Kids In The Court Room

Let’s reminisce . . . go back to those youthful years of
ignorance and bliss. To the age of 14, 15, 16 - wherever you may
have been at that point in time and place. Imagine having to try to
understand what a life sentence inside an adult penal institution
would be like. What your basic Miranda Rights are; what they
truly mean. Did you know and understand at that young age
what rules of evidence and rights to discovery mean? What about
the true definitions of murder as defined in the law?
It takes lawyers, judges, and district attorneys years of study
just to practice law in a courtroom. That’s not counting the years
of experience it takes to truly understand how the intricate
criminal justice system works.
If an adult defendant cannot assist his counsel in preparing a
defense to the charges against him, he will be deemed
incompetent to stand trial. Yet day after day all across this Great
Nation, the youth who by law cannot purchase alcohol or
tobacco products; who cannot consent to sexual relations
because they lack the mental capacity, maturity or reasoning skills
to appreciate these responsibilities . . . Inside America's court
rooms, so many youth of America are expected to understand the
concept of “Law” and are often held accountable as an adult. All
the reasoning and logic behind concepts like mental maturity,
tender and inferior years go out the window.
Cast out, cold, hard and neglected expendables for a political
standard. Processed through assembly line court systems. We are
housed and left to fend and fight for mere survival. Then we're
punished and tortured for responding to the culturally distinct
hostile environment in which we are housed.
This environment that breeds racism, rage, and hate on a
daily basis destroys individuality and suppresses the beauty and
creativity of the human spirit.
The Criminal Justice System is largely defunct and unstable,
especially in how it deals with the youth of America by lumped
proportions and the majorities are youth of color. They are
primarily taken from the hoods, barrios, and low income poverty
stricken areas. Most all of these children fall under the common
denominator of being born into generations of dysfunctional
family cycles and broken homes. The majority are very ignorant
and uneducated, attending urban schools that are deemed
“unacceptable” in the completion rates of certain
demographics.
Drop out factories that fuel the school to prison pipeline.
These youth are processed from one form of institutionalization
to another, taken into the conflicted hands of the state.

http://www.popular4people.org/West_Texas_Beat.html