORGANIZED CRIME

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Law School, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994; JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ acs-VT97 1, p. 156
Objection: A sanctuary may in no time develop into a Mafialikc institution and develop a code of silence vis-a-vis civil authorities.
This possibility is real. It would, however, constitute an unfair development of conflict resolution and thus induce the pretor to withdraw the case from dispute settlement and commit it to the repressive system of crime control. Any abuse of the eunomic system will definitely Iead to repressive control. Eunomics needs fairness.

FACILITIES CAN BE FOUND IF YOU LOOK CREATIVELY

BARRY KRISBERG, Pres. National Council on Crime &
Delinquency, 1993; REINVENTING JUVENILE JUSTICE // cjj-VT97 p. 177
For example, in 1991 the State of Indiana legislatively abolished the jailing of children. For years', Indiana placed hundreds of children in dangerous situations in adult Jails. Yet, a bipartisan coalition led by the Department of Corrections convinced state lawmakers that better alternatives existed. The jail removal movement in Indi ana demonstrated again that the goals of child protection and public safety were not antithetical. Moreover, many Indiana communities have learned that sensible alternatives to jailing, such as temporary shelter care or home detention, can be created without requiring large new expenditures of public funds. Also, elected officials in Indiana and many other states learned that they could support humane policies for children without suffering the alleged political liability of appearing to be soft on crime. Successes in the jail removal area illustrate the power of legislative action to discourage harmful practices. These stories also suggest that the longstanding inferior treatment of youngsters can be quickly remedied. 

YOUTH COURTS AND ACCOUNTABILITY BOARDS SUCCEED

Elizabeth Ommachen, The Idaho Statesman, February 28, 1996, Pg. 1B; HEADLINE: TEENS OPT FOR JURY OF PEERS // acs-VT97
     In 1995, 192 Youth Courts were active across the United States. Idaho currently boasts of four in Boise, Orofino, Pocatello and Twin Falls.
 Measuring the program's success is difficult because juvenile records are sealed and no system is in place to track juvenile recidivism. 

Robert Valett, professor emeritus at California State University, Fresno, The Fresno Bee, June 17, 1995, Pg. B5, HEADLINE: Responsibility key to fighting juvenile crime // acs-VT97
     Recently, 74 members of the California's Little Hoover Juvenile Justice Advisory Commission reported that personal accountability and timely, appropriate consequences for juvenile offenders are elements that should be reinforced by the juvenile justice system. Among other things, they recommended that "youth courts" with peer juries be established in schools -- and that "Youth Accountability Boards" with volunteer adult juries be organized in the community. Youth Accountability Board programs, now operating in many California cities, involve neighborhood associations and other volunteer civic groups and have proven to be successful while saving millions of dollars in regular court costs for the juvenile justice system.

GEORGE JUDSON, The New York Times, December 30, 1995, Section 1; Page 29; HEADLINE: Pulling Truants Back to School; Jury of New Haven Peers Discourages Dropping Out // acs-VT97
     Youth courts in New York, Texas and Los Angeles had shown that teen-agers who committed minor violations were less likely to get in trouble again if other teen-agers judged them. Youth council members and city officials also visited Atlanta to observe a special truancy court operated by a judge, said Stefan Pryor, an assistant to Mayor DeStefano.

 EUNOMIC CRIME CONTROL USES NEIGHBORHOOD ASSEMBLIES

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Law School, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994; JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ acs-VT97 1, p. 118
The authorities should rather foster neighborhood palavers, where people can discuss conflicts and resolve them. It might be worthwhile to drop the term palaver and replace it with assembly, a term less loaded with unfavorable associations. But when the institution is once established, the right term will offer itself.

EUNOMIC CRIME CONTROL USES NEIGHBORHOOD JUSTICE CENTERS

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Law School, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994; JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ acs-VT97, p. 1 18-9
A neighborhood justice center (NJC) is the next step in structural organization. In a palaver, no special expert knowledge or sociolegal. skill is needed or even expected. Everyone can take part in the discussions, and the expression of feelings and emotions concerning problems is expected and rewarded. But many conflicts are quite complex, and their settlement needs special. skills.
An NJC may have any of several kinds of structure. A committee from the neighborhood with special. gifts in settlement may be sufficient to reach satisfying solutions to difficult problems. For still more complex problems, greater skills may be necessary, those of a social. worker or a lawyer; but NJCs should not become over professionalized.

NEIGHBORHOOD GROUPS SUCCEEDED IN WASHINGTON STATE EXPERIMENT

MCCOLLUM, House of Rep member, APRIL 30, 1996, Federal News Service, THE HOUSE ECONOMIC AND EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES COMMITTEE SUBCOMMITTEE ON EARLY CHILDHOOD, YOUTH AND FAMILIES // acs-VT97
     Third, requiring the juvenile offender to face the victims is critical. Giving the neighbors of young lawbreakers a voice in the administration of punishment through "Neighborhood Accountability Councils" could teach young offenders that bad actions actually bring about bad consequences. The councils, comprised of citizens from neighborhoods victimized by juvenile crime, would work in partnership with the juvenile justice system and have authority to prescribe a range of sanctions, including restitution and community service. This approach is particularly well suited for the youngest offenders who violate curfews, truancy laws, and commit acts of vandalism. By involving neighbors in determining punishments for juvenile offenses, wrongdoers are more likely to be confronted with the direct consequences of theiractions. Moreover, the stigma of being sentenced by individuals from the offender's own neighborhood may provide additional deterrence. Juvenile courts in Washington's King county sent nearly 5,000 offenders to such councils in 1993. The preliminary results are very promising. 

COMMUNITY PANELS SUCCEED

Judi Villa, Staff writer, THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC, October 26, 1995; Pg. A2, HEADLINE: COMMUNITY PANELS WORK WELL ELSEWHERE // acs-VT97
     The committees, which include two to four citizens and a court representative, meet weekly and spend about 45 minutes with each child.
 Equipped with firsthand knowledge of their neighborhood's problems, the committees can mete out justice that is more creative and more personal than what the courts do.
 Outside of counseling and community service, those consequences have included attending computer or other enrichment classes, mentoring at neighborhood youth centers, writing apologies to victims and parents, and writing essays and research papers.

Judi Villa, Staff writer, THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC, October 26, 1995; Pg. A2, HEADLINE: COMMUNITY PANELS WORK WELL ELSEWHERE // acs-VT97
     The result is a program that benefits the neighborhood, as well as the juveniles.
 "Many of the offenses just don't warrant going through the courts," said Frances Fina, coordinator for a similar program in Camden, N.J. "You're talking curfew violations, minor shoplifting, fighting between kids, fighting between families, disorderly conduct - many of which can be resolved through the community.
 "We're empowering parents and community members to try to resolve it on its own."
 The 1,500 juveniles diverted there each year are testament to the program's success.
 "Generally, you don't see the kids come back," Fina said.

Judi Villa, Staff writer, THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC, October 26, 1995; Pg. A2, HEADLINE: COMMUNITY PANELS WORK WELL ELSEWHERE // acs-VT97
     Community Justice Committees, which are just starting to take hold in Maricopa County, are not a new concept. At work in neighborhoods from New Jersey to Texas to Washington state, they are tallying successes.
 "I equate it to a MASH unit," said Bob Brunswig, one of three area managers who coordinate the program in Kings County, Wash.
"You find out where the bleeding is and stop that bleeding, then you send them on to someone who can help them long term."

ROLE OF COURTS IN EUNOMIC SYSTEM WILL BE SUPPLEMENTARY -- TO ENFORCE NEGOTIATED AGREEMENTS

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Law School, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994; JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ acs-VT97 1, p. 105
In an assensus model, though, the courts will only have a supplementary task. It might a so happen that courts must intervene whenever an offender defaults on an agreement with the plaintiff.

 IN EUNOMIC CRIME CONTROL POLICE WILL ACT PRIMARILY TO FACILITATE DISPUTE SETTLEMENT

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Law School, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994; JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ ACS 71, P 106 
We will most certainly still need police, but their tasks may be far more satisfying. Under a new assensus system of control, the police not only will conduct investigations but also will assume the important task of facilitating dispute settlement. They will need to refer both plaintiff and defendant to dispute settlement localities such as neighborhood justice centers, arbitration committees, and the like.

OFFENDERS CAN CHOOSE PUNISHMENT IF THEY WISH IN THE EUNOMIC 
SYSTEM

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Law School, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994; JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ acs-VT97 1, p. 105
A bipartite system implies that citizens have a right of option between two systems. They may choose not to participate in the assensus system. If offenders prefer to submit to a criminal. trial, to spend their lives in prison without the prospect of reconciliation= with their fellow beings and without settling their disputes, they will have a right to do so. But if wrongdoers prefer, together with their friends and relatives, to reconcile with others by dispute settlement, the state organization should not be allowed to preclude it except in cases of foul play.

IN EUNOMIC CRIME CONTROL, MANY CRIMINALS WILL TURN THEMSELVES IN

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Law School, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994; JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ acs-VT97 1, p. 106
In an assensus-based system of control, in which wrongdoers get a chance to settle the difficulties and to restore normal. relations,, the chances of self reporting may be far greater. Self- reporting by a wrongdoer which leads to reconciliation, with the victim will have a far greater preventive effect as well.

 EUNOMIC RECONCILIATION PROCESS WILL TAKE PLACE OVER A PERIOD OF TIME

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Law School, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994; JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ acs-VT97 1, p. 132
 Reconciliation being the eventual aim of dispute settlement, it takes careful procedures of negotiation to assess the extension of liability for both parties. Not only must wrongdoers show their willingness to repair; plaintiffs must accept this willingness and forgive what the other parties are unable to perform. The process may take a long time, because the reality is that most people distrust one another. 

PUBLIC AWARENESS WLL LEAD TO RAPID CHANGE IN THE PUNISHMENT SYSTEM

LOIS FORER, 16 year criminal trial judge, 1994; A RAGE TO PUNISH // acs-VT97 p. 15
I believe that an informed public can demand a justice system that will deal with offenders rationally as individuals, and that elected government officials will heed such a demand. The necessary first step on the path toward this goal is public awareness. 

AN INFORMED PUBLIC WILL DEMAND CHANGES WHICH WILL DESTROY THE CURRENT PUNISHMENT SYSTEM

LOIS FORER. 1 6 year criminal trial judge, 1994; A RAGE TO PUNISH, p.167//acs-VT97
No criminal justice system can ensure a crime-free society. But it can and should protect against Itnown violent felons, avoid racial discrimination, eliminate costly imprisonment of large numbers of nonviolent individuals, and impose meaningful monetary penalties on white-collar offenders whose crimes are a costly burden to the taxpayers.
These goals can be achieved by the legislative program suggested here. No major revisions of American law and procedures are required; only an informed public that demands change.

 AN AWARE POPULATION WILL ACCEPT NEW ALTERNATIVES TO PUNISHMENT

LOIS FORER, 16 year criminal trial judge, 1994; A RAGE TO PUNISH // acs-VT97 p. 15
Americans must know the size of the ever-increasing tax burden they are bearing for a prison system that provides neither public safety and security nor reformation of offenders. They must realize the brutalization of the nation by the death penalty. They must understand the price they pay for the rage to punish not only in scarce tax dollars but also in a growing disillusionment with the law itself They must be educated to understand that there are viable options to the present reliance upon punishment, and brutal and inflexible laws and rules.

EUNOMIC CRIME CONTROL IS NOT A SOFT LINE APPROACH

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Law School, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994; JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ acs-VT97 1, p. 160
NO proposition to change the crime-control system will ever be successful if the justified fears of the public are not taken seriously. That is why I stress that a eunomic system is not soft; it does not excuse criminals but makes them responsible. .

EUNOMIC CRIME CONTROL IS NOT A SOFTLINE APPROACH -- IT WILL BENEFIT THE VICTIMS, THE COMMUNITY, AND THE OFFENDERS

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Law Schoo,, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994; JUSTICE AS
SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ acs-VT97 1, p. 57-8
Again I repeat: it will not be a soft, guilt-denying system meant to coddle the criminal.. NO, aeunomic system is useful for both criminals and victims, or rather defendants and plaintiffs, in finding collectively a way out of their often intricate problems. It will benefit not just the offenders but also the victims, their relatives, and their communities.

EUNOMIC CRIME CONTROL WILL NOT LEAD TO VIGILANTE JUSTICE

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Law School, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994; JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ acs-VT97 1, p. 135
The argument that people would begin Iynching criminals if there were no arrest and subsequent punitive justice is based not only on inadequate historical. knowledge but also on myth. The barbarity of Iynching, so prevalent in the United States after 1865, had nothing whatsoever to do with crime control. It was the - ominous, violent, and criminal racial. suppression of the African American population by a dominant white majority enjoying impunity. African-Americans at that time were unable to defend themselves against such violence, the justice system being on the side of the whites and often in their hands. Thus the argument is inappropriate in our discussion. 

WE CAN INSTITUTIONALIZE REPEAT OFFENDERS WITHOUT PUNISHING THEM

LOIS FORER, 16 year criminal trial judge, 1994; A RAGE TO PUNISH // acs-VT97 p. 163
I am not in favor of punishing, that is, deliberately causing pain to anyone regardless of that person's mental condition. I am in favor of institutionalizing those who have committed dangerous violent acts and who pose an unreasonable risk of danger to themselves or others, whether the institution is a prison or a hospital 

REPEAT OFFENDERS MUST BE SEPARATED FROM THE COMMUNITY

LOIS FORER, 16 year criminal trial judge, 1994; A RAGE TO PUNISH // acs-VT97 p. 162
 Prison sentences are often opposed because it is argued that these people are sick, that they should not be punished for behavior over which they have no control. I agree that such felons probably cannot control their behavior. They do not have free will and, therefore, cannot be considered sinners. But they can and should be removed from the community for their own protection and the protection of others.

 SOME OFFENDERS MUST BE INSTITUTIONALIZED

LOIS FORER, 16 year criminal trial judge, 1994; A RAGE TO PUNISH // acs-VT97 p. 164 
Some should never be released. Such repetitive felons include child abusers, pedophiles, many but not ail rapists, wife beaters, and wanton, senseless killers.

PUNITIVE SYSTEM DOES NOT PROTECT SOCIETY FROM EVIL PEOPLE, IT PUNISHES SOME AND LETS OTHER CRIMINALS GO FREE

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Law School, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994; JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ acs-VT97 1, p. 66-7
The repressive system has never been intended either to protect suspects or to control evil in society. Quite the contrary. As everyone knows, some sectors of society have a far greater chance of evading the punitive system than other sectors have. Our legal. rules actually select certain categories of people and "criminalize" them, stamp them as criminals, but not because they are the most dangerous persons in our society. Other persons arc far more dangerous, including warmongers and arms makers. It is this selective power that makes the repressive system so incredible.

EUNOMIC JUSTICE IS SUPERIOR TO PUNITIVE JUSTICE

 JAMES F. DOYLE, Prof. Philosophy Univ. of Missouri St. Louis, 1995; SOCIAL JUSTICE, "A radical critique of criminal punishment" // jah-VT97 p. 23
As an alternative to the institution of criminal punishment and penal practices generally, volunteer and publicly supported mediation between convicted offenders and victims or survivors of crime holds much promise as a practical application of the ethics of rights-in-social-relations. Institutions offering this kind of mediation can be effective only if participation in them is completely voluntary, but—unlike prevailing criminal justice institutions—they offer real opportunities for the people most affected by a crime to gain an understanding of the motivations and the social context of the crime, its personal and social consequences, and the kinds of individual and social redress that are most appropriate as responses to the crime. Advocates of these institutions offer two main reasons why they should be available everywhere as genuine alternatives to punitive responses to crime. The first is that criminal punishment is largely a symbolic, negative response to crime that "allows offenders to escape true responsibility for their crimes by allowing them to repay their so-called debt to society in a worthless currency of personal deprivation" (Priestly, 1994: 12). The second reason is that "mediation is also about the responsibility of communities for consuming their own smoke; by dealing with both victims and offenders [in their particular social contexts], it lets both of them play proper parts in the communities in which they live" (Ibid.). Even if these institutions offering the alternative of mediation are not applicable to all crimes and the people affected by them, they give us good reason to think that institutions inspired by the ethics of rights-in-social-relations can effectively replace the institution of criminal punishment. They provide a model for giving due weight to ethical considerations of rights in contexts of social relations as essential to understanding, explaining, and responding appropriately to criminal conduct. They also provide a model for tempering criminal justice with equity and, when appropriate, with mercy . 

TO BE EFFECTIVE, CRIME CONTROL SYSTEM MUST HAVE HIGH LEVEL OF FLEXIBILITY [EUNOMIC CRIME CONTROL DOES]

LOIS FORER, 16 year criminal trial judge, 1994; A RAGE TO PUNISH // acs-VT97 p. 12
It should be obvious that there is no one guiding law or principle that governs or can govern all the infinite varieties and permutations of human behavior. Human beings, unlike physical objects, respond differently to the same stimuli. There cannot be only one means of dealing with all persons who violate the law that is fair to each even though all are subject to the same laws and rules of conduct.

 WE IMPRISON PEOPLE FOR POLITICAL REASONS, NOT BECAUSE IT REDUCES CRIME

David Nyhan, Globe Staff, BOSTON GLOBE, June 5,1 994, PAGE: 7 1 //acs-VT97 
We don't keep it because it works. Do you know anyone who feels safer? We keep it because politicians can hide behind it. Same for three-strikes-and-you're-out. It is a huge fraud upon the gullible public. But it is big box office with the talk-show set.

NON-JUDICIAL APPROACHES ARE SUPERIOR FOR JUVENILE CRIME

DENNIS McLELLAN, TIMES STAFF WRITER, Los Angeles Times, April 24, 1996, Part E; Page 1; HEADLINE: SPEAKING UP; 'NO MATTER HOW LOUD I SHOUT'... IS BEING HEARD. // acs-VT97
     The bottom line: "Return juvenile court to dealing with kids first and courtroom ritual second. It shouldn't be the same as any other court of law. It was never intended to be the same."
 Such an approach, Humes believes, would save money, and fewer kids would disappear and have to be rounded up again to appear before a judge, usually after committing more crimes.

APOLOGIES ARE A SUCCESSFUL WAY TO REDUCE JUVENILE CRIME

Thomas W. Still, associate editor of the Wisconsin State Journal, Wisconsin State Journal, October 29, 1995, Pg. 1C, HEADLINE: TEENS, EX-OFFENDERS TALK ABOUT WHAT WORKS TO STOP CRIME // acs-VT97
     Kids who commit crimes need to come face-to-face with their victims. A handful of people told of children who were caught stealing and who were forced to apologize to their victims. They never stole anything again.

COMMUNITY RESPONSIBILITY IS A SUPERIOR WAY TO REDUCE JUVENILE CRIME

CHRISTOPHER JOHNS, THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC, November 5, 1995; Pg. F3, HEADLINE: An Ounce Of Prevention; Public Health Prescriptions Can Ease Juvenile Crime Wave // acs-VT97
     It's time to stop fighting crime frontier style with ideas from the last century. It's one thing to reinvent a sense of community by involving neighbors in the justice system, it's another to think that punishment alone can change the environment from which many troubled teens emerge. For the most part, we've been hoodwinked into using outmoded ideas to tackle what most people think is the critical issue of the time - crime. By now you'd think we would understand that being the toughest usually has little to do with being the smartest.

EUNOMIC CRIME CONTROL DEALS DIRECTLY WITH CRIMES, NOT JUST LOCKING PEOPLE AWAY LIKE THE PUNISHMENT SYSTEM DOES

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Law School, Froo Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994; JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ acs-VT97 1, p. 131-2
In an anomic system the dispensers of justice are entirely satisfied in having the criminal duly punished and the prisons well filled. They live in hope that the nation will be grateful to them for having done a good job. In a eunomic system, all participants arc satisfied only when equity has been restored, when a remedy has been found for the pain and grief the plaintiff suffered, and when the resulting damage has been rectified or repaired. In other words, a eunomic model of crime control must actualize what I have called tsedeka.

EUNOMIC CRIME CONTROL AVOID LIFE LONG STIGMATIZATION

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Law School, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994; JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ acs-VT97, p. 69-70
A eunomic system of crime control, on the contrary, has a liberating effect. Of course, offenders must bear responsibility for their crimes, and sometimes we may demand great efforts from them to repair the consequences of their acts. But because offenders get a chance to make reparations, they also get the possibility of liberating themselves from guilt. Other persons will be more inclined to accept an offender who has shown a willingness to help resolve a conflict. The garment of penitence does not dis- figure the penitent. If offenders get a chance, even a small chance, to show their good will, they will not be stigmatized .

 EUNOMIC CRIME CONTROL ENHANCES INDIVIDUAL AND COLLECTIVE 
RATIONALITY

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Law School, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994; JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ acs-VT97 1, p. 65
A eunomic system, on the contrary, is highly rational, based as it is on the rational use of existing structures of law. Eunomic law agrees with the law in general, with law that we know by nature and custom. Capacities that have always been present in human beings are used; that is why it is rational and reasonable. Dispute settlement demands the use of reason. Eunomic law is what the scholars of natural law through the ages have always adhered to: a rational law for the rational resolution of conflict.

EUNOMIC APPROACH TO CRIME HEALS THE SOCIAL WOUNDS WHICH SOCIETY HAS IMPLANTED IN PEOPLE

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Law School, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994; JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ acs-VT97 1, p. 64
A eunomic system, on the contrary, is therapeutic, both for the accused and for their victims. If offenders are no longer subjected to repression but rather are summoned to contribute to the resolution of their conflicts, they get a chance to Iearn to use rules and to appreciate them. The same holds true for the victim. The wound of the crime is not healed by the destruction or repression of the perpetrator but by resolving the conflicts through discussion. The result will be balm to the soul, not salt to the wound .

EUNOMIC SYSTEM REINTEGRATES OFFENDERS INTO THE COMMUNITY WHILE PUNISHMENT SEPARATES THEM

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Law School, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994; JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ acs-VT97 1, p. 59
A repressive system thus disrupts social contacts and in this way supports anomie. A eunomic system of crime control leaves social contacts intact. Offenders are not taken from their surroundings; they remain among their peers and receive the possibility—even the demand—of reaching a settlement with the victims. And while they negotiate a settlement they can Iearn the proper use of eunomic rules.

 EUNOMIC CRIME CONTROL EDUCATES OFFENDERS ABOUT SOCIETAL NORMS IN A CONSTRUCTIVE WAY

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Law School, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994, JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ acs-VT97 1, p. 61-2
The eunomic system, on the contrary, is educative. It inspires participants in the system to work out their conflicts and disputes. They Icarn norms not by pain and suffering or by the violent example of punitive controllers but by talking about norms in difficult situations. The normative learning process cannot be fostered by fear of pain, only by identification with good examples..Norms and rules are there in the first place to make human life possible and to solve conflicts among humans, not just to deter action or to incite fear.

EUNOMIC CRIME CONTROL WILL SHOW OFFENDERS THAT IT IS MORE LOGICAL FOR THEM TO FOLLOW NON-VIOLENT SOCIETAL NORMS

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Law School, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994; JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ acs-VT97, p. 62
A eunomic system, on the contrary, is not provocative but invocative. It invites offenders to help resolve the conflicts they have caused themselves and others. Sooner or later they will realize that solving the conflicts is very much to their advantage, that lost or damaged human relations can be repaired. Such an invocation may give them a renewed feeling that law is made for them as well as for others. Provocative enforcement exacerbates already existing anomie feelings, whereas an invocation to discussion enhances eunomic feelings.

EUNOMIC CRIME CONTROL WILL DEMONSTRATE TO OFFENDERS HOW THEY CAN BECOME GOOD CITIZENS

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Law School, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994; JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ acs-VT97 1, p. 165
It should not be forgotten that dispute settlement in itself may have an educational effect. By settling their disputes and contributing to the resolution of their conflicts, people offenders and victims—learn how to behave like good citizens.

IMPROVED SELF IMAGE IS THE BEST WAY TO ELIMINATE JUVENILE CRIME

 ANNE SCHNEIDER, 1990; DETERRENCE AND JUVENILE CRIME: RESULTS FROM A NATIONAL POLICY EXPERIMENT // am-VT97 1 ID
The data suggest that normative and ethical considerations guide the manner in which individuals frame situations and influence the nature of alter i natives that are taken into consideration. Crime opportunities are everywhere; they present themselves on a regular and recurring basis to every citizen. Persons who view themselves as honest, law-abiding, citizens may not even recognize these opportunities, much less seek them out. And people who view themselves as good citizens often forego engaging in criminal opportunities, even when the chances are quite remote of being captured. Normative orientations and self-image provide a simple rule of behavior. People know what kind of person they are and they usually make decisions and engage in behavior consistent with that image.

RESTORATIVE JUSTICE REHABILITATES JUVENILES

MIKE KNEPLER, STAFF WRITER, The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk), April 22, 1996, Pg. B1, HEADLINE: PAYING BACK SOCIETY: ''RESTORATIVE JUSTICE'' AT WORK // acs-VT97
     Sometimes offenders must write apologies to victims and essays about the consequences of crime.
 ''We're talking about giving kids the opportunity to make things right, to make amends for the harm that they cause,'' Moran, Norfolk court services director said. ''It sets up a better opportunity for rehabilitation.''

EUNOMIC CRIME CONTROL CANNOT REMOVE THE HARM OF THE CRIME, BUT IT CAN LEAD TO FORGIVENESS AND ATONEMENT

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Law School, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994; JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ acs-VT97 1, p. 132
The situation prior to the wrongdoing is hardly ever entirely reconstitutable. Here we become aware of the original meaning of forgiving. Forgiving is not the total acquittal of wrongdoers' debts. It is the acquittal of that part of their debts which they are unable to repay, that part of their due which they cannot restore, that part of their liability which they are unable to perform. Reconciliation is not possible if wrongdoers have not displayed their intention to negotiate redress and have not expressed their sincere regrets.

 EUNOMIC CRIME CONTROL USES DISPUTE SETTLEMENT TO ACHIEVE RECONCILIATION

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Law School, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994; JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ acs-VT97, p. 83
The assensus model recognizes that full agreement with regard to the interpretation of norms and values among members of a society does not exist, has never existed, will never exist, and can therefore not be pretended either. In light of the human incapacity to make final judgments in matters of right and wrong, interpretations of norms and values must be made in a never-ending and open process of discussion.
In an assensus model emerging conflicts are transposed into dispute settlements between the parties directly involved. In crime cases, a reconciliatory redress in the post crime situation is a mandatory subject of discussion.

EUNOMIC SYSTEM CANNOT REMOVE THE RESULT OF THE CRIME, BUT IT CAN LEAD TO RECONCILIATION

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Law School, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994; JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ acs-VT97 1, p. 132
Still, redress is not the ultimate goal. Unfortunately, redress after a crime often is hard to achieve; frayed relations are not easily restored. The only satisfactory final result between conflicting parties is reconciliation, the only efficacious balm that heals real wounds left by wrongs. A wound caused by a crime can never be soothed or healed by punishment of the culprit .

RESTITUTION IS SUPERIOR TO PROBATION

ANNE SCHNEIDER, 1990; DETERRENCE AND JUVENILE CRIME: RESULTS FROM A NATIONAL POLICY EXPERIMENT//am-VT97 p.111
Comparisons of restitution and probation suggest that restitution is more effective in reducing recidivism because it provides the juveniles with immediate and continuing success in the program. In other words, the juvemles can quickly develop a sense of being successful by obtaining employment and beginning to make their restitution payments or perform their community service work. The data suggest that this reduces the offense activity during the time they are in the program. The sense of success and the reduced in-program offense rate both enhance the juvenile's sense of citizenship as well as reduced intentions to reoffend and actual recontaets with the court. 

EUNOMIC CRIME CONTROL FOCUS ON REDRESS AND REPAIR SUPPORTS THE ESSENCE OF LAW AND LEGAL RULES

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Law School, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994; JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ acs-VT97, p. l 32-3
It may seem odd to focus special attention on redress and repair in a book concerned with crime control. But repair, restoration, and other such concepts have long been important parts of our legal system while being blatantly absent or simply accidental in our punitive system of criminal justice. In truth, the organization of repair is the main reason and justification for the existence of law and Iegal rules.

90% OF JUVENILES WILL FULFILL THEIR NEGOTIATED AGREEMENTS

Judi Villa, Staff writer, THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC, October 26, 1995; Pg. A2, HEADLINE: COMMUNITY PANELS WORK WELL ELSEWHERE // acs-VT97
     In Kings County, about 450 volunteers in 26 Seattle-area communities see about 5,000 juveniles a year. About 90 percent of the juveniles complete their contracts, which can include paying restitution, mandatory school attendance and staying out of certain neighborhoods.
 The contracts also can include mediation with their victims.
 "There is some real magic that happens," Brunswig said.
 "It's neighbors sitting down with neighbors trying to work something out. It helps adults understand kids, and it helps kids realize that not all adults are jerks.
 "It's the jewel of the juvenile-justice system. It's something that really works."

RESULT OF THE PUNITIVE MODEL IS INCREASED CRIME

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Law School, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994; JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ acs-VT97, p. 56 
Now a punitive model is being crammed down many nations' throats, and the result is anomie and criminality.

PUNITIVE SYSTEM IS IRRATIONAL

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Law School, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994; JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ acs-VT97, p. 65
The repressive system is based entirely on an irrational belief system. Next to racial prejudice it is one of the coarsest examples of dangerous irrationalism in our culture. Like racial prejudice, it is not innate in human beings; it appears later, usually through imitation and bad education.

MORE SEVERE PUNISHMENT DOES NOT REDUCE CRIME RATES

LOIS FORER, 16 year criminal trial judge, 1994; A RAGE TO PUNISH // acs-VT97 p. 7 l
Statistics of the United States Department of Justice disclose that the increased severity of sentences has not lowered the crime rare; it has only increased the prison population. In Pennsylvania, a large state with both urban and rural areas, between 1985 and 1990 the adult population increased by 4 percent; repotted crimes increased by 6 percent. But the prison population increased by 171 percent and the county jail population by 126 percent. The increased severity of the penalties has not reduced crime; it has only increased the prison population.

 PUNISHMENT CANNOT SOLVE THE PROBLEMS OF CRIME

LOIS FORER, 16 year criminal trial judge, 1994; A RAGE TO PUNISH // acs-VT97 p. 67
Criminal law has a necessary but limited role in American life. It cannot solve all social and economic problems. Prison and the electric chair or lethal injection are not substitutes for families, homes, jobs, schools, health care, and other institutions and services. The theory of just deserts impedes a rational analysis of both.

EVEN IF WE HAD THE MOST PUNITIVE SYSTEM IMAGINABLE, VIOLENT OFFENDERS WOULD NOT BE DETERRED

LOIS FORER, 16 year criminal trial judge, 1994; A RAGE TO PUNISH // acs-VT97 p. 63
Even if the United States dispensed with constitutional requirements and adopted a penal system like that of Iran, where accusation is tantamount to conviction, and punishment—death or mutilation—follows inexorably without possibility of appeals or clemency, one must doubt whether impulsive street felons would stop to calculate the consequences.

PUNISHMENT ONLY ACCENTUATES ALL OF THE FORCES WHICH HAVE MADE PEOPLE OFFENDERS TO BEGIN WITH

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Law School, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994; JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ acs-VT97, p. 634
A crime conflict usually results in ruin. Criminals, often having been born into anomic situations and having pushed themselves into further conflict by the crimes they have committed, arc I pushed much further into anomie after their arrest. Repression, along with the impossibility of improving their situation by any offer of repair, makes later social assistance or probation a shot in the dark. It is a ruinous, frustrating experience for all people who want to contribute to the resolution of their conflict but are prevented from doing so.

 SEND SOMEONE TO PRISON AND THEY BECOME A CRIMINAL FOR LIFE

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Law School, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994; JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ acs-VT97 1, p. 8
 In a very real sense, every prison sentence is a life term, especially in a bureaucratized society such as ours, where no person can conceal the degraded identity he or she has received from the administrators of criminal justice. D The eventual social and mental consequences of incarceration arc so blatantly disastrous as to make it doubtful whether good intention ever played a part. The recent novelty of advertising in the media the return to society of a former convict is the most shameless example of intended stigmatization for life.

AFTER PRISON RELEASE, VIOLENT OFFENDERS HAVE NO OPTIONS OTHER THAN CRIME

LOIS FORER, 16 year criminal trial judge, 1994; A RAGE TO PUNISH // acs-VT97 p. 51
On release from prison they were as incapable of earning a living as when they were incarcerated. Also, their personal and family problems were seldom resolved while they were incarcerated. Many when released found that their wives or mates had made other commitments. They were stranded without a means of earning a lawful living and little family or community support.

PRISON STIGMATIZATION GUARANTEES THAT THOSE SENT THERE LIVE A LIFE OF CRIME AFTER RELEASE

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Law School, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994; JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ acs-VT97 1, p. 69
The effects of stigmatization have led to the great sham of the repressive system, one of the great hypocrisies in our society. For Iearned punitive lawyers have tried to set up a system in which the Iength of incarceration fits the seriousness of the crime. But they always intentionally ignore the added effect of stigmatization, which is after all a life term from a social point of view. And yet advocates of the repressive system hypocritically believe they arc doing society good while every year sending hordes of punished persons back into society as ex-cons, forever unadapted and unable to make a living except by crime. At Ieast they keep the punitive system and its lawyers and judges busy.

 IMPRISONMENT DOES NOT REDUCE PUBLIC FEAR OF CRIME

DAVID S. BRODER, DETROIT FREE PRESS April 18, 1994 PAGE: 9A LET'S BE REAL ON CRIME: GETTING TOUGH PROVES TO BE A POOR SOLUTION // acs-VT97 
One thing it is not doing is easing people's fear of crime. Yet voters and politicians continue to believe that locking up criminals is the key to getting safer streets and neighborhoods.

 PRISON FAILS TO REHABILITATE

LOIS FORER, 16 year criminal trial judge, 1994; A RAGE TO PUNISH // acs-VT97 p. 51
It is undeniable that prison has failed to rehabilitate inmates. More than two thirds of all prisoners are rearrested and charged with new crimes. 

DETERRENT EFFECT OF PRISON FAILS WITH MOST VIOLENT OFFENDERS

DAVID S. BRODER, DETROIT FREE PRESS April 18, l 994 PAGE: 9A LET'S BE REAL ON CRIME: GETTING TOUGH PROVES TO BE A POOR SOLUTION // acs-VT97
Most of the violent crimes are committed by young offenders, often when they are drunk or drugged-up and reacting to stress or giving vent to antisocial impulses. The deterrent value of threatened long sentences for them is questionable, given the odds against their arrest and conviction.

INCAPACITATION FAILS TO REDUCE CRIME -- IT IS A SHAM

LOIS FORER, l 6 year criminal trial judge, l 994; A RAGE TO PUNISH // acs-VT97 p. 72
"Incapacitation," like "deterrence," is a trendy but inaccurate word. It means that an offender has been deprived of the ability to commit a crime. Obviously imprisoning a person does not render him or her incapable of killing, stealing, raping, or assaulting. Many prisoners do commit violent crimes while in custody. Others develop mail order scams, buy and sell drugs, and do countless illegal acts in prison. On release, of course, they continue their illegal activities outside the prison walls.

PRISON DOES NOT STOP PRISONERS FROM COMMITTING CRIMES AFTER THEY ARE RELEASED

Peter S. Canellos, Contributing Reporter, B O S T O N G L O B E April 30, l 989, PAGE: 29 SHERIFFS, LAWMAKERS EXPLORE ALTERNATIVES TO JAIL //acs-VT97
But incarceration has failed to stem a rising time of recidivism: According to a study of Massachusetts prisons from l 971 through l 985, 27 percent of jailed offenders committed another crime within a year of being released.

NO MATTER HOW LONG THE SENTENCE, THEY WILL BE RELEASED, AND THEN THEY WILL COMMIT CRIMES AGAIN

LOIS FORER, 16 year criminal trial judge, 1994; A RAGE TO PUNISH // acs-VT97 p. 92
To this end they focused on the imposition of sentence and neglected the issue of release from prison. No matter how long the sentence, most prisoners will at some time be discharged from prison. What happens then?? 

80% OF ALL MALE PRISONS COMMIT NEW CRIMES WHEN THEY COME OUT OF PRISON

LOIS FORER, 16 year criminal trial judge, 1994; A RAGE TO PUNISH // acs-VT97 p. 72
The experience of prison does not have a quantifiable reforming effect One cannot measure morality or decency. But by the crude measure of recidivism, prison must also be deemed to have failed abysmally More than 67.8 percent of all female state prisoners and 80.3 percent of all male state prisoners are recidivists.

PRISON MAKES CRIMINAL EVEN MORE DANGEROUS

LOIS FORER, 16 year criminal trial judge, 1994; A RAGE TO PUNISH // acs-VT97 p. 147
Professor Norval Morris, one of the most vigorous and prolific proponents of the theory of retribution and "just deserts," told a New York Times reporter in 1992 that "We have an exaggerated belief in the efficacy of imprisonment.... We make life really terrible for some people and then blame them when they become dangerous."

100,000 CHILDREN ARE NOW IN JAILS

LOIS FORER, 16 year criminal trial judge, 1994; A RAGE TO PUNISH // acs-VT97 p. 7
More than 100,000 children were in correctional institutions (juvenile jails) in 1992.

 PRISONS ARE SCHOOLS FOR CRIME—THEY MAKE THINGS WORSE

Peter S. Canellos, Contributing Reporter, BOSTON GLOBE April 30, 1989,
PAGE: 29 SHERIFFS, LAWMAKERS EXPLORE ALTERNATIVES TO JAIL //acs-VT97
"They become crime schools," said DeMello. "The national rate of recidivism is 70 percent. Putting kids in jail is the most indifferent thing we can do."

WE DOUBLED IMPRISONMENT AND VIOLENT CRIME INCREASED

CORETTA SCOTT KING DETROIT FREE PRESS April 17, 1994 PAGE: 3FFIGHTING CRIME: THE SMART MONEY IS SPENT ON PREVENTION // acs-VT97
The United States already has a million and a half people behind bars. We currently have a higher percentage of citizens in jail than any other nation. Even though we doubled incarceration rates over the last decade, the rate of violent crimes rose from 594 per 100,000 Americans in 1981 to 758 in 1991, according to the FBI.

PREVENTION BY IMPRISONMENT IS A LIE

David Nyhan, Globe Staff, BOSTON GLOBE, June 5, 1994, PAGE: 71 //acs-VT97
The law-and-order crowd likes to justify the huge cost of imprisoning malefactors by bragging about how many potential crimes will not be committed by this cadre of evildoers. This theory might be called prevention-by- imprisonment.
But right now the nation stumbles further along the blind alley of imprisoning perhaps twice as many people as we need to have locked up. It's like the Vietnam War before the public turned against the costly, bungled strategy of four presidents: When the policy shows itself to be unworkable, double the tonnage, in men, munitions and propaganda. When the strategy is so obviously not working, throwing good money after bad makes no sense. But admitting we were wrong is so hard to do.

THOSE WHO WANT TO PUNISH SHOULD NOT BE TRUSTED -- NIETZSCHE

LOIS FORER, 16 year criminal trial judge, 1994; A RAGE TO PUNISH // acs-VT97 p. X
"Distrust all in whom the impulse to punish is powerful."
—Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

 EUNOMIC CRIME CONTROL PUTS THE INTERESTS OF THE VICTIM IN CLEAR FOCUS

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Law School, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994, JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ acs-VT97 1, p. 102 
In the present system of crime control a clear distinction is made between crimes with a victim and crimes without. The distinction in the present procedure is more or Iess trivial, the victim playing such a small part in the trial, if any. }In a eunomic, assensus based procedure the distinction is more important, for if there arc no victims, where is the demonstrable and provable harm?

EUNOMIC SYSTEM SERVES THE NEEDS OF VICTIMS IN THE PROCESS

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Law School, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994; JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ acs-VT97 1, p. 59 
Not only the perpetrators but also the victims in a eunomic system arc given the chance to contribute effectively to the resolution of the conflict by pleading their cause. The victim too can I be surrounded by his or her own group. The eunomic system therefore is communicative. It brings people together instead of keeping them apart.

EUNOMIC JUSTICE IS SUPERIOR FOR HELPING VICTIMS

JAMES F. DOYLE, Prof. Philosophy Univ. of Missouri St. Louis, 1995; SOCIAL JUSTICE, "A radical critique of criminal punishment" // jah-VT97 l p.18
This practical superiority of the relational approach over the ethics of obligation is well illustrated by Bruce Shapiro (1995: 437-452) in an article about his attempt to understand and respond to a vicious attack and repeated stabbing he and others suffered at a neighborhood coffeehouse. In reflecting on this devastating experience during his long recovery, Shapiro searched in vain in the 1994 Federal Crime Law, the Contract with America, and the Victim Restitution Act for additional protections from the all-too-frequent kind of violent crime he had suffered. All of these national legislative initiatives have endforsed an approach to violent crime as an "us against them" phenomenon, thereby obscuring the complex network of social relations linking violent attackers and their victims. There is no room in these "get tough" policies for empathy and the understanding it can yield; nor is there tangible support for institutions that can enable people—many of them victims of violence themselves—to discover genuine alternatives to violent mayhem. These simplistic public policies are the outcomes of deliberate choices, and yet they seem irrelevant to protecting people from violent crime. This is the general lesson Shapiro draws from his experience and recommends to all of us: "Every fragment of my experience suggests that the best protections from crime and the best aid to victims are the very social institutions most derided by the right. As crime victim and citizen, What I want is the reality of a safe community—not a politician's fantasy land of restitution and revenge (Ibid.: 452). "

INVESTMENTS OTHER THAN PRISON WOULD BE MORE EFFECTIVE AT FIGHTING CRIME

EDITORIAL, DETROIT FREE PRESS November 22, 1992 PAGE: 2G PREVENTION VS. CURES, WE CAN SAVE MONEY AND SERVE HUMAN NEEDS BETTER // acs-VT97
Another new study, by University of Michigan researchers Ira Schwartz and Joan Abbey, shows just how hopeless and expensive it is to try to sweep up and lock up the results of our failures. Their point is that investment in services, rather than prisons, is the economically efficient way to reverse this pattern of*failure.*

WE SPEND MORE ON PRISONS THAN ON EDUCATION

LOIS FORER, 1 6 year criminal trial judge, 1 994; A RAGE TO PUNISH // acs-
VT97 p. 7
More persons are behind bars in the United States than in any other country in the world, and the figures escalate every year. In one year, from 1989 to 1990, the number of people incarcerated grew by 7.7 percent, although the number of crimes decreased. We spend more money on prisons than on education. 

 PUNISHMENT SYSTEM IS AN EXERCISE IN SOCIAL MASOCHISM

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Law School, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994; JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ acs-VT97 1, p. 62
Our society is so rife with social masochism—we are, after all, a culture of guilt and culpability—as to make people seek out punishment in the hope that they can do penitence for their crimes, real or imagined. If punishment is on special offer by a punitive organization, people will present themselves for punishment. The message of our punitive crime-control system is like a grim paraphrase of the words of Jesus: come all ye who need punishment and we will make ye suffer.

EUNOMIC CRIME CONTROL CREATES COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT AND ERODES STATE CONTROL

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Law School, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994; JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ acs-VT97 1, p. 63
The eunomic system of crime control, on the contrary, is organic; it has the wherewithal to bring people together. Once conflicts resulting from crime can be resolved by discussion within existing structures of law and custom, social and legal structures will be supported without direct reference to political servomechanisms. Of course, political issues may enter into discussion, but they cannot be so easily enforced by the powers that be.

RELIANCE ON DETERRENCE TO STOP CRIME LEGITIMIZES VIOLENCE AND WAR

HERMAN BIANCHI, Dean of Law School, Free Univ. of Amsterdam, 1994; JUSTICE AS SANCTUARY: TOWARD A NEW SYSTEM OF CRIME CONTROL \\ acs-VT97 1, p. 61
It is questionable whether this deterrent information actually reaches would-be offenders. Many people are never informed that any kind of punishment ever takes place. They have some inkling' of it, perhaps, but the mass media seem to do their utmost to keep the public uninformed. It is also questionable whether such information on the repression, if received, really Ieads to the goal intended by the administrators of pain. If a system responds to violence by repression and punishment, the information picked up by would-be offenders might even be the opposite of what was intended. What they do in fact often learn is that a violent answer to violence is the right thing, because that is what is done by the rulers of society, who arc expected to set the right example for other citizens. Here lies the real reason why the repressive system provokes more criminality than it prevents: it teaches the use of violence to whole nations. 

SOFTLINE COUNTERPLAN

The negative wants to deal with juvenile crime, but not using the punitive measures and methodologies of the affirmative. We therefore offer the following counterplan:

Instead of utilizing a hard-line punishment approach of the affirmative a community oriented rehabilitation approach will be adopted at the community level. Negative speeches will clarify intent.

OBSERVATION ONE: NON-TOPICALITY

A. The counterplan is not topical because it is community based and not federal.

B. Topical counterplans are legitimate with a multi-directional resolution such as this one. Affirmative chose their ground first ensuring fairness. If we compete with the affirmative that is sufficient to ensure a good debate.

OBSERVATION TWO: COMPETITION

A. The counterplan is net beneficial because it avoids the disadvantages of punishment.

B. The counterplan is net beneficial alone, as punishment trades off with rehabilitation

RONALD LAUDER, FIGHTING VIOLENT CRIME IN AMERICA, 1985, p. 108 // a196VT-VT97
And for every juvenile we put in an institution from which he emerges more vicious than ever, we miss the opportunity of putting him in some other facility that may at least reduce his antisocial behavior and the severity of his crimes.

OBSERVATION THREE: EMPIRICALLY, REHABILITATION PROGRAMS REDUCE JUVENILE CRIME

THOMAS BERNARD, 1992; THE CYCLE OF JUVENILE JUSTICE //amVT97 p. 178
In an ideal world, however, I would move the system m the opposite direction, toward more treatment. Such reforms would not be based merely on my good intentions, but on research that evaluates the actual performance of these programs in the real world. First, there is extensive evidence that a wide variety of individual treatment programs can substantially reduce juvenile crime. For example, in the "Unified Delinquency intervention Services" project, a variety of moderately well-run rehabilitation programs all reduced juvenile recidivism by about 50%.

COMPETITION 

 IT IS NET BENEFICIAL TO DO ONLY REHABILITATION

LAWRENCE MYERS, American Correction Association, Dec., 1994; CORRECTIONS TODAY, "Common goals are key to juvenile justice system success', // jah-VT97 p. 102
 Minimizing penetration into the juvenile Jnstice system: Research consistently underscores what juvenile justice professionals have been saying for years. The deeper an individual penetrates into the juvenile justice system, the more likely he or she is to return to the system. In addition, the more an individual is recycled through the system, the more likely he or she will continue delinquent activity. To turn the tide, communities must develop a greater number of dispositional alternatives for each component in the juvenile justice system. The, availability of multiple alternatives for decision makers at every step in the process will help minimize an offender's penetration into the system. 

SHIRLEY DICKS, 1995; YOUNG BLOOD: JUVENILE JUSTICE & THE DEATH PENALTY // cjj-VT97 p. 294 
 However, incarcerated youth in particular need rehabilitation programs, not just indefinite warehousing. Juvenile offenders need to learn marketable trades so when they get out, they have a chance at finding good-paying jobs. Psychological and substance abuse counseling while incarcerated gives these kids a chance at living productive lives. Now we just throw them in prison and forget them until they're released. We do not protect them once they are inside the walls, but we fear them when they come out, meaner; tougher, and more violent than when they went inside. Gerald Laney, a veteran of many years in prison who finally ended up on death row said, "everyone knows that prisons are the devil's playground, where only the strong survive.

 AN INCREASE IN HARSHER PUNISHMENTS LEAD TO AN INCREASE OF WORSE CRIMES.

Robert and Delorys Blume, Professors at University of Florida and Unveristy of Central Florida, 1989 The Humanist, ''The Crime of Punishment" \\ YK-VT97 p. 12
 These same effects are felt by those who undergo punishment. The punished experience the same long term emotional effects as crime victims: they want to get even; they want retribution from those who have caused them to suffer. A society that has thousands, or possibly millions, of people with these feelings toward its system of social control is a society that will experience more and more crime. We can easily predict that, if increased crime is met with increasingly harsher punishment , the result will be more crime, ad infinitum, until the whole system breaks down. It would seem to make sense, then, to find a process of dealing with people who commit antisocial acts which would not, as a result of that process, cause them to feel like crime victims themselves. 

RICHARD WEIZEL, The New York Times, April 28, 1996, Section 13CN; Page 15; HEADLINE: An Alternative to Jail Time for the Young // acs-VT97
     A current study is proving that those who are in the alternative programs have significantly lower rates of re-arrests than those who serve prison time, he [Judge Aaron Ment, chief court administrator for Connecticut] said. "When you put them in prison for a couple of years, all you do is harden them and prepare them to be better criminals when they get out," he said. And so the state is spending $27 million this year to take 4,500 offenders --25 percent between 16 and 21 -- into the alternative-to-prison programs, which have been recognized by the Justice Department and the Council of State Governments as being among the best in the nation.

 JAILING JUVENILES MEANS RAPE, VIOLENCE, AND ABUSE TOWARDS THEM --EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM THE 1980s WHEN IT WAS DONE PROVES IT

AMERICAN CORRECTIONAL ASSN., REPORT, JAILS IN AMERICA AN OVERVIEW Or ISSUES, 1985 p.27
 In adult jails, juveniles can fall prey to adult offenders, being raped or assaulted or educated in criminal behavior. Rarely is there enough staff for adequate supervision to guard against physical or sexual assaults. When attempts are made to separate juveniles from adult offenders, the juvenile often ends up in the isolation cell.

JAILING CHILDREN CAUSES THEM TO COMMIT SUICIDE

AMERICAN CORRECTIONAL ASSN., REPORT, JAILS IN AMERICA: AN OVERVIEW OF ISSUES, 1985 p.27
 Alone, many attempt suicide. For every 100,00 juveniles placed in adult jails, 12 will commit suicide. This is eight times higher than the rate of suicide in secure juvenile detention centers.

DETAINING JUVENILES CAUSES PSYCHOLOGICAL TRAUMA

NANCY DRAGALIN CARLSON, NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL CONFINEMENT, 13, 1987 p.65
 The potential for emotional and psychological trauma is always great when a juvenile is incarcerated but by placing a child in jail, he is made to feel like a prisoner. If a juvenile feels like a prisoner, he will begin to act like one which frustrates the purpose most judges cite for ordering confinement in an adult facility; to frighten juveniles away from a future life of crime.

JUVENILE CRIME MUST BE DEALT WITH IN A NON-HARDLINE MANNER

NANCY DRAGALIN CARLSON, NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL CONFINEMENT 13, 1987 P. 67
Many other states are considering the use of home detention programs, evening report centers receiving homes and detention homes as viable alternatives to incarcerating juveniles in jails. Hopefully the implementation of these alternative programs will bring an end to locking juvenile in adult jails. Until such time arrives, courts and legislatures must be called upon to monitor the juvenile corrections systems and insure that existing laws which are designed to protect and rehabilitate our youth are obeyed.

SOLVENCY

REHABILITATION REDUCES RECIDIVISM AND THUS REDUCES JUVENILE CRIME

Frank Green; Staff Writer, The Richmond Times Dispatch, November 22, 1995, Pg. A-1, HEADLINE: Alternatives To Jail Urged; Treatment Stressed For Young Offenders // acs-VT97
     Instead of more and stiffer punishment, the study -- the first of its kind -- suggests that more emphasis and resources should be put on treatment and alternatives to incarceration, said Philip A. Leone, director of the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission.

EDITORIAL, Roanoke Times & World News, December 6, 1995, Pg. A10, HEADLINE: HOW TO REFORM JUVENILE JUSTICE // acs-VT97
     Once a juvenile lands in the justice system, another JLARC finding should be heeded. While making no pretense that treatment is a panacea, the report estimates that 30 percent of juvenile offenders now locked up could be served by community-based counseling and treatment programs if such programs were properly funded. They should be.

THOMAS BERNARD, 1992; THE CYCLE OF JUVENILE JUSTICE //am-VT97 
p. 178
 Fifth, some serious juvenile offenders deserve serious punishment for their crimes, as argued by the "get tough" reformers. However, research suggests that handling these offenders in this way does not reduce their criminality in the future. Better results are obtained if those few serious offenders are placed in small, treatment-oriented, secure juvenile facilities. These facilities reduce recidivism among the most serious juvenile offenders by up to 70%, and they are less expensive in the long run than simply sending these youths to prison.

THERE IS HOPE IN REHABILITATION -- WE DON'T JUST THROW PEOPLE AWAY

PAMELA WARRICK, TIMES STAFF WRITER, Los Angeles Times, April 22, 1996, Part E; Page 1; HEADLINE: HOW YOUNG IS TOO YOUNG? // acs-VT97
     "No matter how much violence we hear about in the news, if you look into court, you'll see a lot of sorry little kids and only an occasional tough kid," says Sickmund, who believes the system should operate on the assumption that there is "almost always" hope for rehabilitation. [Melissa Sickmund, senior research associate at the Pittsburgh-based Juvenile Justice Center]

DETENTION ALTERNATIVES REHABILITATION PROGRAMS ARE THE ONLY WAY TO SOLVE JUVENILE CRIME

RICHARD WEIZEL, The New York Times, April 28, 1996, Section 13CN; Page 15; HEADLINE: An Alternative to Jail Time for the Young // acs-VT97
     "The younger we can get them into the program the greater chance of success we have," said William H. Carbone, director of the state's Office of AlternativeSanctions, which oversees programs like Powerline. "These programs are working and they are working on many different levels. They are keeping both adults and kids out of jail and giving them a chance to get their lives back on the right course."
 Alternative programs are helping to make offenders more accountable by makingsure they serve at least 50 percent of their sentence in the programs, he said, compared to an average of about 10 percent in 1990 when they were initiated.

RICHARD WEIZEL, The New York Times, April 28, 1996, Section 13CN; Page 15; HEADLINE: An Alternative to Jail Time for the Young // acs-VT97
     Judge Aaron Ment, chief court administrator for Connecticut, says that the alternative programs are not only the wave of the future but also the only way out of the alarming national increase in juvenile crime. "More and more we are coming to the conclusion that if we are stop the pattern of continued criminal activity, then we've got to reach people early on when they are still open to vocational training, education and jobs," said JudgeMent.

RESTITUTION REDUCES JUVENILE CRIME

ANNE SCHNEIDER, 1990; DETERRENCE AND JUVENILE CRIME: RESULTS FROM A NATIONAL POLICY EXPERIMENT // am-VT97 p. 3
Equity theory, or accountability approaches such—as restitution, also are more consistent with decision heuristics than with strict rationality. These perspectives hold that interventions should be proportionate to the harm done and to the level of culpability for the actions. The purpose of the intervention is to permit the offender to rectify the harm done, thereby restoring both the victim and offender to their rightful place in society. Some proponents of equity theory argue that there is an inherent tendency in individuals toward fairness and balance in social or political situations (Deutsch, 1985). Sanctions that are viewed as unfair, then, may help an offender rationalize subsequent offenses; whereas sanctions that permit individuals to repay victims and community, and that are viewed as fair, should be associated with reduced inclinations to reoffend. 

ANNE SCHNEIDER, 1990; DETERRENCE AND JUVENILE CRIME: RESULTS FROM A NATIONAL POLICY EXPERIMENT // am-VT97 p. 108
 As a general conclusion, it appears that the restitution programs usually reduced recidivism (although this was not true in all programs); and never had a negative effect or an effect that was less pronounced than the dispositional alternative against which it was compared. Overall, the restitution programs produced an estimated decline of 18 offenses per year for every 100 juveniles. The average loss for the juvenile crimes included in this study was slightly over $600. Thus, a decline of 18 offenses per year is far from a trivial effect, as a normal city of a half million persons can expect 10,000 or more juvenile referrals each year. 

MIKE KNEPLER, STAFF WRITER, The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk), April 22, 1996, Pg. B1, HEADLINE: PAYING BACK SOCIETY: ''RESTORATIVE JUSTICE'' AT WORK // acs-VT97
     Assigning young lawbreakers to work with neighborhood groups is part of an emerging nationwide trend toward ''restorative justice,'' said Kevin J. Moran, Norfolk court services director.
 The approach, he said, tries to link punishment with active ways that an offender can repair the damage caused to individuals or communities. In some programs, victims choose the community work or personal service required of youthful lawbreakers.

MCCOLLUM, House of Rep member, APRIL 30, 1996, Federal News Service, THE HOUSE ECONOMIC AND EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES COMMITTEE SUBCOMMITTEE ON EARLY CHILDHOOD, YOUTH AND FAMILIES // acs-VT97
     These initiatives include the following: First, punishments should include mandatory restitution, and involve physical labor to compensate victims, including reparations to neighborhoods and businesses that are devalued because of criminal activity. Studies have found that restitution reduces recidivism, because the criminal becomes aware of the true consequences of the crime. I don't often quote the Yale Law and Policy Review, but I believe that Jean Warner was right when she wrote in a recent article, "By reconfirming the moral base of the law and by emphasizing that those who commit crimes will be held accountable to their victims because it is 'right' to do so, restitution may increase commitment to the moral order." 

COMMUNITY BASED SERVICES REDUCE JUVENILE CRIME

DENNIS MALONEY, Dec., 1994; CORRECTIONS TODAY, "Community service helps heal troubled youth" // jah-VT97 p. 92
 In contrast, community service offers tremendous potential to fulfill the objectives of the Balanced Approach mission. For example, young offenders in community service work crews may be under adult supervision four, five or even six days a week for several hours a day. The adult supervisor not only observes the young person's work habits but can detect whether he or she arrives for work intoxicated or under the influence of drugs. Further, because offenders often work beside others, staff can observe and monitor disruptive or violent tendencies that warrant more intensive supervision. Accountability is at the very heart of the community service philosophy. Although courts may use coercive measures to ensure that offenders comply with orders, ultimately it is up to the offender to arrive at work sites on time and put in the required hours. 

LAWRENCE MYERS, American Correction Association, Dec., 1994; CORRECTIONS TODAY, "Common goals are key to juvenile justice system success" // jah-VT97 p. 102
 Diverting young people from the system: This is a key concept in prevention. Most people who are diverted from the system avoid future involvement in it. This premise is based on the fact that the juvenile justice system has a negative effect on young people. Whether this is the result of a stigma youths attach to themselves or a stigma attached to them by society is of little consequence. Whenever possible, individuals need to be diverted from the system and into community-based programs for social control or treatment. Implicit in this concept is the necessity to support development of community resources to help meet the needs and resolve the problems of young people.

COMMUNITY BASED SERVICES REDUCE JUVENILE CRIME (CONTINUED)

BARRY KRISBERG, Pres. National Council on Crime & Delinquency, 1993; REINVENTING JUVENILE JUSTICE // CJJVT97 176 
 We envision the expansion of innovative correctional program, that focus on aftercare and the reentry of offenders to their communities. In fact, planning for the child's eventual return to community living should start soon after his or her admission to an out-of-home placement. Those youths placed in community programs require a great deal of structure and adult guidance. Many of these youths should attend educationally based day treatment programs and pay restitution or perform community service. 

SUSAN GUARINO-GHEZZI, Prof. Criminal Justice Northeastern Univ., 1996; BALANCING JUVENILE JUSTICE // se-VT97 p. 159
Most states continue to operate large institutions as their primary response to juvenile crime. But many are now examining the community-based approach as an alternative, for reasons of cost as well as rehabilitation. The shift in focus from reactive punishment to prevention that underlies such changes is essential if we are to help those children most likely to become serious delinquents. Organizational structures that enhance the confidence, quality, and dedication of staff in their contact with youths need to be developed, along with participation from community sectors. We believe that the organizational models discussed in this chapter provide those critical aspects. 

RON HARRIS, Staffwriter Los Angeles Times, edited by Shirley Dicks, 1995; JUVENILE JUSTICE & THE DEATH PENALTY, "Should teens be tried as adults?" // cjj-VT97 p. 43
 Massachusetts has no large, prison like facilities housing scores of juveniles. The small proportion of youngsters who are deemed a threat to society are held in fifteen-bed facilities where education, skills, and behavioral development are emphasized, with a teacher-to-student ratio of one to four. The rest—about 1,200 or more than 80 percent of the total committed to the department of Youth Services—are not confined but instead are either given intensive supervision at home or placed in a variety of small, community-based programs, such as group homes. 

RICHARD WEIZEL, The New York Times, April 28, 1996, Section 13CN; Page 15; HEADLINE: An Alternative to Jail Time for the Young // acs-VT97
     Even some of those who were initially opposed to the programs are beginning to support the new system.
 "When these programs were first implemented I, like many prosecutors, thoughtit would be just another way for criminals to avoid jail," said John M. Bailey, Chief State's Attorney. "But I was wrong. They are giving people who are sincereabout reforming another chance, while those who don't take advantage of that chance are still ending up in prison."
 "I believe our programs can really be a model for the country," he said.

Jerry Regier, Director Oklahoma Department Of Juvenile Justice, March 12, 1996, Federal News Service, Senate Committee On The Judiciary Subcommittee On Youth Violence Hearing On "Funding Youth Violence Programs: Should The Strings Be Cut?" // acs-VT97
     - Community based is most cost effective for treatment of juveniles Many states have gone the next step and created community based services for status offenders and for early delinquents. They have also created communitybased programs for adjudicated juveniles in the custody of the state. They are program effective as well as cost- effective. 

Jerry Regier, Director Oklahoma Department Of Juvenile Justice, March 12, 1996, Federal News Service, Senate Committee On The Judiciary Subcommittee On Youth Violence Hearing On "Funding Youth Violence Programs: Should The Strings Be Cut?" // acs-VT97
     - Community Intervention Centers (CIC) One of the potential solutions in Oklahoma is to implement a more appropriate screening process to make sure the type of juvenile who can be worked with in the community receives some consequence as well a.s the juvenile who needs to be in secure detention. Presently a task group composed of the Municipal League D.A. 's, Youth Services and our State Juvenile justice are designing a new program, the Community Intervention Centers located in our metropolitan counties as well as scattered strategically in rural Oklahoma. The purpose of these programs would be that when a youth is arrested by law enforcement or found to be abandoned, or found to be on the streets living alone. they can be sent immediately to, or dropped off at a CIC for an appropriate assessment and a screening and a review of the situation. This would enable the system to appropriately identify, assess, and place juveniles who are under a crisis situation or who are in need of services. 

WRAP AROUND PROGRAMS ARE THE MEANS TO REHABILITATION SUCCESS

JIM GOGEK, editorial writer, ED GOGEK, psychiatrist, The San Diego Union-Tribune, March 1, 1996, B-5;HEADLINE: A good way to stop juvenile crime before it starts // acs-VT97
     But a new system is being tried in a few places, and it looks like a promising change. It's called a "wraparound" program, because instead of forcing disturbed kids into existing systems, the systems are molded to fit each kid's problems. Schools, public mental health, juvenile justice and social services all pool funds used for helping emotionally disturbed minors and devise an individualized program for each one.
Services are centered around existing families and community support; kids are not moved away unless they have to be. The basic principle is a commitment to serve each child until he or she can be put back into a normal environment.
 Madison, Wis., pioneered a wraparound program called "Children Come First," a community-based, family-focused system that was a big improvement over the city's old system and even saved money.
 After two years, the program produced an 89 percent reduction in delinquency among clients from the previous system. There was a 4 percent reduction in costs.

JUVENILE ASSESSMENT CENTERS ARE THE MEANS TO REHABILITATION SUCCESS

EDITORIAL; THE ORLANDO SENTINEL, December 30, 1995, Pg. A22, HEADLINE: RIGHT TRACK TO JUVENILE JUSTICE // acs-VT97
     At the juvenile assessment center, representatives of all the agencies that deal with youths in trouble - from the state attorney's office to the schools - are under one roof. That way, they can share information and quickly come up with the most appropriate action plans to deal with young people who have been arrested.
 The center is the result of a collaborative effort of a host of local and state agencies. By all accounts, it has been a success.

EDITORIAL; THE ORLANDO SENTINEL, December 30, 1995, Pg. A22, HEADLINE: RIGHT TRACK TO JUVENILE JUSTICE // acs-VT97
     Among other things, it [juvenile assessment center] has drastically shortened the amount of time it takes police officers and deputies to handle young people arrested for crimes. Before the center was launched, an officer could be tied up for almost six hours with a juvenile arrest. That was enough to discourage some officers from making such arrests.
 Now an officer can complete paperwork and be back out on the street within 15 minutes. What's more, juveniles brought to the center face an efficient no-nonsense atmosphere that shows them that there are serious consequences for breaking the law.

EMPLOYMENT TRAINING AND FAMILY SERVICES REDUCE JUVENILE CRIME

Mike Males and Faye Docuyanan, social ecology doctoral students at the University of California, Irvine, The Progressive, February, 1996, Pg. 24; HEADLINE: Giving up on the young; // acs-VT97
     Thompson's program uses employment training and a variety of family services to reintegrate youths who have already been convicted back into their communities. "We want to empower these young people to change the social and economic circumstances of their lives," he says.
 An initial evaluation showed that Thompson's program was more effective than law-enforcement approaches in preventing recidivism among delinquent youths as well as preventing younger members of their families from following in their older siblings' footsteps. 

POSITIVE APPROACHES WHICH STRESS OPPORTUNITY REDUCE JUVENILE CRIME

MARV BALOUSEK, COURTS REPORTER, Wisconsin State Journal, October 8, 1995, Pg. 1A, SERIES: We the People - The faces of juvenile crime: // acs-VT97
     A national study released in June by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention found that 15 percent of youths defined as ''high risk'' commit 75 percent of the violent crimes.
 ''Most juvenile delinquency efforts have been unsuccessful because of their negative approach -- attempting to keep juveniles from misbehaving,'' the study said.
 ''Positive approaches that emphasize opportunities for healthy social, physical and natural development have a much greater likelihood of success.''

FAMILY SERVICES REDUCE JUVENILE CRIME

Jack Westman, prof of psychiatry at the UWisconsin Medical School, Wisconsin State Journal, October 26, 1995, Pg. 13A, HEADLINE: TO PREVENT JUVENILE CRIME PROVIDE ADEQUATE PARENTING // acs-VT97
     The most helpful response to juvenile crime is court-ordered and monitored treatment for the families of juvenile offenders. Adolescents and parents can be helped by treatment they initially do not want. When parents are unable or unwilling to adequately parent their children, courts should comply with child abuse and neglect statutes and terminate parental rights with placement of children for adoption or sustained foster care so that they will have a chance to receive competent parenting. Younger adolescents are not too old for adoption.

GANG NETWORKS REDUCE JUVENILE CRIME

MICHAEL GREENE, juvenile justice administrator NYC Office for Public Safety, January, 1993; CRIME & DELINQUENCY, "Chronic exposure to violence and poverty" // jah-VT97 p. 121
 We need to help young people fed something to believe in, to find a network of support, and to facilitate opportunities for them to find satisfying and productive forms of expression. We need to provide opportunities for youth to exert some control over their lives and their neighborhoods. Comprehensive youth centers, sited in the neighborhoods where youth reside, can accomplish these goals. It requires a deeply ingrained faith that young people can and should be partners in the process of change.

Robert J. Bursik, Jr. and Harold G. Grasmick, both have Ph.D. in Sociology and are professors at University of Oklahoma, 1993, Neighborhoods and Crime: The Dimensions of Effective Community Control // jah-VT97
The major problem that has arisen in the past is that the most successful programs have been able to build on existing networks. Such networks exist in the form of gangs even in those neighborhoods in which the likelihood of a successful program would seem to be the lowest. Although it seems counter to conventional wisdom, gangs may, in fact, provide the key to successful crime control in areas that have been assumed to be lost.

Robert J. Bursik, Jr. and Harold G. Grasmick, both have Ph.D. in Sociology and are professors at University of Oklahoma, 1993, Neighborhoods and Crime: The Dimensions of Effective Community Control // jah-VT97
 Therefore, gangs appear to be an optimal (and perhaps the only) foundation for the development of broad local community networks capable of exercising systemic control in highly unstable and/or historically impoverished neighborhoods. In fact, efforts toward gang-initiated community organization appear to be developing in Los Angeles as this book is being written. Although the Bloods and the Crips, easily the two most notorious gangs of contemporary Los Angeles, have been bitter enemies for over two decades (Terry 1992), the riot that was triggered by the acquittal of the four police officers accused of beating Rodney King has led to an attempt to form a community-oriented alliance between the rival groups.

 Robert J. Bursik, Jr. and Harold G. Grasmick, both have Ph.D. in Sociology and are professors at University of Oklahoma, 1993, Neighborhoods and Crime: The Dimensions of Effective Community Control // jah-VT97
 The proposal that we offer is sure to generate a great deal of criticism . and controversy, yet it has been shown to have at least some potential for effectiveness—the recruitment of gang members as core members of locally based crime prevention programs. Clifford Shaw long ago recognized that 'people who have been involved intimately in the criminal activities of a neighborhood are an invaluable source of knowledge concerning the extent of crime, its distribution throughout the neighborhood, and those who are most involved. Since such individuals generally are embedded in relatively broad networks of association, the networks that are needed to form the foundation of a successful local organization do not have to be artificially /developed by sources based outside the neighborhood. In fact, as Shaw eventually decided, it might be extremely efficient to make such gang members paid officers of the association.

Robert J. Bursik, Jr. and Harold G. Grasmick, both have Ph.D.. in Sociology and are professors at University of Oklahoma, 1993, Neighborhoods and Crime: Tile Dimensions of Effective Community Control // jah-VT97
 Nevertheless, leaders of the two gangs jointly issued a plan that proposes a set of programs designed to meet the needs of their community (Cockburn 1992). The goals of this project are very similar to those developed by the Vice Lords in the late 1960s and include the gutting of burned and abandoned structures, the construction of career counseling centers and recreation areas, the beautification of the neighborhood, the rehabilitation of existing educational facilities, upgraded curricula, tutoring programs, increased teacher salaries, new health care facilities, the replacement of welfare programs by state-sponsored employment, programs for economic development, and an increased role of residents in law enforcement activities. The community orientation of this plan is reflected forcefully in the key slogan of the proposal: "Give Us the Hammer and the Nails and We Will Rebuild the City" (Cockburn 1992). 

EDUCATION PROGRAMS REDUCE JUVENILE CRIME

ELI GINZERG, HOWARD BERLINER, AND MIRIAM OSTOW, Research scholars at Conservation of Human Resources, Columbia Univ., 1988; YOUNG PEOPLE AT RISK: IS PREVENTION POSSIBLE? // am-VT97 p. 40
As adjustment to adulthood requires the individual to be able to hold down a regular job and since only individuals who meet some minimum level of competence will be hired, the direction for many intervention programs is thus prescribed. It would clearly be preferable to improve the motivation of young people to acquire competences while they are still in the educational process and to improve the capability of the schools to meet this challenge. One way to encourage such behavior on the part of adolescents is to link their performance in school to immediate and longer-term rewards, for instance, by providing part-time jobs to those who pass all their subjects, and by promising them special career help if and when they earn their diplomas. 

EDUCATION EXAMPLE: POWERLINE PROGRAM

RICHARD WEIZEL, The New York Times, April 28, 1996, Section 13CN; Page 15; HEADLINE: An Alternative to Jail Time for the Young // acs-VT97
     Both teen-agers, facing possible prison terms, agreed to attend the Powerline Intensive Youth Services Center in Bridgeport, one of the 40 or so programs in the state that offer job training, counseling and group support as an alternative to incarceration.
 The idea is to keep youngsters who have been arrested and may face jail time because they cannot raise bail money, as well as those convicted of crimes, out of prison while keeping a close eye on them and offering help to cope with school and work.
 Programs like these are becoming more popular nationwide because they appear to be effective in detering criminal activity -- at much cheaper cost. A University of Connecticut study estimated savings of $80 million last year in this state alone. Prison costs $25,000 a person a year, while the alternative programs cost just $5,000, according to the study.

RICHARD WEIZEL, The New York Times, April 28, 1996, Section 13CN; Page 15; HEADLINE: An Alternative to Jail Time for the Young // acs-VT97
     "Locking people up doesn't deter crime and it is very expensive," said Melissa Sickmund, a research associate for the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
 Powerline, by contrast, allows 75 young people between 16 and 21 to attend a center daily that includes basic education classes like math and reading, computer training and employment training. Those who are in school or have jobs arrive after the school or work day.

RICHARD WEIZEL, The New York Times, April 28, 1996, Section 13CN; Page 15; HEADLINE: An Alternative to Jail Time for the Young // acs-VT97
     The director of Powerline, Joseph Rietano, said that keeping youngsters out of prison is the whole idea behind programs like his, that participants have gotto be willing to work hard and be accountable for their actions.
 "We're not here to coddle them, we're here to make sure they are supervised and monitored," he said. "But if they don't comply with our strict rules and regulations, they will end up going to prison."

LOCAL ALANA INTERVENTION PROGRAMS REDUCE JUVENILE CRIME

VICKIE CHACHERE; Tribune Staff Writer, The Tampa Tribune, April 19, 1996, Pg. 1, HEADLINE: Youth crime intervention showing signs of success // acs-VT97
     New efforts to keep black youths in Hillsborough County out of the criminal justice system are showing the first signs of success, and state officials say there is greater fairness for all kids.
By diverting more first-time and less violent offenders into counseling and mentor programs, local minority-intervention programs have kept 30 percent more black youths out of the judicial system, according to the state Department of Juvenile Justice.
 "I think they (the young offenders) feel, "The community really cares about me,' " said Jewel Warren, project director for the local effort.
 State officials are monitoring the progress closely because the Hillsborough County initiative is one of just five nationwide under a U.S. Justice Department program. The other sites are in Arizona, North Carolina, Iowa and Oregon.

GROUP HOMES REDUCE JUVENILE CRIME

Judy Sheindlin, experienced juvenile court judge, New York Law Journal, February 9, 1996, Friday; Pg. 2, HEADLINE: Don't Pee on My Leg and Tell Me It's Raining // acs-VT97
     For kids who have a chance, group homes are the answer. If the state purchased a $ 250,000 home to shelter four such kids -- who lived there with in-house parents -- these youngsters might have a decent shot. Obviously, we would screen these caretakers carefully. We would want them to have an education and parenting skills. But think of the numbers; in one year, you would pay for the cost of the house, considering the $ 75,000 tab in house an individual kid in a state facility. Even if you paid an additional $ 5,000 per year for food, clothing and incidentals, you would be saving four lives -- and a lot of money.

REHABILITATION IS SUPERIOR TO BOOT CAMP

Mark Oswald, The Santa Fe New Mexican, November 17, 1995, Pg. B1, HEADLINE: BOOT CAMP? AGENCY HEADS DIVIDED OVER APPROACH TO JUVENILE CRIME // acs-VT97
     Schmidt [David Schmidt, head of the New Mexico Council on Crime and Delinquency], speaking for a coalition of children's advocates and contractors of youth services, said the money Wilson wants to spend on a boot camp could be used to provide better rehabilitation and after-prison services to youths at the state's existing facilities to produce the same kind of recidivism decreases Wilson attaches to boot camps.

DISADVANTAGES

This year we are featuring six disadvantages specifically about crime and juveniles. Of course, there are other arguments (spending, presidential credibility, etc.) but those are general process generics and these are arguments about crime which have stood the test of time. All disadvantages have the first negative constructive versions already put together for your use.
	page
BIOCRIMINOLOGY NIGHTMARE	191
We stand at a crossroads, and may very well turn down the road of biological and genetic control of crime instead of a social approach. If we trigger this biological approach through seemingly unconnected actions in the criminal justice system, we will usher in a Nazi like eugenic police state.

CRIME WAVE	207
If the affirmative utilizes a softline approach which limits punishment, the result will be a crime wave, because it is punishment which deters juvenile criminals, and if they see punishments decreasing they will commit more crimes.

NET WIDENING	213
If the affirmative utilizes a softline approach to crime, they link to net widening. The argument is that new, creative options will not be used for real criminals, but for those who would have received no punishment in the status quo. The result of the plan, then, is to simply catch more people in a net of social control, which deprives individuals of their freedom and actually causes more crime as well as leading to a police state.

RACISM	225
This position argues that the affirmative plan will simply be used as a tool by the racist criminal justice system to victimize youths of color. Specific links abound here as to how juvenile justice programs can be abused towards black and Latino youth.

QUICK FIX	240
This position works well against an affirmative which offers a small trendy "fix" for juvenile crime. This "quick fix" will be used symbolically by the political system as a reason not to engage in a broader, more meaningful reform of the juvenile justice system.

SOFTLINE BACKLASH	247
This works against any team which reduces punishment. The public wants harsh punishment, and will backlash against the affirmative changes by moving to a more punitive approach in every other area of juvenile crime. And, of course, that would be terrible. The result of a small softline affirmative change will, in fact, be a net increase in harmful punitive policies. Watch out, it contradicts with Crime Wave!

BIOCRIMINOLOGY NIGHTMARE

A. BIOLOGICAL AND MEDICALLY RELATED EXPLANATIONS OF CRIME SERVE RACIST GOALS; AND GOVERNMENT WILL LAUNCH AN INITIATIVE TO ENDORSE THIS PERSPECTIVE

Felix Shafter (Paralegal and Political Activist) 1994; The Conspiracy, Jan., "The Violence Initiative: A Federal Biomedical Plan to Control Violence and Crime" \\ JC-VT97
Less than 50 Years ago the Nazis used genetic/racial/biological labels as a cover for the racial cleansing of society's problems. In the Soviet Union, drugs and psychiatric hospitals ware routinely used to punish dissidents. Late in 1960s and into the early 1970s, the Nixon administration funded research designed to prove that the militant black revolutionaries of that era were afflicted with brain disease. This is, after all, a profoundly racist society, which for most of its history was quite content to take arguments about the biological and genetic inferiority of People of color as matters of common sense and fact. Twenty five years after the death of Martin Luther King, the structures of racism and social control have changed more in form than in content. Given our nation's racist legacy, we should expect that those good doctors.. and politicians behind the Violence Initiative are presently at work repackaging their plans and preparing for round Two. 

B. THE AFFIRMATIVE FORWARDS AND JUSTIFIES THIS INITIATIVE

[INSERT LINKS]

C. FURTHER GENETIC RESEARCH ON CRIME ALLOWS PEOPLE TO IGNORE THE REAL PROBLEMS OF CRIME AND NECESSARILY LEADS TO GENOCIDE

Washington, (Harriet A., Article Title: Genetic Research Might Engineer Genocide Publication Name: Emerge Volume & Number: V. V; N. Vl) March 31, 1994, Page: p. 19 // ms-VT97 
A genetic cause for criminality, lowered IQs, mental illness and a variety of antisocial behaviors is very convenient. It absolves government, health policy architects and even health care professionals of any responsibility. If crime is genetic, the poverty, poor education, scarce employment possibilities, racism and frustration of life in the inner cities becomes tangential to the problem of crime: We needn't worry about changing it. If lower IQs are genetic, we needn't worry about raising educational standards and opportunities for Black children. We also needn't worry about children's malnutrition and its effect on later brain function and intelligence. If these problems are genetically oriented, the only thing we need worry about is how to stamp this genetic "bad apple" out, via abortion or sterilization or genocide.

LINKS

THE REHABILITATIVE MODEL OF CRIMINOLOGY LEADS TO BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH

Peter Conrad and Joseph W. Schneider, professors of sociology, 1992, Deviance and Medicalization: From Badness to Sickness // jah-VT97
For over 100 years the rehabilitative ideal has been the companion of biomedical research. At first glance the "new pragmatism" in corrections may appear to threaten the role of bio- medical research in criminology. Classical criminology, with its roots in Bentham's utilitarianism , is generally viewed as opposed to the rehabilitative ideal. There is, however, a/, point of intersection of purpose. Both purport to have the "greater good ' as their aim. The rehabilitative ideal, which emphasizes the patient's good and presents its arguments in terms of morality, humanity, and therapy, still de= pends heavily on its practical utility, The classical approach, which emphasizes the protection of society. presents its arguments in terms of utility,, practicality, and justice, Both agree that the state should pursue the "greater good ' and that this means developing a mechanism to control aberrant behavior)'

DECRIMINALIZATION INCREASES MEDICAL SOCIAL CONTROL

Peter Conrad and Joseph W. Schneider, professors of sociology, 1992, Deviance and Medicalization: From Badness to Sickness // jah-VT97
Decriminalization may also increase medicalization because medicine provides an alternative social control mechanism. \We postulate that if an act is decriminalized and not indicated, its control may be transferred from the crimi- nal justice system to the medical system.

DECARCERATION INCREASES THE DEPLOYMENT OF MEDICAL SOCIAL CONTROLS

Peter Conrad and Joseph W. Schneider, professors of sociology, 1992, Deviance and Medicalization: From Badness to Sickness // jah-VT97
The medicalization of deviance has become a de facto social policy. Changes in other "social policies" affect medicalization. Decarceration leads IO the increasing deployment of medical social control, since it is one of the most effective social controls in the community."

LINK: MORE SEVERE PUNISHMENT INCREASES MEDICALIZATION OF DEVIANCE

EXTREME PUNISHMENTS PROVIDE FERTILE CONDITIONS FOR
MEDICALIZATION OF DEVIANCE

Peter Conrad and Joseph W. Schneider, professors of sociology, 1992, Deviance and Medicalization: From Badness to Sickness // jah-VT97
Perhaps similarly, the disease concept of alcoholism emerged right after the repeal of Prohibition. The cyclical nature of deviance desig nations has a distinctly dynamic and dialectical quality. In short, the extreme of one designation creates fertile conditions for the challenge and emergence of counterclaims. .

MORE SEVERE PENALTIES INCREASE THE MEDICALIZATION OF DEVIANCE

Peter Conrad and Joseph W. Schneider, professors of sociology, 1992, Deviance and Medicalization: From Badness to Sickness // jah-VT97
What factors spur a cyclical shift in deviance designations? It seems that medical-sickness deviance designations emerge as a dialectical response to extreme criminalbadness designations. A clear example is the reemergence of medical designations of opiate addiction at precisely the same time in the 1950s that the severest criminal penalties for addiction were passed into law.

BRINKS

BIOCHEMICAL PERSPECTIVE INCREASING WITH JUVENILE CRIME

PHILLIP MORRIS, The Plain Dealer, January 2, 1996 ; Pg. 7B, HEADLINE: ARE THERE KILLER CHROMOSOMES? //acs-VT97
     But perhaps as America's coming juvenile crime storm approaches - already the window seals of the nation crime seers are rattling - talk from biochemists will mix with the standard sociological and psychological rhetoric about the causes of crime.

BRINK: BIOCRIMINOLOGY IS CLOSE TO BEING EMBRACED NOW

PHILLIP MORRIS, The Plain Dealer, January 2, 1996 ; Pg. 7B, HEADLINE: ARE THERE KILLER CHROMOSOMES? //acs-VT97
      Indeed, a conference on a possible link between criminal behavior and genes, hosted by Dr. David T. Wasserman of the University of Maryland this fall, drew the nervous condemnations of numerous social scientists and activists, and at least one conference session was interrupted by protesters who accused the conveners of pushing "Nazi propaganda."

BIOCRIMINOLOGY IS ATTRACTING NEW ATTENTION AND RESPECTABILITY

Jennifer A. Nagorka, Dallas Morning News, Chicago Tribune, September 29, 1989, Friday, NORTH SPORTS FINAL EDITION, SECTION: TEMPO; Pg. 1; ZONE: C, HEADLINE: Killer chemistry ' Biocriminology' asks: Can the brain create a short circuit to violence? //jah-VT97
Researchers from many disciplines are trying to answer that question. Most of their work examines the psychological and social factors that might create a violence-prone personality. But other researchers want to know whether or not violent criminals differ biologically from nonviolent people. They're studying brain chemistry, head trauma and other possible causes for anti-social behavior. Once a thoroughly discredited research area, this field, called biocriminology, is now attracting new attention and new respectability.

NEW POSSIBILITIES FOR GENETIC STUDY HAVE RECENTLY OPENED WITH ADVANCES IN MOLECULAR BIOLOGY

SHERYL STOLBERG, TIMES MEDICAL WRITER, Los Angeles Times,December 30, 1993, Thursday, Home Edition, SECTION: Part A; Page 1; HEADLINE: FEAR CLOUDS SEARCH FOR GENETIC ROOTS OF VIOLENCE //jah-VT97
But recent advances in molecular biology are openingh vast and as yet largely untapped - possibilities. for studies into how genes affect behavior, including violence. This field, "behavioral genetics," has been fraught with controversy; claims of genes for schizophrenia, manic depression and alcoholism have all either been disproved or come under severe criticism. Some say the same will undoubtedly be true of any attempt to find a gene for violence.

 THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HAS JUST REINSTATED RESEARCH FUNDING FOR BIOLOGY OF VIOLENCE - WE ARE ON THE BRINK

NATALIE ANGIER, The New York Times, January 23,1994, Sunday, Late Edition - Final ,SECTION: Section 4; Page 1; Column 1; Week in Review Desk, HEADLINE: Elementary, Dr. Watson. The Neurotransmitters Did it. //jah-VT97
Small wonder, then, that a growing number of researchers are seeking to train the might of molecular science on the greatest sickness of ail -- violent crime. They believe there is much to be gained by exploring the neurobiological basis of aggression, the biochemical gunpowder in the brain that prompts a person to explode in mortal fury. Already scientists have identified several important signaling molecules, or neurotransmitters, that seem to play a role in aggressive and potentially dangerous behavior, some of which are described in three articles appearing in the current issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry. And recently researchers from the Netherlands announced the link between a gene and a rare hereditary disease in which afflicted men impulsively commit violent acts. Given these and other successes. the study of the biology of violence has lately gained new credibility and cachet. Less than two years ago, the Federal Government pulled its financial support from a conference to be held at the University of Maryland on the genetics of criminal behavior, when the political heat heat grew too scorching. Now the money is being reinstated, and the university hopes to hold the conference in 1995.

GOVERNMENT ON BRINK OF OF USING BIO-CRIMINOLOGICAL THEORY

Andrew Kaubsell, Lawyer and Philosopher, 1993. The Human Body Shop // CB-VT97 p. 4
 Even the modern day Jack T. Skinners may not be safe. While sterilization of criminals is not in fashion, drug therapy and gene engineering may be in the offing. Even our federal government m be abandoning the view that criminal behavior can be cured through education or rehabilitation, and reverting back to a genetic theory account for crime. 

BRINKS (continued)

CONFRONTATION OVER BIOLOGY AND CRIME IS IN PROGRESS

JAMIE TALAN, STAFF WRITER, NEWSDAY, Sept. 28, 1992; "Genetic links" // ndi-VT97
It has become a controversy pitting psychiatrists who believe that biology can help explain social problems against those who argue that poverty and poor living conditions cause crime. A federal government, seeking to broaden research on crime and violence, confronts a mistrustful community fearful of again becoming the target of public health policies that grew into another form of control seen in the infamous Tuskegeo experiments that began in 1932.

CRIME CONTROL IS ENLISTING BIOLOGY FOR SUBORDINATION

DOROTHY ROBERTS, Prof Law Rutgers, 1993; TULANE LAW REVIEW, June, "Crime, race, and reproduction" // ndi-VT97
Today, the states have returned to considering reproduction as a solution to crime; meanwhile, the federal government is exploring a genetic cause for criminality. Suggestions for applying reproductive techniques to punish crime have gained alarming acceptance. This article discusses each of these aspects of American criminal justice; but the principle focus is the significance of the convergence of the two. The racial ideology of crime increasingly enlists biology to justify the continued subordination of blacks .

 GENETIC RESEARCH HAS MOMENTUM

Edwards, host for National Public Radio, 1992, Sept. 25,  "Crime and Genitics" // ndi-VT97
David Wasserman (Center of Philosophy and Public Policy, University of Maryland): Specifically genetic research on biological factors in crime is in its infancy. Nevertheless, this research is proceeding. It has a great deal of funding, a great deal of momentum. And so we think d's very important to look at its implications.

BRINK: AMERICAN SOCIETY IS RIPE FOR EUGENICS

PUBLIC SUPPORT WILL LEAD TO EUGENICS

Roger Masters, Prof of Govt Dartmouth, 1994, The Neurotransmitter Revolution, p. 32 // dc-VT97
 In discussing this extraordinary range of research linking the life sciences to the study of law, the most interesting questions concern how to minimize dangerous error and misunderstanding. Many defense lawyers have already sought to benefit from the apparent correlation between low serotonergic function (accompanied by hypoglycemia ) and violent social behavior. If the public were to be convinced of such findings, the consequence might well be a demand for genetic screening, possibly combined with extensive economic, social, and legal discrimination against individuals found to carry supposedly defective genes.

USING MEDICINE TO CURE VIOLENCE IS WRONG

SHERYL STOLBERG, SPECIAL TO THE STAR, JANUARY 9, 1994; THE TORONTO STAR, "Search For Genetic Link To Violence Triggers Passionate Social Debate Critics Fear Work Could Be used To Discriminate Against Blacks And Lead To Widesprsad Drugging Of U.S. Kids," Pg. E4 // agl-VT97
Yet using medicine to "cure" violence is precisely what opponents find so abhorrent. Among the most vocal critics is Dr. Peter Breggin. As founder of the Center for the Study of Psychiatry in Bethesda, Md., Breggin has made a career of fighting medical approaches to social problems. He envisions a frightening scenario in which government-funded genetic screening programs will label inner- city youngsters at risk for becoming violent, and then dope them Up in what he calls "a massive drugging of America's children." Breggin compares attempts to find genes for violence to the horrifying genetic experiments that took place during the Nazi Holocaust. "This is biomedical social control," he says. If history is any guide, Breggin may have reason to be fearful. Americans have long been fascinated with biological explanations for violence, and the research cannot escape its own sordid history, a legacy of one debunked theory after another. "Let's just assume we find a genetic link (to violence)," says Ronald Walters, a political scientist at Howard University in Washington. "The question I have always raised is how will this finding be used? There is a good case, on the basis of history, that it could be used in a racially oppressive way, which is to say you could mount drug programs in inner-city communities based Upon this identification of so-called genetic markers."

Charley Reese, staff writer, ORLANDO SENTINEL, January 78, 1993 // ndi-VT97
Finally, there is the very real danger that knowledge of genetic influence on behavior could be used to stigmatize a whole e race or ethnic group. If in fact genes were found to influence behavior , it is only logical that people sharing the same gene pool would be likely to exhibit similar behaviors.
We already have far too many examples of the enormous evil that can result from stigmatizing groups of people or races. People already have a tendency to do that based on non scientific whims, pseudo science, folklore, pure malice or chance encounters with one individual. We don't need science to reinforce that ugly human tendency that so often has produced murderous results.

LEADS TO AN ACCEPTANCE OF SOCIAL CONTROL AND EUGENICS

Dorothy Roberts, Prof. Law Rutgers, 1993; TULANE LAW REVIEW, June; 
"Crime, race, and reproduction." // ndi-VT97
The imposition of penalties related to reproduction also prepares our society to accept a more purely eugenic program. If the public grows accustomed to black women being forcibly implanted with Norplant or jailed because they gave birth to a child while addicted to drugs , the public may become less quick to question a government program that uses these same techniques because it is believed that certain children are genetically predisposed to crime. Biological explanations for crime and reproductive penalties turn offenders into objects - or organisms - rather than human beings; objects which can be manipulated for the dominant society's good.

IF LEGITIMIZED, THE BIOCRIMINOLOGY APPROACH WILL SNOWBALL

PHILLIP MORRIS, The Plain Dealer, January 2, 1996 ; Pg. 7B, HEADLINE: ARE THERE KILLER CHROMOSOMES? //acs-VT97
      Are some people genetically or biologically predisposed to criminality or to violence? Stated more bluntly, do some people kill, rape or rob because they come equipped with a bad set of genes?
 Merely posing the question sets many ordinarily polite people on edge. They worry that once you allow this camel to edge its nose under society's tent, it shortens the ride to Charles Murray postulation that black people are dumber than whites and that whites are dumber than Asians.

INTERNAL LINK: THE VIOLENCE INITIATIVE WILL MEDICALIZE SOCIAL PROBLEMS

HIDDEN AGENDA YOUTH RESEARCH -- VIOLENCE INITIATIVE IS BIOCRIMINOLOGY

Jamie Talan. STAFF WRITER, Newsday, October 9, 1992, Friday, NASSAU AND SUFFOLK EDITION, SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 17, HEADLINE: Controversy Over Violence Studies; Federal initiatives called racist by some // jah-VT97
The government denies that there are any plans to drug anyone, or even any programs to identify a mass of violence-prone children. But federal agencies have already spent tens of millions of dollars to study violence and is hoping to spend even more in its proposed Youth Violence initiative, a bureaucratic centralization of all scientific, medical and social studies on violence. Those expenditures are enough to feed fears among blacks.

UNIQUENESS: BIOCRIMINOLOGY IS NOT INEVITABLE

THERE IS OPPOSITION TO APPLYING GENETIC FACTORS TO CRIME

JOYCE PRICE, STAFF WRITER, FEBRUARY 20, 1994; THE WASHINGTON TIMES, "Crime forum to get funds, name change; Genetic focus had, displeased NIH," Pg. A3 // AGL-VT97
A conference on violence at the University of Maryland is back on track after having been canceled in 1992 because of political protests and a loss of federal funding. Originally titled "Genetic Factors in Crime: Funding, Use and Implications," the conference will have a new name, according to David Wasserman, a lawyer and research faculty member at the school's Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy, which is organizing the event. The conference, first scheduled for October 1992, was canceled after the National Institutes of Health withdrew funding, saying conference literature suggested that organizers were too accepting of possible biological causes of violence.

 THERE IS A BACKLASH AGAINST GENETIC RESEARCH 

RICHARD SALTUS, GLOBE STAFF, MAY 6,1994; THE BOSTON GLOBE, "New Doubt On How Far To Take Genetics," Pg. 1 // AGL-VT97
Is genetic science spiraling OUT of control? Could we be headed for a new era of eugenics - less flagrant, BUT perhaps JUST as worrisome, as the sterilization of "Undesirables" in Nazi Germany? Critics inside and out of the exploding field of genetics seem to be voicing such concerns more loudly and widely than at any time since the research went into overdrive a decade ago. "I think there is a strong backlash against the whole genetic enterprise," said Dr. Robert Cook-Deegan, a molecular biologist and author of a new book, 'The Gene Wars." Cook-Deegan, of the National Institute of Medicine in Washington, says that ambivalence about and distrust of genetic technology is not new, but that recently he has been "encountering it in a wider slice of the population."

DEFINING CRIME AS BIOMEDICAL MAKES PROBLEMS WORSE AND LEADS TO ABUSE

Sun Reporter, August 24, 1992; "Genetic screening threatens inner city youth" // ndi-VT97
Although the complete details of the plan are not yet known, and are apparently being kept secret by federal health officials, the intent of the program is to weed out children who psychiatrists feel would be violent teenagers and adults. These youngsters would then be subjected to behavior modification programs that almost surely would involve the Use of controversial psychiatric drugs such as Ritalin and Prozac. Opponents of the plan charge that redefining inner-city crime as a biomedical problem ignores the true causes of the violence, and can only lead to serious civil liberty abuses and a worsening condition in our citiesJ

Ron Siegal, staff writer, January 30, 1993; Michigan Citizen, "US Plan Afoot to Link Race to Violence" // ndi-VT97
The Federal Violence initiative and these new proposals "directly threatens civil liberties, oppresses Black children and their families, masks racist intentions, and distracts the national from the true sources of pain, suffering violence within the inner city," Breggin said, such as "the failure of society to deal[ with its most pressing problems" in the environment of African Americans. He added "There are not known genetic factors in crime," and that attempts to prove Black people as "genetically and biologically unfit" have been scientifically disproved, but continue to be voiced, "because they are fundamentally political" in an attempt to rationalize social ills of discrimination and poverty, "rather than scientific."

Felix Shafter (Paralegal and Political Activist) 1994, The Conspiracy, Jan., "The Violence initiative: A Federal Biomedical Plan to Control Violence and Crime" \\ JC-VT97
In a new study by the National Academy of Science, Understanbding and Preventing Violenbce, funded by the Centers for Disease Control, the Justice Department, and the National Science Foundation, called for "...a new multicommunity program of developmental studies of aggressive, violent, and antisocial behaviors, intended to improve both causal understanding and preventive interventions at the biological, individual, and social levels." As its number one research question, this study asked, "Do male and black persons have a higher potential for violence than others, and if so, why?" The entire focus of the study is on inner city violence and black males are its key subject. And, if you're thinking. "Well, this may be true but it's probably a rather minor project, forget it. The Violence Initiative is an attempt to medicalize social problems and is the government's top mental health funding priority, at $400 million dollars for 1994. Government agencies already involved include. the Department of Health and Human Services, National Institute of Mental Health, Centers for Disease Control, the Human Genome Project (the multi billion dollar effort to transcribe the complete human genetic map) and the Department of Justice.

IMPACT: 
BIOCRIMINOLOGY WILL LEAD TO AN EVIL  EUGENIC FUTURE

SUPREME COURT PRECEDENT ENSURES BIOLOGICAL PROFILES WILL BE USED TO ROUND UP PEOPLE

Zondermman, Jon, 1990, Beyond the crime lab: The new science of investigation. // jah-VT97
Having a Supreme Court ruling allowing stops, searches, and arrests based merely on reasonable suspicion because a person meets the (by definition) somewhat subjective criteria of a physical profile could, in fact, bode ill for us all. Demographers, sociologists, and even advertisers are able to characterize us by our physical and behavioral qualities. The ability to create such profiles—and for the police to act on them—makes it possible to conduct mass roundups of certain kinds of people on very limited evidence of any wrongdoing.

HUMAN GENOME PROJECT PROVES EUGENICS IS POSSIBLE

Gene Stephens ( Prof. of Crminal Justice, Univ. of South Carolina) 1992, The Futurist, Nov-Dec., ''Crime and the Biotech Revolution" // ndi-VT97
The Human Genome Project wilt not only unlock the secrets of the body, but also shed Itght on how body chemicals and electrical circuitry control mental functions and emotions. Adding or subtracting a few chemicals or altering synapses could control an individual's thoughts and emotions. 

BIOTECH AND INFORMATION REVOLUTIONS MAKE EUGENICS VERY POSSIBLE

Gene Stephens ( Prof. of Crminal Justice, Univ. of South Carolina) 1992, The Futurist, Nov-Dec., ''Crime and the Biotech Revolution"
In the future, courts might sentence criminals to receiving a five-year be behavioral-control implant rather than sending him to jail. Criminals may be sentenced to biochemical implants to keep them under control, or implanted subliminal messages that constantly remind them to obey the law" and "do the right thing." As the biotech and information revolutions move forward, many more such procedural and ethical issues will arise for "human" society—particularly in the legal arena. How we resolve these policy issues will determine the quality of life in the future. 

IMPACT: EUGENICS WILL RESULT FROM RACIAL CRIME POLICIES

DOROTHY ROBERTS, Prof Law Rutgers, 1993; TULANE LAW REVIEW, June; "Crime, race, and reproduction" // ndi-VT97
The convergence of crime, race, and reproduction enlists biology as the supreme justification for white domination, it denies all black humanity by declaring that we are inherently dangerous and do not deserve to procreate. It legitimates the present social order as the predestined product of natural forces. Black criminality justifies the massive restraint of blacks by law enforcement institutions. Biological explanations for crime. in turn, make that control seem natural and inevitable.

 DOROTHY ROBERTS, Prof Law Rutgers, 1993; TULANE LAW REVIEW, June; "Crime, race, and reproduction" // ndi-VT97
Moreover, the convergence of crime, race and reproduction will inevitably have the effect of expanding the numbers of black citizens subject to biomedical solutions to supposedly criminogenic traits. Janet Katz and Charles Abei observed this tendency in the eugenics movement of the early twentieth century. "It became unnecessary to criminalize new behaviors to control poor people; rather the eugenics theory broadened the numbers of people suspected of being likely to commit crimes. In the end, the eugenics movement criminalized a whole population.

IMPACT: EUGENICS RESEARCH ON CRIME WILL BE USED AGAINST RACIAL GROUPS

DOROTHY ROBERTS, Prof Law Rutgers, 1993; TULANE LAW REVIEW, June; "Crime, race, and reproduction" // ndi-VT97
Louis Sullivan, former Secretary of Health and Human Services, defended the NIMH violence initiative on the ground that it studied the genetic causes of violent behavior, rather than its racial causes. There is no need however for the institute to make the connection between race and crime explicit. That connection has already been made in the ideological foundation of race and crime discussed in Part II. When the institute's theories about a genetic solution to crime are overlaid with the racial construction of crime, it is for seeable that its program will be directed against blacks.

IMPACT: 
THESE BIOLOGICAL APPROACHES ARE A REPLAY OF THE NAZI MENTALITY

WORST CASE SCENARIOS OF GENETIC RESEARCH BASED ON HISTORICAL PRECEDENT OF NAZI REGIME

DANIEL CALLAHAN, PRESIDENT HASTINGS CENTER, MAY/JUNE 1994, "THE GENETIC REVOLUTION", NEW YORK STATE BAR JOURNAL // jah-VT97
The nightmares have a basis in history. The Nazi devotion to racial purity based on faulty genetic knowledge. led to the greatest crime in human history. Somewhat more benign forms of the same nightmare appeared in early 20th century laws allowing sterilization of the retarded. and in widespread beliefs that defects. abnormalities and undesirable behaviors could be effectively excised with better genetic knowledge. Genetics has thus been the source of an enormously dangerous temptation: to use genetic knowledge to improve on human nature to give us more choice about our human traits and to get rid of genetically-based disease (which may turn out to be most disease), or the people with disease.

 REDEFINING SOCIAL PROBLEMS AS HEALTH PROBLEMS IS THE SAME AS WAS DONE IN NAZI GERMANY

ANASTASIA TOUFEXIS, Time, April 19,1993, U.S. Edition, SECTION: BEHAVIOR; Pg. 52, HEADLINE: Seeking the Roots of Violence; The search for biological clues to crime is igniting a brutal political controversy // jah-VT97
Dr. Peter Breggin, director of the Center for the Study of Psychiatry in Bethesda, Maryland, who led the opposition that scuttled the conference, has no apologies. "The primary problems that afflict human beings are not due to their bodies or brains, they are due to the environment," he declares. "Redefining social problems as public health problems is exactly what was done in Nazi Germany." 

Anastasia Toufexis (Time) 1993, April 19., "Seeking The Root of Violence" // dc-VT97
Dr. Peter Breggin, director of the Center for the Study of Psychiatry in Bethesda, Maryland, who led the opposition that scuttled the conference, has no apologies. '`The primary problems that afflict human beings are not due to their bodies or brains, they are due to the environment, he declares. Redefining social problems as public health problems is exactly what was done in Nazi Germany." Mentality that supports genetic explanations causes eugenics 

George Kren and Leon Rappaport, Holocaust Scholars, 1990, Thinking the Unthinkable, "The Holocaust and the Human Condition" // ndi-VT97
 In a number of ways, the evidence surrounding the Holocaust suggests emphatically that from its dim origins in the concentration camps and the euthanasia program to its final large scale industrial actualization in Auschwitz, the scientific mode of thought and I the methodology attached to it were intrinsic to the mass killings. Quite apart from the technology, the mentality of modern science is what made the Holocaust possible.

 Lynne Duke, staff writer, WASHINGTON POST, August 19, 1992; "Contreoversy flairs" // ndi-VT97
But Breggin and others see an inherent danger in biological approaches to crime because of the potential for labeling whole groups of people. "Once you discuss it in terms of abnormalities of behavior, you are back in Nazi Germany,.' Breggin said. Biological approaches ignore the sociological factors, such as poverty, that contribute to the development of violent behavior, he said.

IMPACT: 
ATTENTION TO BIOLOGY REDUCES FOCUS ON THE REAL SOCIAL CAUSES OF CRIME

PHILLIP MORRIS, The Plain Dealer, January 2, 1996 ; Pg. 7B, HEADLINE: ARE THERE KILLER CHROMOSOMES? //acs-VT97
     These fretful people worry that undue attention to the gene pool might distract from their amplified social theories that lead paint chips or fatherless homes create murderers. They also worry that once Newt gets his hands on correlative DNA/crime studies, he will posit that certain people are beyond help and will put a stop to using tax money to help the unhelpable: Read poor, minority.

THE STUDY OF CRIME AS BEING CAUSED BY GENETICS IS POLITICALLY MOTIVATED

 Oakland Post, Article Title: Expert Warns Of Dangers Of Racism In Genetics, Volume & Number: V.29; N.85 Publication Date: 2-14-93, p. A1 /Ethnic NewsWatch/ HF-VT97
The warning, by U.C.-Berkeley sociologist Troy Duster, was prompted by research that focuses on the neurochemistry and genetics of violent or antisocial behavior. He said such research bears the stamp of legitimacy, but actually it represents an old and discredited attempt to "explain trouble at the bottom, where there is lots of crime, poverty and violence. How convenient to explain it away in terms of people's genes," said Duster. 'To study violence-prone individuals without reference to their social context is to misunderstand violence. It is politics rather than science," he said.

 FAITH IN BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH PREVENTS SOLUTION OF SOCIAL PROBLEMS

NATALIE ANGIER, The New York Times, January 23, 1994, Section 4; Page 1; HEADLINE: Elementary, Dr. Watson. The Neurotransmitters Did it // jah-VT97
And some critics of the new line of research doubt that any of the recent biological revelations will be of use in tackling urban crime, bound up as it is with poverty, miserable living conditions, drugs, low educational achievement, availability of guns and other old-fashioned sociocultural afflictions. They see current efforts to explain crime in genetic or physiological terms as yet another swing in the unending nature-versus-nurture debate. They say that people are lulled by the undeniable accomplishments of the biomedical revolution into believing that all problems can be solved, or at least soothed, by the proper application of science.

 BIOCRIMINOLOGY RESEARCH LESSENS THE SCRUTINY TOWARDS SOCIAL WOES

Jennifer A. Nagorka, Dallas Morning News, Chicago Tribune, September 29, 1989, Friday, NORTH SPORTS FINAL EDITION, SECTION: TEMPO; Pg. 1; ZONE: HEADLINE: Killer chemistry ' Biocriminology' asks: Can the brain create short circuit to violence? //jahVT97
But the research could also be used to label and oppress individuals or groups, critics fear. In a society searching for an appropriate way to combat crime, physical explanations might evolve into an easy answer. Scientists and policy makers might abandon their scrutiny of social woes that undoubtedly exacerbate a person's biological predisposition toward violence. "Social influences are extremely important," Kandel said. "You'd have to be an idiot not to know that."

Daniel Kevles, November, 1991, 65 Southern California Law Review 255, Symposium On Biomedical Technology And Health Care: Social And Conceptual Transformations; Article: Vital Essences And Human Wholeness: The Social Readings Of Biological Information. // ndi-VT97
The diagnostic dangers revive the propensity -- implicit in eugenic science -- to biologize socioeconomic misfunction, to locate its principal causes in purely biological traits. Nelkin and Tancredi write: "By focusing attention on the physical state of the brain, educators may neglect the social and economic conditions leading to damage. By dealing with the biological characteristics of individuals, rather than the social causes of problems, schools set up solutions that insulate them from responsibility while enhancing their immediate control." Blaming biology lets society or its constituent institutions off the hook; it permits them to segregate problems rather than deal with them. It fosters the construction of social categories -- "high-risk" employees or learning disabled" children -- and places them beyond the reach of ameliorative social policy. It encourages the deployment of scientific information to stigmatize, ostracize, and discriminate, not necessarily against minority groups and women but against anyone found to be biologically wanting.

IMPACT: 
BIOCRIMINOLOGY WILL LEAD TO BIOLOGICAL SOCIAL CONTROL

MOVING TOWARD DEFINING PATHOLOGY AS GENETIC CAUSES GENETIC MANIPULATION

Washington, (Harriet A., Article Title: Genetic Research Might Engineer Genocide Publication Name: Emerge Volume & Number: V. V; N. Vl) March 31, 1994, Page: p. 1 9// ms-VT97 
ARMED WITH THE NEW techniques of gene identification, DNA fingerprinting and gene therapy, geneticists are begging the question of whether nature (genes) or nurture (environment) causes illness and social pathology. Because scientists can identify genes that contribute to pathology, many are putting their money on genetic manipulation as the answer.

MOVEMENT TOWARD GENETIC DEFINITIONS OF CRIME DEFINES INDIVIDUALS AS "ILL" AND PUSHES US TOWARD GENETIC ENGINEERING

Washington, (Harriet A., Article Title: Genetic Research Might Engineer Genocide Publication Name: Emerge Volume & Number: V. V; N. Vl) March 31, 1994, Page: p. 1 9// ms-VT97 
Genes have also been researched for what may contribute to behavioral and psychiatric disorders like alcoholism and cocaine addiction. However, these conditions are not simple hereditary conditions. They are the final result of a complex interaction of many factors, both environmental and genetic. "Therapy" is taking an interesting turn. "Abnormal" genes that do not result in any disease or condition are being mapped and studied, and a new wave of researchers are defining people with these genes as "ill," despite the fact that their only "symptom" may be the gene. Despite the lip service scientists still pay to environment, genes are touted in the pages of scientific journals as if they were the sole arbiters of health and behavior, from sickle cell to mental illness to criminal behavior.

GOVERNMENT FUNDED GENETIC SCREENING WILL RESULT IN THE DRUG TREATMENT OF AT RISK YOUTH SIMILAR TO THE NAZI REGIME

SHERYL STOLBERG, TIMES MEDICAL WRITER, Los Angoles Times, December 30, 1993, Part A; Page 1;HEADLINE: Fear Clouds Search For Genetic Roots Of Violence; Sociology: Many Say Studies Could Open The Door To Abuses And Racism. Scientists Are Sharply Divided. //jah-VT97
Among the most vocal critics is Dr. Peter Breggin. As founder of the Center for the Study of Psychiatry in Bethesda, Md., Breggin has made a career of fighting medical approaches to social problems. He envisions a frightening scenario in which government-funded genetic screening programs will label inner- city youngsters at risk for becoming Violent, and then dope them up in what he calls "a massive drugging of America's children." Breggin compares attempts to find genes for violence to the horrifying genetic experiments that took place during the Nazi Holocaust. This is biomedical social control," he says.

IMPACT:
DRUG TREATMENTS WILL BE USED BECAUSE THEY ARE EASIER THAN CHANGING SOCIETY

NATALIE ANGIER, The New York Times, January 23, 1994, Sunday, Late Edition - Final ,SECTION: Section 4; Page 1; Column 1; Week in Review Desk, HEADLINE: Elementary, Dr. Watson. The Neurotransmitters Did It. //jah-VT97
"People want simple explanations for hard-core problems," said Dr. Anne Fausto-Sterling, a geneticist at Brown University. "If there was an antitestosterone drug that we could inject to make young boys nice, that would be a lot easier and cheaper than transforming schools or society or whatever is at the heart of the problem." Dr. Fausto-Sterling warned against the sort of zealous faith in science that led in the 19th century to eugenics and the infamous "science" of phrenology, measuring the skull as a way of identifying personality types (the telltale features of a potential criminal, by this analysis: a low forehead and protuberant brow). Even as recently as the 1 970's, she said, "people were talking about finding the parts of the brain that trigger violence, with the idea that hardened criminals could be treated by selectively ablating those regions of the brain."

NEW YORK TIMES, October 23, 1992; "Dispute threatens US plan on violence" // dc-VT97
Professor Walters said he objected to treating violence as a disease, as called for by Using the public health approach. "If there is a reason for this kind or research, the aim is to find a drug," he said. "And if you begin using drugs to pacify young black males, as is often done with ritalin for hyperactivity, you're creating a regime of social control."

CHICAGO TRIBUNE, December 12, 1993; "Tracking down the monster within us" p. 9 // dc-VT97
The findings also raise fears. The link between brain chemistry and violence "is extremely interesting and fascinating," said Marie Asberg chief of neuroscience at the Karolinska Hospital in Stockholm. "But it's also a bit dangerous. "It's the power in it. If we know the biology of how aggression works, we might also be able to manipulate it in ways that we don't like. We don't want to stigmatize people as aggressive . . . because of their brain chemistry. But we do want to use it to help them." The prospect of being able to determine a person's propensity for violence by measuring levels of brain chemicals-and then regulating those levels raises several ethical issues. It is virtually certain, for example, that simple screening tests will be developed to determine levels of serotonin and noradrenaline. Anti-violence medications conceivably could be given, perhaps forcibly. to people with abnormal levels. There also is concern that genetic screening would lead to Preventive detention-the jailing of those found to be genetically predisposed to violence.

NO CONNECTION BETWEEN RACE AND GENETICS

BLACK VIOLENT BEHAVIOR IS NOT DUE TO GENETICS

George Yancy, Dec 21, 1993 Staffwriter and Yale Philosopher (Article Title: Black violent behavior not connected to genetics Publication Name: Philadelphia Tribune, Volume & Number: V. 111; N. : p. 3-B)// ms-VT97
Considering the issue Of Black urban violence given what has been argued thus far, what shall we conclude? First, Black violent behavior is not the result of a set of genetic factors responsible for violent behavior.

NO CONNECTION EXISTS BETWEEN RACE AND GENETICS

DOROTHY NELKIN Prof. Law and Soc. at NYU 1994, Cardozo Law Review 1994, After Daubert the relevance and reliability of Genetic information // ndi-VT97
Studies that purport to identify the root cause of behavioral symptoms are generally based on statistical correlations, and may have little relevance to an individual case. While genes are real entities in that some sections of DNA produce specific biological events, they do not simply produce bodily traits in a linear way. The presence of a biological condition should not be confused with a specific behavioral trait or even a disease. The gene is not a completely deterministic force, independent of history or environment. Human behavior depends on social context, and an individual's actions have meaning only in relationship to social expectations in specific cultural settings. Even simple Mendelian disorders such as Huntington's may vary as to the time of occurrence in different individuals and the severity of their symptoms. Moreover, some hereditary diseases display what geneticists call "incomplete penetrance"; that is, some who inherit the disease may never even get sick.

VIOLENCE IS CULTURALLY, NOT BIOLOGICALLY, DETERMINED

ANTHROPOLOGY SHOWS THAT VIOLENCE IS CULTURALLY CREATED

George Yancy, Dec 21, 1993 Staffwriter and Yale Philosopher (Article Title: Black violent behavior not connected to genetics Publication Name: Philadelphia Tribune, Volume & Number: V. 111; N. 3Page: p. 3-B) // ms-VT97
Such examples from anthropology suggest that the manifestation of violent behavior is culturally manufactured, maintained and perpetuated. The fact of such cultural diversity is clear evidence that culture is a powerful human construction of which we ourselves often fall victim.

ANTHROPOLOGY PROVES THAT VIOLENCE IS A SOCIAL CONSCRIPT, NOT GENETIC

George Yancy, Dec 21, 1993 Staffwriter and Yale Philosopher (Article Title: Black violent behavior not connected to genetics Publication Name: Philadelphia Tribune, Volume & Number: V. 111; N. 3Page: p. 3-B) //ms-VT97
As anatomists and geneticists continue in their quest for the biological/genetical basis of violence, the rich cultural varieties of human behavior described by anthropologists suggest that biological/genetical determinism is a subject for science fiction. Such behavior as selfishness, mutual exploitation, etc. have been shown to be practically nonexistent within the social, psychological and cultural spaces of such groups as the Arapesh of New Guinea and the peoples of the Ituri forest in Central Africa. Indeed, there is a group of people, the Tasaday, who apparently lack words that stand for hatred, dislike, violence, etc. According the writings of scholar J. Nance, the Tasaday have been away from "civilization" in the mountain forests of Mindanao. The Tasaday example helps us to appreciate the connection between a certain form of social transaction and the social uses of language. In other words, the Tasaday's nonviolent behavior leaves no room for a social language of violence.

VIOLENCE IS ENVIRONMENTALLY, NOT BIOLOGICALLY, DETERMINED

BLACK ON BLACK VIOLENCE IS CAUSED BY SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC STRUCTURE, NOT GENETICS

George Yancy, Dec 21, 1993 Staffwriter and Yale Philosopher (Article Title: Black violent behavior not connected to genetics Publication Name: Philadelphia Tribune, Volume & Number: V. 111; N. 3Page: p. 3-B) // ms-VT97
Indeed, Fanon argues that because colonized people feel the existential burden of economic deprivation in a societal ordering of which they are not responsible, there is a great deal of violence committed against themselves. Black crime. It is empty to argue that the "motive" to gain monetary profit is the cause of such violent behavior. Rather, we need to take a serious look at the political, social and educational structures which have failed certain individuals and left them in life situations where violence becomes a necessary aspect of adaptive survival.

SOCIAL CONDITIONS, NOT BIOLOGICAL CONDITIONS, CAUSE VIOLENCE

Jamie Talan. STAFF WRITER, Newsday, October 9, 1992, Friday, NASSAU AND SUFFOLK Edition, SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 17, HEADLINE: Controversy Over Violence Studies; Federal initiatives called racist by some //jahVT97
"The problem does not lie in the brain or genes of little black children," Breggin said recently from his home in Bethesda, Md. "It is an obscene idea to go into the inner cities and screen for violence on the basis of biological markers. Kids don't have conditions, they live in conditions."

SOCIALIZATION DETERMINES CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR EVEN WITH BIOLOGICAL PREDISPOSITION

Jennifer A. Nagorka, Dalias Morning News, Chicago Tribune, September 29 1989, Friday, NORTH SPORTS FINAL EDITION, SECTION: TEMPO; Pg. 1; ZONE: C, HEADLINE: Killer chemistry ' Biocriminology' asks: Can the brain create a short circuit to violence? //jah-VT97
In any event, the evidence does not suggest that biological factors completely determine a child's or an adult's ultimate behavior, stressed Dr. Cromwell of UT-Permian Basin. People with particular biological predispositions may be more likely to commit violent crimes. Whether those people actually commit crimes depends on how much their socialization insulates them from that biochemical urge, he emphasized.

ISABEL WILKERSON, The New York Times, May 16, 1994, Monday, Late Edition - Final, SECTION: Section A; Page 1; Column 1; National Desk, HEADLINE: 2 Boys, a Debt, a Gun, a Victim: The Face of Violence, SERIES: When Trouble Starts Young: Second report in a periodic series //jah-VT97
Some criminologists say that none of these ideas will work as long as children continue to grow up in social conditions that breed violence. "We're fighting the wrong enemy," said Dr. Barry Krisberg, a criminologist and sociologist who is president of the National Council on Crime and Delinquency a crime research organization in San Francisco. "We're blaming the kids. We should be fighting the gun lobby, the people pushing drugs and alcohol to kids and violence on television. We seem to think that with a little tinkering we can solve the structural displacement of an entire class of people. We're not doing anything about the family breakdown and economic marginality and hopelessness of the people."

 SOCIAL CONDITIONS SHOULD BE BLAMED FOR VIOLENCE NOT BIOLOGICAL CONDITIONS

SHERYL STOLBERG, TIMES MEDICAL WRITER, Los Angeles Times, December 30, 1993, SECTION: Part A; Page 1; HEADLINE: FEAR CLOUDS SEARCH FOR GENETIC ROOTS OF VIOLENCE //jah-VT97
"We know what causes violence in our society: poverty, discrimination, the failure of our educational system," says Dr. Paul Billings, a clinical geneticist at Stanford University who has spoken out against such research. It is not the genes that cause violence in our society. It's our social system."

BIOCRIM IGNORES ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS OF CRIME

Washington, (Harriet A., Article Title: Genetic Research Might Engineer Genocide Publication Name: Emerge Volume & Number: V. V; N. Vl) March 31,1994, Page: p. 19 // ms-VT97
In doing this, they all but ignore flagrant but hard-to-quantify environmental factors such as poverty, malnutrition, overcrowding, ignorance and environmental poisons in their attempt to trace the roots of crime, mental and physical illnesses directly to the gene.

BIOLOGICAL EXPLANATIONS FOR CRIME ARE FLAWED

THERE IS NO GENETIC BASIS OF VIOLENCE

George Yancy, Dec 21, 1993 Staffwriter and Yale Philosopher (Article Title: Black violent behavior not connected to genetics Publication Name: Philadelphia Tribune, Volume & Number: V. 111; N. 3Page: p. 3-B) // ms-VT97 
But there is no biological necessity propelling such behavior. Sure, we do possess the biochemical capacity to act violently. But the sudden production of adrenaline, testosterone, etc. is not under the sole management of a set of genetic switches. As with our sexuality, manifestations of violent behavior are fundamentally shaped by social and cultural influences.

 NO GENETIC CRIMINAL PREDISPOSITION EXISTS BETWEEN PARENTS AND CHILDREN

Jennifer A. Nagorka, Dallas Morning News, Chicago Tribune, September 29, 1989, TEMPO; Pg.1; ZONE: C, HEADLINE: Killer chemistry ' Biocriminology' asks: Can the brain create a short circuit to violence? //jah-VT97
Only one recent study, published in 1984, gave relatively convincing evidence that children can inherit a tendency toward crime. The University of Southern California's Dr. Sarnoff Mednick compared the rate of all criminal convictions of 14,427 adoptees with that of their biological and adoptive parents. About 14 percent of the adopted sons were convicted of crimes regardless of either set of parents' criminal status. But when biological parents had criminal records, 20 percent of the sons had been convicted. The researchers, however, found no connection between biological parents' violent crime convictions and those of the adoptees.

MANY FLAWS DISCREDIT BIOLOGICAL STUDIES

Jennifer A. Nagorka, Dallas Morning News, Chicago Tribune, September 29, 1989, TEMPO; Pg.1; ZONE: C, HEADLINE: Killer chemistry ' Biocriminology' asks: Can the brain create a short circuit to violence? // jah-VT97
No one knows precisely how to interpret these studies. Some biocriminological studies appear sturdy at first glance, but Under closer scrutiny appear ready to crumble. Some flaws are unavoidable: in almost every study that uses convicted criminals, the subjects are male. That's because most violent offenders are male. Moreover, many crimes are not reported and many criminals are not arrested; or, if arrested, not convicted; or, if convicted, they have plea-bargained so that the actual crimes committed are not recorded.

 BIOLOGY IS NOT THE CAUSE OF VIOLENT CRIMES -- THERE IS NO CAUSE AND EFFECT

Jennifer A. Nagorka, Dallas Morning News, Chicago Tribune, September 29, 1989, Friday, NORTH SPORTS FINAL EDITION, SECTION: TEMPO; Pg. 1; ZONE: C, HEADLINE: Killer chemistry ' Biocriminology' asks: Can the brain create a short circuit to violence? //jah-VT97
Confounding the ethical debate is the inconclusiveness of these studies. Many are hindered by small sample sizes, a lack of "normal" populations for comparison, or an unproven connection between the physical trait studied and the behavioral outcome. Most people with these characteristics do not commit violent crimes. "None of this is cause and effect," cautioned Dr. Diana Fishbein, a professor of criminal justice at the Llniversity of Baltimore. "It places you at risk. Biology is not completely responsible."

AFFIRMATIVE ANSWERS FOR BIOCRIMINOLOGY

DISCOUNTING BIOLOGY PREVENTS ANY CHANGE IN CRIME RATE

STEVE CONNOR, The Independent, March 8,1994, Tuesday SECTION: FEATURE PAGE; Page 19, HEADLINE: Crimes of violence: Birth of a solution //jah-VT97
Adrian Raine, professor of psychology at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, and a former Home Office criminologist, believes the work demonstrates the importance of understanding the biological factors that underpin the reasons why some boys turn into a violent criminals. Without such understanding, the short, sharp shock therapy of politicians who have to be seen to be doing something will get nowhere. "If we completely discount biology we'll never be able to do anything that will impact the crime rate. That's why those sort of initiatives will fail," he says.

 BIOLOGY MUST BE INTEGRATED WITH UNDERSTANDING OF SOCIAL RISK FAILURE OF THE LAST 50 YEARS PROVES SOCIAL CONDITIONS ALONE DO NOT PROVIDE ANSWERS

Deborah Blum, Bee Science Writer, Sacramento Bee, March 20,1994, METRO Final, SECTION: MAIN NEWS; Pg. A1, HEADLINE: SCIENTISTS EXPLORE BIOLOGY'S ROLE IN VIOLENCE //jah-VT97
But Raine also argues that trying to tackle crime through social intervention, without understanding the biology of the behavior, clearly fails. "We've been trying for 50 years to stop crime with social programs and we've gotten nowhere," he says. "I'm not saying biology is the only factor. But we're going to have to integrate it with our understanding of social risk to make a difference."

BIOLOGICAL RESEARCH SHOWS THAT ACTION TO DECREASE VIOLENT CRIME IS A RISK FREE REALITY

STEVE CONNOR, The Indepondent, March 8, 1994, Tuesday SECTION: FEATURE PAGE; Page 19, HEADLINE: Crimes of violence: Birth of a solution
//jah-VT97
The importance of Professor Raine's research is that it shows there is something positive that can be done to address a root cause of violent crime. "It's not true at-all that criminals are born not made," he says. " These biological deficits can be produced by environmental factors such as birth complications, head injuries and child abuse. These are environmental factors that can be changed. Biology is not destiny, we can do something about it."

 FINDING THE BiOLOGY-VIOLENCE CONNECTION WiLL ENHANCE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF (CRIME PREVENTION AND REHABILITATION STRATEGIES

Jennifer A. Nagorka, Dallas Morning News, Chicago Tribune, September 29, 1989, Friday, NORTH SPORTS FINAL EDITION, SECTION: TEMPO; Pg. 1; ZONE: C, HEADLINE: Killer chemistry ' Biocriminology' asks: Can the brain create a short circuit to violence? //jah-VT97
Listed like this, the results take on a carnival side-show triviality. But the implications of biocriminology are enormous. If researchers _ could pinpoint physical anomalies common to violent criminals, then biologists, social workers and psychiatrists could create more e effective crime prevention and offender rehabilitation strategies. Children displaying these abnormalities could be monitored from an early age and receive special counseling to help them steer away from violence. "We would know children have this problem and would need more support in overcoming it," said Elizabeth Kandel, a doctoral candidate in psychology at the University of Southern California, in Los Angeles. "It's like dyslexia; you support the child more and this prevents them from becoming a problem."

THERE IS NO TRUTH TO WORRIES OF TREATING VIOLENCE GENE WITH DRUGS

Jamie Talan. STAFF WRITER, Newsday, October 9, 1992, Friday, NASSAU AND SUFFOLK Edition, SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 17, HEADLINE: Controversy Over Violence Studies; Federal initiatives called racist by some // jah-VT97
"There is no truth to the allegation that anyone at NIH is supporting research looking for a violence gene," Sullivan said. "We do support behavioral research on many things, including violence. All studies must pass ethical review boards to make sure they are free of bias. There is no plan to put black young men on drugs to control a violence gene. The mere suggestion is preposterous, outrageous and has no basis in fact."

NIGHTMARE SCENARIOS ARE MERELY THE IMAGINATION OF UNINFORMED CRITICS

SHERYL STOLBERG, TIMES MEDICAL WRITER, Los Angeles Times, December 30, 1993, Part A; Page 1; HEADLINE: FEAR CLOUDS SEARCH FOR GENETIC ROOTS OF VIOLENCE//jah-VT97
"Our critics paint these nightmare scenarios based on their own imaginations . . . that somewhere there is a bogyman who wants to immediately start drugging people, and I don't see that," he said. "I think that we have a very significant problem with interpersonal violent behavior. And it behooves US, if we are serious about this, to try to Understand how to prevent it." -- Dr. Markku Linnoila, who believes that science may be able to find some clues to violence.

SOFT APPROACH TO JUVENILE CRIME CAUSES A NEW CRIME WAVE

A. AFFIRMATIVE ADVOCATES LESS HARSH PUNISHMENT AND A SOFTER APPROACH TO JUVENILE CRIME

B. SOFT APPROACH TO JUVENILE CRIME IS THE REASON WE HAVE THE PROBLEM NOW

Joseph Perkins, columnist for The San Diego Union-Tribune, The Commercial Appeal (Memphis), November 30, 1995, Pg. 10A, HEADLINE: Coping with teen violence // acs-VT97
     It's because underage offenders are handled with kid gloves in most criminal cases that America is faced with an epidemic of juvenile crime. Indeed, the FBI reported last week that, even as the overall violent-crime rate improved slightly in 1994, the number of teenagers arrested for violent crimes jumped 7 percent.

C. CONSENSUS OF EXPERTS AGREE -- WITHOUT A HARDER APPROACH JUVENILE CRIME WILL SPIRAL OUT OF CONTROL

ERNEST VAN DEN HAAG, Prof. Univ. Chicago, 1994; NATIONAL REVIEW, May 30; "How to cut crime" // ms-VT97 p.32
Whenever the risks of punishment fall, the crime rates rises.

Mike Males and Faye Docuyanan, social ecology doctoral students at the University of California, Irvine, The Progressive, February, 1996, Pg. 24; HEADLINE: Giving up on the young; // acs-VT97
     But today's reigning criminal-justice experts - UCLA's James Q. Wilson, Northwestern's James Allen Fox, Princeton's John D'Iulio, former Robert Kennedy aide Adam Walinsky - dismiss poverty as a cause of youth violence. Instead, they talk about an insidious culture of poverty, and they argue relentlessly that only more cops and more prisons will bring down juvenile crime. Instead of proposing more money for alleviating poverty or for crime prevention, they want more law enforcement - at a cost of tens of billions of dollars.

LINK: LIBERAL SOFT APPROACHES INCREASE JUVENILE CRIME

Frank Gilleeny, Citrus County Juvenile Justice Council, St. Petersburg Times, January 31, 1996, Pg. 2, HEADLINE: Make officials work for you in fight against youth crime //acs-VT97
      Juvenile crime is at an epidemic proportion locally and nationally. I don't want to see our county follow in the footsteps of liberal cities like New York, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Miami. Crime runs rampant in those cities because of the liberal way of confronting deviant, illicit behavior.

Frank Gilleeny, Citrus County Juvenile Justice Council, St. Petersburg Times, January 31, 1996, Pg. 2, HEADLINE: Make officials work for you in fight against youth crime //acs-VT97
      Liberalism engenders crime by not enforcing the tough laws that already exist. Liberalism dilutes law and order with frivolous lawsuits and stays of executions and by using the U.S. Constitution to protect the rights of the criminal, forgetting the victims. Liberalism is a disease and like all diseases it must be removed. Prevention, along with swift and certain punishment for crimes committed, are the only answers.

LINK: SOFT TREATMENT FOR SOME CRIMES LEADS JUVENILES TO COMMIT MORE SERIOUS CRIMES IN RESPONSE

John J. Dilulio, Prof. Politics Princeton University; FEBRUARY 28, 1996, Federal News Service, Before The Senate Judiciary Committee Fill Churches, Not Jails: Youth Crime And "Superpredators" // acs-VT97
     Unless we close the revolving door on juvenile crime, we will close the coffin on more juveniles. The moral message that the present system sends to kids who are struggling to do the right thing is, "You're on your own. Nobody cares. You're a sucker." That's the message they get when they witness the nation's 600,000 street gangsters controlling their streets, and whey they see death-dealing drug dealers arrested one day and back on the streets the next. The lesson they learn is, "If the superpredators can't be beat, why not join them." 

DENNIS McLELLAN, TIMES STAFF WRITER, Los Angeles Times, April 24, 1996, Part E; Page 1; HEADLINE: SPEAKING UP; 'NO MATTER HOW LOUD I SHOUT'... IS BEING HEARD. // acs-VT97
     Goldsmith agrees.
 "There is no question the front end is where the key breakdown in the system is," he said. "Offenders go through the system, and it almost lulls them into a sense of security, that it's OK to commit a crime."
 What's needed, he said, is "personal attention, intervention and consequencesfor the act at a very early stage. When there is none, the wrong message goes out."

DENNIS McLELLAN, TIMES STAFF WRITER, Los Angeles Times, April 24, 1996, Part E; Page 1; HEADLINE: SPEAKING UP; 'NO MATTER HOW LOUD I SHOUT'... IS BEING HEARD. // acs-VT97
     Probation officers frequently carry caseloads of more than 200 juveniles, which results in minor offenders--the kids most likely to respond to supervision--getting the least amount of attention.
 "The problem is it's a built-in lesson to the first-time offenders: 'I can commit a crime and they won't even check up on me,' " Humes said.
 That's a lesson, he said, that is repeated over and over.
 "Young people enter the system for relatively minor crimes, and it gets them very little attention, very little supervision from the court or the probation department," he said. "It basically asks them to straighten out on their own. Ifthey were capable of that, they wouldn't be in the system in the first place."

National Public Radio, SHOW: All Things Considered, January 27, 1996, Transcript # 2105-1, HEADLINE: Should Juveniles Be Tried As Adults? //acs-VT97
     JERRY KILGORE, Secretary of Public Safety, VA: As a prosecutor in juvenile court for two years prior to coming to the administration, I recognize that juveniles came to court on a daily basis, and juveniles realized we couldn't do anything with them, that we had a limited array of sanctions and- which usually did not include sentencing the juvenile as an adult. 
DANIEL ZWERDLING: You saw a lot of violent offenders who basically said, 'Hey, I'm only going to get six months or a year. I don't have to worry about this crime.' 
JERRY KILGORE: Right. They- they realized there weren't consequences for their behavior. 

LINK: WE MUST INCARCERATE MORE JUVENILES TO STOP JUVENILE CRIME

Judy Sheindlin, experienced juvenile court judge, New York Law Journal, February 9, 1996, Friday; Pg. 2, HEADLINE: Don't Pee on My Leg and Tell Me It's Raining // acs-VT97
     Hard time is good. Good time is a joke. Let us reward those who do the right thing, but keep those who are not motivated behind bars for their full term.

John J. Dilulio, Prof. Politics Princeton University; FEBRUARY 28, 1996, Federal News Service, Before The Senate Judiciary Committee Fill Churches, Not Jails: Youth Crime And "Superpredators" // acs-VT97
     No one relishes the thought of locking up more juveniles. But it must be done. The federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) should be directed to assist the states in securely, humanly, and cost-effectively incarcerating kids who criminally violate the life, liberty, and property of others. OJJDP and the rest of the federal juvenile justice establishment needs to get out of its anti-incarceration time warp, or at least get out of the way of state efforts to crack down on violent juvenile offenders. Of course, how many juvenile jails we need will depend largely on how many of today's at-risk 4- to 7-year-old boys become the next century's first crop of 14- to 17-year-old superpredators. And that, in turn, will depend greatly on how much local, community-level, and faith-based institutions do to save these children--and the rest of us--before it's too late. 

John J. Dilulio, professor at Princeton, Chicago Tribune, December 15, 1995; Pg. 31; HEADLINE: MORAL POVERTY // acs-VT97
     Between 1985 and 1991, the number of juveniles in custody increased from 49,000 to nearly 58,000. By my estimate, we will probably need to incarcerate at least 150,000 juvenile criminals in the years just ahead. In deference to public safety, we will have little choice but to pursue genuine get-tough law-enforcement strategies against the superpredators.

GEORGE STUTEVILLE, THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR, January 6, 1996, Pg. D01, HEADLINE: Mayor says prison would deter teen crime //acs-VT97
      "The overall message here is that prisons - getting offenders, both adult and juvenile, off the streets - is effective," the mayor said. [Indianapolis Mayor Stephen Goldsmith]

Mike Males and Faye Docuyanan, social ecology doctoral students at the University of California, Irvine, The Progressive, February, 1996, Pg. 24; HEADLINE: Giving up on the young; // acs-VT97
     "For that incorrigible 25 percent of youth offenders), prisons may be the only way to go," says Harry Hartmann of the L.A. Office of Education. "It's really hard for them to change." In California in 1994, 140,000 persons under the age of twenty were arrested for felonies - including one out of five black males, and one in ten Hispanic males ages sixteen through nineteen. If even one-tenth of that number must be imprisoned more or less permanently, the state's minority teenage male population will require four new prisons every year to contain them.

MCCOLLUM, House of Rep member, APRIL  30, 1996, Federal News Service, THE HOUSE ECONOMIC AND EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES COMMITTEE SUBCOMMITTEE ON EARLY CHILDHOOD, YOUTH AND FAMILIES // acs-VT97
     Second, violent crimes must be punished with appropriate penalties. Juveniles convicted of violent crimes should receive substantial time in secure confinement, with nopossibility of parole, as a matter of justice and public safety. The offender's age should be taken into consideration at the time of sentencing. 

Roanoke Times & World News, January 21, 1996, Pg. F2, HEADLINE: PREVENTING YOUTH CRIME - BUT HOW? //acs-VT97
     Everyone opposes juvenile crime, of course, but not everyone agrees on how best to combat it: Focus on prevention or on punishment?
 A crime prevented is obviously preferable to a crime unprevented and subsequently (and expensively) punished. But this prevention-punishment distinction, while often useful, also can oversimplify. Sometimes, for example, punishment is prevention, as when habitual violent criminals are given long prison terms that restrict their opportunities to commit more crimes.

John DiIulio, professor of politics Princeton University, The Ledger, March 23, 1996, Pg. A11, HEADLINE: Lock 'em Up Or Else Huge Wave Of Criminally Inclined Coming In Next 10 Years // acs-VT97
     But there are many who cannot or will not be saved. That's just a fact. For that reason we also have to get serious about restraint. We cannot even deal with the current situation, much less what's coming, unless we start treating juveniles the way we're supposed to be treating adults. In 1992 there were more than 110,000 juvenile arrests for violent crimes, and nearly 17 times that number for other crimes. Yet we had only 51,000 juveniles on any given day in secure confinement.
I don't see any alternative to incarcerating more juvenile offenders over the next five to seven years; conservatively, I would estimate that we're going to need to place 150,000 to 200,000 kids 18 and under in secure confinement.

LINK: WITH MORE OPTIONS AND PROGRAMS THE JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM IS A REVOLVING DOOR

GEORGE STUTEVILLE, THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR, January 6, 1996, Pg. D01, HEADLINE: Mayor says prison would deter teen crime //acs-VT97
      Goldsmith's observations echoed those by the council's co-chairman, William J. Bennett, who said that citizens are victimized by criminals who are let back into society under a "revolving door" criminal justice system.

Joyce Price; The Washington Times, January 6, 1996, Pg. A2, HEADLINE: Surge predicted in juvenile crime ; Rising youth population a time bomb //acs-VT97
      "Revolving-door justice is a reality" among criminals who are sent to jail, the report says. It found that about a third of those arrested for violent crimes, such as murder, rape, robbery and assault, are "on probation, parole or pretrial release."
 The report says the juvenile justice system is the "first revolving door." [Council on Crime in America]

PENNY BENDER; Gannett News Service, March 7, 1996, HEADLINE: More jails cells for juveniles lead to more crime, experts warn // acs-VT97
     Juvenile and Domestic Relations Judge Dale B. Harris has one recurring thought when she punishes delinquents: "No matter where you send them today, they are coming back."

John DiIulio, professor of politics Princeton University, The Ledger, March 23, 1996, Pg. A11, HEADLINE: Lock 'em Up Or Else Huge Wave Of Criminally Inclined Coming In Next 10 Years // acs-VT97
     The facts and figures support what average Americans believe: A big part of our problem comes from revolving door justice. In 1992 there were about 10.3 million violent crimes committed. That translated into 641,000 arrests and about 165,000 convictions, 90 percent of which resulted in plea bargains. The 100,000 or so criminals finally sent to state prisons were to serve less than half of their actual sentence.

IMPACT: TOUGHER POLICIES WILL REDUCE JUVENILE CRIME

ERNEST VAN DEN HAAG, Prof. Univ. Chicago, 1994; NATIONAL REVIEW, May 30; "How to cut crime" // ms-VT97 p.32
Prisons are costly (between $25,000 and $40,000 a year per inmate). Many are unnecessarily luxurious, with TV sets and elaborate gyms. However, they should not be deprived of work. Currently only busy work with disincentive wages is available in most state prisons. Even if they were paid reasonable wages (from which taxes and room and board could be deducted) working prisoners would be less expensive than they are now. However, even at present costs prisons are a bargain. The additional crimes that would be committed if fewer people were in prison cost far more to the victims and to society than imprisonment does -- not to speak of moral costs.

National Public Radio, SHOW: All Things Considered, January 27, 1996, Transcript # 2105-1, HEADLINE: Should Juveniles Be Tried As Adults? //acs-VT97
     JERRY KILGORE, Secretary of Public Safety, VA: You know, our tough sentences have helped on the adult side. Last year, we increased our sentences for adults by 100 to 500 percent for violent crimes. We need to send that same message to the juveniles, that if you commit a violent crime, there are real consequences for this behavior. 

EDITORIAL, THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC, January 16, 1996; Pg. B4, HEADLINE: CRIME STUDY; TOUGH MEASURES WORK //acs-VT97
     WHY is it that most Americans support tough measures against crime, including long, mandatory prison terms for violent felons and laws that put away repeat offenders for the rest of their lives?
 There's probably lots of answers to that question, but suffice it to say that most Americans turn to good, old common sense as the foundation for their beliefs about the value of harsh penalties for violent offenders.
A new study by a bipartisan commission confirms the public's intuition. Chaired by former Carter administration Attorney General Griffin Bell and William Bennett, George Bush drug-war czar, the Council on Crime in America concludes that "the common sense of the American people is right when it comes to crime: Tough law enforcement is part of the solution, not the problem."

GEORGE STUTEVILLE, THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR, January 6, 1996, Pg. D01, HEADLINE: Mayor says prison would deter teen crime //acs-VT97
      Bennett said recent reports of a reduced murder rate in New York City and Houston underscore the effectiveness of incarceration.

Nick Gillespie, senior editor of Reason magazine & Joseph Overton, Mackinac Center for Public Policy, The Detroit News, April 21, 1996, HEADLINE: Swift punishment deters juvenile crime // acs-VT97
     "If every community could deal quickly with offenders and foster an atmosphere of certainty of punishment," says Midland County Probate Court Judge Donna Morris, "we could make a difference." The reforms needed to make that happen come neither easily nor cheaply, but they are effective.

William Raspberry. Washington Post Writers Group, Chicago Tribune, January 23, 1996; Pg. 13; HEADLINE: DO WE NEED TO BUILD PRISONS? //acs-VT97
      BODY: The faucet is broken, the drainpipe clogged, and the overflow from the bathtub is coming through your living room ceiling, threatening tyo ruin the furniture. So what should a rational homeowner do?
 That, I think, is a fair analogy of the debate John J. DilIulio Jr. touched off last week with his New York Times op-ed piece on the value of prisons. The Princeton professor of politics and public affairs made this interesting point: "It costs society at least twice as much to let a prisoner loose than to lock him up. Compared with the human and financial toll of revolving-door justice, prisons are a real bargain."

PUNISHMENT NEEDS TO BE SWIFT AND SEVERE

Jerry Griffin, a captain with the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office, holds a doctor's degree in education, TULSA WORLD, February 18, 1996; Pg. G2; HEADLINE: Make Punishment Swift and Sure // acs-VT97
     To be effective, punishments must have a high degree probability of being imposed (sure), and they must be enacted within a reasonable amount of time after the actions that inspired them (swift). And once they have been fairly and justly imposed they must not be tampered with except for extraordinary reasons.

MCCOLLUM, House of Rep member, APRIL 30, 1996, Federal News Service, THE HOUSE ECONOMIC AND EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES COMMITTEE SUBCOMMITTEE ON EARLY CHILDHOOD, YOUTH AND FAMILIES // acs-VT97
     State Juvenile Justice Reform As states seek to implement accountability-based reforms within their juvenile justice systems, it is essential that two principles guide their efforts. First,there must be a sanction for every crime. As noted criminologist James Q. Wilsonobserves, "There ought to be penalties from the earliest offense...so that juveniles are treated by the state the same way we treat our children. You don'tignore the fact that they're wrecking the house until they finally burn it down.You try to deal with it right away." Too many "minor" crimes by young offenders, such as truancy and vandalism, are tolerated by law enforcers, sending the message that there is no sanction for illegal behavior. Such wrongdoing left unaddressed may be a precursor to more serious crimes. Every offender must pay for his criminal actions. While sanctions for less violent crimes will vary, and in the majority of cases not involve incarceration, these punishments must nevertheless communicate the basicmessage that punishment will be imposed every time an offender is caught and convicted. 

WE NEED TO PUNISH VIOLENT JUVENILE CRIMINALS LIKE ADULTS

National Public Radio, SHOW: All Things Considered, January 27, 1996, Transcript # 2105-1, HEADLINE: Should Juveniles Be Tried As Adults? //acs-VT97
     JERRY KILGORE, Secretary of Public Safety, VA: Well, my decision comes from previous experience as a prosecutor, and I firmly believe, politics aside, that trying juveniles and giving prosecutors greater opportunity to try juveniles as adults and bring adult sanctions to those juveniles will bring accountability, responsibility and lower crime rates to the commonwealth. 

GEORGE STUTEVILLE, THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR, January 6, 1996, Pg. D01, HEADLINE: Mayor says prison would deter teen crime //acs-VT97
     Violent crimes in the future can be deterred only if juvenile offenders know they will receive punishment for the crimes they commit now, Indianapolis Mayor Stephen Goldsmith said Friday.
 Speaking before the national Council on Crime in America, which released a disturbing study of criminal violence in the United States, Goldsmith said the nation's juvenile courts should consider Saturday giving mandatory sentences to young felons in the same way violent adults are punished.

Mike Males and Faye Docuyanan, social ecology doctoral students at the University of California, Irvine, The Progressive, February, 1996, Pg. 24; HEADLINE: Giving up on the young; // acs-VT97
     And it's not just the states. It's the Clinton Administration, too. The New York Times reported in December that "proposals by the Administration would allow more access to juvenile records and give federal prosecutors discretion to charge serious juvenile offenders as adults."

Sharon Mack, BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE), April 24, 1996, HEADLINE: The age of the Super Predator Mainers say soaring juvenile crime portends need for system overhaul // acs-VT97
     Portland Police Chief Mike Chitwood 
 "America's juvenile system is based on rehabilitation. Many argue that has backfired," said Chitwood. "Serious repeat offenders should not be allowed back on our streets. They should be treated as adults. "

Nick Gillespie, senior editor of Reason magazine & Joseph Overton, Mackinac Center for Public Policy, The Detroit News, April 21, 1996, HEADLINE: Swift punishment deters juvenile crime // acs-VT97
     As Peter W. Greenwood of the RAND Corp. notes, "studies of responses to punishment suggest that initial low levels of punishment and gradual escalation desensitize subjects and make them less likely to respond." Former Kent County Probate Court Judge Randall Hekman, now executive director of the Michigan Family Forum, agrees: "If courts would respond decisively to offenders -- even on the first offense -- many potential offenders will be deterred from beginning careers in criminal activity. Furthermore, the certainty of punishment is probably a greater deterrent than the severity of punishment."
 Juvenile crime will respond to the same thing that works with "adult" crime: raising the costs of criminal behavior, thereby making it less attractiveas an alternative to lawful behavior.

NET WIDENING DISADVANTAGE

A. JUVENILE PROGRAMS ARE ESPECIALLY PRONE TO NET WIDENING

CHARLES FRAZIER, Prof. Sociology Univ. of Florida, April, 1992; CRIME & DELINQUENCY, "Reducing juvenile detention rates" // jah-VT97 p. 204
 Whenever reform initiatives designed to reduce a population under state control are introduced, a risk exists that an opposite effect will occur. Through faulty design, faulty implementation, or because of other broader social forces, laws and policies designed to produce a decrease in the population under control may in fact result in an increase. When this occurs in the general area of juvenile justice programs, it is commonly referred to as "net widening." Net widening can be defined as extending the use of a certain program beyond its intended target population (see Morris 1976; Blomberg 1980; Frazier, Richards, and Potter 1983; Esbensen 1984; Bynum and Greene 1984, for discussions of the concept). A substantial literature, especially in the area of juvenile diversion, warning of net widening as a possible undesirable outcome, has developed over the last 2 decades and there is now general awareness of it among both academics and practitioners (Klein 1976, 1979; Decker 1984). 

B. NET WIDENING INCREASES THE SEVERITY OF SOCIAL CONTROL OVER INDIVIDUALS

MAEVE McMAHON Canada research fellow in centre of criminology, U of Toronto, 1992, The Persistent Prison? - Rethinking decarceration and penal reform // TEC-VT97 p. 32
 As the process of 'widening the net' is said to have been accompanied by that of 'thinning the mesh,' the predominant image is that of a system in perpetual expansion: deviants are continually subjected to new, more intense and pervasive forms of control that are woven into, and beyond, traditional institutional networks of penal control (Austin and Krisberg 1981; Blomberg 1980; Chan and Ericson 1981; Cohen 1979a, 1983, 1985; Lowman, Isfenzies, and Palys 1987; Muncie and Coventry 1989; Scull 1984; Van Dusen 1981). 

C. ENHANCED SOCIAL CONTROL CREATES THE CONDITIONS FOR REVOLUTION, WAR, AND GENOCIDE

JONATHAN SIMON, Prof. Law Univ. Miami, 1993; POOR DISCIPLINE: PAROLE AND THE SOCIAL CONTROL OF THE UNDERCLASS // jah-VT97
It is a peculiar form of government. Politically it is bereft of self government rights. Legally it involves diminution of the general constitutional protections against searches and seizures by the police. Beyond the formal institutions of government, however, the situation gets even grimmer The poverty zones are left unsecured and unregulated by the post industrial economy and its forms of mass surveillance. As their involvement with the labor market has been attenuated and their involvement with the criminal justice system intensified, the new urban poor are being separated into a distinct political society (as the term "underclass" itself seems to express). In the course of human events, such divisions of political society have invariably lead to revolutions, civil wars, and genocides.

LINK: "DESTRUCTURING" THROUGH DIVERSION AND DEINSTITUTIONALIZATION LEADS TO A WIDENING OF THE NET OF SOCIAL CONTROL

KENNETH POLK, Prof. Criminology Univ. Melbourne (Australia), 1987; CRIME & DELINQUENCY, July, "When less means more" // ch-VT97 p. 358
 In his Visions of Social Control Cohen (1985) argues that a major feature of criminal justice in recent years has been the move toward "destructuring," including within this term the various attempts to reduce the scope and reach of formal criminal justice processes through ,p such procedures as decriminalization, diversion, or institutionalization. At the same time, Cohen finds that something has gone terribly wrong between the initial theory and the actual implementation of these attempts to narrow the justice process. Rather than decreasing the volume of the Justice system, there has been instead a widening of the net of control.

STEVEN LAB. Prof. Criminal Justice Bowling Green State Univ., October, 1993; CRIME & DELINQUENCY, "Evaluation of juvenile sexual offender treatment" // jah-VT97 p. 552
 Attention has only recently been focused on juvenile sexual offenders, and neither research nor practice has advanced very far. Unfortunately, attempts at intervention have far exceeded the knowledge base upon which they should be based. In the rush to do something about juvenile sexual offending, social control agencies have supported the growth of treatment programs based primarily on faith and pod intentions. The outcome has been the growth of new treatment modalities that might be extending the net of social control over many youths who might not need help. This outcome is not much different from that found in many past efforts of the criminal and juvenile justice systems to offer help through dubious diversion and treatment programs. Once again, practice and policy has placed the cart before the horse. Too many assumptions abound that something needs to be done, that we can adequately identify who needs help, that we know the cause(s) of the problem behavior, and that we know what treatment is appropriate and which will work. Most of these assumptions are premature. The current claims for juvenile sexual offender programs should be modest and viewed as exploration, not as proven treatment. Clearly, there is a great deal of work to do in the areas of distinguishing between normal sexual experimentation and offenses, assessing future risk, and identifying treatment that reduces recidivism. 

SOFTLINE CHANGES DO WIDEN THE NET

John Irwin and James Austin 1994 (professor emeritus, San Francisco state Univ.; national council on crime and delinquency) It's About Time: America's imprisonment Binge // tec-VT97 p. 171
 Many methods of reducing prison populations have been advocated. Some argue that certain classes of felony crimes should be ' reclassified as misdemeanors or decriminalized completely. In the late 1960s, there was a great deal of support to do this for many minor drug offenses. Others claim that a significant number of those convicted of felonies could be diverted from prison to probation and new forms of alternatives to prison, including intensive probation, house arrest, electronic surveillance, and greater use of fines and restitution. We are persuaded, however, that these "front-end" reforms would not substantially reduce prison crowding. Historically, well intentioned alternatives have had marginal impact on reducing prison populations. Instead, they have had the unintended consequence of widening the net of criminal justice by imposing more severe sanctions on people who otherwise would not be sentenced to prison. Moreover, they have little support with public officials, who, like the public, are increasingly disenchanted with probation and other forms of community sanction.

DESTRUCTURING WIDENS THE NET

KENNETH POLK, Prof. Criminology Univ. Melbourne (Australia), 1987; CRIME & DELINQUENCY, July, "When less means more" // ch-VT97 p. 361
 Those reviews that carefully examine the full]] range of information regarding the systemic as well] as the individual effects of destructuring `,,'`. programs seem to be uniform in their pessimistic conclusion that rather than limiting the reach of justice or correctional processes, the actual] results appear to be widening of the net of social control.

HUGH BARLOW, Prof. So Illinois, 1987; JOURNAL OF CRIMINAL LAW & CRIMINOLOGY, "Stanley Cohen on Crime Control // ch-VT97 p. 433
 Drawing on the works of Austin and Krisberg, Hylton, Lerman, and Klein, Cohen describes how the destructuring movement has actually expanded and strengthened the crime control net.

ALTERNATIVES INCREASE NET WIDENING

MAEVE McMAHON Canada research fellow in centre of criminology, U of Toronto, 1992, The Persistent Prison? - Rethinking decarceration and penal reform // TEC-VT97 pp. 62-63
 What I wish to point out is that 'net-widening, in terms of correctional population counts, is by definition a feature of community alternative imprisonment In this case, in the years prior to reform, if the jurisdiction had been sentencing 50,000 offenders a year to imprisonment, the average daily prison population (i.e., count) would have been about 4,247. But, subsequent to the first year of reform, when deinstitutionalization had now been successfully accomplished in 50 per cent of sentencing dispositions, with the other half being sentenced to the newly introduced alternative of probation, the average daily penal population would increase to 27,123, Specifically, there would be 25,000 probationers and 2,123 inmates in the system on any given day. In short, this 50 per cent reduction of prison population through the substitution of probation as an alternative would have increased the penal population count by 539 per cent Meanwhile, despite this enormous increase, not one 'extra' person would have been brought into the system- .. In what sense numerically does this result reflect 'net-widening'? Would analysts of community corrections argue that, in such a situation- ,, reform had not been accomplished in practice? Table 4.4 sets out the calculations underlying this analysis.

 ALTERNATIVES TO INCARCERATION INTRODUCE MANY NEW PEOPLE INTO THE CONTROL NET

MAEVE McMAHON Canada research fellow in centre of criminology, U of Toronto, 1992, The Persistent Prison? - Rethinking decarceration and penal reform // TEC-VT97 p. 32
In the course of this analytical strategy, the language and theme of net-widening have become prominent in depicting the scenario whereby alternatives become add-ons to pre-existing prison populations. Probation, parole, and other community programs have been said to have reduced liberty; and to have introduced many new people into the 'control net' (Matthews 1979: 115) 

DIVERSION AND DEINSTITUTIONALIZATION INCREASE THE TOTAL POPULATION UNDER SOCIAL CONTROL PROGRAMS

ROBERT L. WOODSON, PRESIDENT NATIONAL CENTER FOR NEIGHBORHOOD ENTERPRISE, HERITAGE FOUNDATION POLICY REVIEW, SUMMER 1982, SECTION:NO. 21; PG.73, HEADLINE: HELPING THE POOR HELP THEMSELVES // jah-VT97
The performance of the juvenile justice system reveals the same pattern of inertia, self-interest, and careless harm to young people who come under its authority. Diversion of youthful offenders from the juvenile justice system and deinstitutionalization of young offenders have been strongly urged to prevent the injury inherent in incarceration. Yet, even the father of the diversion policy, Edwin Lemert, openly admits it has failed because, in fact, no one has been diverted. From the start, diversion quickly took on the carnival aspect of a bait and switch game. Advocates of a liberal policy toward juvenile offenders tried to raise money for alternatives to jail by citing statistics on the rising rate of serious youth crime. Government and private donors were baited to give, with horror stories about the worst index offenders, but when the money appeared, the serious offender was ruled out of any new programs. In a quiet switch behind scenes, programs were created to include a new population altogether.

 ALTERNATIVES TO FORMAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM EXPAND THE NET OF SOCIAL CONTROL

MAEVE McMAHON Canada research fellow in centre of criminology, U of Toronto, 1992, The Persistent Prison? - Rethinking decarceration and penal reform // TEC-VT97 p. 32-33
Again, Cohen (1985: 44) has provided an adroit specification of these key images. According to him, with the development of alternatives
(I ) there is an increase in the total number of deviants getting into the system in the first place and many of these are new deviants who would not have been processed previously (wider nets).
 2) there is an increase in the overall intensity of intervention, with old and new deviants being subject to levels of intervention (including traditional institutionalization) which they might not have previously received (denser nets);
 (3) new agencies and services are supplementing rather than replacing the original set of control mechanisms (different nets). New control strategies invariably increase the severity of punishment and widen the net.

NEW CONTROL STRATEGIES INVARIABLY INCREASE THE SEVERITY OF PUNISHMENT AND WIDEN THE NET

MAEVE McMAHON Canada research fellow in centre of criminology, U of Toronto, 1992, The Persistent Prison? - Rethinking decarceration and penal reform // TEC-VT97 pp. 37-38
According to Roger Matthews (1979), for example: 'the introduction of parole, probation, indeterminate sentences, diversion programmes, and the whole array of recent control strategies have served, invariably, to increase lengths of incarceration, loss of liberty, or surveillance and to introduce many, particularly the young, into the control net for "offenses" that prior to the setting U p of such programmes would have gone unnoticed or seem to be inconsequential.

DIVERSION PROGRAMS RECEIVE CLIENTS PREVIOUSLY NOT FACED WITH INSERTION INTO THE JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM

KENNETH POLK, Prof. Criminology Univ. Melbourne (Australia), 1987; CRIME & DELINQUENCY, July, "When less means more" // jah-VT97
 It would be easier to take the comments of Binder and Geis more seriously if they had paid closer attention to the empirical record available on diversion After examining the profiles of clients in diversion programs available in a range of evaluation reports, Alder and Polk (1982), for example, came to the conclusion that while a few programs seemed to avoid net widening, in most of the agencies observed it seemed clear that clients being referred into diversion programs (and therefore brought under some form of control) were clients who previously would not have faced the threat of insertion into | the juvenile justice system. 

STANLEY COHEN, Prof. Criminology Hebrew Univ., 1985; VISIONS OF SOCIAL CONTROL // ch-VT97 p. 70
 But the word 'alternative' should alert us to the immediate problem of the new nets. The claim to be doing more good (or less harm) is somewhat less valid if the alternatives are not real alternatives at all, but supplements, The size and density evidence shows that many offenders are exposed to the new system in addition to traditional processing or else instead of not being processed at all.

LINK: COMMUNITY CORRECTIONS WIDENS THE NET OF SOCIAL CONTROL

COMMUNITY CORRECTIONS WIDEN THE NET

STANLEY COHEN, Prof. Criminology Hebrew Univ., 1985; VISIONS OF SOCIAL CONTROL // ch-VT97 p. 49
 This type of finding is duplicated throughout the research literature. The system overall expands relentlessly while the relative proportions sent to prison rather than community programmes declines (m that Canadian case, from two-thirds down to one- quarter over 18 years). The obvious inference then, strongly supported by correlational evidence, is that the use of community alternatives actually causes an overall system expansion which might not otherwise have occurred. The correlational logic is simple enough: if community programmes were replacing institutions, then systems high in community places would show a less-than-average use of institutions. But if community was supplementing institutions, then systems high in community would also have an above-average use of institutions and this is just what seems to be happening. community corrections increase the number of people--under the control of the criminal justice system

MAEVE McMAHON Canada research fellow in centre of criminology, U of Toronto, 1992, The Persistent Prison? - Rethinking decarceration and penal reform // TEC-VT97 p.32
 Similar messages about the limited effects of community corrections have repeatedly appeared in the critical literature. For example, Canadian authors Lowman, Menzies and Paly; (1937: 211) confidently state that, designed originally to provide a community alternative to incarceration ... these programmes have become a supplement to them. Instead of fewer individuals going to prison. there are new more than ever. And instead of directing individuals out of the criminal justice system, the new programmes have directed more people into it ... The bottom line, therefore, is that more and more individuals are becoming subject to the scrutiny and surveillance of criminal justice personnel.

STANLEY COHEN, Prof. Criminology Hebrew Univ., 1985; VISIONS OF SOCIAL CONTROL // ch-VT97 p. 44
 But all evidence here indicates failure—that in Britain Canada and the USA rates of incarceration are not at all declining and in some spheres are even increasing. Community control has supplemented rather than replaced traditional methods

LINK: ELECTRONIC MONITORING WIDENS THE NET OF SOCIAL CONTROL

HOUSE ARREST AND ELECTRONIC MONITORING WILL BE USED WHERE IT IS LEAST NEEDED THUS INCREASING NET OF SOCIAL CONTROL

Bonnie Berry and Roger Matthews, The Futurist, 'Electronic Monitoring and House arrest: Making the Right Connections" in Privatizing Criminal Justice, 1989, September, 1990, HEADLINE: Electronic monitoring of criminals.// jah-VT97
The electronic monitoring of criminal offenders under house arrest has gained increasing attention as a possible way to reduce prison overcrowding while lowering costs. However, two criminologists believe its potential is overrated. "The prevalent combination of house arrest and electronic monitoring is likely to be used where it is least needed, and ... for the large majority of those incarcerated it is largely irrelevant," write Bonnie Berry of Indiana University and Roger Matthews of Great Britain's Middlesex Polytechnic in Privatizing Criminal Justice, a recent collection of essays on criminology trends.

 ELECTRONIC MONITORING CAUSES NET WIDENING

Bonnie Berry and Roger Matthews, The Futurist, 'Electronic Monitoring and House arrest: Making the Right Connections" in Privatizing Criminal Justice, 1989, September, 1990, HEADLINE: Electronic monitoring of criminals.// jah-VT97
Another potential problem is net widening. The available evidence suggests that only three out of four of those given home confinement would actually have gone to prison. In the remaining quarter of cases the cost of electronic monitoring is probably added on to an existing probation or supervision order.

SIMPLICITY OF ELECTRONIC MONITORING WILL RESULT IN WIDESPREAD USE TO CONTROL MORE PEOPLE

Zondermman, Jon, 1990, Beyond the crime lab: The new science of investigation. //jah-VT97
 If anything, electronic-parole programs have erred on the side of being too conservative, even before the Horton publicity. By limiting eligibility to those convicted of misdemeanors and minor, nonviolent felony offenses, U.S. taxpayers may be paying more than we need to, since many of these people would play by the rules of traditional parole (which is cheaper). And the worst danger is that we will delude ourselves into thinking that, since this technology is simple, effective, and rather inexpensive, it should be used to punish any behavior that is mildly socially aberrant or offensive we could be allowing what is in effect minimum-security technology to help turn the country into a maximum-security society. 

LINK MULTIPLIER: ATTRACTIVE PROGRAMS WIDEN THE NET OF SOCIAL CONTROL

STANLEY COHEN, Prof. Criminology Hebrew Univ., 1985; VISIONS OF SOCIAL CONTROL // ch-VT97 p. 348
The paradox throughout all of this is that the more benign, the more attractive and successful the program is defined -- especially if it uses the shallow end principle, as most do -- the more it will be used and the wider it will cast its net.

ATTRACTIVENESS ENCOURAGE JUDGES TO INCREASE USE OF ALTERNATIVES

DAVID GREENBURG, Prof. Sociology NYU, 1975; ISSUES IN CRIMINOLOGY, Spring, "Problems in community corrections" // ch-VT97 p. 21
Another consequence of introducing new alternatives considered more humane than those presently available to judges will be an increase in their use.

STANLEY COHEN, Prof. Criminology Hebrew Univ., 1985; VISIONS OF SOCIAL CONTROL // ch-VT97
 All this ensures a steady clientele. And the more benign, attractive and successful the programme becomes defined cd, the more it will be used, the more staff and budgets will be needed and the wider it will cast its net.

JUDGES ARE ATTRACTED TO PROGRAMS, USE THEM TO WIDEN NET

FRANKLIN ZIMRING & GORDON HAWKINS, Profs. at Berkeley, 1991; THE SCALE OF IMPRISONMENT // NDI-VT97 p. 185
Moreover, as judges become more familiar with the programs, they may use them for defendants who would normally have been sentenced to probation with nominal supervision. Hence, rather than reducing crowding, the programs may in fact widen the net of social control.

STANLEY COHEN, Prof. Criminology Hebrew Univ., 1985; VISIONS OF SOCIAL 
CONTROL // ch-VT97 p. 98
It is by making the system appear less harsh, that people are encouraged top use it more often. Far from each benevolent intermediate option slowing down the career of delinquency, it facilitates, promotes, and accelerates it by making each consecutive decision easier to take: 'putting more rungs in the middle of the ladder makes it much easier to climb.'

 ANDREW SCULL, Prof. Univ. of Pennsylvania, 1984; DECARCERATION pp. 182-183 // ch-VT97 p. 182-3
 This outcome is in no sense an aberration. On the contrary, in "corrections" as in other social control systems, the more control comes to be legitimated in terms of diagnosis and treatment rather than rules, responsibility, and punishment, the more likely it is to intrude into the emotions, thought, and behavior of the individual and to be concerned with generalized behavioral problems rather than specific acts. The threat thus looms of a massive extension of official intervention into the lives who had previously escaped notice or attention - all under the guise of "helping" them. In fact, 'the more benign, attractive and successful the programme is defined as being, the more it will be used and the wider it will cast its net." 

 DESTRUCTURING CARRIES WITH IT THE INSTITUTIONALIZED PRACTICES OF THE FORMAL JUSTICE SYSTEM -- THUS EXPANDING THE NETWORK OF SOCIAL CONTROL

KENNETH POLK, Prof. Criminology Univ. Melbourne (Australia), 1987; CRIME & DELINQUENCY, July, "When less means more" // jah-VT97
 Destructuring can only be different, and make a difference, if it is guided by ideas that lead 15 'different practices if we find, consistently (as we do), that the "new"' destructuring programs merely carry over the old ideas and old practices , there is little reason to expect that these can do anything but expand the prevailing system of social control within which the ideas originate Destructu expand the network of social control precisely because it extends outward organizational practices, processes, and beliefs maintained by the formal justice and correctional system;]

IDEOLOGY OF INNOVATION INCREASES NET WIDENING

STANLEY COHEN, Prof. Criminology Hebrew Univ., 1985; VISIONS 
OF SOCIAL CONTROL // ch-VT97 p. 97 
The eternal thread WHICH binds together the participants of this type of reform movement is that everybody means well.. The ideology of innovation in the name or progress allows each stage to tend credibility to the other: 'every level of interaction is defended as a more humane or efficient means of averting something more severe." This encourages eternal expansion—the more benevolent a programme is Refined, the more it will be used, and the wider it will cast its net.

INTENT OF THE AFFIRMATIVE POLICY IS IRRELEVANT TO WHETHER IT WILL WIDEN THE NET OF SOCIAL CONTROL

NET WIDENING IS NO MISTAKE -- IT RESULTS FROM LOGIC OF EXPANDING TREATMENT AND REHABILITATION EFFORTS

KENNETH POLK, Prof. Criminology Univ. Melbourne (Australia), 1987; CRIME & DELINQUENCY, July, "When less means more" // jah-VT97
The point here is that the net-widening effects observed with these apparent efforts at "destructuring" arc not illustrations of "good ideas gone astray." The widening of the net of social control that results from much of diversion or from such programs as "community     treatment" or "community corrections" instead should be seen as a logical consequence of the ideas within which the programs were initially conceived and defined, The persons who controlled the implementation of these efforts, whether they were top" level bureaucrats or line-level staff, were: explicitly—and from the beginning—in the business of expanding the treatment or rehabilitative resources of the community.

IDEOLOGY IRRELEVANT - JUST A FACADE

STANLEY COHEN, Prof. Criminology Hebrew Univ., 1985; VISIONS OF SOCIAL CONTROL // ch-VT97 p. 22
 Ideals and ideologies cannot much change the story. Stated intentions are assumed a priori to conceal The real interests and motives behind the system They constitute a facade to make acceptable the exercise of otherwise unacceptable power, domination or class interests which, in turn, are the product of particular political economic imperatives.

IDEOLOGY OF THE PLAN IS IRRELEVANT -- NET WIDENING IS 
UNINTENDED

STANLEY COHEN, Prof. Criminology Hebrew Univ., 1985; VISIONS OF SOCIAL CONTROL // ch-VT97 p. 56
MOST forms of net widening are perceived as largely unintended consequences of destructuring reforms Or at least, as the notion of 'unintended consequences' already implies a particular theory, these effects could not be predicted in any simple way from the ideology.

 INTENT IRRELEVANT - RHETORIC DOESN'T PRODUCE CHANGE

STANLEY COHEN, Prof. Criminology Hebrew Univ., 1985; VISIONS OF SOCIAL CONTROL // ch-VT97 p. 25
 Humanism, good intentions professional knowledge and reform rhetoric are neither in the idealist sense the producers of change nor in the materialist sense. the mere product of changes in the political economy.

AGENCIES WILL BE CO-OPTED INTO THE SOCIAL CONTROL NET SYSTEM

LAW ENFORCEMENT HAS COOPTED DIVERSION MOVEMENT TO INCREASE POLICE POWER

KENNETH POLK, Prof. Criminology Univ. Melbourne (Australia), 1987; CRIME & DELINQUENCY, July, "When less means more" // jah-VT97
One of the most influential figures in the early shaping of juvenile diversion in the early 1970s had become somewhat disillusioned a decade later with the actual accomplishments especially in terms of the role of the police The cooptation of The diversion movement by law enforcement leaves the rather sad conclusion that not only have the purposes of diversion been perverted but moreover police power has been extended over youths and types of behavior not previously subjected to control [Lemert 1981].

STAFF OF DESTRUCTURING AND TRADITIONAL JUSTICE AGENCIES SHARE THE SAME SOCIAL CONTROL PARADIGM

KENNETH POLK, Prof. Criminology Univ. Melbourne (Australia), 1987; CRIME & DELINQUENCY, July, "When less means more" // jah-VT97
 Nonetheless the general conclusion that could be derived from these data was that the basic causal theories held by staff of this particular form of destructuring were fundamentally no different than those held ;by personnel of more traditional justice agencies Put another way these personnel appeared to share the same general paradigm of social control. The exception of course was that staff in the destructured program were more likely to see The dangers that can result from labeling or stigma resulting from exposure to the juvenile justice system.

STANLEY COHEN, Prof. Criminology Hebrew Univ., 1985; VISIONS OF SOCIAL CONTROL // ch-VT97 p. 85
 Each separate reform movement (from the liberal direction - ton, decarceration, due -process and decriminalization, from the more conservative direction—deterrence and just deserts) represents a series of 'unmet promises'. The criminal justice system, propelled by its own organizational dynamics, functions to resist, distort and frustrate the original purposes of these reforms. These 'dynamics' are both internal to the system (interactive processes by which changes in one segment trigger off changes in another or the operation of interest groups trying to expand their sphere of power) and external or 'dialectical' (contradictions in the surrounding society, ideology and political economy).

STANLEY COHEN, Prof. Criminology Hebrew Univ., 1985; VISIONS OF SOCIAL CONTROL // ch-VT97 p. 95
All the others—the forces of Progress and reform—have to make deals, compromises and trade-offs in order -to make a few gains: compromises on policy and procedures may be made ,as temporary tactics to mitigate suspicion and fear on part of the traditional system personnel but such compromises often become rigorously observed organizational guidelines, thereby changing the nature of the alternatives. 

JAMES AUSTIN & BARRY KRISBERG, National Council on Crime & Delinquency, 1981; JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN CRIME & DELINQUENCY, January, "Wider, stronger, and different nets" '' ch-VT97 p. 170
Desired changes in organizational practices at one or more points in the system are frequently circumvented by more powerful agencies in opposition to the reform objectives and ideologies. Placed under the control of the criminal justice system, diversion programs have been transformed into a means for extending the net, making it stronger, and creating new nets.

STANLEY COHEN, Prof. Criminology Hebrew Univ., 1985; VISIONS OF SOCIAL CONTROL // ch-VT97 p. 99
 Expansion and dispersal are readily understandable in terms of agency self-interest, feedback loops from one part of the system to the other, all the deals, shuffles and boundary disputes between various organizations. Clients are brought into the system because more alternatives exist.

 STANLEY COHEN, Prof. Criminology Hebrew Univ., 1985; VISIONS OF SOCIAL CONTROL // ch-VT97 p. 112
Take the 'simple' matter of net expansion. even if this did not happen quite as planned it is actually 'progressive' for the net to widen if you believe that this is a way of doing more good to more people. It is also true that organizational feedback loops can explain exactly the way this expansion takes place. And this explanation is even more plausible if we consider the dominant vested interest of the people running these bureaucracies, namely to create a dependency on more people just like themselves.

NET WIDENING LEADS TO A NIGHTMARE POLICE STATE

STANLEY COHEN, Prof. Criminology Hebrew Univ., 1985; VISIONS OF SOCIAL CONTROL // ch-VT97 p. 96
He argues that the whole sad diversion story should serve to instruct us about the tremendous Dower of the Police in the scheme of American justice. Law enforcement agencies (traditional probation departments as well as the police) simply took charge of the new programmes pre-empting and co-opting them into their own 'in-house' programmes with their own personnel selection criteria and operating procedures. Instead of diversion away from the system the outcome was 'little more than an expansion in the intake and discretionary powers of the police and a shuffling of such powers from one part of the organization to another.

STANLEY COHEN, Prof. Criminology Hebrew Univ., 1985; VISIONS OF SOCIAL CONTROL // ch-VT97 p. 108-9
 AS this drift to repression becomes clear state expenditure is not so much reduced as redirected. This takes place along familiar bifurcatory lines. The hard side of the system becomes harder with a greater investment in police, prison, crime control hardware military spending—the 'tools of domestic pacification' (as they are termed). The soft side contracts m response to fiscal crises or general monetarist economics. Health, education and welfare budgets are cut, certain social services shifted to the private sector; ideals such as treatment or rehabilitation become irrelevant and expensive—even if they 'worked' they would be pointless because the—economy could not absorb those who had been 'reformed'. What remains of the soft edge (community projects diversion, social work) is understood either as just benign watchfulness or as symbolic exercises of legitimation serving to cover and deflect attention from the repressive moves happening elsewhere. 

 JAMES AUSTIN & BARRY KRISBERG, National Council on Crime & Delinquency, 1981; JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN CRIME & DELINQUENCY, January, "Wider, stronger, and different nets" '' ch-VT97 p. 188-9
"Widening the net" describes the nightmare of the benevolent state gone haywire. This horror has already been vividly portrayed in Orwell's 1984, Solzhenitsyn's Cancer Ward, Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and Burgess' Clockwork Orange, Social scientists and criminologists have just caught up with the humanists. Now it is the urgent task of social theory and research to explain how the widened net can be reduced immediately and avoided in the future.

NET WIDENING DESTROYS LIBERTY AND FREEDOM

STANLEY COHEN, Prof. Criminology Hebrew Univ., 1985; VISIONS OF SOCIAL CONTROL // ch-VT97 p. 109
 The trend to informalism is really part of a cycle in which the managers of the system need new ways of legitimation, especially to resolve the contradiction in legal liberalism between formal equality and substantive inequality. The whole repertoire of informalism (community justice, dispute mediation, neighbor: hood conflict resolution, and so on) is a cunning way of justifying domination. State control is extended, conflict is neutralized arid coercion is disguised, in the process, state and capital are legitimated. Just when there is widespread public cynicism about the possibility of justice, 'informalism responds to public hostility towards and mistrust of the state by simulating its withdrawal from civil society, purporting to relieve citizens of oppressive regulation and to expand their freedom of choice.

HUGH BARLOW, Prof. So Illinois, 1987; JOURNAL OF CRIMINAL LAW & CRIMINOLOGY, "Stanley Cohen on Crime Control // ch-VT97 p. 433
 As control mechanisms are dispersed from custody institutions into the community they penetrate ever deeper into the social fabric touching more and more people. At the same time, a blurring of the boundaries between deviants and non-deviants and between different types of deviants occurs. The punitive archipelago described by Foucault is expanded as resources, technology, ingenuity, and professional vested interests affect the control problem as never before. Increasing numbers of entrepreneurs are also drawn into the control enterprise in search of profits from diversion and divestment. This privatization is further extended through the growth of volunteer programs and citizen policing. It is the boundary blurring and the absorption of the community by the control system, not vice versa as Cohen carefully points out. This enables the system to camouflage its activities.

ANDREW SCULL, Prof. Univ. Pennsylvania, 1984; DECARCERATION // ch-VT97 p. 182
The discretionary decision-making that forms an integral part of any program of coercive "rehabilitation" is a crucial feature of community corrections at all levels of its operations. It is most obvious in decisions about who is eligible for community dispositions in lieu of The harsher sanction of imprisonment. The very sense that the former. is less punitive (or even non-punitive), and can actually prevent more crime, diminishes concern with whether the "client" has actually committed the offense that nominally brought him to the attention of the authorities. ties. Instead of an adjudication focused on prior conduct there is an assessment of whether the accused can benefit from the services offered by the program a decision which often entails intentional avoidance of approach thus brings with it the danger "of highly intrusive intervention concerning matters of personal choice that have no direct bearing on criminal activity." To the extent that these features generate further perceptions of injustice or unfairness the long run tendency must be for them to undermine further the legitimacy of a criminal justice system already widely regarded as inequitable and arbitrary.

STANLEY COHEN, Prof. Criminology Hebrew Univ., 1985; VISIONS OF SOCIAL CONTROL // ch-VT97 p. 70
 Even when the notion of 'alternative' is not phony, the idea of 'preference' or 'choice' most often is. At the deep end of the system, choice is seldom offered while at the shallow end, the generation of new treatment criteria and the persuasiveness of the social welfare and preventive rhetorics often ensure an erosion of traditional rights and liberties.

NET WIDENING HURTS THE INNOCENT

ROBERT L. WOODSON, PRESIDENT NATIONAL CENTER FOR NEIGHBORHOOD ENTERPRISE, HERITAGE FOUNDATION POLICY REVIEW, SUMMER 1982, SECTION:NO. 21; PG.73, HEADLINE: HELPING THE POOR HELP THEMSELVES // jah-VT97
Mr. Lemert has called this common practice " net widening. Definitions of cases and offenses are manipulated to protect funding and the jobs of staffers. Then, with money available for diversion, social workers begin to take in youths who would have been ignored previously, thus decreasing diversion. More offenders are classified as "detainable" after the program is set up than before, and fewer are released to parents. There is also an increase in arbitrary discretion exercised by police and probation people. As a result of funding for diversion and jail alternatives, police power has extended now over youth and types of behavior not previously subject to control. Thus, more than one worthwhile objective has been defeated, but the greatest harm is to the children.

 STANLEY COHEN, Prof. Criminology Hebrew Univ., 1985; VISIONS OF SOCIAL CONTROL // ch-VT97 p. 53
 Moreover—an even more radical form of net extension— these diversion clients might not have committed any offense at ail. The ideology of early intervention and treatment and the use of psychological or social-work selection criteria allows diversion to be incorporated into wider preventive strategies. Legal definitions and due process give way to low visibility 'discretionary decision making' by administrative or professional agencies The drift is to work with parts of The population not previously reached variously defined as young people 'in trouble' 'at risk' or in legal jeopardy' 'pre-delinquents' or 'potential delinquents'. These trends are not primarily a widening of social control into 'empty' spaces but an intensification and formalization of previous methods. Populations who once slipped quickly through the net are now retained much longer many innovative alternatives become adjuncts to established sanctions such as probation and fines).

STANLEY COHEN, Prof. Criminology Hebrew Univ., 1985; VISIONS OF SOCIAL CONTROL // ch-VT97 p. 52
In other words to return to the example of police discretion where the police Used to have two options—screen right out (the route for the majority of encounters) or process formally—they now have the third option of diversion into a programme. It is this possibility which allows for net extension and strengthening. For what happens is that diversion is used as an alternative to screening out and not as an alternative to processing. The system thus expands to include those who if the programme had not been available would not have been processed at all (genuine new fish). 

STANLEY COHEN, Prof. Criminology Hebrew Univ., 1985; VISIONS OF SOCIAL CONTROL // ch-VT97 p. 231
 When matters such as boundary blurring integration and community control take place the result is that more people get involved in the 'control problem' . in order to weaken by-pass or replace the formal apparatus more rather than less attention has to be given to the deviance question. In order to include rather than exclude a set of judgments have to be made which 'normalizes' intervention in a greater range of human life The result is not just more controllers (whether professionals or ordinary citizens) but also an extension of these methods to wider and wider populations. The price paid by ordinary people is to become either active participants or passive receivers in the business of social control.

STANLEY COHEN, Prof. Criminology Hebrew Univ., 1985; VISIONS OF SOCIAL CONTROL // ch-VT97 p. 38
 Overall, the system enlarges itself and becomes more intrusive, subjecting more and newer groups of deviants to the c power of the state and increasing the intensity of control directed at former deviants.

NET WIDENING INCREASES CRIME

Henry Pontell, Prof. Univ. California at Irvine, 1984; A CAPACITY TO PUNISH, p. 1
 When the criminal justice system grows, so does the crime problem. The expansion of the criminal; justice apparatus is a result of both public and legislative reactions to crime.

NET WIDENING CAUSES STIGMATIZATION

STANLEY COHEN, Prof. Criminology Hebrew Univ., 1985; VISIONS OF SOCIAL CONTROL // ch-VT97 p. 53
 We arrive then at something close to a total reversal of all the supposedly radical justifications on which the original diversion strategy was based: reduction of stigma and labeling, non-intervention decreased emphasis on individual treatment, more justice and reduction of system load. Instead, intervention comes earlier, it sweeps in more deviants, is extended to those not yet formally adjudicated and it becomes more intensive. And all this takes place in agencies co-opted into the criminal justice system (but less subject to judicial scrutiny), dependent on system personnel for referrals and using (as we shall all see) more or less traditional treatment methods.

NET WIDENING INCREASES HARMFUL INCARCERATION

COURT SANCTIONED INCARCERATION ALTERNATIVES INCREASES THOSE IN PRISON

FRANKLIN ZIMRING & GORDON HAWKINS, Profs. at Berkeley, 1991; THE SCALE OF IMPRISONMENT // NDI-VT97 p. 186
 In such circumstances, however, courts provided with a new method of punishment are likely to see it, not as an alternative to imprisonment, but, rather, as a means of dealing, not with candidates for imprisonment, but with those of a lower level of seriousness in the scale of criminality, that is, with some of the 84% of offenders who currently escape imprisonment.

 FRANKLIN ZIMRING & GORDON HAWKINS, Profs. at Berkeley, 1991; THE SCALE OF IMPRISONMENT // NDI-VT97 p. 185
Norman Bishop concluded "that there is little hope of significantly reducing the size of 
the average prison population as non-custodial alternatives are currently used."

IN EUROPE, NON-INCARCERATION ALTERNATIVES INCREASED PRISON POPULATIONS

FRANKLIN ZIMRING & GORDON HAWKINS, Profs. at Berkeley, 1991; THE SCALE OF IMPRISONMENT // NDI-VT97
Bishop noted that "among the European countries which are expanding the number of places in the prison system are those which make extensive use of non-custodial alternatives."

NON-CUSTODIAL ALTERNATIVES INCREASE THOSE INCARCERATED

FRANKLIN ZIMRING & GORDON HAWKINS, Profs. at Berkeley, 1991; THE SCALE OF IMPRISONMENT // NDI-VT97 p. 188
While many diversion and alternative programs have broad constituencies in the community, supporters of these programs can achieve most of their goals without decreasing prison populations. It is easier to fill program rosters with the many thousands of persons who would not be imprisoned than to attempt true diversion from prison. As long as the program can obtain lower-risk subjects, program staff and management may not worry about reduction in prison as a major goal.

 NON- INCARCERATION ALTERNATIVES INCREASES INCARCERATION RATES

FRANKLIN ZIMRING & GORDON HAWKINS, Profs. at Berkeley, 1991; THE SCALE OF IMPRISONMENT // NDI-VT97
In fact, not only does the greater use of alternatives to imprisonment not necessarily imply less frequent use of imprisonment, but there is often a positive correlation between the use of nonincarceration sanctions and high incarceration rates.

PATRICIA EWICK, Prof. Sociology at Smith, 1988; LAW & SOCIETY REVIEW, "Criminal sentencing revisited" pp. 821-2 // ch-VT97
Rates of incarceration remained the same after destructuring. The new control apparatus -- including halfway houses. shelters, and weekend detention programs — processed deviant and dependent persons who would otherwise have escaped processing altogether. In short, destructuring resulted in the . expansion and intensification of state-sponsored social control. 

 STANLEY COHEN, Prof. Criminology Hebrew Univ., 1985; VISIONS OF SOCIAL CONTROL // ch-VT97 p. 50
 Clearly, of course some of the new 'clients' are being kept out of institutions; the changes in relative disposition rates show this. But large proportions of these populations—the literature sometimes shows between a half and two thirds—are 'shallow-end' or soft delinquents , minor or first offenders whose chances of incarceration would otherwise have been slight. As long as the strategy is not being used for genuine 'deep-end' offenders and as long as institutions are not literally closed down or phased out; incarceration will tend to increase the system will be more interventionist overall and a substantial number of community clients —perhaps a majority -- will be subjected to a degree of intervention higher than they would have received under previous non custodial options such as fines conditional discharge and ordinary probation or parole.

STANLEY COHEN, Prof. Criminology Hebrew Univ., 1985; VISIONS OF SOCIAL CONTROL // ch-VT97 p. 50
New Deviants are Drawn in and Intervention Intensifies on the same old ones. The simplest way of visualizing the non reduction of incarceration at on rates and the concomitant expansion of the whole system is to argue that the 'wrong' populations are being swept into the new parts of the net. 'Wrong' in the sense of being inappropriate , inappropriate in the sense of not being the populations for whom the original reforms were meant. In other words not the populations who would otherwise have been incarcerated if the new programmes did not exist. 

AFFIRMATIVE ANSWERS TO NET WIDENING

WIDENING THE NET IS JUST PROPAGANDA

ARNOLD BINDER, Prof. Univ. California Irvine, 1984; CRIME & DELINQUENCY, April; "ad populum argumentation" // ch-VT97 pp. 315-6
 The phrase "widening the net" is, of course, employed perjoratively, with the intent to evoke an emotional response. It conjures up visions of a mesh net that is thrown over thrashing victims, incapacitating them, as they flail about, desperately seeking to avoid captivity. The net is maneuvered by "agents of social control," another image-provoking term, this one carrying a Nazi-like connotation. Both terms are employed for purposes of propaganda rather than to enlighten. The reality, compared to the rhetoric, is a good deal milder. Black, for instance, points out that "social control is the normative aspect of social life. It defines and responds to deviant behavior, specifying what it ought to be: What is right or wrong, what is a violation, obligation, abnormality, or disruption. Law is social control, but so are etiquette, custom, ethics, bureaucracy, and the treatment of mental illness.

ARNOLD BINDER, Prof. Univ. California Irvine, 1984; CRIME & DELINQUENCY, April; "ad populum argumentation" // ch-VT97 pp. 311
 Terms such as "widening the net," a construct apt to enlist the sympathy of any of US with a reasonable anxiety about getting caught up in snares which take away our freedom, have been used perjoratively to denigrate diversion. net widening is based on faulty conclusions and over statements.

MAEVE McMAHON Canada research fellow in centre of criminology, U of Toronto, 1992, The Persistent Prison? - Rethinking decarceration and penal reform // TEC-VT97 p. 46-7
 The following reexamination specifies limitations in conventional wisdom arguments about decarceration. Documentation of trends in imprisonment has been partial. Insufficient evidence has been provided to support contentions about the maintenance and increase of imprisonment. Incompatible forms of data on imprisonment and probation have been juxtaposed. The conclusions that have been drawn from research appear to be far stronger than the data on which they are based should have allowed. Such methodological problems of individual studies have been exacerbated with their assimilation into international literature. As has happened in other social-scientific areas, 'ambiguities and qualifications are expressed, but then ignored as conclusions are drawn, and forgotten as they reach other arenas and transmitters. A fact is not a near-fact, maybe-fact or convenient fact. It becomes reality'. In short, arguments about net-widening have often had a questionable empirical basis.

NOT UNIQUE -- PENAL AND WELFARE SYSTEM SERVE AS THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNDERCLASS NOW

JONATHAN SIMON, Prof. Law Univ. Miami, 1993; POOR DISCIPLINE: PAROLE AND THE SOCIAL CONTROL OF THE UNDERCLASS // 
jah-VT97
In contrast, today's "underclass" finds itself virtually ignored by the state and federal government, except as a demonized other for use in the electoral process. In a very real sense the penal system, along with the welfare system, has become the predominant government of the poor.

NOT UNIQUE -- STATE INTERVENTION EXPANDING NOW

HUGH BARLOW, Prof. So Illinois, 1987; JOURNAL OF CRIMINAL LAW & CRIMINOLOGY, "Stanley Cohen on Crime Control" // ch-VT97 p. 432
State intervention has, in fact, been strengthened and extended, and both old and new forms of control have expanded. The focus of control has become dispersed and diffused.

NON-UNIQUE -- TREND TOWARD COMMUNITY CONTROL NOW

STANLEY COHEN, Prof. Criminology Hebrew Univ., 1985; VISIONS OF SOCIAL CONTROL // ch-VT97 p. 48-9
 If the use of community control is increasing and if traditional : custody is either increasing or only remaining constant, an inescapable conclusion suggests itself—that the system overall is getting larger. This, in fact, is the trend reported from all research.

RACISM DISADVANTAGE

A. THE MAIN FUNCTION OF THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM IS TO CONSTRAIN AND CONTAIN PEOPLE OF COLOR

Daniels, Ron New Pittsburgh Courier Article Title: Criminalizing Black People: America's Criminal Justice System Volume & Number: V.84; N.37, 05-08-93 Page: p. A- 7/Ethnic NewsWatch // HF-VT97
 The circumstances and policies are little different today. A principal function of the police and the criminal injustice system is to constrain and contain the victims of a racist and exploitive society; those who are locked up in the ghettos, the barrios and the reservations of America. Record numbers of prisons are being built to accommodate a surplus Black population which is of no use in America's emerging new economic order. And there is a phony war on drugs which allows the police to harass and lock up huge numbers of young Black men merely for the possession of small quantities of drugs like marijuana. Hence, in cities like Washington D.C., and Baltimore, upwards of 50 percent of Black males are expected to be impacted by the criminal injustice system by the year 2000.

B. YOUTHS OF COLOR ARE ESPECIALLY VULNERABLE TO A RACIST JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM -- THE AFFIRMATIVE PLAN WILL BE USED AGAINST THEM

MADELINE WORDES, doctoral student in Community Psychology, Michigan State Univ., May, 1994; JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN CRIME & DELINQUENCY, "Locking up youth" // jah-VT97 p. 164
 The consequences of having a system which places youth in secure confinement based on factors other than legal issues is far reaching. These findings indicate that race was a significant factor in locking up youth, whether at the police or court level. Not only were there direct effects of race, but indirectly, socioeconomic status was related to detention, thus putting youth of color again at risk for differential treatment. Any racial disparity in secure detention of juveniles has immediate ramifications and also may have a cumulative effect on future decisions. Given the strong indications of the influence of race on secure detention of juveniles, it is imperative that policy makers as well as police and juvenile court officials address this serious problem= . The devastating repercussions of a justice system in which a young person's physical liberty is in part determined by his or her race are intolerable.

C. RACIST INTERACTION WITH THE JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM INCREASES DEVIANCE IN YOUTHS OF COLOR

DARLENE CONLEY, Prof. Sociology Univ. Washington, May, 1994; JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN CRIME & DELINQUENCY, "Adding color to a black and white picture: using qualitative data to explain racial disproportionality in the juvenile justice system // jah-VT97 p. 145
 Pivilian and Briar (1964) concluded three decades ago, "the stigmatization resulting from police apprehension, arrest and detention actually reinforces deviant behavior" (p, 206). In addition, they asserted that frequent negative encounters between police and youths innocent of wrongdoing could result in a self-fulfilling prophecy and youths of color might engage in deviant behavior because they are expected m. As one youth outreach worker was quoted earlier, "The kids say if they are going to be harassed by the police, they might as well be doing something wrong." 

D. RACISM MUST BE REJECTED

Sacramento Observer, MAY, 28,1992, Article Title: Stop Denying Racism in America! Volume & Number: V.29; N.27, Page: p. C1//schnurer-emv
	The volatile fuel that was ignited by the spark of the verdict in the King case has been and continues to be stored in gigantic social fuel tanks located in nearly every community and neighborhood in the country
	The name of this fuel is racism. The high octane numbers of this fuel help to generate poverty, exploitation, degradation, oppression and genocide against people of color. 

THE SYSTEM IS RACIST, AND WILL USE THE PLAN TO VICTIMIZE YOUTHS OF COLOR

US RACIST CRIME CONTROL INDUSTRY USES AFRICAN AMERICANS AS SCAPEGOATS

WILLIAM J. CHAMBLISS, Prof. Sociology George Washington Univ.; Social Justice, "Another Lost War" // jah-VT97 1 p. 114
 Finally, what Norwegian sociologist Nils Christie calls the crime control industry, which is rapidly taking on all the characteristics of the militaryindustrial complex, thrives in an economy that is otherwise downsizing (Christie, 1993). Law enforcement agencies ranging from the vast and sprawling federal bureaucracies under the Department of Justice (the FBI, DEA, AFT, Customs, etc.) to the local sheriff's departments constitute a non-stop propaganda machine spewing out lies and distortions about drugs and crime. Almost all of it contains a thinly veiled racist message that the safety and well-being of everyone are threatened by vicious Black drug dealers who prey on innocent victims.

ALL CRIME ACTIONS ARE UNDERSTOOD TO BE BASED ON RACIST GOALS OF EXTERMINATION OF PEOPLE OF COLOR

Jerome Miller, executive director of National center for institutions and alternatives, Jan/Feb 1994, "No justice, No peace' An interview with Jerome Miller, done by Rick Szkowwny, co-editor of The Humanist THE HUMANIST // ms-VT97
 That's because it's in code. I read an op-ed piece in the New York Times by Lani Guinier, in which she referred to the 'rhetorical wink.' There are certain code words that allow you never to have to say race, but everybody knows that's what you mean—and crime is one of those rhetorical winks. So when we talk about locking Up more and more people, what we're¢ ready talking about is locking Up more and more black men. That's what everyone means, that's certainly what's driving the New York City mayoral election at this point, and you can see it happening all over the country. You're not supposed to mention race, of course, and if you do you're being divisive, but that's what it is all about.

Dorothy Roberts, Prof Law Rutgers, 1993; TULANE LAW REVIEW, June, "Crime, race, and reproduction" // ndi-VT97
 The ideology of crime in America is thus determined by race. Blacks are defined as criminals and crime is defined as what black people do. The racial identification and construction of crime is perpetuated through myths about black criminality. It is also legitimated and enforced by the law.

DARLENE CONLEY, Prof Sociology Univ. Washington, May, 1994; JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN CRIME & DELINQUENCY, "Adding color to a black and white picture: using qualitative data to explain racial disproportionality in the juvenile justice system // jah-VT97 1 p. 136
 Unfortunately, decades of research have not brought us any closer to solutions or increased our understanding of why the problem persists. Basically, the majority of research. have demonstrated empirically that in juvenile justice, "race makes a difference." People of color, specifically African Americans and Hispanics, are more likely to be arrested, detained, tried and found guilty, and sentenced for longer periods of time than Whites. Explanations for why this happens differ. For some the reason is simple, "the system is racist." The vast majority of academics engaged in this research would argue that the reasons for the over representation of youths of color in the juvenile justice system are complex. They struggle to identify the direct and indirect effect of variables other than race and ethnicity. Only a few venture so far as to charge that the system is racist (e.g., Debro 1975, forthcoming; Wright 1990; Mann 1980, 1987, 1993); rather, most of these researchers carefully employ terms such as "extralegal" factors or "selection bias." The discriminatory treatment of minorities is referred to as "differential treatment ' and the existence of institutional racism is seldom, if ever, mentioned. An increasingly smaller number of researchers argue that disproportionality is explained by the higher involvement rates of youths of color in serious and violent crime (Hagan 1974; Kleck 1981; Blumstein 1982; Petersilia 1983; Wilbanks 1987). Some of the findings from this group even suggest that people of color are actually treated more leniently at some stages (e.g., Petersilia 1983; Wilbanks 1987). 

Gus Hall, National Chairman of Communist Party of the USA, JAN 1994, "Crime and violence: a class question" POLITICAL AFFAIRS // ms-VT97
 This is official racism that says crime and violence are confined to Black and other minority communities. This is part of the effort to criminalize racially and nationally oppressed people with the evil, supremecist ideology that drugs, crime and violence and all anti-social behavior are caused by the inherited characteristics of "inferior" people.

THE SYSTEM IS RACIST, AND WILL USE THE PLAN TO VICTIMIZE YOUTHS OF COLOR (CONTINUED)

THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM CONCENTRATES ITS MISUSE OF POWER ON THE AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY 

Jerome Miller, executive director of National center for institutions and alternatives, Jan/Feb 1994, "No justice, No peace" An interview with Jerome Miller, done by Rick Szkowwny, co-editor of The Humanist, THE HUMANIST // ms-VT97
It's a huge, multibillion dollar industry, and it has become very subversive of American democratic principles. I think the majority of the white population gets a little inkling here and there with things like the Waco tragedy or even the Randy Weaver siege OUt ID Utah. These incidents give you some idea of what's going on in terms of the gross misuse of power by the police, by prosecutors, by the courts, really with little regard for truth and less regard for anything decent or humane. This establishment has just built itself up fantastically over the last decade. And its power has mostly been concentrated on the black community.

THERE IS A CONSPIRACY TO DESTROY AFRICAN AMERICAN MEN

Thorpe, APRIL, 28, 1994 (Richard, Article Title: 'GBH goes nationwide with black male show, Publication Name: Bay State Banner Volume & Number: V. 29; N. 32, Page: p. 17) // ms-VT97 
Asked whether there was a conspiracy to destroy black males, William Celester, Newark, N.J.'s police commissioner, and a former deputy superintendent of the Boston Police Department answered definitively. ''I think there's always been a conspiracy against black people and black men," said Celester. "Most of the drugs are in the black community, it's no accident. When black men can't find a job and when black crimes are portrayed more than white crimes, it's no accident."

 Daniels, Ron, New Pittsburgh Couner Articie Titie: Criminaiizing Biack Peopie America's Criminal Justice System Volume & Number: V.84; N.37, 05-08-93 Page: p. A-7/Ethnic NewsWatch // HF-VT97
 As noted scholar and historian Dr. Charshee Mcintyre observes in her penetrating book, Criminalizing a Race, America has always preferred to put Black people in prison rather than develop the policies and allocate the resources to provide for equity and parity for African people in U.S. society. She establishes an irrefutable link between poverty and illiteracy and crime and imprisonment as a historical fact for Black people in the U.S.
 After "emancipation," a largely illiterate and impoverished African population was not provided "forty acres and a mule," no reparations, no capital or property endowment in a capitalist society. And there was no massive and sustained program of education for the former slaves. Thus, many of the former slaves were forced to return to their old plantations or they were compelled to become tenant farmers, sharecroppers and agricultural laborers -- new forms of quasi-slavery, peonage and bondage.
 For those who could not fit into the new slave system, a wide range of laws were enacted in the South designed to imprison the surplus Black population for all kinds of petty offenses like loitering or vagrancy. Thousands of the victims of slavery and the new slave/plantation system landed in the chain gang, often being hired out in a convict lease system to labor for white bosses again for free.

Daniels, Ron New Pittsburgh Courier Articie Titie: Criminalizing Biack Peopie: America's Criminal Justice System Volume & Number: V.84; N.37, 05-08-93 Page: p. A-7/Ethnic NewsWatch // HF-VT97
 Economic and social injustice is a crime. It is a violation of the human rights of a people to deprive them of decent jobs, housing, health care, education and a clean and safe environment. Institutional racism is a crime. It is a crime to overlook or otherwise neglect the just aspirations of a people because a nation's culture, educational process, it's political and economic institutions and it's people are poisoned and blinded by white supremacy and racism. It is a crime to unleash the police on the victims of social and economic injustice and hurl large numbers of a victimized people into jails and prisons rather than provide for the basic human rights of that people. Ever since our arrival on these hostile American shores, the United States government has been guilty of violating the basic human rights of African people and the criminalization of Black people.

THE SYSTEM IS RACIST, AND WILL USE THE PLAN TO VICTIMIZE YOUTHS OF COLOR (continued)

POLICE PERCEPTION OF YOUTHS OF COLOR BASED ON STEREOTYPES SHAPES THE ENTIRE JUVENILE JUSTICE PROCESS

DARLENE CONLEY; Prof Sociology Univ. Washington, May, 1994; JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN CRIME & DELINQUENCY, "Adding color to a black and white picture: using qualitative data to explain racial disproportionality in the juvenile justice system // jah-VT97 p. 136 
 The hegemony of quantitative methodologies in disproportionality research has limited attention to the stages of the juvenile justice system that can be measured empirically. As a result, what occurs before and at the level of arrest is ignored. Yet what happens between youths of color and police at these stages is perhaps the most important factor contributing to racial and ethnic disproportionality. Encounters between police and youths of color shape perceptions and behaviors, yet they cannot be factored into a statistical analysis unless they result in arrest. Furthermore, what is recorded in the police report influences every other stage of the juvenile justice process. Because few observational studies of police and court proceedings are currently being undertaken, even the stages that are included in these analyses are reduced to artificial measures. 

DARLENE CONLEY; Prof Sociology Univ. Washington, May, 1994; JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN CRIME & DELINQUENCY, "Adding color to a black and white picture: using qualitative data to explain racial disproportionality in the juvenile justice system // jah-VT97 p. 144
 To understand "how race makes a difference," it is important to focus on the first stage of the juvenile justice process—the stage where youths of color encounter police. It is this stage that shapes the perceptions and behaviors of youths of color toward the police, and what is recorded in the police report will continue to shape the responses of probation officers, prosecutors, judges, and correctional officers in subsequent stages. The perception of the police as to the dangerousness of the perpetrator defines what will happen to the youth. If the police officer perceives that the youth is not a threat, then the youth may not be arrested.

NEGATIVE STEREOTYPING MEANS THAT PLAN EFFORTS WILL TARGET YOUTHS OF COLOR

BARRY KRISBERG, Pres. National Council on Crime & Delinquency, 1993; REINVENTING JUVENILE JUSTICE // cjj-VT97 p. 129
The thrust of this observation is that racism, in the form of negative 'stereotypes, is historically embedded in US culture and is reflected in the institutions of the justice system. One such stereotype is that African-Americans are expected to act violently; when this stereotype is held by law enforcement officers and other juvenile justice officials, it leads to selective over-arrest and over-incarceration of minority youth and especially black youth. One judge admitted that when he adjudicates a black youth he views that youth very differently from other youth even if the youth is charged with a similar offense. Specifically, black males are seen as less controllable and with limited family support if returned to the community. In the same vein, many black and Hispanic youth are labeled as gang members simply because of their race and residential location. Conversely Anglo, and even more so Asian, youth were viewed by decision makers as having more family and institutional resources, which is seen as reducing their risk for further involvement in the justice system. 

MADELINE WORDES, doctoral student in Community Psychology, Michigan State Univ., May, 1994; JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN CRIME & DELINQUENCY, "Locking up youth" // jah -VT97 l p. 163
 Having noted that race continuer to be important in spite of offense seriousness, social characteristics, and site specific differences, what additional explanations may be offered? One explanations may be the effect of a cumulative process of detention decisions. If race is a factor in the initial decision, detention by police, the likelihood of continued detention is high. Similarly, once detained at intake, youth were more likely to be detained at preliminary hearing. Given the likelihood of continued detention, initial decisions must be carefully examined.
 There were other indications that factors other than legal and social circumstances were affecting disposition. From the zeroorder correlations in this study, it was apparent that being African American was related to being charged with more serious offenses. Hence it may be that African American and Latino youth were perceived to be more serious or dangerous offenders. This perception may lead police and court decision makers to base their actions on stereotypes and not on the specifics of each case.

AFFIRMATIVE PLAN PROVIDES MECHANISMS FOR VICTIMIZATION OF YOUTHS OF COLOR
[USE STAGE OF JUVENILE JUSTICE PROCESS RELEVANT TO AFFIRMATIVE PLAN]

AFRICAN AMERICANS ARE ALWAYS ARRESTED FIRST

RON HARRIS, Staffwriter Los Angeles Times, edited by Shirley Dicks, 1995; JUVENILE JUSTICE & THE DEATH PENALTY, "Should teens be tried as adults?" // cjj-VT97 p. 37
 The disparity is even greater for violent crimes. In 1990, 32,200 more white juveniles than black juveniles were arrested for crimes such as murder, forcible rape, robbery and assault, and aggravated assault. Despite that difference, 300 more blacks than whites were placed in custody, and 2,100 more blacks than whites were transferred out of juvenile court so they could be tried in more punitive adult courts. 

AFRICAN AMERICANS ARE MORE LIKELY TO BE CONFINED

EDMUND McGARRELL, Prof. Criminal Justice Washington State Univ., Jan., 1993; CRIME & DELINQUENCY, "Trends in racial disproportionality" // jah-VT97 30
 Since the late 1970s, them has boon a substantial increase in the number and proportion of minority youths in public detention centers and training schools in the United States. Krisberg et al. (1987) were one of the first to note this trend by showing that the proportion of minority youth in public correctional facilities increased 26* from 1979 to 1982 even though these same years witnessed a decline in arrests of minority youths. This study found that Black males are over represented by nearly 180% of their proportion of the general population and the minority incarceration rate is 3 to 4 times that of White youth.

BLACKS AR E MORE LIKELY TO BE ARRESTED FOR CRIME S THAT RESULT IN IMPRISONMENT

Crutchfield, Roberts D. (Associate Prof. of Sociology at the University of Washingtott), Bridges, George S. (Associate Prof. Univ. of Washington); Pitchford, Susan R. ( is a Doctoral candidate at the University of Wash.), " Analytical and Aggregation biases in analyses of imprisonment: Reconciling Dicrepancies in studies of racial disparity"; Journal of Research in Crime and Deliquency: vol. 31 no.2 may 1994 P166-82 / HF-VT97
The Black proportion of the prison population is larger than the Black proportion of the total population. Although some scholars (e.g., Christianson 1980a)) conclude that the differences between the percentages are a direct reflection of discrimination, this conclusion ignores the most prominent explanation for racial disproportionality in imprisonment (i.e., that Blacks are over represented in prison because of higher arrest rates for those crimes most likely to result in prison sentences).

AFRICAN AMERICAN AND LATINO YOUTH ARE MORE LIKELY TO BE PLACED IN DETENTION THAN WHITES

Wordes, Madeline (Doctoral candidate in ecological/community psychological at Michigan State University), Bynum, Timothy S. (Prof. in the School of Criminal Justice and Associate Dir. of the institute for Public Policy and Social Research at Michigan State University), Corley, Charles J. (Assistant Prof. in the School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University): "Locking Up Youth: The Intpact Of Race on Detention Decisions"; Journal of Research in Crime and Deliquettcy, vol.31 No.2 May 1994, pg 149-65 // HF-VT97
Across all analysis, youth who were African American or Latino were      consistently more likely to be placed in secure detention. This was observed in the detention practices of both the police and the courts. Some prior research has suggested that the reasons for differential treatment were not based on race, but could be explained by offense seriousness. Yet these studies typically measured offense seriousness only in terms of broad offense categories . It is not surprising to discover that offense seriousness is of principal importance in this type of analysis, given the fact that few of those youth charged with misdemeanors are detained. In the present study, which in cluded only felony offenses, seriousness was indicated by offense behavior including victim injury and weapon possession. Further, additional offense characteristics, such as having co-offenders, multiple charges, and being charged with a drug offense, were included.' When these more specific indicators of offense seriousness were considered, race remained principally important in the detention decision.

AFRICAN AMERICAN AND LATINO YOUTH ARE MORE LIKELY TO BE PLACED IN DETENTION THAN WHITES (continued)

EDMUND McGARRELL, Prof. Criminal Justice Washington State Univ., Jan., 1993; CRIME & DELINQUENCY, "Trends in racial disproportionality" // jah-VT97 p. 46
 As noted at the outset, the increasing over representation of minorities in detention centers and training schools has been a growing concern of policy makers and researchers.. The court data analyzed herein further document this cause for concern. Indeed, given the relatively short time frame (19851989), the trends are quite pronounced. Referrals of non-Whites to juvenile courts have increased dramatically, causing increased numbers of non White cases to be detained, petitioned, and placed outside the home. Further, the increases in non-White detentions, petitions, and placements exceed those expected by the increase in referrals. At the same time, White cases have remained relatively stable. The consequence of these trends is increased over representation of minorities in the juvenile justice system. 

EDMUND McGARRELL, Prof. Criminal Justice Washington State Univ., Jan., 1993; CRIME & DELINQUENCY, "Trends in racial disproportionality" // jah-VT97 29
 Historically, the nation's prisons, jails, and juvenile training schools have been disproportionately populated by the poor, racial and ethnic minorities, and immigrant groups. A matter of contemporary policy concern is the growing disproportionality of minorities in juvenile detention centers and correctional facilities. The fact that racial disparity in the juvenile corrections system is increasing despite two decades of policy reform during the post Gault era, raises serious questions about current trends within the nation's juvenile justice systems. This article further documents these trends by examining data from a large sample of juvenile courts for the years 1985 and 1989.

SUSAN GUARINO-GHEZZI, Prof. Criminal Justice Northeastern Univ., 1996; BALANCING JUVENILE JUSTICE // se-VT97 p. 112
 It should surprise few observers that black and Latino youths are most disproportionately represented in the juvenile justice system. In fact, the numbers of youths placed in public juvenile facilities (detention, correctional, and shelter programs) from 1985 to 1989 revealed a 30 percent increase in black youths, a 32 percent increase in Hispanic youths, and a 106 percent increase in Asian-American youths. Over the same time period, however, there was actually a 5 percent decrease in white youths. It is clear that the juvenile system has been used to disproportionately control minority youths (Krisberg and Austin 1993). 

 Jarvis Tyner, Chief of the Legislative and Political Action Commission of the Communist Party, USA, JAN 1994, "jobs not jails", POLITICAL AFFAIRS // ms-VT97 p. 10
 During the 1980s, African Americans and Latinos were jailed at unprecedented rates. Under the cover of these policies, the government criminalized hundreds of thousands, especially non-white youth. The United States has achieved the dubious distinction of being the number-one nation on the earth 1° when it comes to incarcerating its own population.. By 1990 the inmate population, according to the ACLU study, Americans Behind Bars: One Year Later, had reached 1,139,803, which is a rate of 455 per 100,000 population - considerably higher than apartheid South Africa which is the second jailer nation on earth with 311 per 100,000 population. 

GLORIA SUNDERMAN, Omaha World Herald, October 20, 1995; Pg. 19, HEADLINE: Nebraska Bar Is Told Jailing Youths Costly Prevention Effort Urged by Specialist // acs-VT97
     She [Karen Francis-Shepard, grant administrator for the American Correctional Association] called disproportionate confinement of minority youths "a disease." She said blacks make up 11 percent of the general population and 45 percent of the individuals in the juvenile justice system.
 She said racism is only one reason more minority youths are confined.
 Social and economic stagnation, poor legal representation and a lack of cultural understanding are also factors, she said.

Frank Green; Staff Writer, The Richmond Times Dispatch, November 22, 1995, Pg. A-1, HEADLINE: Alternatives To Jail Urged; Treatment Stressed For Young Offenders // acs-VT97
     The findings, released yesterday, also confirm a 1992 study's conclusion that the juvenile justice system is locking up a disproportionate number of minority youths for reasons that are not apparent.
 ''We found that even after accounting for . . . the nature of the crime, prior record, and family and individual dysfunction, the race of the juvenile seems to play a role in judicial decisions concerning the use of'' incarceration, Leone said. [Philip A. Leone, director of the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission]

PERSONS OF COLOR ALWAYS GET HARSHER PUNISHMENT

ROBERT LITTLE, STAFF WRITER, The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk), November 22, 1995, Pg. A1, HEADLINE: Black Youths In Va. Get Harsher Penalties Than Whites, Study Says // acs-VT97
     Judges are more than twice as likely to sentence to jail black youths than whites who commit the same crime and have similar backgrounds, according to a study released Tuesday of Virginia's juvenile justice system.
The report quoted one anonymous judge who said: ''Without mentioning specific names, I know that some judges take a more severe look at a case when minorities are involved.''

ROBERT LITTLE, STAFF WRITER, The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk), November 22, 1995, Pg. A1, HEADLINE: Black Youths In Va. Get Harsher Penalties Than Whites, Study Says // acs-VT97
     The report concluded a nine-month study of the state's juvenile justice system that researched about 3,000 cases through Virginia's juvenile courts since 1992. It found that 14 percent of the black males sentenced in juvenile court received jail time, compared to 5 percent for whites.

ROBERT LITTLE, STAFF WRITER, The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk), November 22, 1995, Pg. A1, HEADLINE: Black Youths In Va. Get Harsher Penalties Than Whites, Study Says // acs-VT97
     The General Assembly's Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission devised a formula that crossed racial lines to compare offenders with similar characteristics.
 They found was that the black juvenile would be twice as likely to be sentenced to jail as the white juvenile for the same crime.

VICKIE CHACHERE; Tribune Staff Writer, The Tampa Tribune, April 19, 1996, Pg. 1, HEADLINE: Youth crime intervention showing signs of success // acs-VT97
     Studies conducted before the project was implemented in 1993 found that blackchildren in Florida were three times more likely to be tried as adults than white children. Tampa had the highest rate of trying black youths as adults in the state.
 Since mid-1990, the number of black youths tried in Hillsborough's adult court was on a steady increase, hitting its height in mid-1992 when 654 black juveniles faced adult sanctions. That number dropped to 402 by mid-1995, state statistics show.

RON HARRIS, Staffwriter Los Angeles Times, edited by Shirley Dicks, 1995; JUVENILE JUSTICE & THE DEATH PENALTY, "Should teens be tried as adults?" // cjj-VT97 p. 34
 On the other side of the analysis, many public defenders, parents, and even some judges blame the disparity on a juvenile justice system dominated by biased, insensitive white judges and prosecutors who release white youths to probation or treatment programs for the same offenses that send black youths into custody.
 Again, there is evidence to support their claim. Justice Department statistics, they note, show that black juveniles receive stiffer terms for drug offenses, motor vehicle theft, and burglary than whites charged with the same crimes.

RON HARRIS, Staffwriter Los Angeles Times, edited by Shirley Dicks, 1995; JUVENILE JUSTICE & THE DEATH PENALTY, "Should teens be tried as adults?" // cjj-VT97 p. 36
 That increase in arrests, however, appears to be only the first factor in the dramatic rise in the number of black youngsters in custody. The second, and more important, factor is what happens to those juveniles once they come to court. Despite the disparity in arrest rates, the total number of white juveniles brought to court on drug charges in 1990 exceeded the total number of blacks by 6,300. As those cases were sifted through the juvenile-court system, however, a far greater number of white youths were sent home without being tried, were released to drug counseling programs, or were placed on probation. Consequently, 2,200 more blacks than whites ended up in correctional facilities. 

RON HARRIS, Staffwriter Los Angeles Times, edited by Shirley Dicks, 1995; JUVENILE JUSTICE & THE DEATH PENALTY, "Should teens be tried as adults?" // cjj-VT97 p. 33
 The statistics are so startling that they appear to cry out for an explanation: Seventy percent of juveniles who are arrested nationally for criminal offenses are white, yet whites make up only 35 percent of those in custody. Black juveniles make up only about 25 percent of those arrested, but 44 percent of those in custody. Out of every 100,000 white youngsters in the nation 287 are in custody, but for every 100,000 black youngsters 1,009 are in custody. To some inside the juvenile justice system, these figures from 1991, the latest available, present a disparity that smacks of racism and bias.

PERSONS OF COLOR ALWAYS GET HARSHER PUNISHMENT (continued)

RON HARRIS, Staffwriter Los Angeles Times, edited by Shirley Dicks, 1995; JUVENILE JUSTICE & THE DEATH PENALTY, "Should teens be tried as adults?" // cjj-VT97 p. 38
 "After you control for violence of offense, you still find that black kids were more likely to be committed to the California Youth Authority than white kids who committed similar crimes," said David Steinhard, who directed the study. Consequently, while blacks make up only 9 percent of the state's youth population, they account for 34 percent of youngsters in secure-custody facilities.

RON HARRIS, Staffwriter Los Angeles Times, edited by Shirley Dicks, 1995; JUVENILE JUSTICE & THE DEATH PENALTY, "Should teens be tried as adults?" // cjj-VT97 p. 37
 In California, according to a 1992 study by the National Council on Crime and Delinquency, black delinquents were four times more likely than whites to be committed to the California Youth Authority, the juvenile equivalent of prison, whether it was the first offense or the third. Black youngsters were twice as likely as whites to be incarcerated for a serious property or sex offense, three times more likely for a violent offense, seven times more likely for a serious drug offense, and nearly ten times more likely for a serious weapons offense.

 BARRY KRISBERG, Pres. National Council on Crime & Delinquency, 1993; REINVENTING JUVENILE JUSTICE // cjj-VT97 p. 109
Two more recent studies have produced similar results. Reed (1984) found that not only were African-American youth more likely to be detained by police but also they were more likely to receive the most severe court dispositions even while controlling for relevant offense and prior record characteristics. McCarthy and Smith (1986) found that although the expected influence of severity of offense and prior record on court dispositions were of primary importance, race and class also influenced the decision-making process, with minority and lower-class youth more frequently receiving the most severe dispositions. 

BARRY KRISBERG, Pres. National Council on Crime & Delinquency, 1993; REINVENTING JUVENILE JUSTICE // cjj-VT97 p. 84 
A comprehensive review of the literature since 1970 conducted by Pope and Feyerherm (199Oa) found that most, but not all, studies reveal ethnicity as a significant variable in )juvenile justice outcome decisions. That is, differences exist in juvenile justice outcomes among the major ethnic groups. However, there is considerable debate on whether the ethnicity effect is direct (i.e., causal), indirect, or spurious. For example, in a study utilizing Florida case records over a 2-year period, examined the effects of social and legal characteristics on detention, intake, disposition, and severity of disposition. They found that race influenced initial detention decisions in that black youths were more likely to be detained than white youths. Further, whether or not a youth was detained influenced all subsequent decisions because detained youths received the most severe dispositions.

BARRY KRISBERG, Pres. National Council on Crime & Delinquency, 1993; REINVENTING JUVENILE JUSTICE // cjj- VT97 p. 109
 it is undeniable that because of discrimination based on race and class, a disproportionate number of African-American, Latino, and poor people are involved at the court adjudication stage. Although the impact in sheer numbers may not be as significant as at earlier stages, racial and class biases continue to operate at the court hearing. Thornberry's (1979) study previously reviewed here lends empirical support to this position. Examining dispositional institutionalization and probation placement, Thornberry sought the discriminating variables that explain variance in court dispositions. Using controls for both the seriousness of the delinquent act and prior record, Thornberry found that, at the court disposition stage, AfricanAmericans are treated more severely than whites, and juveniles of low socioeconomic status are treated more harshly than those of high socioeconomic status.

MADELINE WORDES, doctoral student in Community Psychology, Michigan State Univ., May, 1994; JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN CRIME & DELINQUENCY, "Locking up youth" // jah-VT97 p. 163
 Prior studies have also suggested that social factors may explain the relationship between race and secure detention. In the present study, youth from families with lower socioeconomic status or youth having their mothers as sole household provider were more likely to be African American. It has been suggested that the relationship between race and detention can be explained by social characteristics that disadvantage youth of color. Furthermore, some suggest that youth of color are more likely to be detained because youth with the aforementioned family characteristics are in greater need of juvenile justice intervention. The findings of the present study, however, suggest that although social factors (i.e., low socioeconomic status, having personal problems) are indeed important in the detention decision, race continues to have a significant and independent effect on detention. This is not to suggest that these indirect effects are not present or unimportant in the decision to detain; however, they do not fully explain the relationship between race and detention as others have suggested.

WHITES COMMIT MORE CRIMES THAN BLACKS, YET BLACKS ARE PROSECUTED MORE OFTEN AND MORE SEVERELY

Hutchinson, MAR, 23,1994 (Earl Ofari, Dr. Earl Ofari Hutchinson is the author of the Association of the Black Male Image. He publishes "Ofari's Bi-Monthly" a subscription newsletter. "News Feature," a monthly syndicated column, is received by forty newspapers and radio stations nationally. Article Title: Black Crime Creating American Hysteria, Publication Name: Oakland Post, Volume & Numbers: V.30; N.83, Page: p. 1 Sec. 2) // msVT97 
Police officials denied that the gaping disparity was due to racism. They contended that blacks committed more violent felonies than whites. They didn't. In 1990, 32,000 more white juveniles were arrested for murder, forcible rape, robbery and assault than black juveniles. Still 300 more blacks were held in custody and 200 more blacks than whites were tried as adults. The pattern is the same in states where blacks make up a small percent of the population. Blacks are only nine percent of the population in California. But according to a 1992 study by the National Council on Crime and Delinquency, young black males were four times more likely than whites to be locked up by the California Youth Authority. Even controlling for violence, David Steinhart, study director, observed "that black kids were far more likely to be committed to juvenile custody than white kids."

AFRICAN AMERICANS ARE PROSECUTED MORE HARSHLY THAN WHITES

Collier, APRIL, 15, 1994, (Linda J., Article Title: Torture is the best way to deal with criminals, Publication Name: Philadelphia Tribune, The, Volume & Number: V. 111; N. 36 Page: p. 2A) // ms-VT97 
Our people are often prosecuted more harshly for our crimes than persons who commit the same crimes on the majority race. If we did the crime, we are almost assured of doing the time. Nine out of ten Black criminals as opposed to three out of ten white criminals will get jail time. We are less likely than whites to receive suspended sentences, or the reprieve of a community service work release program.

COURTS ARE RACIST: WHITES ARE RELEASED, WHILE BLACKS ARE PROSECUTED

Hutchinson, MAR, 23, 1994 (Earl Ofari, Dr. Earl Ofari Hutchinson is the author of the Association of the Black Male Image. He publishes "Ofari's Bi-Monthly" a subscription newsletter. "News Feature," a monthly syndicated column, is received by forty newspapers and radio stations nationally. Article Title: Black Crime Creating American Hysteria, Publication Name: Oakland Post, Volume & Number: V.30; N.83, Page: p. 1 Sec. 2) // msVT97
 Although blacks increasingly fill up the nation's jails, many young whites still evade stiff punishment for major crimes. In 1991, more than seventy percent of young males arrested were white. Many of them never made it to Judge Sumner's court, or any other court for that matter. Only thirty-five percent of whites were held in custody while forty-four percent of black males arrested were held in custody.

AFRICAN AMERICAN YOUTH VIEW POLICE AS ANTAGONISTS, NOT AS PROTECTORS

HARRELL ROBERTS, Prof. Princeton Univ., 1987; THE INNER WORLD OF THE BLACK JUVENILE DELINQUENT // cjj-VT97 p. 2
 Althoagh poor black Americans are vulnerable to a high volume of crime, at the same time they report that they can not rely on the police for protection. Residents of black communities describe the police as ineffectual in law enforcement and unfair, abrasive, and violent towards them without justification (President's Crime Commission, 1967).

HARRELL ROBERTS, Prof. Princeton Univ., 1987; THE INNER WORLD OF THE BLACK JUVENILE DELINQUENT // cjj- VT97 p. 2
 Black adolescents in particular view the police as a set of antagonists who abuse their powers without hesitation. Their perception of police harassment may well be accurate. Studies have shown that black males are stopped more often than whites by police where they lack any sort of evidence that an offense has been committed and that black youth are arrested more often than whites for similar offenses. In many poor communities, the police are seen as "an occupying force, an army" (Hearings, Criminal Justice Subcommittee, House Judiciary Committee, 1984). in testimony at congressional hearings on police brutality blacks stated that they were afraid to call the police when they were victims of crime because such a call would place them in jeopardy: "Calling a police officer can be hazardous to your health. It can result in death, serious physical injury, and almost certain spiritual abuse of your person and your dignity." 

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LINKING CRIME WITH RACE IS RACIST

LINKING GENDER, RACE AND GENETICS TO CRIME PROMOTES RACISM AND INEQUALITY

Jarvis Tyner, Chief of the Legislative and Political Action Commission of the Communist Party, USA, JAN 1994, "jobs not jails" POLITICAL AFFAIRS // ms-VT97 p.9
To argue that "Black crime" is a separate category is a thoroughly racist, anti-people notion, as is the concept that crime is high because there are too many female-headed households. The notion that the absence of men has left too many families weak and unable to keep children from a life of drugs, crime, and teen pregnancy is to cover up discrimination against women and racism against non-whites. To say that gender, genetics or biology is the link to criminal behavior is to promote gross racism and inequality. In each case, it is blaming the victim and letting the true culprit off the hook.

TO CONNECT CRIME WITH RACE AND NOT SOCIAL CONDITIONS IS RACIST

Jarvis Tyner, Chief of the Legislative and Political Action Commission of the Communist Party, USA, JAN 1994, "jobs not jails" POLITICAL AFFAIRS // ms-VT97
 These speeches by the President did real damage to race relations in our country. They were blatant attempts to cover up racism with the crime issue. To connect crime with race and not to social conditions is on its face an act of racism. These speeches were really an attack against everything that Martin Luther King and Cesar Chavez stood for. They were a defense of poverty, racism, genocide police brutality and inequality.

ADVOCACY OF THE DEATH PENALTY IS RACIST

Barkan, Steven E. (Associate Professor and Chair of Sociology at the Uni. of Maine); Cohn, Steven F. (Prof. of Sociology at Utti. of Maine): "Racial Prejudice and support for the death penalty by whites"; Journal of Research in Crime and Deliquency, vol.31 No.2 May 1994, p202-209
 If this is true, the influence of public support for capital punishment on legislative and judicial policy making may be misguided. To the extent that such support derives from feelings of retribution and a desire for deterrence, it is perhaps appropriate that legislative and judicial officials consider the large public majority in favor of capital punishment. But, to the extent that public support is motivated by racial prejudice, it is unacceptable in a democratic society for officials to be guided by such support. If the reasons for supporting capital punishment are as relevant as the amount of support for "judging whether public sentiment is an acceptable indicator of evolving ' standards of decency" (Sarat and Vdmar 1976, p. 193), then our results suggest that public sentiment may be an unacceptable indicator of contemporary standards of appropriate punishment for persons convicted of homicide (see also Grasmick, Davenport et al. 1992; Young 1991).

WHITES SUPPORT DEATH PENALTY BASED ON RACIST BELIEFS NOT OUT OF FEAR OF VICTIMIZATION

Aguirre, Adalberto (Associate Prof. of Sociology at Univ. of California Riverside); Baker, David V. (Associate Prof. and chair in Dept of Sociology and Anthropology) " Racial Prejudice and the Death Penalty: A Research Note": Social Justice Vol. 20 no. 1-2, .Spr-Smr 1993 // HF-VT97
 The most important finding of this study is the statistically significant association between racial prejudice and public support for the death penalty. This finding shows that white persons who are racially prejudiced are significantly more likely to favor the death penalty than white persons who are not racially prejudiced. Our finding tends to confirm Stinchcome et al.'s (1980) general finding that a statistically significant relationship exists between public attitudes toward the death penalty and equality toward Black persons. In addition, our finding suggests that white racial prejudice is expressed symbolically in the support of capital punishment by white persons. That is, our finding suggests that white persons support capital punishment because it serves as an outlet for expressing anti-Black attitudes. For example, our results show that there is no statistically significant relationship between fear of criminal victimization and support for the death penalty—effect of FEAR in Table I. As a result, the white respondents in this study do not support the death penalty out of fear regarding criminal victimization.

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THE DEATH PENALTY IS A RACIST EXTENSION OF SLAVERY

Wright, James, Washington AFRO Staff, MARCH 19, 1994 (Article Title: Scott denounces disparity in death penalty, Publication Name: Washington AfroAmerican, Volume & Number: V.102; N.32, Page: p. A1) // MS-VT97
 He was joined by Cong. Don Edwards (D-Calif.), who has stated that the death penalty was an extension of slavery because the slave master could kill slaves without justification. Cong. Edwards commissioned the study entitled "Racial Disparities in Federal Death Penalty Prosecutions." The publication reveals that the overwhelming majority of those targeted for federal death penalty prosecution are Black or Hispanic.

 RACIST PROSECUTORS WILL USE AFF REFORMS TO PUT MORE AFRICANS TO DEATH

Wright, James, Washington AFRO Statf, MARCH 19, 1994 (Article Title: Scott denounces disparity in death penalty, Publication Name: Washington Afro-American, Volume & Number: V.102; N.32, Page: p. A1) // ms-VT97
 NAACP lobbyist Wade Henderson blames racist U.S. Attorneys for the disparity. "There is wide spread abuse of the death penalty by U.S. Attorneys, almost all of whom are White males," he said. "They have little sensitivity to the problems of Black defendants and ask for the death penalty, it would seem, on instinct."

DEATH PENALTY IS ARBITRARY, UNFAIR AND RACIST 

Los Angeles Sentinel Article Title: 'Death Penalty Shames US': Amnesty international Volume & Number: V. 59; N. 41 Publication Date: 1/20/93 Page: p. C-8/Ethnic NewsWatch // HF-VT97
 In a hard-hitting open letter to President Bill Clinton, the international human rights organization brands the death penalty "arbitrary, unfair and racially discriminatory", and calls for an urgent Presidential Commission to look into the system-wide problems. And, says Amnesty international, federal authorities can no longer hide behind their repeated claims that the death penalty is an issue for states alone to decide -- the problems are now so serious and the discrepancies so severe that they must be looked into at a national level.

85% OF DEFENDANTS SELECTED FOR DEATH PENALTY FOR FEDERAL DRUG KING PIN CONVICTIONS ARE AFRICAN AMERICAN AND MEXICAN EVEN THOUGH WHITES MAKE UP 75% OF THE CONVICTIONS

Rep. Barbara Rose Collins, June-July 1994, "Con" CONGRESSIONAL DIGEST //MS-VT97
Eighty-nine percent of defendants selected for capital punishment under the Federal drug kingpin death penalty provisions have either been African-American or Mexican-American, despite the fact that 75 percent of those individuals convicted under the general drug kingpin statute were white .

 APPLICATION OF THE DEATH PENALTY IS DEEPLY RACIST 

Los Angeles Sentinel Article Title: 'Death Penalty Shames US': Amnesty international Volume & Number: V. 59; N. 41 Publication Date: 1/20/93 Page: p. C-8/Ethnic NewsWatch // HF-VT97 
One of the most shocking aspects of the Amnesty international report highlights the ingrained racism of the death penalty in action. Figures speak for themselves: 40 per cent of death row prisoners are black, compared to just 12 per cent of the population and an astonishing 84 percent of prisoners executed since 1977 were convicted of murdering white victims -- although black and white people are murdered in roughly equal numbers.

USE OF THE DEATH PENALTY IS EXTREMELY RACIST

Sacramento Observer, Dec. 15,1993, Article Title: DEATH PENALTY UPHELD: Thirty-Six People Executed in U.S. This Year Volume & Number: V.31; N.3 Page: p. A1 // ms-VT97
The death penalty continued to be Used almost exclusively for those who killed a White person. Even though Blacks are victims of murder in about 50% of the cases, 89% of the cases resulting in an execution involved White victims. Again, no White person was executed for the murder of a Black person, as has been the pattern in 223 out of 224 executions carried out since 1976.

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PUTTING YOUTHS IN PRISON IS RACIST AND DISCRIMINATORILY APPLIED

SHIRLEY DICKS, 1995; YOUNG BLOOD: JUVENILE JUSTICE & THE DEATH PENALTY // cjj-VT97 p. 56
 Prisons and jails are today prime reinforcers of racism in society. They are highly volatile and isolated elements of the criminal justice system. A searching and critical public scrutiny of their internal controls, external policies, and societal influences is lacking. An imperative to replace lethargy with constructive action and misunderstanding with understanding is needed.

"LOCK THEM UP" MENTALITY IS RACIST AND DISCRIMINATORILY APPLIED

RON HARRIS, Staffwriter Los Angeles Times, edited by Shirley Dicks, 1995; JUVENILE JUSTICE & THE DEATH PENALTY, "Should teens be tried as adults?" // cjj-VT97
While each claim has some merit, the punishment gap between white and black children also appears to reflect a larger and harsher reality, one rooted in the nation's changed attitude about how to deal with the children of poor and disadvantaged families. During the last decade, juvernile justice officials say, the nation moved away from social programs designed to aid indigent children. "The people in this country, having destroyed the children of poor people through neglect, have decided that they are not going to do anything to repair the damage." said Judge Frank Reynolds, Philadelphia's presiding juvenile-court justice. ".The alternative then is to just lock them up. And that's what they are doing." Across the country, states and counties have largely abandoned rehabilitation efforts for juveniles as the public has called for punishment through time in lockup. One result is that the faces of those inside the juvenile detention facilities have changed. Eight years ago, most were white. Now most are black, and, in any case, most of the juveniles in custody are poor and undereducated.

ANTI-GANG PROVISIONS ARE RACIST AND DISCRIMINATORILY APPLIED

Welch, Michael (executive director of the National Alliance Against Racist & Political Repression, an organization based in New York City.) Article Title: Anti-Crime legislation, Washington Afro American: V.102; N.30 Publication Date: 03-05-94 Page: p. A5 /Ethnic NewsWatch // HF-VT97 
Anti-gang provisions penalize individuals for associating with a "criminal gang," which is defined as any group of five or more who individually or group-wide, commit two defined crimes within 10 years. Experience indicates who police will target. Los Angeles police computerized gang files list 47 percent of young Black men in that city as gang members even though nearly half on the list have no prior arrests. In Denver 93 percent of those on the police gang list are Black or Latino.

CURFEWS ARE RACIST AND DISCRIMINATORILY APPLIED

MARK IPPOLITO Staff Writer, The Tennessean, December 8, 1995, Pg. 1A, HEADLINE: MAYOR'S CURFEW MAY MISS MARK; Police: Youth crime worse in day // acs-VT97
     Fisk University Professor Ray Winbush said curfews elsewhere often have been aimed at young black males. "No one will say that, but that's really where the target is."
 Selected enforcement has caused curfews in some cities to be thrown out by the courts as unconstitutional.
 "In some cities, it was selectively enforced against certain groups minorities or skinheads or whatever," Murphy said. 

ANTI-LOITERING LAWS ARE RACIST AND DISCRIMINATORILY APPLIED

Debra Elliott-Tenort, The Commercial Appeal (Memphis), February 28, 1996, Pg. 2B, HEADLINE: Attorney has doubts about loitering law // acs-VT97
     A proposed anti-loitering ordinance aimed at drug dealers and gang members is unconstitutional and discriminatory, a police department attorney said Tuesday.
 Police Department Atty. Gerald L. Thornton told the council's public safety committee the ordinance could lead to random harassment of young African-American men and make the city vulnerable to lawsuits.
 ''You cannot create a rule or law or regulation that's only going to affect only one particular group of people and we know who it's going to affect,'' Thornton said.

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INCREASED DRUG LAW ENFORCEMENT IS RACIST AND DISCRIMINATORILY APPLIED

Jarvis Tyner, Chief of the Legislative and Political Action Commission of the Communist Party, USA, JAN 1994, "jobs not jails" POLITICAL AFFAIRS // ms-VT97
 African American and Latino youth who are the prime victims of the drug epidemic are being arrested and jailed more than any other group. The prisons are full to the point of overflowing. We live in a society where millions of youth in a special way African American youth - are tragically cast aside, oppressed and neglected, then imprisoned and criminalized. It is the shame of our nation that, by a wide margin, there are more African American youth in jail or under the jurisdiction of the courts than are in college. This is a basic failure of the U.S. capitalist system.

VICTOR PERLO, Natl. Board Communist Party USA, Feb., 1996; POLITICAL AFFAIRS, "Criminalization of African Americans" // jah-VT97 18
 The legal code applied against African Americans is much more stringent than against the rest of the population, a degree of discrimination more extreme than in any other aspect Of life. For example, researchers find that 13 percent of blacks, like 13 percent of whites, are regular users of narcotic drugs. But a Black user is four times more likely to be arrested than a white; eight times more likely to be convicted; and 19 times more likely to be imprisoned! Imprisonment for drug use has been rising at astronomical rates. But if Black users were imprisoned at the same rate as other users, total imprisonment for, drug use would be slashed 70~ percent and most of the new prisons being built at breakneck speed would not be needed. 

EDMUND McGARRELL, Prof. Criminal Justice Washington State Univ., Jan., 1993; CRIME & DELINQUENCY, "Trends in racial disproportionality" // jah-VT97 p. 46
 The present analysis cannot identify the causes of these trends, although some observations can be made. First, although a small proportion of the increase can be attributed to the increase in the non-White youth population at large, the data on rates of non-White cases clearly show that the increased volume of cases goes well beyond that anticipated due to demographic shifts. Second, the increased formality in the handling of drug offenses has had a differential effect on non-White as opposed to White youths. Both the volume of non-White drug offenses and the severity in the disposition of drug offenses increased dramatically from 1985 to 1989. For Whites. on the other hand, the increased formality in handling of drug offenses was largely offset by the decrease in the number of White youths referred for drug offenses. Given the proactive nature of drug enforcement, these findings raise fundamental questions about the targets of investigation and apprehension under the recent war on drugs. 

WILLIAM J. CHAMBLISS, Prof. Sociology George Washington Univ.; Social Justice, "Another Lost War" // jahVT97 p. 107
 African American women and juveniles are particularly hard hit by the systematic racism inherent in the enforcement of drug laws. Fifty-seven percent of the women in state and federal prisons in 1990 were minority women, 75% of whom were mothers (Maguire, Pastore, and Flanagan, 1992). Between 1980 and 1991, the number of women in state and federal prisons increased from approximately 12,000 to over 41,000, representing a 255% increase in the imprisonment of women in these years.' In 1992, 64.7% of the women in federal prisons were there for drug offenses (Figure 4). The pattern of discrimination in sentencing for African-American juveniles is even more extreme than for the population as a whole. Between 1985 and 1989, the number of white juveniles in locked detention actually declined, whereas the number of nonwhite juveniles (mostly Black) in locked detention increased by 259% during these years (Figure 5). 

WILLIAM J. CHAMBLISS, Prof. Sociology George Washington Univ.; Social Justice, "Another Lost War" // jahVT97 107
 Arrests take place in crowded areas where both children and adults bear witness to the racism and violence of the police as often as they witness the violence of drug dealers. No wonder the police cannot find people to testify or witnesses to come forth. No wonder many in the Black community view the police as an alien occupying army rather than as protectors of citizens, rights. No wonder the gangs that occupy the streets often are seen as more in tune with the needs of the community than arc the police officers who ride through in their patrol cars harassing every young Blackmale in sight (Jankowski. 1992). Moreover, when the laws are blatantly racist - to the extent that possession of a small amount (five grams) of crack cocaine (the drug of choice of people in the Black community) carries a mandatory five-year prison sentence without the possibility of parole, while possession of 100 times that amount of cocaine powder (the drug of choice of the white middle class) has no mandatory sentence—any illusion of an impartial judicial system is permanently shattered (Doob, 1993). Equally indicative of the systematic bias in the enforcement of drug laws is the fact that although young Black men account for 12% of the population, they constitute 40% of the drug arrests and over 60% of the prison commitments for drug offenses—even though national household surveys show that the percentage of users in the Black and white population identical (39% in each group) and white high school students are twice as likely to report using illegal drugs than are Blark students (see Table 3) (Johnston. O'Malley. and Bachman. 1991). Of all people reporting the use of illegal drugs, 74.5% are white, 14.8% are Black, and 10.7% are Hispanic (NIDA, 1991:19-21). 

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 CRACK COCAINE STATUTES PROVE RACISM INHERENT IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

Reid, Mar, 1, 1994 (Millicent Article Title: Millie's Notebook: Judge Takes A Stand, Publication Name: Columbus Times, Volume & Number: V.XXXVI; N.12, Page: p. B1) // MS-VT97
 Senior U.S. District Judge Clyde Cahill of St. Louis has ruled that "harsh federal penalties against crack cocaine that are imposed on Blacks 30 times more often than Whites are the product of "unconscious racism" and are Unconstitutional." When there seemed to be an out burst of what officials called crack cocaine related killings and arrests Congress sin 1986 passed laws that dole out lengthy federal sentences for small amounts of crack cocaine and shorter terms for cocaine powder. Under the laws, 1 gram of crack is seen as the same as 100 grams of powder. Judge Cahill said that Congress's laws "reek with inhumanity and injustices," denying Black defendants equal protection under the law.

USE OF DRUG PROSECUTION STRENGTHENS THE RACIST POLICY OF GENOCIDE

Reid, Mar, 1, 1994 (Millicent Article Title: Millie's Notebook: Judge Takes A Stand, Publication Name: Columbus Times, Volume & Number: V.XXXVI; N.12, Page: p. B1) // ms-VT97 
 Almost twice as many Whites have Used crack and they SUre have not been arrested. The problem is two fold. First of all drug use has been labeled a Black problems even though 75 percent of drug users are White. The media then plays this up regardless of whether you are talking about television or newspapers. To compound the problem, politicians aware of the game being played, strike out to get rid of drugs by aiming tougher than tough laws on drugs most used by "inner city" Blacks - the message, for non violent drug possession charges is that you will spend more time in jail than a murderer or a rapist who commits violent crimes. The bottom line is racism and there has been a very real conspiracy of the fourth estate, politicians and judges to first of all for, find prosecute only Blacks on drug charges. If you happen to stumble onto a few Whites, charge then, prosecute them and either put them on probation, or in some program for first time drug offenders if they can find one.

DRUG PROSECUTION IS RACIST

Reid, Mar, 1,1994 (Millicent Article Title: Millie's Notebook: Judge Takes A Stand, Publication Name: Columbus Times, Volume & Number: V.XXXVI; N.12, Page: p. B1) // ms-VT97
 Judge Cahill also found that the actions of Congress and prosecutors are "influenced and motivated by unconscious racism, causing great harm and injury to Black defendants because of their race, in as much as Whites are rarely arrested, prosecuted or convicted for crack cocaine offenses." To backup his claim, the Judge cited a 1992 study by the National Institute on Drug Abuse showing more than 2.4 million Whites have used crack, as opposed to 990,000 Blacks and 348,000 Hispanics.

MANDATORY MINIMUMS ARE RACIST

Rep. Barbara Rose Collins, June July 1994, "Con" CONGRESSIONAL DIGEST // ms-VT97 p. 173
There are widespread racial disparities in the application of criminal penalties. A study of mandatory minimum sentences in Florida concluded that race was a major factor in imposing mandatory minimum sentences. 

 MANDATORY MINIMUMS ARE RACIST AND ALLOW VIOLENT CRIMINALS TO BE RELEASED EARLY

 Welch, April, 7, 1994 (Michael Article Title: Stop the Anti-Crime Legislation Publication Name: Precinct Reporter Volume & Number: V.28; N.38 Publication Date: 04-07-94 Page: p. A4)// ms-VT97
 Prosecutors determine whether mandatory sentencing law apply by the charge they bring against a defendant. Deals are cut to get the bigger fish to testify against others, and the little fish do the real time. Low-level and nonviolent prisoners crowd the prisons while the bad guys are released early prisoners are low-level drug offenders with no history of violence. The records show that in cases where a mandatory minimum could apply, African American are 21% more likely and Latinos 28% more likely than whites to receive the mandatory minimum.

MANDATORY MINIMUM IS RACIALLY BIASED AGAINST AFRICAN AMERICANS AND LATINOS

 Welch, Michael (executive director of the National Alliance Against Racist & Political Repression, an organization based in New York City.) 03-05-94, Article Title: Anti-Crime legislation,Washington AfroAmerican: V.102; N.30 Publication Page: p. A5 /Ethnic NewsWatch/ HF-VT97 
Low-level and non-violent prisoners crowd the prisons while the bad guys are released early. Now 21 percent of federal prisoners are lowlevel drug offenders with no history of violence. The records show that in cases where a mandatory minimum could apply, African Americans are 21 percent more likely and Latinos 28 percent more likely than Whites to receive the mandatory minimum.

IMPACTS

INCREASED RACIST ENFORCEMENT WILL INCREASE JUVENILE DELINQUENCY

VERNETTA YOUNG, Prof. Criminal Justice Howard Univ., Feb., 1991; JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN CRIME & DELINQUENCY, "Excluded: the current status of African-American scholars in the field of criminology" // jah-VT97 p.103
 Whether there is a distinct theoretical paradigm that can be classified as the "African-American perspective" is subject to debate. Varying views are expressed on a wide range of topics. However, since the turn of the century, several dominant themes have emerged from the writings of AfricanAmerican criminologists. Among the most prominent is that crime and delinquency in African-American neighborhoods can be attributed to Whites' segregative and discriminatory attitudes and practices against AfricanAmericans (Greene 1979).
 African-American criminologists, as a group, consistently argue that racism, discrimination, and segregation are inextricably interwoven with crime and delinquency. For example, Vontress (1962) argued that crime can be attributed to "a melange of causes stemming from the patterns of segregation= and discrimination uniquely imposed on the minority group by the dominant group" (p. 108), while J. Davis, (1976) viewed crime as "a complex reaction to oppression." Many writers have pointed to specific economic, social, or political problems such as poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, overcrowded housing, inadequate nutrition, and differential law enforcement. 

JUSTICE SYSTEM AIMS FOR GENOCIDE OF AFRICAN AMERICANS

Jarvis Tyner, Chief of the Legislative and Political Action Commission of the Communist Party, USA, JAN 1994, "jobs not jails" POLITICAL AFFAIRS // ms-VT97 p. 9
 Despite this, historically and currently, Black people are disproportionately arrested, subjected to police brutality, convicted and jailed. Indeed, it has been said that the discrimination in the criminal justice system is so great that Black young men are becoming an endangered species.

DENYING RACISM PERPETUATES IT

THE CLAIMS THAT THERE IS NOT A POLICY OF GENOCIDE FOR AFRICAN AMERICANS ARE JUST EXCUSES BY PEOPLE WHO DON'T KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON

Shabazz, OCT, 31,1992 (Malik Article Title: Sullivan names Jenifer to Violence initiative Publication Name: Washington Afro-American, Volume & Number: V.101; N.11, Page: p. A1 // ms-VT97
 She (Dr. Welshing) also described the situation of African Americans as similar to that of the Jewish population in Nazi Germany. "Large numbers of black peoples, are well intended, just like the Jews in Germany, you could have (Sigmund) Freud, (Albert) Einstein, who didn't comprehend what was going on. The Nazi's involved Jewish leadership in leading the Jews to the concentration camps, where many of the Jewish leadership was well intended they didn't know (the total plan which the Nazis were developing)," Dr. Welshing said. "The history of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, with its failure to educate and treat the participants, has helped to lay the foundation four our pervasive sense of distrust of public health authorities today. This is where fears of genocide comes from," Congressman Conyers said.

ARGUMENTS THAT DENY RACISM IN OUR SYSTEM JUST PERPETUATE THAT RACISM

Sacramento Observer, MAY, 28,1992, Article Title: Stop Denying Racism in America! Volume & Number: V.29; N.27, Page: p. C1 // ms-VT97
 Nothing can do more to perpetuate a problem than to deny that the problem exists. Yes, inside the United States there is an unprecedented "urban crisis." There is the "crisis of the national economy." There is a devastating "drug crisis." There is a "health care crisis." There is the "AIDS crisis." And there is a glaring "moral crisis" throughout the nation. But the most dangerous and historically long-lasting crisis facing this nation is the unmitigated denial that racism is one of the major causative factors that determines massive social and economic inequity and injustice.

WHEN WE ACCEPT THE REALITIES OF RACISM WE ARE A STEP CLOSER TO SOLVING IT

Anderson, MARCH, 18, 1993 (Paul G., Article Title: Permanence of racism and the Black challenge, Publication Name: Call and Post (Cincinnati), Volume & Number: V.78; N.11,Page: p. 1 A // MS-VT97
 Bell's (Visiting Professor at New York University) answer to the dilemma posed by racism is that Blacks must, first of all accept the realities that racism presents on a day-to-day basis. There is an inherent triumph that goes with that acceptance, says Bell. The triumph that comes from the acceptance of racism's depth and breadth makes life's decisions so much easier and gives one a peace of mind in knowing what each day is likely to bring and how one must respond to "get by."

THE SYMBOLIC ACT -- THE QUICK FIX -- IS A DISASTER

A. AFFIRMATIVE OVERCLAIMS ABOUT THEIR APPROACH TO JUVENILE CRIME LEAD TO THE QUICK FIX PHENOMENON

JAMES FINCKENAUER, Prof. Rutgers Univ., 1982; SCARED STRAIGHT! AND THE PANACEA PHENOMENON // am-VT97 p. 5
 THIS phenomenon seems to have spawned particular pattern in our battle with juvenile crime. First, a certain approach is posed as a cure-all or becomes viewed and promoted as cure all—as an intervention which will have universal efficacy and thus be appropriate for nearly all kids. It may be promoted and sold as the All encompassing solution to the delinquency problem. Each promoter/salesman believes, or at least behaves as if, his idea is effective in saving children and "hypes" it accordingly. Unfortunately, the approach, no matter what it is, almost always fails to deliver; fails to live up to the frequently unrealistic or unsound expectations raised by the sales pitch. As this failure slowly becomes apparent, frustration usually sets in; but then the search for the next panacea or "answer" begins anew. One danger of this pattern is that the resulting disappointment and pessimism sometimes leads to a conclusion that delinquents are too dangerous or too intractable to be helped, and therefore more repressive measures including severe punishment are required.

B. PEOPLE WILL FOCUS ON THIS QUICK FIX AND IGNORE THE TRUE SOLUTIONS TO THE JUVENILE CRIME PROBLEM

PETER APPLEBOME, The New York Times, April 10, 1996, Section A; Page 1; HEADLINE: Parents Face Consequences As Children's Misdeeds Rise // acs-VT97
     "We have a serious juvenile-crime problem no one wants to confront, so we end up in an endless search for the delinquency solution of the month," Mr. Krisberg said. "One month it's tough love. Then it's boot camp. Now it's parental responsibility."     

C. THE AFFIRMATIVE URGE TO "DO SOMETHING" WILL ONLY HURT THE CHILDREN

JAMES FINCKENAUER, Prof. Rutgers Univ., 1982; SCARED STRAIGHT! AND THE PANACEA PHENOMENON // am-VT97 p. 27
 Doism is the rather naive and overly optimistic belief that it is better to do something than nothing. Motivated by the ballet that waive got to do something, we frequently plow ahead with good intentions*, but with an almost utter disregard for the possible consequences of our *actions, consequences which can be negative or detrimental.. We have failed to learn the history of juvenile justice in America, namely that the path to hell is paved with good intentions. A considerable amount of harm has been perpetrated upon children under the guise of doing something which is "good for them."

LINKS: THE AFFIRMATIVE IS ONLY A SYMBOLIC ACT WHICH WILL DISCOURAGE REAL REFORMS AND REAL SOLUTIONS

LINK: PUNISHMENT IS ONLY A SYMBOLIC ACT WHICH DISCOURAGES REAL REFORMS

Ralph D. and Carol S. Ellis, PhD and J.D., 1989; THEORIES OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE, cb-VT97 p. 43
 The "classical" school as exemplified by Beccaria is inadequate, according to Ferri, because it was directed against the symptoms of the problem, not its causes. As such, it might be compared to putting a band-aid over a bullet wound without first removing the bullet. "It is a remedy directed against effects, but it does not touch the causes, the roots, of the evil."' The only worthwhile contribution of deterrence theory, Ferri maintains, has been lo counteract the medieval tendency toward unnecessarily harsh penalties. It cannot provide certainty of punishment, and even if it could, this deterrent effect would be neither necessary nor sufficient to eliminate or reduce crime. It would not be sufficient, because those who have been caused by social conditions to develop anti-social attitudes, or to steal by force of economic necessity, will do so in spite of the threat of punishment; they are neither rational enough, economically secure enough, nor socially well enough adjusted to weigh gains against risks in an objective, rational way (if they were. they wouldn't commit the crimes to begin with, and what deterred one individual would be enough to deter another). Nor would this punishment be necessary for crime prevention, because those who are not caused to develop into criminal personalities in the first place would not commit crimes because they would "feel the bridle of the social sense." Thus, "The criminal code serves only to isolate temporarily from social intercourse those who are not considered worthy of it."

LINK: REHABILITATION ONLY REINFORCES THE STATUS QUO

Ralph D. and Carol S. Ellis, PhD and J.D., 1989; THEORIES OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE, cb-VT97 p. 50
 For, if we view crime as a way of making a living, and if we assume that the opportunities to make a living in Iegitimate occupations is Ihnited by the structure of the economy, then a certain percentage of the population will always have to be engaged in crime in order to make a living. To rehabilitate one offender is simply to help him do what is necessary to end up in a legitimate occupation, which then displaces the person who otherwise would have held that particular job; if that person then turns to crime the net total of offenders would be left the same as it was before. A similar outlook is shared, in a more general way, by "radical" criminologists who in agreement with Marxism believe that the essential structures of capitalism itself make crime ultimately inevitable. As mentioned earlier, Ferri himself seems to have been quite sympathetic with Marxism; this is somewhat ironical, since Marxism can also be used as an argument for the futility of rehabilitation in present the system.

LINK: DETERRENCE EMPHASIS IS ONLY A SYMBOLIC ACT WHICH DISCOURAGES REAL REFORMS

Ralph D. and Carol S. Ellis, PhD and J.D., 1989; THEORIES OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE, cb-VT97 p. 206
Perhaps as the result of some of the same causes, mere deterrence is no longer an acceptable alternative, if it ever was. The primary reason for this negative assessment is an empirical one: deterrence simply is not effectual enough. Indeed, in the larger cities where crime is most prevalent, its effect seems so slight as to be in many cases statistically insignificant, even when the rules of fairness arc being discretely broken to facilitate convictions. This can hardly be surprising in view of the long-established consensus among psychologists to the effect that a mixed, partial-reinforcement schedule of punishments administered to someone who stands to gain by the behavior, and feels that he has nothing to gain by refraining from the behavior, is the Ieast effective of all reinforcement schedules. Add to this the evidence we have mentioned that much criminal behavior is irrationally motivated and not based on a calculation of risks and gains, and it is no wonder that the effect of deterrence, under these circumstances, is virtually negligible under these circumstances, is virtually negligible.

Ralph D. and Carol S. Ellis, PhD and J.D., 1989; THEORIES OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE, cb-VT97 p. 2
In general, according to sociologist Emile Durkheim, preindustrial societies traditionally did not regard deterrence as the purpose of punishment.: Rather, they used punishment simply as an opportunity for symbolic expression of moral outrage against non-conformity There was no rational or purposeful plan to affect the future behavior of potential criminals, but rather an unconscious tendency to reinforce the conformist sentiments of the law-abiding citizenry, thus promoting social cohesion by making sure everyone shared the same moral values. As a consequence, one was as apt to be punished for witchcraft or for having the wrong religious beliefs as for stealing or accepting bribes. In Durkheim's view, punishment in traditional societies was a reaction based on emotion, not the vehicle of a deliberate plan to achieve some definite purpose. Whether such a thoroughgoing moral consensus within communities was desirable or not, Durkheim and subsequent sociologists have emphasized that it would be naive to believe that an industrial society could return to it.

LINKS: THE AFFIRMATIVE IS ONLY A SYMBOLIC ACT (continued)

LINK: EXPANDING CURRENT APPROACHES IS ONLY A SYMBOLIC ACT WHICH DISCOURAGES REAL REFORMS

JAMES FINCKENAUER, Prof. Rutgers Univ., 1982; SCARED STRAIGHT! AND THE PANACEA PHENOMENON // am-VTg7 p. 4
 David Rothenberg, who runs the Fortune Society, says it even more simply: "We always seem to seek simple solutions for complex situations." One of the simultaneous causes and effects of our failures and frustrations in dealing with juvenile crime may be the refueling of a continuing search for the cure-all. This search has been conducted, encouraged, or exploited not only by the general public and politicians and law makers, but also by juvenile justice officials and social scientists as well .

LINK: AN AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAM IS ONLY A SYMBOLIC ACT WHICH DISCOURAGES REAL REFORMS

NICHOLAS EMLER AND STEPHEN REICHER, 1995; ADOLESCENCE AND DELINQUENCY // am-VT97 p. 225
There are other interventions which can only function as panaceas to the extent that they are limited to cosmetic as opposed to structural changes. For instance, it follows from our argument that increased provision of easily available leisure facilities will lessen the time spent hanging around on the street where delinquent action is most likely to occur. However, where such provision is simply imposed without consultation it may well be perceived as an act of social control. This will lessen the likelihood that it is used but, even if it is used, it will do nothing to undermine perceptions of antagonism to the authorities. Indeed such facilities may even be perceived as symbols of inequality and become targets of vandalism themselves. This is very different from provision which responds to local demands and is accountable to young people themselves.

LINK: IMPRISONMENT IS ONLY A SYMBOLIC ACT WHICH DISCOURAGES REAL REFORMS

RON HARRIS, Staffwriter Los Angeles Times, edited by Shirley Dicks, 1995; JUVENILE JUSTICE & THE DEATH PENALTY, "Should teens be tried as adults?'. // cjj-VT97 p. 44
 The core of the Massachusetts program is the belief that most delinquent children require not custody, but development. "The public looks for quick and easy solutions," Laughlin says. Saying "I'm going to lock up more people," is a quick and easy answer, but it's not the solution. Our nation's incarceration rate is right behind Russia's and South Africa's, and yet we have a higher crime rate than countries who don't have the high lockup rate we have.... What we find is that when we offer a safe, caring environment that holds kids accountable, they respond. Kids are kids. I don't care what they've been doing on the street. They look forward to a reward system. They like a system that is accountable and has positive feedback. It may sound like a small thing, but what a lot of people forget is that these kids are just that—kids. 

PEOPLE PREFER SIMPLE APPROACHES BECAUSE THEY CAN ACT WITHOUT REALLY ACTING

JAMES FINCKENAUER, Prof. Rutgers Univ., 1982; SCARED STRAIGHT! AND THE PANACEA PHENOMENON // am-VT97 p. 27
 Americans seem peculiarly susceptible to the belief that every problem, including every social problem, has a solution. We are also inclined to seek or to accept simple and often simplistic solutions. Politicians frequently appeal to this desire for action by offering simplistic answers. These fall on receptive ears because we are afraid and frustrated by juvenile crime, and because we want to do something, almost anything, about it. Newism refers to the appeal of approaches or programs because they are new. Stratton and Terry point out that, "This orientation is reinforced by the failure of older programs and the continuing rise of delinquency rates." "This results," they say, "in the bandwagon effect of implementing new programs and policies without carefully assessing their validity or reviewing the history of similar types of programs that preceded them." This is akin to Santyanna's theory that those who fail to remember the past are doomed to repeat its mistakes. In delinquency prevention, we frequently don't even know what our mistakes are. 

IMPACTS

SIMPLE APPROACHES PREVENT REAL SOLUTIONS

JUNE ARNEY, STAFF WRITER, The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk), August 26, 1995, Pg. A1, HEADLINE: POLITICS CLOUDS JUVENILE JUSTICE REFORM // acs-VT97
     Linda Nablo, senior policy analyst, has attended most meetings of both commissions and has tried to make sense of it all. Nablo has worked as a probation and intake officer, a juvenile correctional center family counselor and manager of the research and planning unit of the Department of Youth and Family Services.
 According to Nablo, what is happening in Virginia is being repeated throughout the country.
 ''People are examining juvenile justice systems and asking are they still adequate to meet the needs of today's world,'' she said. ''My greatest fear is that we will end up with laws that abandon what is valuable and effective and humane in the juvenile justice system rather than strengthening and improving it.''

IMPACT: TO BE EFFECTIVE, CRIME REFORM MUST BE COMPREHENSIVE

The Cincinnati Enquirer, August 9, 1995, Pg. A08, HEADLINE: Guilty Blame adults for juvenile crime // acs-VT97
     "We can no longer compartmentalize the causes of juvenile crime into guns, drugs, poverty, etc. We have to take a broader, critical view of society. If you want to know what we truly value, watch how we spend our money and our time. Our children live in the world we've created for them. "All adults, not just parents, have to seriously look at what we want to do in our own interests, and when it conflicts with the best interests of children, we have to exercise self-discipline. Pure and simple." [Juvenile Court Judge David Grossmann]

Ralph D. and Carol S. Ellis, PhD and J.D., 1989; THEORIES OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE, cb-VT97 p. 51
Even if the number of people who commit crimes were a fixed constant in the structure of our society, the implication of this might be that, rather than attempting to rehabilitate criminals within the existing social framework, we should concentrate on changing the social structures which motivate people to commit crimes lo begin with. For example, according lo Ferri, a more egalitarian society would contain Icss poverty, and therefore would be Iess a breeding ground for criminal attitudes. Whether we agree with Ferri that poverty is the ultimate cause of criminal attitudes—or whether we see their causation as being much more complex than this (as suggested in our introduction and first chapter)—i.s a secondary, empirical question which does not affect Ferri's essential reasoning here. His important point is that crime should not be considered as though it were a specialized and isolated problem within the society; it is part of the total socio-economic framework which must also be reformed if crime is to be eliminated or reduced. 

 Abner J. Mikva, chief judge U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and lecturer at Hastings Center of the Law, Oct 19, 1992 Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly, vol. 20, summer 93, no.4, The Matthew Tobriner Memorial Lecture- "It's Time to 'Unfix' the Criminal Justice System'' \\ ld-VT97 pp. 830-831
 If on the other hand, we want to use the system and its sentencing component to promote a more secure society, we probably have to go back to square one. We need earlier intervention in the criminal syndrome. A teacher colleague of my wife insisted that she could determine which of the third graders in her innercity classroom would end up in our penitentiary. She was probably more right than wrong. If anti-societal tendencies can be spotted at such tender years, shouldn't we address these issues early on, when it is easier and far cheaper to do something? When the violator being processed is a first offender, don't we need to apply more sophisticated remedies than either our present probation system or the reform schools offer? Both of them have turned out to be great tools for culturing recidivism and not much else. We need special schools, boot camps, job training centers, and job placement programs But mostly, we have to go back to the drawing boards and figure out what it is we are buying when we impose draconian sentences to our federal prisons. If the felon is young enough, the longer sentence only provides a better finishing school education in the crime business. If the | felon is old enough, we are paying a pretty penny to confine somebody who at worst would probably add to our homeless population if we turned him loose. Crime basically is a young person's game, and the older felons tend mostly to get sickly and expensive to imprison. The current figures suggest that prisoners over fifty cost almost $60,000 per year to keep because of the added medical costs.

IMPACTS (continued)

John Logan, Prof. Sociology Univ. California Santa Barbara, 1987; URBAN FORTUNES, pp. 63-4 // jjVT97 pp. 63-64
 The first is the "symbolic" politics of public morality and most of the other "big issues" featured in the headlines and editorials of the daily press: school prayer, wars on crime, standing up to communism, and child pornography, for example. News coverage of these issues may have little to do with any underlying reality, much less a reality in which significant local actors have major stakes. Fishman (1978) shows, for example, that reports of a major crime wave against the elderly in New York City appeared just at a time when most crimes against the elderly were actually on the decline. The public "crime wave" was created by police officials who, in responding to reporters' interest in the topic, provided~ juicy instances that would make good copy. The "crime wave" was sustained by politicians eager to denounce the perpetrators, and these politicians' pronouncements became the basis for still more coverage and expressions of authoritative police concern. Once this symbiotic "dance" is in motion, the story takes on a life of its own, and fills the pages and airwaves of news media. Such symbolic crusades provide the "easy news" (Gordon, Heath. and LeBailly, 1979) needed reporters pressed for time just as these crusades satisfy the "news needs" (Molotch and Lester, 1974) of politicians happy to stay away from issues that might offend growth machine interests. The resulting hubbubs often mislead the general public as well as the academic investigator about what the real stuff of community cleavage and political process might be. To the degree that rentier elites keep growth issues on a symbolic level (for example, urban "greatness"), they prevail as the "second face of power" (Bachrach and Baratz, 1962), the face that determines the public agenda (McCombs and Shaw 1972).

THE "FIAT EFFECT" OF AFFIRMATIVE PROPOSAL STOPS REAL REFORMS

Charles Elder, Prof. Wayne State; & Roger Cobb, Prof. Brown, 1993; THE POLITICAL USES OF SYMBOLS // W&F-VT97 p. 22 
Thus, problems are presumed to be solved by fiat; and the citizen seldom has occasion to inquire further into the matter. This presumption is fortified by commonly held, symbolically laden images of the administrative process and of governmental regulation. 

THE EFFECTS OF THE PLAN WILL BE OVERCLAIMED TO GET FUNDING

JAMES FINCKENAUER, Prof. Rutgers Univ., 1982; SCARED STRAIGHT! AND THE PANACEA PHENOMENON // am-VT97 p. 13 On the other hand, it does not appear unreasonable to expect officials and agencies not to promise something they know they cannot deliver. Delivering has not been easy in this area, but "too many programs set their goals too high and promise too much in order to obtain federal [or other] funding. In effect, each program promises to be the panacea for youth crime, which has sometimes led groups to disastrous competition for federal [or other] dollars.'' Various community agencies exploit the public concern because they find it easier to obtain support for youth programs if they claim to be delinquency prevention endeavors. In these instances a panacea may be fabricated by a deliberate, intentional, and knowing oversell. The motivation may be funding, or it may be something else. Overly ambitious expectations for narrowly focused programs whether innocent or not, seem sure to result in failure. 

IMPACTS (continued)

MANIPULATION OF SUCH SYMBOLIC ACTS AS THE AFFIRMATIVE PREVENT EFFECTIVE POLICIES FROM BEING IMPLEMENTED

Charles Elder, Prof. Wayne State; & Roger Cobb, Prof. Brown, 1993; THE POLITICAL USES OF SYMBOLS // W&F-VT97p. 26
Thus, while popular myths and images can constrain the latitude of policy makers and temper the opportunity for abuses of power, they can also impede reform and stifle social change. Because they are highly resistant to change and tend to be immune to even firsthand experience, they can be a major obstacle to effective social policy.

Mark Yodof, Dean of the University of Texas Law School, 1992; Legal Times "The Myth of Competence" 4/15/1991 // LP-VT97 
Incremental change and social experimentation may hold great promise. But the myth of competence may lead to a misdirection of efforts, to rising and unmet expectations for quick reforms, and to a dysfunctional quest to identify scapegoats.

Murray Edelman Professor of Political Science at University of Wisconsin, 1988, Contructing the Political Spectacle // jkm-VT97
If social problems arc constructions, it is evident that conditions that hurt people need not become problems. Segregated restaurants, hotels, schools, and toilets in the South persisted for a century and a half without becoming problems, as have countless other racist and sexist practices everywhere. The impoverishment and massacre of a high proportion of the Arnerican Indian population was not a problem while it was happening but only became one long after it was a fait accompli.

SYMBOLIC ACTION STOPS TRULY EFFECTIVE POLICIES

James Lester, professor of political science, Universitv of Colorado, Boulder, 1989 (Environmental Politics and Policy p. 90). // jkmVT97
 (O)nce the government assumes responsibility for a problem, the general citizenry, and the media and activists to lesser degrees, is likely to feel less personal concern for the problem. Ironically,, then, the very success of a movement in getting policy makers to address its grievances, usually dependent upon substantial public support, may tend to undercut its support among the public.

Charles Elder, Prof. Wayne State; & Roger Cobb, Prof. Brown, 1993; THE POLITICAL USES OF SYMBOLS // W&F-VT97 p. 16
 Relative deprivation is the perception that a person is not getting his fair share in comparison to others. Insofar as a person experiences it as a problem peculiar to himself, he may feel frustrated but is likely to consider the fault to be his own. However, when a person perceives his relative deprivation as a problem common to others like himself or sees it as arising front the status he shares with others. he is likely to fault the social and political order. Such persons are said to be experiencing fraternal relative deprivation and arc prone to political mobilization. Pettigrew (1971) found that feelings of fraternal relative deprivation were prevalent among segments of both the black and the white communities in the late 1960s. These feelings prompted black Unrest and expressions of white bigotry. Shingles (1981) found that such feelings help to account for higher levels of political participation among blacks than among whites at comparable levels of socioeconomic status. 

 R. J. Johnston, professor of geography, Univ. of Sheffield, 1990 (Environemtnal Problems: Nature, Economv and the State, p. 169). // jkm-VT97
 Ameliorative problem solving:planning for the present. This could be characterized as 'band-aid' action: a problem arises, and an immediate solution is sought, because rapid action is needed. ,Many of the problems are relatively trivial, and have been experienced before in slightly different situations, so a fund of expertise should be available to draw upon. But that expertise is usually applied to ameliorate the problem only; a traffic bottleneck is removed by a small piece of engineering, for example, which means that sooner or later another bottleneck will appear somewhere else.

IMPACTS (continued)

IMPACT: ELITES WILL USE SYMBOLIC ACTIONS LIKE THE AFFIRMATIVE TO REINFORCE THEIR POWER

Charles Elder, Prof. Wayne State; & Roger Cobb, Prof. Brown, 1993; THE POLITICAL USES OF SYMBOLS // W&F-VT97 p. 18
LEADERSHIP ROLES AND PUBLIC POLICY
Just as symbols serve to structure popular involvement in politics, they are crucial to the functions of political leadership and policymaking. Symbols undergird authority by legitimizing the distribution of power. In general, the more remote power is and the greater its scope, the greater the need and the greater the possibility of using symbols to suggest and justify authority' (Mitchell, 1962, p. 127). As Merriam observed. symbols contribute to the efficiency of power: It is the way of power to surround itself with an array of things to be believed and admired, credenda and miranda. NO power could stand it if it relied Upon violence alone, for force is not strong enough to maintain itself against the accidents of rivalry and discontent (1964, p. 109)

Charles Elder, Prof. Wayne State; & Roger Cobb, Prof. Brown, 1993; THE POLITICAL USES OF SYMBOLS // W&F-VT97 p. 22
That policy as a symbolic gesture is sufficient to assuage anxieties and to reassure the public that a problem has been resolved is seen in the old bromide that commonly greets almost any problematic situation: 'Thcre Ought to be a law." Implicit in this reaction is a tendency to perceive officially sanctioned and appropriately processed statements about a problem as a solution to the problem. All that is required is an official act of prescription or prohibition and the problem will go away. By the same token and for the same reason, showcasing and tokenism can be used to provide even more compelling evidence that remedial action has been taken.

Charles Elder, Prof. Wayne State; & Roger Cobb, Prof. Brown, 1993; THE POLITICAL USES OF SYMBOLS // W&F-VT97 p. 114
Edelman speaks to this question, hinging much of his analysis on the distinction between symbolic and tangible rewards. He argues that the political process normally operates to convey tangible benefits to organized interests while providing only symbolic reassurances to the mass public. He notes that many political acts which command widespread attention arc highly significant symbolically but have little or no effect on the distribution of material resources. Such symbol- laden acts buoy public confidence and promote popular acquiescence to the conditions that sustain the current political order. These conditions enable the organized elites to pursue their material interests and to partake disproportionately of the tangible benefits allocated by the political system. 

 Richard Merelman Political Science Professor at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Language, Symbolism. and Politics, 1992 \\ WRVT97 p.4
Edelman also argues that even when policies purportedly favorable to masses do emerge from the policy-making process. they fail to be implemented, Instead bureaucracies, courts, and social service agencies employ rhetoric to protect the existing distribution of power. 

Richard Merelman Political Science Professor at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Language, Symbolism. and Politics, 1992 \\ WRVT97 p. 5
As we can see, Edelman argues that in the struggle over the creation of politically decisive meanings, elites generally have the advantage over the I general public. He describes elite power manifesting itself through a wide I array of symbol-generating mechanisms: the marginalizing of domestic dissent through the creation of external enemies; the invention and application of therapeutic language; bureaucratic and legal cooptation; the creation of myths and rituals which encourage quiescence; the manipulation of space and architectural forms in order to evoke awe for power; and the utilization of the mass media in order to disseminate elite-favoring images. 

SOFTLINE BACKLASH

A. ADULTS WANT SERIOUS PUNISHMENT FOR JUVENILES

EDITORIAL, The Providence Journal-Bulletin, March 28, 1996, Pg. 7B, HEADLINE: Society's failing // acs-VT97
     But addressing these types of root cause, while vital, offers little comfort to the loved ones of victims. And it does little to reassure people who fear they could be next.
 Systems that treat the most heinous of juvenile crimes as matters for rehabilitation simply cannot, at the moment, win broad support. Deliberate murder by youngsters, no matter how thoughtless or tragic its origins, requires serious punishment. 

B. AFFIRMATIVE MOVEMENT AWAY FROM PUNISHMENT ANGERS THEM

EDITORIAL, THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC, January 16, 1996; Pg. B4, HEADLINE: CRIME STUDY; TOUGH MEASURES WORK //acs-VT97
      Any logical approach to controlling crime ought to be multifacted and include efforts aimed at prevention. But to shy away from stronger enforcement and the public's demonstrated support for such efforts would be sheer madness.

C. THIS WILL TRIGGER INCREASE IN IMPRISONMENT FOR JUVENILES AND TOUGHER PUNISHMENT AT ALL PHASES OF THE PROCESS

IRA SCHWARTZ, Prof. Social Work Univ. Michigan, Jan., 1993; CRIME & DELINQUENCY, "The impact of demographic variables on public opinion regarding juvenile justice // jah-VT97 p. 8
 Increased bear of being victimized by a violent crime was significantly related to punitive attitudes toward juveniles. For example, respondents reporting a high level of fear of being victimized were more likely to support trying juveniles in adult courts for serious crimes and sentencing juveniles convicted of such offenses to adult prisons. Interestingly, the actual experience of being victimized by a violent crime was not significantly related to any dependent variables.

D. JUVENILES INCARCERATED COME OUT AS NEW PREDATORS ON SOCIETY -- A CRIME WAVE WILL ENSUE

 STUART TAYLOR JR.; Senior writer American Lawyer Media, L.P., and The American Lawyer magazine. January 13, 1994 The Recorder Throwing Out ' Three Strikes'; Most repeat felons won't commit serious violent crimes and do not deserve lifetime imprisonment. Successive convictions for drug and property felonies are not effective predictors of future violence // js-VT97
To survive in the violate-or-be-violated prison culture, that kid would have to acquire the habit of turning suddenly and mercilessly violent at the slightest provocation. Then, at age 43 or so, he would be turned loose unemployable, full of justifiable rage at society, and habituated to the notion that sex is something one obtains through rape. How many new predators would such a regime create for each existing predator whom it incapacitated? No one knows.

LINKS:

LINK: THE PUBLIC WANTS PUNISHMENT

EDITORIAL, The State Journal-Register (Springfield, IL), March 24, 1996, Pg. 15, HEADLINE: Good youth programs get the job done // acs-VT97
     Instead of focusing on more and better programs, the instinctive public policy response is more police, more prisons, and even incarceration of teenagers as adults, in a mistaken belief that these measures will curb crime. Teen crime is doubling every decade and victimizes adults and children alike.

Rhonda Cook STAFF WRITER October 13, 1994 Atlanta Journal and Constitution Public wants tougher sentences, but history shows they don't work 'New' approaches to crime really aren't anything new // js-VT97
 The United States imprisons more people than any other country, and Georgia is among the top 10 states that imprison the most people, but the thirst for punishing criminals is far from satisfied. The Sentencing Project, a nonpartisan and nonprofit organization has recently reported that there is no connection between the crime rate and the increasing number of prisoners who are getting longer sentences. But much of the public doesn't care what the number-crunchers say. They want criminals, especially violent ones, locked away, even if law abiders must abrogate their civil liberties.

EDYE BENSON, The Times Union (Albany, NY), December 24, 1995, Pg. E4, HEADLINE: People should encourage kids not to be criminals // acs-VT97
     Why is it when discussing the growing problem of juvenile crime, the only solutions that come to mind for our current administration is to build more prisons and tougher sentencing? Why can't more of the thinking be on how to reach these children (and they are still children by age if nothing else) before they become criminals.

LINK: THE PUBLIC WANTS EASY QUICK FIX SOLUTIONS OVER REAL SOLUTIONS

JAMES ALAN FOX, Dean Of The College Of Criminal Justice Northeastern University, FEBRUARY 28, 1996, Federal News Service, Before The Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee On Youth Violence The Impending Youth Crime Wave // acs-VT97
     The challenge for the future, therefore, is how best to deal with youth violence. Unfortunately, we are obsessed with quick and easy solutions that will not work, such as the wholesale transfer of juveniles to the jurisdiction of the adult court, curfew laws, boot camps, three strikes, even caning and capital punishment, at the expense of long-term and difficult solutions that will work, such as providing young children with strong, positive role models, quality schools, and recreation programs.The growing trend in America toward increased punitiveness will not offer a solution for the impending juvenile crime wave. The threat of punishment, no matter how harsh, cannot deter kids who face the threat of violence everyday in their classrooms and their neighborhoods. As far as they are concerned, the criminal justice system can just take a number and wait its turn in line. 

The Boston Globe, March 24, 1996, Pg. 81, HEADLINE: THE YOUNG AND THE VIOLENT; Teen-agers are hurting others - and themselves // acs-VT97
     HOUSTON : I don't disagree with anything that has been said but . . . it's become clear that the public is not interested in spending any more money of any significance on solving social problems. . . . For the problem of violent juveniles and how they are to be dealt with, we are left with a solution that doesn't even pretend to be deterrent in nature.

POLITICIANS' SIMPLISTIC APPROACH TO CRIME IS DUE TO SUBURBAN FEARS

 Carol Byrne March 14, 1994 Star Tribune, Childish nonsense' or good politics? A punishing debate // js-VT97
 "Part of what is driving this is politicians' simplistic approach to dealing with crime and part is suburban America's fears." The fears are certainly there. In January, crime leapt to the top of the polls as the most serious problem facing the country. These fears are rooted in some horrific statistics. The number of violent crimes has increased more than 500 percent in the past 30 years. Particularly alarming in recent years is a spike in the rate of crimes by teenagers. But the fact is that the crime rate itself didn't go up at all last year. What did go up was the amount of attention paid to crime.

 PUBLIC THAT SEEKS QUICK FIX SOLUTIONS DOMINATES POLITICAL 
FORUM

 Carol Byrne March 14, 1994 Star Tribune Childish nonsense' or good politics? A punishing debate // js-VT97
Whether it will do any good is another matter, according to Mauer of the Sentencing Project "The public is looking for these quick-fix solutions," he said. "Part of the problem is that nothing we do on crime is going to have much impact over the next year or two. It takes longer, but the political vision doesn't go that far. It goes to the next election, and politicians want to take something with them to show the voters that they did something."

LINKS: (continued)

LINK: THE PUBLIC WANTS JUVENILE CRIMINALS LOCKED AWAY IN PRISONS

Mary E. Medland; Daily Record Legal Affairs Writer, The Daily Record, January 2, 1996, Pg. 1, HEADLINE: Crimes Down, Kids Locked Up Number of Adolescents Charged as Adults Showing Sharp Increase //acs-VT97
      Indeed, with angry taxpayers demanding that wayward minors be locked up with adults there is not much of a future of rehabilitation.

EMILY HANCOCK, Staff Writer, The Capital, March 24, 1996, Pg. A1, HEADLINE: Juvenile crime 'out of control' // acs-VT97
     However, the general public wants to see violent juvenile offenders locked up, placing pressure on the legislature to direct funds toward incarceration, Mr. Jimeno said.

Gary Peter Klahr,THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC, March 3, 1996 ; Pg. H1, HEADLINE: MYTHOLOGY OF 'SOFT JUDGES' CRIPPLES JUVENILE CORRECTIONS // acs-VT97
     That is, our problems are not caused by excessive judicial discretion or leniency. If you were to ask the public, and almost all politicians, they would tell you that our delinquency problems would go away if the judges would just be "tougher" and lock kids up longer and send more to adult prison.

THE PUBLIC IS WILLING TO ABANDON TEENAGERS

The Boston Globe, March 24, 1996, Pg. 81, HEADLINE: THE YOUNG AND THE VIOLENT; Teen-agers are hurting others - and themselves // acs-VT97
     JINANNE ELDER, director of the Children and Family Law program, Committee for Public Council Services: I think it's not the question of abandoning the concept of rehabilitation. I think it's a question of abandoning children. I think the society has gotten to the point where it is so frightened of children, and the potential of violence, that it is completely reactive.
 My best example of this: You get a kid who acts out in school . . . and the response is expulsion: Get that kid outta' school, remove that kid out of any structure, abandon that kid to whatever difficulties he probably has at home, don't give him any services, don't give any assistance, don't give him any counseling, don't try to help, don't try to work with that child to resolve the problem and . . . to prevent a future escalation of that violence. I think that's really what has happened. . . . 

THE PUBLIC DOESN'T TRUST THE JUVENILE SYSTEM

The Boston Globe, March 24, 1996, Pg. 81, HEADLINE: THE YOUNG AND THE VIOLENT; Teen-agers are hurting others - and themselves // acs-VT97
     RALPH C. MARTIN 2d, the Suffolk County district attorney : There's been this sort of erosion in public confidence in the ability of the juvenile justice system to respond to escalating violence because the public has looked largely to the juvenile justice system for all the answers. And when they see that juvenile court proceedings, or many juvenile court proceedings, are not open to the public, that causes distrust. When they see crimes that are on the surface - and even after peeling back several of the layers - seem pretty heinous, and the juvenile justice system hasn't been able to fashion a response either
punitive, rehabilitative or anything else, it leads people to the extreme. . . .     My problem with much of the debate is that many of the discussions take place in what I call the "parallax phenomena." People who are in positions of leadership are over here, and the people who reside in many of those communities who are affected by the decision-making process are here, and the people up here never see it from their point of view. As a result, we fashion remedies that sometimes go too far in one direction or not far enough in one direction . . . 

IMPACT: IMPRISONMENT WILL CREATE MORE VIOLENT CRIMINALS

The Boston Globe, March 24, 1996, Pg. 81, HEADLINE: THE YOUNG AND THE VIOLENT; Teen-agers are hurting others - and themselves // acs-VT97
     Loughran, former commissioner of the Department of Youth Services:
 I think the public through their legislators are abandoning the whole notion of rehabilitation. Let's take the juvenile murderers off the table for a minute. Because, again, it's just a small number. But if the rest of the law goes through, we are going to see many more juveniles . . . now go to adult court, and I think two things are going to happen: I think one is, they're going to get a lesser sanction, or maybe no sanction; and two, when they get into jail they're gonna be there into adult prison two, three, or four years, and they're gonna come out as real predators, with no rehabilitation, and that's the risk we're running right now. 

PRISONS ARE SCHOOLS OF VIOLENCE

ERIC CUMMINS, teacher at San Jose State University author of The Rise and Fall of California's Radical Prison Movement March 29, 1994 The Recorder // js-VT97
Political organizing and gang activity apparently continue today to be possible among inmates even at the highest security levels of these prisons, even at Pelican Bay. Second, we should take it as a principle that the crueler California prisons get, the more violent the prison yard will likely become and the more violent prisoners will be when they are finally released to the public streets. At present, about 30 percent of our convict population is in prison for non-violent crimes. For these inmates especially, the California prison yard will become more and more a school for violence.

PUNISHMENT INSTEAD OF PREVENTION CREATES A HUGE CRIME PROBLEM

LORI MONTGOMERY, KNIGHT-RIDDER NEWSPAPERS, Roanoke Times & World News, April 28, 1996, SECTION: HORIZON, Pg. 1, HEADLINE: IN 1994: 110,000 CHILDREN UNDER 13 ARRESTED FOR FELONIES // acs-VT97
     Experts say it makes good sense to focus scarce resources on children who start committing crimes early. But researchers in Minneapolis and Sacramento County are struggling to find cash for their prevention strategies.
 Congress is reviewing the only federal funding source for delinquency- prevention programs, which provides about $ 144 million a year. Republicans say they're keeping an open mind, but child advocates fear the money will be earmarked for punishment not prevention.
 That, Wiig said, that would be a mistake.

Karina Bland, Staff writer, THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC, February 26, 1996, Pg. A1, HEADLINE: PRAISE FOR PROGRAMS THAT HELP YOUNGSTERS // acs-VT97
     Nearly all programs for teenagers, especially those that are preventive rather than those that address an immediate problem, struggle financially, Kamin said. Every year, politicians come up with new programs that take funding away from proven programs, so there's never any money to expand even the most-successful programs. 

OTHER MORE IMPORTANT PROGRAMS WILL BE STARVED FOR FUNDING AS A RESULT

LAURENCE HAMMACK, STAFF WRITER; Roanoke Times & World News, December 16, 1995, Pg. A1, HEADLINE: JUVENILE JUSTICE ON TRIAL // acs-VT97
     Building more prisons for those juveniles, critics of the Allen plan argue, will divert funding from education and other social programs that might help them stay out of trouble.
 James Unnever and Donald Shoemaker, criminology professors at Radford University and Virginia Tech, recently completed a statewide study showing that localities that have fewer educational resources have correspondingly higherjuvenile arrest rates.

IMPACT: RESULTING PUNISHMENT WILL CREATE RACISM

 SENTENCING GUIDELINES HAVE PUT ENTIRE GENERATION OF AFRICAN  AMERICANS BEHIND BARS

 Howard Manly, Globe Staff July 24,1994 Boston Globe Harsh line drawn on crack cocaine; Tough penalties found to affect blacks most. // js-VT97
 Enacted by Congress in the late 1980s to curtail the crack epidemic and escalating street violence, the sentencing guidelines have had the effect of incarcerating what one federal judge described as an "entire generation" of African-Americans.

PROSECUTION OF CRACK EPIDEMIC IS SIMILAR TO NAZI HOLOCAUST

 Howard Manly, Globe Staff July 24,1994 Boston Globe Harsh line drawn on crack cocaine; Tough penalties found to affect blacks most. // js-VT97 
In some sense, legislators viewed the crack epidemic the same way the Germans saw the Jews," Sterling said. "If only they could get rid of those people using crack then we would have a better society. All of our other problems would go away. The crime bill was the distillation of every fear, anger and resentment that members of Congress felt about their impotence to solve the scary things in life."

RACISM IS THE PRICE WE PAY FOR BEING TOUGH ON  CRIME

R. KEITH STROUP executive director of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. August 23,1993 Connecticut Law Tribune DEFENDING RENO; CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYERS SEE NEW ATTORNEY GENERAL AS BREATH OF FRESH AIR' AFTER HARSH WINDS OF HARD-LINE GOP ERA // jsVT97
 To those opponents of change, it is of little concern that innocent people may get caught in this dragnet of that many individuals -including parents and spouses -- who are only peripherally involved in illegal activities still receive long mandatory sentences. Similarly, the fact that particular mandatory sentences are racist in their application ( crimes involving crack cocaine, used almost exclusively by blacks, are punished 100 times more harshly than those involving powder cocaine, used almost exclusively by whites) is of little consequence. That's apparently the price we pay for proving that we're serious about fighting crime.

WE MUST HUMANIZE, NOT DEMONIZE, JUVENILES

DENNIS McLELLAN, TIMES STAFF WRITER, Los Angeles Times, April 24, 1996, Part E; Page 1; HEADLINE: SPEAKING UP; 'NO MATTER HOW LOUD I SHOUT'... IS BEING HEARD. // acs-VT97
     "There is fear we have of the violence we're seeing now in some of our children: We're becoming a nation afraid of our children," he [Humes] says. "That's why we're trying so many as adults now. But when people hear a discussion of delinquents in terms not demonizing kids but perhaps humanizing them, that sparks their interest too. It gives them a way to look at--and maybe get a handle on--this fear and realize maybe something can be done to help the kids."

PROTECTING EXISTING REHABILITATION PROGRAMS IS A BETTER OPTION

RON HARRIS, Staffwriter Los Angeles Times, edited by Shirley Dicks, 1995; JUVENILE JUSTICE & THE DEATH PENALTY, "Should teens be tried as adults?" // cjj-VT97 p. 19
Juvenile justice officials say that as the nation moved toward punishment, services that nurture children, bolster families, or intervene to keep kids out of trouble began to diminish. Now, they say, issues that could or should have been resolved earlier are ending up in juvenile court. "There aren't enough community resources to deal with a lot of problems," said Juvenile Court Judge Sherman Smith in San Francisco. "We should have better recreational systems. Police officers should have more positive interaction with the community. We need better schools. These are the kinds of things we should do. [But now] the court is the primary source of intervention when it comes to children. The court should not be part of the front-end process. The court should be the last resort."

Bill Johnson, Detroit News editorial writer, The Columbus Dispatch, April 14, 1996, Pg. 2C, HEADLINE: KIDS AND CRIME; INTERVENTION COULD RESULT IN A BIG PAYOFF // acs-VT97
     Currently, there is $ 144 million a year in federal funds available for delinquency-prevention programs. There is concern that much of this will go for punishment, not prevention.
 Everywhere dollars are scarce for crime control - and there is no question that punishment must be strong in the mix. But citizens should realize that efforts made turning a young offender away from crime can have a big payoff.

SHIRLEY DICKS, 1995; YOUNG BLOOD: JUVENILE JUSTICE & THE DEATH PENALTY // cjj-VT97 p. 291
 Many of these kids need help, both in getting off drugs and getting into psychological counseling. However, if these juveniles or their parents lack the money or insurance to pay for treatment, then they do not get help. Youths who finally decide to get off drugs to clean up their lives, need immediate help. Without that help they are back on the streets, paying for drugs by committing the crimes that put them in prison. Yet if the government would put more money into helping kids get off drugs and alcohol, and less into imprisoning them we might see a decline in juvenile crime. If some of the billions of dollars sent overseas each year went into building more therapeutic havens for our kids here in the United States, perhaps they could turn their lives around.