on the issue in the following article. One of the distinguishing characteristics of the human species (human nature one might say) is the long length of childhood or rearing young. (Stephen Jay Gould discusses this in an essay in _Ever Since Darwin_) The legal recognition of the innocence of children is a reflection of this. The U.S. adhered to the international principle in the Convention described in the article until recent years. The retreat of the U.S law from this standard reflects the
the decadence of American Civilization by the standard of species being or international human rights.
Not only that ,it is American capitalist social crisis that has produced the growing number of child killers and criminals, a second way in which children are robbed of their childhood in contradiction of our species being.
"National report cities child rights abuses in
the U.S. justice system "
By Marcus Arnick
(Michigan Chronicle
Dec. 2-8 , 1998)
Pontiac youth becomes 'poster boy'
A 12-year-old Pontiac ( a city near Detroit) youth set to stand trial as an adult for murder is featured as the "poster boy" in a national report indicting America's juvenile justice system for a host of violations against children.
Nathaniel Abraham, the Pontiac youth featured in the report and pictured on the cover in handcuffs, faces first-degree murder charges for the alleged October 1997 shooting of a 19-year-old man outside a Pontiac convenience store. The charge carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole, which , if imposed, would violate the Convention on the Rights of the Child, an international agreement prohibiting imposition of the death penalty and life terms on youths under 18.
The 566-page report, "Betraying the Young", issued by the human rights group Amnesty International (AI) points out that of 194 United Nations members, only the U.S and Somalia haven't ratified the agreement. Up to 15 youths under the age of 18 have been sentenced to life terms in the U.S. and there is currently a bill pending before the U.S. Senate further lower the age that a juvenile can be charged as an adult for a crime.
Abraham was charged as an adult under sweeping 1997 Michigan legislation which granted prosecutors broader authority to charge youths under the age of 15 as adults for serious crimes. Deshawn Simms, a 14-year-old Roseville Middle School seventh-grader, was the first juvenile charged as an adult under the legislation for a three-day crime spree in 1997,that included kidnapping, carjacking and armed robbery.
The AI report cited numerous U.S. violations of children's rights, includiong the fact that:
. More than 3,700 children are sentenced to prisons, and are not separated from adult prisoners, putting them at serious risk of physical and sexual abuse.
. There are cases of inappropriate incarceration, improper constraints, inadequate medical care and overcrowding in juvenile detention facilities. . African American youth are disproportionately represented in the penal system.
The report noted that African American youth constitute 15 % of the national population, aged 10-17, but account for 30% of youth referred to juvenile court, 40% of youth detained before trial in juvenile court, 40% of youth held in custody in juvenile facilities by juvenile courts for trial in adult criminal court...
The AI report noted also that in MIchigan, a study of policing foung that "race and ethnicity seemed to be a significant factor in police officers' decisions about whether to refer youth to court or to drop cases, and whether to detain or release youth who were charged....
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Charles Brown
Detroit, Michigan
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