Friday, 28 March 2014
Beyond Scared Straight: Female Teens Meet Inmates and See The Jail Envir...
In this scene from the episode Douglas County, GA: A Family's Loss, the female teens meet face-to-face with the female inmates and witness the jail environment firsthand.
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Beyond Scared Straight: A Teen's Brother is Murdered 8 Days After Jail T...
In this scene from the episode Douglas County, GA: A Family's Loss, a teen girl regresses to her old ways when her brother is senselessly murdered shortly after the jail tour.
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Beyond Scared Straight: Teen Group Meets a Teenage Inmate (S6, E2)
In this scene from the episode Douglas County, GA: A Family's Loss, the teens meet a 17-year-old inmate and confront the reality that they could be in the same position if they don't change their ways.
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Thursday, 20 March 2014
Joshua Lee Wade - United for his Freedom
Joshua Lee Wade was incarcerated at the age of 16. He's currently serving a life sentence with "parole eligibility" in 2061. No teen should die in prison.
https://www.facebook.com/unitedforjoshua
Wednesday, 19 March 2014
Teen Jailed for 13 Days After EMT Kit Pocketknife Found in His Car - Jor...
Meet Jordan Wiser, a high school senior you might call an overachiever. Enrolled in an Ohio vocational-technical school, Wiser was taking Firefighter 2 and EMT courses to bolster his dream of future public service. "Last year, I completed the law enforcement course," the 18-year-old told The Huffington Post. "I received several certifications, including the National Terror Defense certification from FEMA, the Terror Recognition certification and (certification as an) Emergency Vehicle Operator."
Wiser also joined the Army, enrolling the Future Soldiers program, and was scheduled to ship out in August. After his planned military service, he figured he'd embark on a career as a police officer or firefighter.
But Wiser's big dreams of public service are on hold. In fact, he's now enduring a nightmare.
It all started Dec. 12 when administrators at Ashtabula County Technical and Career Campus (A-Tech) in Jefferson, Ohio — about 60 miles northeast of Cleveland — questioned Wiser after an alleged tip regarding videos uploaded to Wiser's YouTube account. Among the clips are reviews of video games and merchandise, home defense tactics, and an interview with a local police officer.
"The principal said he had reason to believe I had weapons in my vehicle and needed to search it," Wiser told the Huffington Post. "He made me empty out all my pockets, and the vice principal grabbed me and patted me down very forcibly. It was somewhat awkward. Then they took my car keys. I told them what was in my car and said, 'Don't be alarmed.'"
Wiser added that he didn't give school officials permission to search his vehicle, nor was there a warrant to perform the search. But they cited the school handbook as their warrant, he said, adding that they denied his request to call an attorney.
And what did they find inside Wiser's vehicle? A folding blade pocketknife, a stun gun and two Airsoft guns.
Airsoft is a game akin to paintball in which participants shoot each other with round non-metallic pellets, and Wiser said he had plans for an Airsoft game after school. The stun gun was for self-defense, he said, adding that the pocketknife was part of his EMT kit.
"My stun gun was locked in the glove box," Wiser told the Huffington Post, "and the knife was in my EMT medical vest. I bought it at K-Mart and have it as part of my first responder kit for cutting seatbelts." Wiser was arrested and jailed for illegal conveyance of a weapon onto a school ground, a Class 5 felony.
Harold Specht, the chief assistant prosecutor at the Ashtabula County prosecutor's office, said the charge is related only to the pocketknife.
"I was in jail for almost 13 days," Wiser told the Huffington Post. "The first bond hearing I went to was on December 15. The judge ordered me [to be] held on a half million-dollar bond, pending a psychological evaluation. I did that and passed. They found I was not suicidal, homicidal or a threat to anybody. My attorney brought it up in front of a different judge, who let me out on a $50,000 bond and an ankle monitor. I was released from jail on Christmas Eve."
Given his school's locale, Wiser doesn't understand all the hubub over his pocketknife — nor the wide-ranging fallout from its discovery.
"There are kids at my school all the time who get caught with knives and are suspended," he told the Huffington Post. "My school is very rural, and people carry knives. I can accept the fact that there was a lapse in judgment, and I can accept a punishment, but I have already been expelled from both the tech school and my home school." Jerome Brockway, the A-Tech superintendent, declined to discuss the case.
And since Wiser's felony charge, he said the Army discharged him pending a not-guilty verdict or dropped charges without prejudice.
That's not all. If the felony charge sticks, things could get way worse.
"If I am convicted of a felony, I'm never going to be a police officer. I'm never going to be a fireman. I'm never going to be in the military," he added. "I won't even be able to be a janitor. I'm 18 years old, and this is going to ruin my entire life."--
Wiser also joined the Army, enrolling the Future Soldiers program, and was scheduled to ship out in August. After his planned military service, he figured he'd embark on a career as a police officer or firefighter.
But Wiser's big dreams of public service are on hold. In fact, he's now enduring a nightmare.
It all started Dec. 12 when administrators at Ashtabula County Technical and Career Campus (A-Tech) in Jefferson, Ohio — about 60 miles northeast of Cleveland — questioned Wiser after an alleged tip regarding videos uploaded to Wiser's YouTube account. Among the clips are reviews of video games and merchandise, home defense tactics, and an interview with a local police officer.
"The principal said he had reason to believe I had weapons in my vehicle and needed to search it," Wiser told the Huffington Post. "He made me empty out all my pockets, and the vice principal grabbed me and patted me down very forcibly. It was somewhat awkward. Then they took my car keys. I told them what was in my car and said, 'Don't be alarmed.'"
Wiser added that he didn't give school officials permission to search his vehicle, nor was there a warrant to perform the search. But they cited the school handbook as their warrant, he said, adding that they denied his request to call an attorney.
And what did they find inside Wiser's vehicle? A folding blade pocketknife, a stun gun and two Airsoft guns.
Airsoft is a game akin to paintball in which participants shoot each other with round non-metallic pellets, and Wiser said he had plans for an Airsoft game after school. The stun gun was for self-defense, he said, adding that the pocketknife was part of his EMT kit.
"My stun gun was locked in the glove box," Wiser told the Huffington Post, "and the knife was in my EMT medical vest. I bought it at K-Mart and have it as part of my first responder kit for cutting seatbelts." Wiser was arrested and jailed for illegal conveyance of a weapon onto a school ground, a Class 5 felony.
Harold Specht, the chief assistant prosecutor at the Ashtabula County prosecutor's office, said the charge is related only to the pocketknife.
"I was in jail for almost 13 days," Wiser told the Huffington Post. "The first bond hearing I went to was on December 15. The judge ordered me [to be] held on a half million-dollar bond, pending a psychological evaluation. I did that and passed. They found I was not suicidal, homicidal or a threat to anybody. My attorney brought it up in front of a different judge, who let me out on a $50,000 bond and an ankle monitor. I was released from jail on Christmas Eve."
Given his school's locale, Wiser doesn't understand all the hubub over his pocketknife — nor the wide-ranging fallout from its discovery.
"There are kids at my school all the time who get caught with knives and are suspended," he told the Huffington Post. "My school is very rural, and people carry knives. I can accept the fact that there was a lapse in judgment, and I can accept a punishment, but I have already been expelled from both the tech school and my home school." Jerome Brockway, the A-Tech superintendent, declined to discuss the case.
And since Wiser's felony charge, he said the Army discharged him pending a not-guilty verdict or dropped charges without prejudice.
That's not all. If the felony charge sticks, things could get way worse.
"If I am convicted of a felony, I'm never going to be a police officer. I'm never going to be a fireman. I'm never going to be in the military," he added. "I won't even be able to be a janitor. I'm 18 years old, and this is going to ruin my entire life."--
Saturday, 15 March 2014
Beyond Scared Straight: Josh Reads His Letter to His Mother (S6, E3)
In this scene from the episode Chester County, SC: Roundtree Circle, Josh reads his letter aloud to his mother, but it seems like the entire experience didn't have much of an impact on him.
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Friday, 7 March 2014
The Box: Teens in Solitary Confinement in U.S. Jails, Prisons and Juveni...
Read the stories at https://medium.com/solitary-lives. Every year, thousands of teens are placed in solitary confinement cells in juvenile halls, jails and prisons nationwide. This animation tells the story of Ismael "Izzy" Nazario and the time he spent in solitary confinement in New York City's Rikers Island jail. This story is based on an investigation by The Center for Investigative Reporting and was created using real audio from an interview with Nazario. It features music from Mos Def. www.cironline.org
Produced and directed by Michael I Schiller
Illustrations by Anna Vignet
Animation directed by Zachary Medow
Reporters Daffodil Altan and Trey Bundy__
Tuesday, 4 March 2014
New documentary highlights 'Kids for Cash' scandal
March 2, 2014: Robert May, director of the documentary "Kids for Cash" and Advancement Project's Thena Robinson Mock discuss the prison scandal that has put a spotlight problems with the juvenile detention system.
Monday, 3 March 2014
Documentary Exposes Corrupt "Kids For Cash" Judge In Pennsylvania
Watch the official 'Kids for Cash' trailer here: http://kidsforcashthemovie.com/
"Kids for Cash, opening on February 28 in New York and major cities. The story begins in 2003 in a courthouse in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, when Judge Mark Ciavarella began sentencing teenagers to juvenile detention centers for offenses as minor as trespassing in a an abandoned building or poking fun at a principal with a mock MySpace page. For the next six years, over 3,000 children would be swept into the juvenile justice system under a "zero tolerance" policy. Most of the defendants had been convinced to waive their right to a lawyer. Many were taken away in shackles. Once in the system, some of the kids were incarcerated for years."
Read more: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles...
Sunday, 2 March 2014
Real Teens Real Time - True Stories of Teens in Prison
Calamari Productions has launched a new Channel Real Teens Real Time to continue telling the stories of youth in the juvenile justice system. Please visit our new channel, subscribe, comment and share.
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