States Rethinking, Retooling Juvenile Sentencing Laws After New Research
By Sharon Cohen
Associated Press
Saturday, December 1, 2007
A generation after America decided to get tough on kids who commit crimes — sometimes locking them up for life — the tide may be turning.
States are rethinking and, in some cases, retooling juvenile sentencing laws. They’re responding to new research on the adolescent brain, and studies that indicate teens sent to adult court end up worse off than those who are not: They get in trouble more often, they do it faster and the offenses are more serious.
It’s really the trifecta of bad criminal justice policy,” says Shay Bilchik, a former Florida prosecutor who heads the Center for Juvenile Justice Reform at Georgetown University. “People didn’t know that at the time the changes were made. Now we do, and we have to learn from it.”
Juvenile crime is down, in contrast to the turbulent 1990s when politicians vied to pass laws to get violent kids off the streets. Now, in calmer times, some champion community programs for young offenders to replace punitive measures they say went too far.
“The net was thrown too broadly,” says Howard Snyder, director of systems research at the National Center for Juvenile Justice. “When you make these general laws ... a lot of people believe they made it too easy for kids to go into the adult system and it’s not a good place to be.”
Some states are reconsidering life without parole for teens. Some are focusing on raising the age of juvenile court jurisdiction, while others are exploring ways to offer kids a second chance, once they’re locked up — or even before.
“There has been a huge sea change ... it’s across the country,” says Laurie Garduque, a program director at the MacArthur Foundation, which is heavily involved in juvenile justice reform.
Prosecutor: Laws are appropriate
Not everyone, though, believes there’s reason to roll back harsher penalties adopted in the 1990s.
“The laws that were changed were appropriate and necessary,” says Minnesota prosecutor James Backstrom. “We need to focus on the protecting the public — that’s No. 1. Then we can address the needs of the juvenile offenders.”
Each year about 200,000 defendants under 18 are sent directly or transferred to the adult system, known as criminal court, according to rough estimates.
Most end up there because of state laws that automatically define them as adults, due to their age or offense. Their ranks rose in the 1990s as juvenile crime soared and 48 states made it easier to transfer kids into criminal court, according to the juvenile justice center.
These changes gave prosecutors greater latitude (they could transfer kids without a judge’s permission), lowered the age or expanded the crimes that would make it mandatory for a case to be tried there.
Some states also adopted blended sentences in which two sanctions can be imposed simultaneously; if the teen follows the terms of the juvenile sentence, the adult sentence is revoked.
Laws toughened after wave of violence
The changes were ushered in to curb the explosion in violence — the teen murder arrest rate doubled from 1987 to 1993 — and to address mounting frustrations with the juvenile justice system.
A series of horrific crimes by kids rattled the nation: A sixth-grader shot and killed a stranger. A 12-year-old stomped and beat a younger playmate. Two grade-schoolers dropped a 5-year-old 14 stories to his death.
Some academics warned that a new generation of “superpredators” would soon be committing mayhem.
It never happened. Drug trafficking declined. An improved economy produced more jobs. And the rate of juvenile violent crime arrests plummeted 46 percent from 1994 to 2005, according to federal figures.
“When crime goes down, people have an opportunity to be more reflective than crisis-oriented and ask, ‘Was this policy a good policy?”’ Bilchik says.
The MacArthur Foundation said in a report to be released this month that about half the states are involved in juvenile justice reform.
And a national poll, commissioned by MacArthur and the Center for Children’s Law and Policy and set for release at the same time, also found widespread public support for rehabilitating teens rather than locking them up.
Changes in laws
Some states have already begun to make changes.
* In Colorado, Gov. Bill Ritter recently formed a juvenile clemency board to hear cases of kids convicted as adults. The head of the panel says it’s an acknowledgment that teens are different from adults — a point made in the 2005 U.S. Supreme Court decision that outlawed the death penalty for crimes committed as juveniles. In 2006, the state replaced the juvenile life-without-parole sentence with the possibility of parole after 40 years.
* In California and Michigan, juvenile life without parole also is getting another look.
* In Connecticut, lawmakers recently raised the age of juveniles to 18 for most cases; the changes will be phased in by 2010. Prosecutors can still transfer felonies to adult court.
* In Illinois, a proposal to move 17-year-olds charged with misdemeanors to juvenile court passed in the state Senate and is pending in the House.
* In Wyoming, talks are under way to shed a system that routinely charges and jails juveniles as adults even for minor offenses such as underage drinking.
Not all states are easing up.
Last summer, Rhode Island passed a law to send 17-year-old offenders to adult prisons in what was intended as a cost-cutting move. The measure, however, was quickly repealed after critics pointed out the plan probably would be more expensive.
One teen's situation
Many say the two systems are dramatically different: Juvenile justice emphasizes rehabilitation, adult courts focus on punishment.
Reginald Dwayne Betts, just 16 when he was charged with carjacking in Virginia, was locked up more than eight years, mostly in adult prisons.
“Of course it makes a difference if you’re 15, 16 or 17,” he says. “You’re not prepared to deal with it physically or emotionally. You’re trying to deal with being away from home. You’re trying to deal with the stress that comes with being in prison.”
Violence was a constant. “I got used to stuff most people I see today would never have to get used to — like somebody getting their head split open,” Betts says.
Betts had problems at first but gradually retreated into books, taught himself Spanish, wrote and published poetry.
When he was released two years ago at age 24, he won a college scholarship. Now engaged and planning to write a book, he knows he’s an exception: “People don’t come out of prison and make good,” he says.
Judge deals with kids as kids
In New York, Judge Michael Corriero is aware of those odds.
He presides over a special court in the adult system — it’s called the Manhattan Youth Part and is responsible for resolving the cases of 13- to 15-year-olds accused of serious crimes.
Corriero tries to steer as many kids as possible away from criminal court, a philosophy detailed in his book, “Judging Children as Children.”
“You take a 14-year-old and give him an adult sentence ... you’re taking him out of the community at his most vulnerable time,” he says. “If you put them in an institution, what is that kid going to look like in 10 years?”
Though juvenile crime tends to evoke images of gangs and murder, violent teens are the exception.
Studies show they account for about 5 percent of all juvenile arrests. Drugs, burglary, theft and other property crimes are among the more common reasons teens are prosecuted in adult courts.
Most of these kids, though, don’t end up in adult prison, according to the Campaign for Youth Justice.
Critic: Adult prison system damaging for kids
But crossing into the adult world is damaging in itself, argues Liz Ryan, head of the group. About 7,500 juveniles are held in adult jails on any given day, she says, and that number probably reaches tens of thousands a year because of turnover.
Being in an adult jail, Ryan says, increases a kid’s risk of sexual abuse and assault. Educational opportunities are limited. And for those convicted of serious crimes, the damage can be irreparable.
“A lot of people say, ’So what? They get a slap on the wrist,”’ Ryan says. “Well, there is a consequence. ... You have a felony record that follows you the rest of your life.”
Mom worries about son
Sheila Montgomery worries about her son, Zack. He recently was released after serving 27 months for being an accomplice in the robbery of an Oregon convenience store. He had originally received a 7½-year term after falsely confessing to being the robber; he was re-sentenced after evidence revealed he wasn’t.
Montgomery says her son, now 17, will “forever be a felon. He can’t put the past behind him. It was hard for him to find work. A lot of people didn’t want to see him.”
Montgomery says she has no problem with “a little bit of jail time” for her son but believes probation and counseling would have served him better.
But prosecutors say some kids are just too dangerous to be prosecuted as juveniles and then be released by age 21.
If a criminal is likely to be free in a few years and do more harm, “then I come down on the side of risking the damage that is done by sending someone to prison,” says Gary Walker, a Michigan prosecutor.
“When they tell me placing a younger person in an adult setting is not necessarily for the betterment of the individual,” Walker says, “my answer is: ’Who thinks it is?”’
Attorney: No regrets trying teen as adult
Minnesota prosecutor Backstrom didn’t hesitate in prosecuting Matthew Niedere and Clayton Keister, then 17, as adults in the murder of Niedere’s parents. He says he had to “make a very difficult decision whether to put these young men away for their natural lives, or give them a chance.”
He weighed several factors, including their lack of criminal record and research that shows the part of the brain that regulates impulses and aggression is still developing in the 20s.
Backstrom allowed the teens to plead guilty to murder involving an armed robbery — providing for the possibility of parole in 30 years.
More than a decade ago, Backstrom had pressed Minnesota lawmakers to make it easier for prosecutors to take serious cases into adult court.
He was frustrated when he couldn’t try as an adult a 16-year-old who killed an acquaintance in a drug dispute and served less than 1½ years in juvenile detention.
“That’s not justice,” Backstrom says. “He should have gone to prison 15 or 20 years. That’s what would have happened today.”
Using both punishment, prevention
State Attorney Harry Shorstein of Jacksonville, Fla., has his own approach.
“I think I’ve created my own juvenile justice system,” he says. “The secret is not choosing punishment vs. prevention, but using both.”
In 16 years, Shorstein’s office has transferred more than 2,600 juvenile cases to adult court. Almost all those who’ve broken the law go to jail for about a year, where they live separately from adults, attend school and receive social services.
If they stay out of trouble while locked up, and for two years of probation, they don’t get a record.
“I believe crime is like gymnastics,” he says. “It really is a young person’s sport. If you incapacitate a 15- or 16-year-old for a year, you can prevent more crime than if you imprison a 22-year-old for life.”
Free Efren Orange Banner
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Meeting a Pastor by Day, Packing Away My Life by Night
by Efren Paredes, Jr.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007 I met Pastor Bill Wylie-Kellerman. He spent three hours visiting with me and our meeting went very well. I enjoyed visiting with Bill and the time went by very quickly. I don't believe there was hardly a moment of silence during our visit.
Bill and I learned a lot about each other during the visit. As I explained to Bill, many of the things I have learned about life has been through books and listening to others' stories about their lives. Having come to prison at the age of 15 it was imperative that I learned about life and experiences quickly if I wanted to survive in an adult world.
As is always the case with people I meet who wish to learn more about me and my life, who are interested in helping me combat my wrongful conviction, I invited Bill to ask me any questions or concerns he had. I never hide anything from people and am always up front with them. I have no reason to not be open and honest about any aspect of my life.
We talked about my upbringing, my family, life in prison, how I cope with the magnitude of the injustice that has robbed me of many years of freedom, what I do in my free time, various aspects of my case, among several other things. Bill also told me insightful things about his life and what lead him to become a pastor. We talked about his family, church and the social justice work he has done throughout his life.
I invited Bill to become part of The Injustice Must End (TIME) Committee which was created to help free me, generate support for my case, and educate the public about the facts surrounding my case. Bill accepted the invitation and welcomed my request.
In many ways Bill was already a TIME Committee member. He was introduced to my case by another of our committee members and friend, Elena Herrada. Elena has known Bill for many years and they have worked together on numerous projects. Bill had also been gathering support letters for me from the religious community. To date he has been successful obtaining 14 support letters from religious leaders across the state.
Bill and I took a photograph during the visit which one of my family members has added to the slide shows which appear on my web site, blog, and MySpace page. I bought a photo ticket which allows us to take two photos in the visiting room. We took a photo and I requested two copies of the same photo so that Bill could take one with him and I could keep one to share with others.
After we spent time visiting Bill read Psalm 139 from the Holy Bible. It was a chapter I was familiar with. It is also a chapter I enjoyed reading. Afterwards we read the Parable of the Sower in the Book of Matthew, a chapter I requested because of its meaning and significance to me.
Later that afternoon I returned to my housing unit and, as luck would have it, I was ordered by the unit staff to do a "practice pack-up." A practice pack-up is when a prisoner is compelled to take all his property and pack it into a duffle bag and a footlocker (if the prisoner owns one). Prisoners are allowed to own as many footlockers as they can afford as long as one is for personal property and the others are for storage of legal work only.
It is very inconvenient to do practice pack-ups. It totally disrupts the day of the person who has to do it. The person is actually packing all his belongings like he is moving to another location. It is akin to packing your entire life and existence. And, in this instance, all just so staff can see how much property you have.
During these practice pack-ups people are ordered to pack their grocery items into their duffle bag and footlocker as well. While that may not seem like a big deal, it is. It involves smashing your food down to make it more compact, and packing it into the duffle bag or footlocker with other things like your clothes, books, radio, tape player, letters, etc.
In this case I had just received my groceries from the prisoner store the previous day and it resulted in me having to smash a considerable amount of food in my property to make sure I could fit it in my duffle bag. The alternative when a person has more property than will fit in the duffle bag and footlocker(s) is to destroy the food or give it away, or to destroy other personal items or send them home.
It took me an hour to pack all my belongings as requested. Afterwards it took me over five hours to unpack it all, organize it, and put it all back where I previously had it. I had to iron my clothes again as well after having stuffed them into the duffle bag. It is never an enjoyable experience. I had a number of writings I had planned on doing that evening related to my case. Unfortunately they would have to wait for another day.
Another reason the practice pack-up was even more unpleasant was because I had just done one two weeks prior. In most instances prisoners only do practice pack-ups every six months or less frequently depending on the facility.
Practice pack-ups are usually utilized as a tool by staff to harass a prisoner. I was told I had to do it because it "appeared" I had too much property. This, despite me proving two weeks earlier I was in compliance with allowable limits and I had not received any additional property since that time.
I complied with their orders though and repeated the process as requested. It wasn't worth challenging. While I could have filed a grievance because it was obviously harassment, I chose to just cooperate and let it go. It wasn't worth the waste of energy. I had already wasted enough time and energy as it was.
This is just another example of how even a day that starts off really well in here can turn into a disaster later on. I wasn't happy with how the second part of the day turned out but, as is usually the case, I just viewed it as another test of my faith and patience, neither of which I will allow to wane no matter how many disruptful or unpleasant experiences I encounter.
As I told Bill during our visit, this experience hasn't dictated my life or shaped who I am. I wield the power to determine how each experience affects me, not vice versa. I remain committed to this reality.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007 I met Pastor Bill Wylie-Kellerman. He spent three hours visiting with me and our meeting went very well. I enjoyed visiting with Bill and the time went by very quickly. I don't believe there was hardly a moment of silence during our visit.
Bill and I learned a lot about each other during the visit. As I explained to Bill, many of the things I have learned about life has been through books and listening to others' stories about their lives. Having come to prison at the age of 15 it was imperative that I learned about life and experiences quickly if I wanted to survive in an adult world.
As is always the case with people I meet who wish to learn more about me and my life, who are interested in helping me combat my wrongful conviction, I invited Bill to ask me any questions or concerns he had. I never hide anything from people and am always up front with them. I have no reason to not be open and honest about any aspect of my life.
We talked about my upbringing, my family, life in prison, how I cope with the magnitude of the injustice that has robbed me of many years of freedom, what I do in my free time, various aspects of my case, among several other things. Bill also told me insightful things about his life and what lead him to become a pastor. We talked about his family, church and the social justice work he has done throughout his life.
I invited Bill to become part of The Injustice Must End (TIME) Committee which was created to help free me, generate support for my case, and educate the public about the facts surrounding my case. Bill accepted the invitation and welcomed my request.
In many ways Bill was already a TIME Committee member. He was introduced to my case by another of our committee members and friend, Elena Herrada. Elena has known Bill for many years and they have worked together on numerous projects. Bill had also been gathering support letters for me from the religious community. To date he has been successful obtaining 14 support letters from religious leaders across the state.
Bill and I took a photograph during the visit which one of my family members has added to the slide shows which appear on my web site, blog, and MySpace page. I bought a photo ticket which allows us to take two photos in the visiting room. We took a photo and I requested two copies of the same photo so that Bill could take one with him and I could keep one to share with others.
After we spent time visiting Bill read Psalm 139 from the Holy Bible. It was a chapter I was familiar with. It is also a chapter I enjoyed reading. Afterwards we read the Parable of the Sower in the Book of Matthew, a chapter I requested because of its meaning and significance to me.
Later that afternoon I returned to my housing unit and, as luck would have it, I was ordered by the unit staff to do a "practice pack-up." A practice pack-up is when a prisoner is compelled to take all his property and pack it into a duffle bag and a footlocker (if the prisoner owns one). Prisoners are allowed to own as many footlockers as they can afford as long as one is for personal property and the others are for storage of legal work only.
It is very inconvenient to do practice pack-ups. It totally disrupts the day of the person who has to do it. The person is actually packing all his belongings like he is moving to another location. It is akin to packing your entire life and existence. And, in this instance, all just so staff can see how much property you have.
During these practice pack-ups people are ordered to pack their grocery items into their duffle bag and footlocker as well. While that may not seem like a big deal, it is. It involves smashing your food down to make it more compact, and packing it into the duffle bag or footlocker with other things like your clothes, books, radio, tape player, letters, etc.
In this case I had just received my groceries from the prisoner store the previous day and it resulted in me having to smash a considerable amount of food in my property to make sure I could fit it in my duffle bag. The alternative when a person has more property than will fit in the duffle bag and footlocker(s) is to destroy the food or give it away, or to destroy other personal items or send them home.
It took me an hour to pack all my belongings as requested. Afterwards it took me over five hours to unpack it all, organize it, and put it all back where I previously had it. I had to iron my clothes again as well after having stuffed them into the duffle bag. It is never an enjoyable experience. I had a number of writings I had planned on doing that evening related to my case. Unfortunately they would have to wait for another day.
Another reason the practice pack-up was even more unpleasant was because I had just done one two weeks prior. In most instances prisoners only do practice pack-ups every six months or less frequently depending on the facility.
Practice pack-ups are usually utilized as a tool by staff to harass a prisoner. I was told I had to do it because it "appeared" I had too much property. This, despite me proving two weeks earlier I was in compliance with allowable limits and I had not received any additional property since that time.
I complied with their orders though and repeated the process as requested. It wasn't worth challenging. While I could have filed a grievance because it was obviously harassment, I chose to just cooperate and let it go. It wasn't worth the waste of energy. I had already wasted enough time and energy as it was.
This is just another example of how even a day that starts off really well in here can turn into a disaster later on. I wasn't happy with how the second part of the day turned out but, as is usually the case, I just viewed it as another test of my faith and patience, neither of which I will allow to wane no matter how many disruptful or unpleasant experiences I encounter.
As I told Bill during our visit, this experience hasn't dictated my life or shaped who I am. I wield the power to determine how each experience affects me, not vice versa. I remain committed to this reality.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Efren Recieves Accolades About Poetry
The man that read Efren's poem "Pressure Mounts" at an August poetry event in Lansing recently sent Efren a letter with feedback about his poem. The man's name is Doak Bloss. Efren responded to Doak's correspondence with a letter of his own. We thought we would share both letters with you so you can enjoy the exchange of communications. Each of Efren's writings gives us another glimpse into his world and his perpetual evolution as a person and writer. Below is the text from both letters.
MESSAGE TO EFREN FROM DOAK BLOSS
October 10, 2007
Dear Efren,
In August it was my privilege to perform your intense and evocative poem, “Pressure Mounts,” at a poetry reading in Lansing. The event was a benefit for ARRO, a local organization that helps formerly incarcerated men and women rejoin their communities and resume their lives.
The intensity with which you pour your experience into the three stanzas of this poem was appealing to me as a performer from the very start—I am an occasional actor as well as a writer and facilitator for a county health department—but when I learned of your own life story and the injustice you have endured, pressure began mounting within me as well. It was extremely important to me to do justice to your work once I learned some of the details of your experience with the police and the courts. Your parents were present at the reading and I hope that they will tell you I did capture at least some measure of the earnestness and intensity of your poem.
You do a wonderful job in this poem of marshalling verbs and adjectives in a nightmarish collage that also depicts one man’s progression from the vitality and hope of youth, which is gradually eroded and sapped by the incarceration, even as the push toward anger and retribution builds within (portrayed first as a kettle and its mist, then a volcano and its lava). It was very satisfying, as a performer, to play this parallel sense of mounting tension and diminishing will—especially as it arrives in the surprising last image: not one of rage or revenge at all, but of indominitability. In the end, your poem shows how, even as the human body undergoes such an intense assault, the spirit can survive, preserve, and maintain its dignity.
I have great faith that you will one day be free again. Although I know nothing can ever fully repair the damage done to you by the penal system, I also know in my heart that you will find great power in your ability to transform your experience in a way that illuminates life and truth for others.
Thank you again for the opportunity to read your words.
Doak Bloss
______________________________________
MESSAGE FROM EFREN TO DOAK BLOSS
Dear Doak:
My family shared your letter with me regarding my poem "Pressure Mounts," which you read at the August poetry reading sponsored by A.R.R.O. at Gone Wired Cafe in Lansing.
Thank you for your encouraging words. I always enjoy receiving feedback about my writings and hearing how others perceive them. It is rewarding to know my words retain their meaning and that I can create a window for people to peer into my experience through my writings.
I appreciate you reading my poem at the poetry event. By participating as a reader you became a voice to the voiceless. You conveyed the spirit of my words and allowed them to transcend the walls that have kept me confined over 18 years for a crime I did not commit. However, though physically I am imprisoned, my mind and spirit can never be held captive. You proved this when you delivered my words the evening of the poetry event.
My writings are very personal to me. They are infused with my essence and are a reflection of my inner-most thoughts and feelings. Prison is designed to extinguish creativity and stifle all vestiges of hope. Its intent is to totally subdue human beings and make them complacent.
Each of my writings represents a victory. They are triumphs over a system intent on destroying my will. They are evidence that I can transform my creative thoughts into the written word even in the most oppressed conditions. My writings are a testament to the indomitable spirit I reference in "Pressure Mounts." One that endures myriad difficulties but remains resilient.
I encourage you to continue supporting A.R.R.O. and its mission. They are doing very important work which is desperately needed in our communities. Their role in the community rebuilding process can be characterized as heroic. They are doing what so many others do not have the courage to do. I support their efforts unequivocally.
I personally know the value of having support for a worthy cause. My struggle for justice has been long and arduous. It has also been replete with many disappointments. In my darkest hours, however, I have been able to draw strength from the outpouring of compassion that flows from the hearts of those dedicated to advancing my cause. Without that support my campaign, or any other, could not succeed.
Attached is a letter you are welcome to share with others about the egregious injustice surrounding my wrongful conviction. It is a tool I use to circulate so I can educate people about my case and other social injustices.
Thanks again, and I wish you continued success with all your endeavors.
Sincerely,
Efren Paredes, Jr.
MESSAGE TO EFREN FROM DOAK BLOSS
October 10, 2007
Dear Efren,
In August it was my privilege to perform your intense and evocative poem, “Pressure Mounts,” at a poetry reading in Lansing. The event was a benefit for ARRO, a local organization that helps formerly incarcerated men and women rejoin their communities and resume their lives.
The intensity with which you pour your experience into the three stanzas of this poem was appealing to me as a performer from the very start—I am an occasional actor as well as a writer and facilitator for a county health department—but when I learned of your own life story and the injustice you have endured, pressure began mounting within me as well. It was extremely important to me to do justice to your work once I learned some of the details of your experience with the police and the courts. Your parents were present at the reading and I hope that they will tell you I did capture at least some measure of the earnestness and intensity of your poem.
You do a wonderful job in this poem of marshalling verbs and adjectives in a nightmarish collage that also depicts one man’s progression from the vitality and hope of youth, which is gradually eroded and sapped by the incarceration, even as the push toward anger and retribution builds within (portrayed first as a kettle and its mist, then a volcano and its lava). It was very satisfying, as a performer, to play this parallel sense of mounting tension and diminishing will—especially as it arrives in the surprising last image: not one of rage or revenge at all, but of indominitability. In the end, your poem shows how, even as the human body undergoes such an intense assault, the spirit can survive, preserve, and maintain its dignity.
I have great faith that you will one day be free again. Although I know nothing can ever fully repair the damage done to you by the penal system, I also know in my heart that you will find great power in your ability to transform your experience in a way that illuminates life and truth for others.
Thank you again for the opportunity to read your words.
Doak Bloss
______________________________________
MESSAGE FROM EFREN TO DOAK BLOSS
Dear Doak:
My family shared your letter with me regarding my poem "Pressure Mounts," which you read at the August poetry reading sponsored by A.R.R.O. at Gone Wired Cafe in Lansing.
Thank you for your encouraging words. I always enjoy receiving feedback about my writings and hearing how others perceive them. It is rewarding to know my words retain their meaning and that I can create a window for people to peer into my experience through my writings.
I appreciate you reading my poem at the poetry event. By participating as a reader you became a voice to the voiceless. You conveyed the spirit of my words and allowed them to transcend the walls that have kept me confined over 18 years for a crime I did not commit. However, though physically I am imprisoned, my mind and spirit can never be held captive. You proved this when you delivered my words the evening of the poetry event.
My writings are very personal to me. They are infused with my essence and are a reflection of my inner-most thoughts and feelings. Prison is designed to extinguish creativity and stifle all vestiges of hope. Its intent is to totally subdue human beings and make them complacent.
Each of my writings represents a victory. They are triumphs over a system intent on destroying my will. They are evidence that I can transform my creative thoughts into the written word even in the most oppressed conditions. My writings are a testament to the indomitable spirit I reference in "Pressure Mounts." One that endures myriad difficulties but remains resilient.
I encourage you to continue supporting A.R.R.O. and its mission. They are doing very important work which is desperately needed in our communities. Their role in the community rebuilding process can be characterized as heroic. They are doing what so many others do not have the courage to do. I support their efforts unequivocally.
I personally know the value of having support for a worthy cause. My struggle for justice has been long and arduous. It has also been replete with many disappointments. In my darkest hours, however, I have been able to draw strength from the outpouring of compassion that flows from the hearts of those dedicated to advancing my cause. Without that support my campaign, or any other, could not succeed.
Attached is a letter you are welcome to share with others about the egregious injustice surrounding my wrongful conviction. It is a tool I use to circulate so I can educate people about my case and other social injustices.
Thanks again, and I wish you continued success with all your endeavors.
Sincerely,
Efren Paredes, Jr.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Diosa Bronzera
by Efren Paredes, Jr.
I dedicate this poem to my mother, Velia, and the Latina mothers of the world.
Diosa bronzera
anointed mother of life
First guide and protector
a multitude of delights.
Nurturer of goodness
we emulate your ways
Which sustain our existence
'til our last waking day.
Vanish the cold
with the warmth of your arms
The lessons you teach us
we wear them like charms.
Your devotion a testament
why your legacy endures
Hold the world in your hands
as if it were yours.
The calm voice of reason
that rings in our ear
Your tone is melodic
the knowledge of seers.
A heart full of treasure
a luminous star
Seemingly ever-present
you watch from afar.
Your compassion so gentle
exuberant with care
Like the beauty of mariposas
that glide through the air.
Create light in the darkness
you calm all our fears
Impart us with wisdom
wipe away all our tears.
Commune with the Cihuateteo
in the Circle of Fire
Survive through the ages
never rest or retire.
Through the annals of history
you've sat on a throne
Reigned over kingdoms
had your name carved in stone.
Your portrait adorns
sacred temple halls
On ceilings and mantles
in glyphs on the walls.
You've held your fists in the air
gripping scepters and rods
Stood at La Pirámide del Sol
where men become gods.
A courageous noble warrior
a reflection of Ollin
Your memory will be honored
as a descendant of Queens.
Diosa bronzera
keep leading the way
For the gift of our lives
We thank you each day.
Copyright © 2007 by Efren Tlecoz Paredes
http://www.4efren.com/
This poem was read at the 1st Annual Flor y Canto Poetry Contest sponsored by LASSO in Jackson, Michigan on August 7, 2007. The poem was among two of the first place winners that won that night.
_____________________________________
Diosa bronzera: Bronze goddess. "Diosa" is goddess in Spanish and "bronzera" is bronze in French.
Cihuateteo: Nahuatl (Aztec) for "goddesses."
La Pirámide del Sol: "The Pyramid of the Sun" located in Teotihuacán, Mexico along the Avenue of the Dead, in between the Pyramid of the Moon and the Ciudadela, and in the shadow of the massive mountain Cerro Gordo. The pyramid is part of a large complex in the heart of the city.
Ollin: Nahuatl (Aztec) for "the sacred movement in continuum, which gives impulse to our world."
I dedicate this poem to my mother, Velia, and the Latina mothers of the world.
Diosa bronzera
anointed mother of life
First guide and protector
a multitude of delights.
Nurturer of goodness
we emulate your ways
Which sustain our existence
'til our last waking day.
Vanish the cold
with the warmth of your arms
The lessons you teach us
we wear them like charms.
Your devotion a testament
why your legacy endures
Hold the world in your hands
as if it were yours.
The calm voice of reason
that rings in our ear
Your tone is melodic
the knowledge of seers.
A heart full of treasure
a luminous star
Seemingly ever-present
you watch from afar.
Your compassion so gentle
exuberant with care
Like the beauty of mariposas
that glide through the air.
Create light in the darkness
you calm all our fears
Impart us with wisdom
wipe away all our tears.
Commune with the Cihuateteo
in the Circle of Fire
Survive through the ages
never rest or retire.
Through the annals of history
you've sat on a throne
Reigned over kingdoms
had your name carved in stone.
Your portrait adorns
sacred temple halls
On ceilings and mantles
in glyphs on the walls.
You've held your fists in the air
gripping scepters and rods
Stood at La Pirámide del Sol
where men become gods.
A courageous noble warrior
a reflection of Ollin
Your memory will be honored
as a descendant of Queens.
Diosa bronzera
keep leading the way
For the gift of our lives
We thank you each day.
Copyright © 2007 by Efren Tlecoz Paredes
http://www.4efren.com/
This poem was read at the 1st Annual Flor y Canto Poetry Contest sponsored by LASSO in Jackson, Michigan on August 7, 2007. The poem was among two of the first place winners that won that night.
_____________________________________
Diosa bronzera: Bronze goddess. "Diosa" is goddess in Spanish and "bronzera" is bronze in French.
Cihuateteo: Nahuatl (Aztec) for "goddesses."
La Pirámide del Sol: "The Pyramid of the Sun" located in Teotihuacán, Mexico along the Avenue of the Dead, in between the Pyramid of the Moon and the Ciudadela, and in the shadow of the massive mountain Cerro Gordo. The pyramid is part of a large complex in the heart of the city.
Ollin: Nahuatl (Aztec) for "the sacred movement in continuum, which gives impulse to our world."
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Walking the Tightrope of the 20s
Risky behavior doesn't end with teen years
By Sharon Jayson
USA TODAY
Wednesday, August 15, 2007, 1D
Shannon Rea's job as a part-time bartender in Brooklyn gives her a close-up look at the risky behavior of people in their 20s.
Some end a night of drinking with hookups. Some take rides from the slightly inebriated. Others try to drive when they shouldn't. (She sobers them up, takes their keys and finds them rides.)
"I think the early 20s are the new teenage years," says Rea, 26, a college student studying to be a history teacher. "There are no parents telling them, 'You can't do this.' It's pretty much a free-for-all."
The 20s always have been prime time for risky behavior, from binge drinking and unprotected sex to dabbling in drugs and driving too fast. But new brain research suggests young adults may have less control over these impulses: Neurological areas that regulate impulse and emotions are not fully developed until about the mid-20s, findings show.
And recent demographic trends don't help: Young people today are delaying settling down into careers and marriage, both of which tend to reduce risky behaviors, sociologists, psychologists and historians say.
"We are so obsessed about the dangers of adolescence, we have all sorts of mechanisms to protect kids from disaster, but we don't have that for young people in their 20s," says Steven Mintz of the University of Houston, who is writing a book on the history of adulthood.
American society has taken great pains to prevent adolescents from the perils of foolhardy behavior, from zero-tolerance alcohol and drug programs to graduated drivers' licenses to city curfews for youths, Mintz says.
If teens make mistakes, they often get a second chance. But in their 20s, society is less forgiving.
"It's the 20s that are risky" he says.
Statistics tell the story
Recent statistics back this up: 56% of births among women ages 20-24 were to unwed mothers, according to preliminary 2005 data from the National Center for Health Statistics; for ages 25-29, it was 29%.
Violent crimes — from homicide to rape, robbery and assault — are highest among young adults, according to data from the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics and the FBI.
The 20s also is the time of heaviest drinking. One measure, the University of Michigan's 2005 Monitoring the Future study, shows that the highest percentages of those having five or more drinks in a row at least once in a two-week period were those in their 20s. Bingeing was reported by 40.4% of ages 21 and 22, 39.2% of ages 23 and 24, and 37.7% of ages 25 and 26.
When young celebrities such as Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan abuse drugs or alcohol or drive under the influence and get caught, the big question seems to be: Why?
Scott Stanley, a research professor in psychology at the University of Denver, says many major life decisions that used to be fairly settled are now "up for grabs through their 20s" — from education and career to sexual relationships and partner choices.
This "extended adolescence" increasingly is being acknowledged by those who have focused on teens. For example, in May, the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy announced an expansion of its mission to include those in their 20s and 30s.
At least 35 states have taken some steps to extend foster care services to those ages 19-23; 18 has been the point for "aging out" of the foster care system.
Most states consider 18 the time when young people are legally held responsible for their actions. But Jeffrey Arnett, a research professor in psychology at Clark University in Worcester, Mass., says many young people just don't believe they're going to suffer the consequences. He calls it an "optimistic bias."
Arnett says young celebrities in particular so often have been over-indulged as children and teens that they don't have the self-discipline to play by the rules.
Britney Spears' risky behavior hasn't just affected her. Last year, the singer, now 25, was photographed driving with her infant son sitting on her lap behind the wheel rather than in a car seat.
But real social and economic factors today do add to the pressures facing young adults:
• A study of long-term wealth trends released last week by the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research found the median household net worth of people in their 20s fell by nearly 30% from 2003 to 2005. The data support the notion that it is more difficult for younger people today to establish themselves financially, says study director Frank Stafford.
• Finishing college often takes longer than four years; some also stay in school longer because in an increasingly competitive job market, they seek to get a leg up with advanced degrees.
• Some experts, including Mintz, say the military draft (created in 1940 and eliminated in 1973) forced young men to mature and at the same time helped keep them away from troublesome behavior. The military used to be a pretty standard part of growing up for men in decades past, but it's a mute for fewer young people today — "it's a risky proposition these days," he says.
Adds bartender Rea: "When you're 15 or 16, you're expected to go out and experiment and break curfew and do something ridiculous. You're immature at that point. Then at 18 or 19, something is supposed to snap on in your head, and you're supposed to grow up."
The biology of the brain
Over the past several years, brain studies by researchers around the country, including at the National Institutes of Health, University of Pittsburgh, Harvard Medical School and Temple University, have found that the area that controls impulses takes longer to mature than previously thought.
Greater demands have made the 20s a difficult period, says Frank Furstenberg, Jr., a sociologist at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia whose work has focused on the transition to adulthood.
"It is not well known that this age group does have these elevated problems," he says. "Adolescence has captured so much of the attention of American policymakers."
He says it's even more of a challenge for an estimated 15% to 25% who by early adulthood are "seriously off track."
They include those who aren't in school, don't have jobs or may have little prospect of finding a job due to lack of skills. Others have serious drug or alcohol problems. Some are in jail or otherwise involved in the criminal justice system.
"It can be a risky stage for rich kids because they have the money to get in trouble and for poor kids because trouble finds them in the neighborhood," says Michael Rosenfeld, a social demographer at Stanford University. "There are plenty of ways in which kids from families with the financial means avoid the long-term repercussions of youthful indiscretion."
Partners, careers stabilize
John Laub, a University of Maryland criminology professor, and Robert Sampson, a Harvard sociologist, have studied the life course of crime for about 20 years. Sampson says the peak age for many crimes has shifted older, and although juveniles are committing offenses at younger ages, the duration of criminal activity lasts longer.
By analyzing interviews with 500 men, all of them former juvenile delinquents, and follow-up interviews with 52 men, the pair also found, on average, a 35% less chance of a crime being committed during a period of marriage.
"We find that marriage 'civilizes' men — reducing crime and antisocial behavior on average by a large amount," Sampson says.
The average age at first marriage, according to the latest Census data, is 25 for women and 27 for men. Experts say singles overall are more likely than married people to take risks because they have the freedom to do what they want without having to answer to anyone.
A few years do seem to make a difference. All sorts of research suggests that by the late 20s, risky behavior drops among young adults, largely because that's when they pair up and begin to settle down with a career and a partner.
Furstenberg says social relationships tend to constrain behavior. "People stop doing things they did when they were younger."
Beth Kerber, 26, of St. Louis, believes she has definitely matured, although she says she "can't imagine" marriage right now.
"I've seen a huge amount of growth in myself from age 22 to 25," says Kerber, who just finished graduate school and is working as a hospital speech pathologist.
"When I go out now, it's completely different than when I was 21 or 22. You are much more experienced with drinking and realize it's not that great to black out or not remember the night. When you're young, it's 'Let's have fun.'"■
By Sharon Jayson
USA TODAY
Wednesday, August 15, 2007, 1D
Shannon Rea's job as a part-time bartender in Brooklyn gives her a close-up look at the risky behavior of people in their 20s.
Some end a night of drinking with hookups. Some take rides from the slightly inebriated. Others try to drive when they shouldn't. (She sobers them up, takes their keys and finds them rides.)
"I think the early 20s are the new teenage years," says Rea, 26, a college student studying to be a history teacher. "There are no parents telling them, 'You can't do this.' It's pretty much a free-for-all."
The 20s always have been prime time for risky behavior, from binge drinking and unprotected sex to dabbling in drugs and driving too fast. But new brain research suggests young adults may have less control over these impulses: Neurological areas that regulate impulse and emotions are not fully developed until about the mid-20s, findings show.
And recent demographic trends don't help: Young people today are delaying settling down into careers and marriage, both of which tend to reduce risky behaviors, sociologists, psychologists and historians say.
"We are so obsessed about the dangers of adolescence, we have all sorts of mechanisms to protect kids from disaster, but we don't have that for young people in their 20s," says Steven Mintz of the University of Houston, who is writing a book on the history of adulthood.
American society has taken great pains to prevent adolescents from the perils of foolhardy behavior, from zero-tolerance alcohol and drug programs to graduated drivers' licenses to city curfews for youths, Mintz says.
If teens make mistakes, they often get a second chance. But in their 20s, society is less forgiving.
"It's the 20s that are risky" he says.
Statistics tell the story
Recent statistics back this up: 56% of births among women ages 20-24 were to unwed mothers, according to preliminary 2005 data from the National Center for Health Statistics; for ages 25-29, it was 29%.
Violent crimes — from homicide to rape, robbery and assault — are highest among young adults, according to data from the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics and the FBI.
The 20s also is the time of heaviest drinking. One measure, the University of Michigan's 2005 Monitoring the Future study, shows that the highest percentages of those having five or more drinks in a row at least once in a two-week period were those in their 20s. Bingeing was reported by 40.4% of ages 21 and 22, 39.2% of ages 23 and 24, and 37.7% of ages 25 and 26.
When young celebrities such as Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan abuse drugs or alcohol or drive under the influence and get caught, the big question seems to be: Why?
Scott Stanley, a research professor in psychology at the University of Denver, says many major life decisions that used to be fairly settled are now "up for grabs through their 20s" — from education and career to sexual relationships and partner choices.
This "extended adolescence" increasingly is being acknowledged by those who have focused on teens. For example, in May, the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy announced an expansion of its mission to include those in their 20s and 30s.
At least 35 states have taken some steps to extend foster care services to those ages 19-23; 18 has been the point for "aging out" of the foster care system.
Most states consider 18 the time when young people are legally held responsible for their actions. But Jeffrey Arnett, a research professor in psychology at Clark University in Worcester, Mass., says many young people just don't believe they're going to suffer the consequences. He calls it an "optimistic bias."
Arnett says young celebrities in particular so often have been over-indulged as children and teens that they don't have the self-discipline to play by the rules.
Britney Spears' risky behavior hasn't just affected her. Last year, the singer, now 25, was photographed driving with her infant son sitting on her lap behind the wheel rather than in a car seat.
But real social and economic factors today do add to the pressures facing young adults:
• A study of long-term wealth trends released last week by the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research found the median household net worth of people in their 20s fell by nearly 30% from 2003 to 2005. The data support the notion that it is more difficult for younger people today to establish themselves financially, says study director Frank Stafford.
• Finishing college often takes longer than four years; some also stay in school longer because in an increasingly competitive job market, they seek to get a leg up with advanced degrees.
• Some experts, including Mintz, say the military draft (created in 1940 and eliminated in 1973) forced young men to mature and at the same time helped keep them away from troublesome behavior. The military used to be a pretty standard part of growing up for men in decades past, but it's a mute for fewer young people today — "it's a risky proposition these days," he says.
Adds bartender Rea: "When you're 15 or 16, you're expected to go out and experiment and break curfew and do something ridiculous. You're immature at that point. Then at 18 or 19, something is supposed to snap on in your head, and you're supposed to grow up."
The biology of the brain
Over the past several years, brain studies by researchers around the country, including at the National Institutes of Health, University of Pittsburgh, Harvard Medical School and Temple University, have found that the area that controls impulses takes longer to mature than previously thought.
Greater demands have made the 20s a difficult period, says Frank Furstenberg, Jr., a sociologist at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia whose work has focused on the transition to adulthood.
"It is not well known that this age group does have these elevated problems," he says. "Adolescence has captured so much of the attention of American policymakers."
He says it's even more of a challenge for an estimated 15% to 25% who by early adulthood are "seriously off track."
They include those who aren't in school, don't have jobs or may have little prospect of finding a job due to lack of skills. Others have serious drug or alcohol problems. Some are in jail or otherwise involved in the criminal justice system.
"It can be a risky stage for rich kids because they have the money to get in trouble and for poor kids because trouble finds them in the neighborhood," says Michael Rosenfeld, a social demographer at Stanford University. "There are plenty of ways in which kids from families with the financial means avoid the long-term repercussions of youthful indiscretion."
Partners, careers stabilize
John Laub, a University of Maryland criminology professor, and Robert Sampson, a Harvard sociologist, have studied the life course of crime for about 20 years. Sampson says the peak age for many crimes has shifted older, and although juveniles are committing offenses at younger ages, the duration of criminal activity lasts longer.
By analyzing interviews with 500 men, all of them former juvenile delinquents, and follow-up interviews with 52 men, the pair also found, on average, a 35% less chance of a crime being committed during a period of marriage.
"We find that marriage 'civilizes' men — reducing crime and antisocial behavior on average by a large amount," Sampson says.
The average age at first marriage, according to the latest Census data, is 25 for women and 27 for men. Experts say singles overall are more likely than married people to take risks because they have the freedom to do what they want without having to answer to anyone.
A few years do seem to make a difference. All sorts of research suggests that by the late 20s, risky behavior drops among young adults, largely because that's when they pair up and begin to settle down with a career and a partner.
Furstenberg says social relationships tend to constrain behavior. "People stop doing things they did when they were younger."
Beth Kerber, 26, of St. Louis, believes she has definitely matured, although she says she "can't imagine" marriage right now.
"I've seen a huge amount of growth in myself from age 22 to 25," says Kerber, who just finished graduate school and is working as a hospital speech pathologist.
"When I go out now, it's completely different than when I was 21 or 22. You are much more experienced with drinking and realize it's not that great to black out or not remember the night. When you're young, it's 'Let's have fun.'"■
Thursday, August 2, 2007
The Presence of Malice
by Richard Moran
The New York Times
Thursday, August 2, 2007
LAST week, Judge Nancy Gertner of the Federal District Court in Boston awarded more than $100 million to four men whom the F.B.I. framed for the 1965 murder of Edward Deegan, a local gangster. It was compensation for the 30 years the men spent behind bars while agents withheld evidence that would have cleared them and put the real killer — a valuable F.B.I. informant, by the name of Vincent Flemmi — in prison.
Most coverage of the story described it as a bizarre exception in the history of law enforcement. Unfortunately, this kind of behavior by those whose sworn duty it is to uphold the law is all too common. In state courts, where most death sentences are handed down, it occurs regularly.
My recently completed study of the 124 exonerations of death row inmates in America from 1973 to 2007 indicated that 80, or about two-thirds, of their so-called wrongful convictions resulted not from good-faith mistakes or errors but from intentional, willful, malicious prosecutions by criminal justice personnel. (There were four cases in which a determination could not be made one way or another.)
Yet too often this behavior is not singled out and identified for what it is. When a prosecutor puts a witness on the stand whom he knows to be lying, or fails to turn over evidence favorable to the defense, or when a police officer manufactures or destroys evidence to further the likelihood of a conviction, then it is deceptive to term these conscious violations of the law — all of which I found in my research — as merely mistakes or errors.
Mistakes are good-faith errors — like taking the wrong exit off the highway, or dialing the wrong telephone number. There is no malice behind them. However, when officers of the court conspire to convict a defendant of first-degree murder and send him to death row, they are doing much more than making an innocent mistake or error. They are breaking the law.
Perhaps this explains why, even when a manifestly innocent man is about to be executed, a prosecutor can be dead set against reopening an old case. Since so many wrongful convictions result from official malicious behavior, prosecutors, policemen, witnesses or even jurors and judges could themselves face jail time for breaking the law in obtaining an unlawful conviction.
Strangely, our misunderstanding of the real cause underlying most wrongful convictions is compounded by the very people who work to uncover them. Although the term “wrongfully convicted” is technically correct, it also has the potential to be misleading. It leads to the false impression that most inmates ended up on death row because of good-faith mistakes or errors committed by an imperfect criminal justice system — not by malicious or unlawful behavior.
For this reason, we need to re-frame the argument and shift our language. If a death sentence is overturned because of malicious behavior, we should call it for what it is: an unlawful conviction, not a wrongful one.
In the interest of fairness, it is important to note that those who are exonerated are not necessarily innocent of the crimes that sent them to death row. They have simply had their death sentences set aside because of errors that led to convictions, usually involving the intentional violation of their constitutional right to a fair and impartial trial. Very seldom does the court go the next step and actually declare them innocent.
In addition, some of these unlawful convictions resulted from criminal justice officials trying to do the right thing. (A police officer, say, plants evidence on a defendant he is convinced is guilty, fearing that the defendant will escape punishment otherwise.) In cases like these, officers or prosecutors have been known to “frame a guilty man.”
The malicious or even well-intentioned manipulation of murder cases by prosecutors and the police underscores why it’s important to discard, once and for all, the nonsense that so-called wrongful convictions can be eliminated by introducing better forensic science into the courtroom.
Even if we limit death sentences to cases in which there is “conclusive scientific evidence” of guilt, as Mitt Romney, the presidential candidate and former governor of Massachusetts has proposed, we will still not eliminate the problem of wrongful convictions. The best trained and most honest forensic scientists can only examine the evidence presented to them; they cannot be expected to determine if that evidence has been planted, switched or withheld from the defense.
The cause of malicious unlawful convictions doesn’t rest solely in the imperfect workings of our criminal justice system — if it did we might be able to remedy most of it. A crucial part of the problem rests in the hearts and souls of those whose job it is to uphold the law. That’s why even the most careful strictures on death penalty cases could fail to prevent the execution of innocent people — and why we would do well to be more vigilant and specific in articulating the causes for overturning an unlawful conviction.
Richard Moran is a professor of sociology and criminology at Mount Holyoke College.
The New York Times
Thursday, August 2, 2007
LAST week, Judge Nancy Gertner of the Federal District Court in Boston awarded more than $100 million to four men whom the F.B.I. framed for the 1965 murder of Edward Deegan, a local gangster. It was compensation for the 30 years the men spent behind bars while agents withheld evidence that would have cleared them and put the real killer — a valuable F.B.I. informant, by the name of Vincent Flemmi — in prison.
Most coverage of the story described it as a bizarre exception in the history of law enforcement. Unfortunately, this kind of behavior by those whose sworn duty it is to uphold the law is all too common. In state courts, where most death sentences are handed down, it occurs regularly.
My recently completed study of the 124 exonerations of death row inmates in America from 1973 to 2007 indicated that 80, or about two-thirds, of their so-called wrongful convictions resulted not from good-faith mistakes or errors but from intentional, willful, malicious prosecutions by criminal justice personnel. (There were four cases in which a determination could not be made one way or another.)
Yet too often this behavior is not singled out and identified for what it is. When a prosecutor puts a witness on the stand whom he knows to be lying, or fails to turn over evidence favorable to the defense, or when a police officer manufactures or destroys evidence to further the likelihood of a conviction, then it is deceptive to term these conscious violations of the law — all of which I found in my research — as merely mistakes or errors.
Mistakes are good-faith errors — like taking the wrong exit off the highway, or dialing the wrong telephone number. There is no malice behind them. However, when officers of the court conspire to convict a defendant of first-degree murder and send him to death row, they are doing much more than making an innocent mistake or error. They are breaking the law.
Perhaps this explains why, even when a manifestly innocent man is about to be executed, a prosecutor can be dead set against reopening an old case. Since so many wrongful convictions result from official malicious behavior, prosecutors, policemen, witnesses or even jurors and judges could themselves face jail time for breaking the law in obtaining an unlawful conviction.
Strangely, our misunderstanding of the real cause underlying most wrongful convictions is compounded by the very people who work to uncover them. Although the term “wrongfully convicted” is technically correct, it also has the potential to be misleading. It leads to the false impression that most inmates ended up on death row because of good-faith mistakes or errors committed by an imperfect criminal justice system — not by malicious or unlawful behavior.
For this reason, we need to re-frame the argument and shift our language. If a death sentence is overturned because of malicious behavior, we should call it for what it is: an unlawful conviction, not a wrongful one.
In the interest of fairness, it is important to note that those who are exonerated are not necessarily innocent of the crimes that sent them to death row. They have simply had their death sentences set aside because of errors that led to convictions, usually involving the intentional violation of their constitutional right to a fair and impartial trial. Very seldom does the court go the next step and actually declare them innocent.
In addition, some of these unlawful convictions resulted from criminal justice officials trying to do the right thing. (A police officer, say, plants evidence on a defendant he is convinced is guilty, fearing that the defendant will escape punishment otherwise.) In cases like these, officers or prosecutors have been known to “frame a guilty man.”
The malicious or even well-intentioned manipulation of murder cases by prosecutors and the police underscores why it’s important to discard, once and for all, the nonsense that so-called wrongful convictions can be eliminated by introducing better forensic science into the courtroom.
Even if we limit death sentences to cases in which there is “conclusive scientific evidence” of guilt, as Mitt Romney, the presidential candidate and former governor of Massachusetts has proposed, we will still not eliminate the problem of wrongful convictions. The best trained and most honest forensic scientists can only examine the evidence presented to them; they cannot be expected to determine if that evidence has been planted, switched or withheld from the defense.
The cause of malicious unlawful convictions doesn’t rest solely in the imperfect workings of our criminal justice system — if it did we might be able to remedy most of it. A crucial part of the problem rests in the hearts and souls of those whose job it is to uphold the law. That’s why even the most careful strictures on death penalty cases could fail to prevent the execution of innocent people — and why we would do well to be more vigilant and specific in articulating the causes for overturning an unlawful conviction.
Richard Moran is a professor of sociology and criminology at Mount Holyoke College.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Imagine You're On Death Row...
By Leonard Pitts, Jr.
The Detroit Free Press
Saturday, July 21, 2007
You don't know what it's like and neither do I. But we can imagine.
I've always thought it must feel like being buried alive. Lungs starving, lying in blackness, pounding on the coffin lid with dirt showering down, no one hearing your cries.
Or maybe it's like locked-in syndrome, a condition where you lose muscle control — can't move a finger, turn your head, speak. Your body entombs you. You scream within, but no one hears.
Something like that, I think. Something where you're trapped, claustrophobic, unable to believe what is happening, unable to make anyone hear you. That's how it must feel to be an innocent person on death row as execution day draws close.
Tuesday was Troy Anthony Davis' scheduled execution day, though I have no idea if he is an innocent person. I do know that he was convicted of the 1989 killing of a police officer, Mark Allen MacPhail, in Savannah, Ga. And I know that he was on the scene, a Burger King parking lot, that fateful night.
But I also know that Davis has always maintained his innocence. And that no physical evidence — no gun, no fingerprint, no DNA — ever tied him to the crime. And that he was convicted on the testimony of nine key witnesses. And that seven of them have now recanted.
They lied, they say. They were scared, they were bullied and threatened, and they said what the cops wanted to hear. Of the two witnesses who have not recanted, one is a fellow named Sylvester (Red) Coles; some Witnesses claim he's the one who actually shot MacPhail when the officer tried to break up a parking lot altercation.
Monday, one day before Davis was scheduled to die, the state parole board issued a 90-day stay of execution.
You and I have no idea how that must feel, either, but we can imagine. The buried man gets a sip of air. The paralyzed man moves his toe.
And then back down into the coffin, back down into the tomb of your own skin, back in line to die.
Surely Davis' lawyers have explained to him the 1996 federal law, signed by President Bill Clinton, that is throwing roadblocks in his way. Designed to streamline capital cases, it restricts the introduction of exculpatory evidence once the state appeals process is done. But just as surely, Davis, if he is innocent, must wonder how he could have presented evidence he didn't yet have. And he must wonder, too, how there can be a time limit on truth — especially when a human life is at stake. How can you execute a man when there remain serious questions about his guilt?
That's barbarism, not justice.
What's fascinating is that, though 67% of those polled by Gallup pollsters approve of capital punishment in murder cases (and 51% say it's not imposed often enough), 64% admit it does not deter murder, and 63% believe an innocent person has probably been executed since 2001.
In other words, the system doesn't work, we "know" it doesn't work, yet we want it to continue — and, indeed, expand. What kind of madness is that? It's an intellectual disconnect, a refusal to follow logic to its logical end.
It is, of course, easier to countenance that madness, ignore that refusal, when the issue is abstract, when death row is distant, theoretical and does not involve you.
But what must it feel like when it is not abstract, when it is "you'' sitting there in the cell watching the calendar move inexorably toward the day the state will kill you for something you absolutely did not do? Is there a suspension of belief? Do you tell yourself that surely people will come to' their senses any minute now? Does the air close on you like a coffin lid? Does darkness sit on your chest like a weight?
You and I can only imagine. Some men have no need to try.
LEONARD PITTS JR. is a columnist for the Miami Herald, 1 Herald Plaza, Miami, Fla. 33132. Write to him at lpitts@miamiherald.com.
The Detroit Free Press
Saturday, July 21, 2007
You don't know what it's like and neither do I. But we can imagine.
I've always thought it must feel like being buried alive. Lungs starving, lying in blackness, pounding on the coffin lid with dirt showering down, no one hearing your cries.
Or maybe it's like locked-in syndrome, a condition where you lose muscle control — can't move a finger, turn your head, speak. Your body entombs you. You scream within, but no one hears.
Something like that, I think. Something where you're trapped, claustrophobic, unable to believe what is happening, unable to make anyone hear you. That's how it must feel to be an innocent person on death row as execution day draws close.
Tuesday was Troy Anthony Davis' scheduled execution day, though I have no idea if he is an innocent person. I do know that he was convicted of the 1989 killing of a police officer, Mark Allen MacPhail, in Savannah, Ga. And I know that he was on the scene, a Burger King parking lot, that fateful night.
But I also know that Davis has always maintained his innocence. And that no physical evidence — no gun, no fingerprint, no DNA — ever tied him to the crime. And that he was convicted on the testimony of nine key witnesses. And that seven of them have now recanted.
They lied, they say. They were scared, they were bullied and threatened, and they said what the cops wanted to hear. Of the two witnesses who have not recanted, one is a fellow named Sylvester (Red) Coles; some Witnesses claim he's the one who actually shot MacPhail when the officer tried to break up a parking lot altercation.
Monday, one day before Davis was scheduled to die, the state parole board issued a 90-day stay of execution.
You and I have no idea how that must feel, either, but we can imagine. The buried man gets a sip of air. The paralyzed man moves his toe.
And then back down into the coffin, back down into the tomb of your own skin, back in line to die.
Surely Davis' lawyers have explained to him the 1996 federal law, signed by President Bill Clinton, that is throwing roadblocks in his way. Designed to streamline capital cases, it restricts the introduction of exculpatory evidence once the state appeals process is done. But just as surely, Davis, if he is innocent, must wonder how he could have presented evidence he didn't yet have. And he must wonder, too, how there can be a time limit on truth — especially when a human life is at stake. How can you execute a man when there remain serious questions about his guilt?
That's barbarism, not justice.
What's fascinating is that, though 67% of those polled by Gallup pollsters approve of capital punishment in murder cases (and 51% say it's not imposed often enough), 64% admit it does not deter murder, and 63% believe an innocent person has probably been executed since 2001.
In other words, the system doesn't work, we "know" it doesn't work, yet we want it to continue — and, indeed, expand. What kind of madness is that? It's an intellectual disconnect, a refusal to follow logic to its logical end.
It is, of course, easier to countenance that madness, ignore that refusal, when the issue is abstract, when death row is distant, theoretical and does not involve you.
But what must it feel like when it is not abstract, when it is "you'' sitting there in the cell watching the calendar move inexorably toward the day the state will kill you for something you absolutely did not do? Is there a suspension of belief? Do you tell yourself that surely people will come to' their senses any minute now? Does the air close on you like a coffin lid? Does darkness sit on your chest like a weight?
You and I can only imagine. Some men have no need to try.
LEONARD PITTS JR. is a columnist for the Miami Herald, 1 Herald Plaza, Miami, Fla. 33132. Write to him at lpitts@miamiherald.com.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Keys to Success: Seven Pearls for 07/07/07
by Efren 'Tlecoz' Paredes
The following are seven keys to success I employ in my daily life. I thought I would share them in hopes that they may be useful to others as well. I have found them to be very effective.
1. Aggressively pursue knowledge and work to expand our consciousness each day. Ignorance is tantamount to mental incarceration, and choosing ignorance is synonymous with insanity. We are constantly evolving. And, in order to effectuate that process so it achieves its maximum potential, it must be properly fueled. The moment we desist the process of growth and development we commence the process of deterioration.
2. Advocate the value of expression and conveying truth to those around us. It is important to be genuine and candid with people. We perform a disservice to ourselves and others, and arrest people's growth and development, when we lie to them. People may not always be fond of your openness, but they will respect and appreciate it later on. Through our rejection of truth we create illusions and falsities that are counter-productive. We also foster the same in others and perpetuate a cycle that consumes even more people.
3. If people don't support your beliefs and creativity re-evaluate what you are doing or saying. If after careful analysis you still feel strongly about things don't allow others to deter you from pursuing what you deem to be worthy. We are the masters of our destiny and we can never be afraid to forge new paths and exercise our creativity. Attempting to avoid this is akin to escaping freedom. It's also important to know that people judge us based on our convictions. The less serious we take them and more whimsical we are, the less serious people take us as individuals. It demonstrates instability.
4. People should never disrespect themselves by trying to conform their lives to the satisfaction of others. We can never please everyone and should never seek to attempt it. If we spend our lives trying to satisfy others and make them happy we will be stifling our growth process and chasing ephemeral illusions of happiness and success. In the end people will regret having lived their lives for others. No one can tell us what will bring us happiness. It is only conjecture on their part. We each are unique and only we know what is best for us, and how we want our lives to be. No one can live our lives for us. Only we can.
5. People should exude fortitude, courage, and confidence, and never acquiesce to injustice or oppression in any form. We should also never reward people for mistreating us by allowing them to exhibit offensive behaviors towards us. It is essential to combat forces designed to destroy the human spirit and incarcerate people physically, mentally, emotionally, or spiritually. We succumb to defeat when we refuse to challenge it. It isn't the acts themselves that destroy us, it's our acceptance of them that does.
6. We possess within each of us the power to achieve any objective in life we set out to accomplish. We assign a degree of value to all things in life and empower them through our thoughts and feelings. Our perception of each situation determines our response and how it will affect us. It is predicated on our vision, strengths, and weaknesses. Our strongest opposition to success is our refusal to believe in ourselves and boundless potential.
7. If we don't like the results we see in our lives we simply have to change how we arrived to the thoughts that precipitated the trajectory of discontent. Dissatisfaction should always bring about change. We exhibit an addiction to abuse when we accept dissatisfaction in our lives and integrate it into our being. It reflects an acceptance of failure and rejection of success. By doing so we relinquish authority over our lives and bestow it upon others.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)