New symposium

EDUCATION OF YOUTHS ON LONG

TERM PRISON SENTENCESBy Simon N. Obi, CEPT

ASPC - Perryville Prison Complex

Bureau of Justice Assistance A Subsidiary of U. S. Dept. of Justice

• The Bureau of Justice Assistance is a component of the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and the Office for Victims of Crime. BJA 10/2000

EDUCATION OF YOUTHS IN ADULT PRISONS

• In addition to special management and programming needs, youthful offenders need educational programming that is more structured, thorough, and intensive than that provided in adult institutions. It is important to ensure that facilities are both aware of and adhering to federal mandates to provide regular and special education services to youth in their care.

• Incarcerated youth are required to receive regular, special, and vocational education services in accordance with the state law for public schools, the rules and regulations of the state board of education, and the regulations of the 14th amendment of the U.S. Constitution and the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

• BJA 10/2000

ARIZONA SPECIFIC RULES• Arizona § 8–305 [A] juvenile who is convicted in a jail or

lockup in which adults are confined shall be kept in a physically separate section from any adult who is charged with or convicted of a criminal offense, and no sight or sound contact between the juvenile and any charged or convicted adult is permitted, except to the extent authorized under federal laws or regulations page 80 BUREAU OF JUSTICE ASSISTANCE 10/2000

Facts and Infographics about Life Without Parole for Children

• Facts about the sentence• The majority of sentences to life without parole for youth have been

imposed in states where judges are obligated to impose it as a mandatory sentence, without consideration of any factors relating to a child’s age or life circumstances.

• More than 25% of people serving life without parole after being sentenced as children were convicted of felony murder or accomplice liability, meaning they were not the primary perpetrators of the crime, and may not have even been present at the time someone was killed.

• The majority of youth sentenced to life without parole are concentrated in just five states: California, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. (California’s Senate Bill 9, the Fair Sentencing of Youth Act, provides re-sentencing and parole opportunities to youth under 18 sentenced to life without parole. The bill was signed by Governor Brown in 2012 and applies retroactively to the nearly 300 “juvenile lifers” currently serving in California prisons.)

• Children sentence to life in prison without parole are often the most vulnerable members of our society. (fairsentencingofyouth.gov)

DOJ Mandates for Educ of Youths #1

• The courts have made it clear that children• in correctional facilities are entitled to the benefit of special education laws• under Green v. Johnson and Donnell C. v. Illinois State Board of Education.• Children eligible for special education are entitled to a broad range of

assessment,• evaluation, educational, and related services under the Individuals• With Disabilities Education Act. Federal time lines for assessment and• implementation apply, even when the child is in temporary detention (see• U.S. Office of Civil Rights, Solano County Juvenile Hall, California, Case• No. 09–89–1227 and Nick O. v. Terhune). The Bureau of Justice Assistance, 10/2000

DOJ Mandates for Educ of Youths #2

• All youth should be offered an average of 5.5 hours of daily instruction, 5• days a week, by qualified teachers, in an environment that facilitates

learning.• Additionally, youth ought to be assigned to grade levels with curricula• that are in accordance with their educational level, and they should• receive academic credit for their educational achievements.• Facilities should offer GED preparation and testing to qualified prison

inmates• and juveniles confined in jails for at least 6 months. Youth who are• in disciplinary isolation or are otherwise unable to attend school for a

significant• period of time must be provided with a reasonable level of education• services. Bureau of Justice Assistance 10/2000

DOJ Mandates for Educ of Youths #3

• Federal regulations through IDEA guarantees special education services to

• juveniles (up to age 21) in adult facilities as a constitutional right. Although

• there are no national figures on the number of special education

• youth who are incarcerated, it is estimated at between 30 and 50 percent

• require this service. BUREAU OF JUSTICE ASSISTANCE 10/2000

DOJ Mandates #4 About Girls

• Further, the gender-specific needs of girls in the adult correctional system deserve equal attention. The expertise of the staff in these areas appears to be a critical link to the quality of services and the orderly operation of the facility BUREAU OF JUSTICE ASSISTANCE 10/2000

Majority Opinion

• By a vote of 5-4, the U.S. Supreme Court on March 1, 2005 held that the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments forbid the execution of offenders who were under the age of 18 when their crimes were committed.

Justice Kennedy, writing for the majority (Kennedy, Breyer, Ginsburg, Souter, and Stevens, JJ.) stated:

• When a juvenile offender commits a heinous crime, the State can exact forfeiture of some of the most basic liberties, but the State cannot extinguish his life and his potential to attain a mature understanding of his own humanity. (U. S. Supreme Court Opinion, March 1, 2005)

New York & North Carolina

• New York continues to be the only state other than North Carolina that prosecutes ALL youth as adults when they turn 16 years of age.

• March 30, 2015

• Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently introduced a new campaign aimed at reforming how the New York state justice system treats juvenile offenders. The campaign, aptly titled Raise the Age, aims to increase the age of criminal responsibility to 18. New York City is currently one of only two states that automatically prosecutes teenagers ages 16 and up as adults.

• Washington Square News, March 30, 2015

Life sentences for youths

• Nationwide, there are 1200 people serving life sentences without parole for crimes committed when they were children. No central agency tracks these sentences, so reliable numbers are hard to come by. A 2008 Amnesty International/Human Rights Watch (HRW) report counted 2484 such people. Al Jazeera America (2015)

Juvenile Lifers

• The new survey says more than 60 percent of juveniles locked up for life aren't enrolled in classes or educational programs in prison. Not because the inmates don't want to go, but because budget tightening and prison rules block many people with life sentences from taking part. Aired on NPR 3/20/12 at 3:11 pm

Michigan & Juvenile Lifers

• Despite a global consensus that children cannot be held to the same standards of responsibility as adults, in the last twenty years the trend in the United States has been to punish children the same as adults. Children are increasingly excluded from the protection of juvenile courts based on the nature of the offense, without any consideration of their maturity, culpability, or current or future danger to society.

• In particular, Michigan allows a child of any age to be tried as an adult, and excludes seventeen-year olds from juvenile treatment altogether. ACLU Report January 1, 2006 (In Arizona it’s 14 years of age)

NEW YORK JUV. EDUCATION

• In New York, educational services of youths in prison are provided by the public school teachers of the school district where the prison is located.

*EDUCATING YOUTHS ON LONG TERM PRISON SENTENCES

• ESTABLISH A PATTERN OF AN INTAKE INTERVIEW FOR NEW STUDENTS

• EXPLORE BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE OF YOUR STUDENTS

• USE BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE TO LIMIT THE SETTING BETWEEN YOU AND THE STUDENTS

• POSSESS A KNOWLEDGE OF SOMETHING SPECIFIC ABOUT EVERY STATE & USE THIS SPECIFIC KNOWLEDGE TO ENGAGE THE STUDENTS ABOUT WHERE THEY’RE COMING FROM OR WHERE THEY GREW UP….FOR EXAMPLE, AMONG ARIZONA YOUTHS, BECOME AWARE OF ALL THE COUNTIES, & HAVE A BASIC KNOWLEDGE ABOUT EVERY COUNTY. START WITH THE COUNTY WHERE YOU LIVE & EXPAND YOUR HORIZON WITH THE NEXT COUNTY.

• DO NOT SPELL IT OUT, BUT US STYLE TO CONVEY THAT EDUCATION IS NOT PART OF THE PUNISHMENT FOR THEIR CRIMES

Prison Life of Juvenile Lifers after aging out of Educational Services

• Two-third of them receive GED/HS diploma before aging out of school services.

• 24% of those who didn’t graduate while young continue to pursue GED AS ADULTS.

• As years in prison pass, juvenile lifers are charged with declining numbers of disciplinary actions.

The Sentencing Project, 1705 DeSales Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036

MAKE THE CLASSROOM AN EXTENDED HOME FOR THE YOUTHS (NOTE: Do not cross the legal line, because you’re in prison)

• Children in the outs spend more time at school than in their homes, so your classroom in the prison is just the same

• Eat lunch with them, allow them to play basketball on Fridays, create Free Choice Events on Fridays, especially during the second half of the day.

• Jeopardy games (Winners get special pencils)

• Bingo Games (participate in the bingo game as a player)

• Allow letter writing to families & friends during class on Fridays, & encourage them to keep in touch with fathers & family members that they dislike.

Punctuality & Regularity should be your motto.

CLASSROOM INSTRUCTION TIME

• MAKE YOUR WEEKLY LESSON PLAN AVAILABLE TO EVERY STUDENT

• PROVIDE WHOLE GROUP INSTRUCTION ON VARIOUS TOPICS DURING EVERY SINGLE CLASS SESSION (approx for 30 mins)

• TASK EVERY STUDENT TO SELF-MONITOR AND COMPLETE EVERY ASSIGNMENT DESIGNATED FOR HIM/HER DURING THE WEEK

• MAKE SURE THAT EVERY STUDENT IS ENGAGED WITH HIS OR HER OWN ACTIVITY (e.g., students with GED must be enrolled asap in a college distance

Post GED Curriculum

• IN THE INTERIM BETWEEN EARNING A GED & STARTING A COLLEGE COURSE, MAKE THE STUDENT ATTEND CLASSES. PROVIDE JOB SKILLS, RESUME WRITING, TYPING SKILLS, MAKE HIM OR HER AN ASSISTANT IN THE CLASS, ETC.

• SUBSCRIBE TO LOCAL PAPER (IT’S FREE FOR EDUCATORS)….YOUR LESSON PLAN WILL ALLOW YOU TO BRING IN A NEWSPAPER

• ALLOW ART WORK, POEM WRITING, GAMES, ETC.

Status of the juvenile death penalty prior to Roper v. Simmons by state

• No Death Penalty for Juveniles(31 States)

• CaliforniaColoradoConnecticutIllinoisIndianaKansasMarylandMissouriMontanaNebraskaNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkOhioOregonS. DakotaTennesseeWashingtonWyomingUS GovtUS Military

PLUS: 12 States with no death penalty

No Juvenile Offenders Executed Since 1976(43 States)

• ALL STATES EXCEPT:

TexasSo. CarolinaLouisianaMissouri*GeorgiaVirginiaOklahoma

*Now Banned

No Juveniles Currently on Death Row(38 States)

• ALL STATES EXCEPT:

TexasAlabamaLouisianaArizonaMississippiNo. CarolinaFloridaGeorgiaSo. CarolinaPennsylvaniaVirginiaNevada

No Death Penalty(12 States)

• AlaskaHawaiiIowaMaineMass.MichiganMinnesotaNo. DakotaRhode IslandVermontWest VirginiaWisconsinWash, DCPuerto Rico INFO FROM: DEATH PENALTY INFO CENTER