Fate of 201 Youth Offenders in Legal Limbo
In preparing for our visit to our local county jail, as I watched then further researched John Irwin’s “Project Rebound” I came upon this article that absolutely just stopped in in my tracks and I wanted to share it. Reading actual research data and seeing just one states percentages in regards to the significant number of black men that are disproportionately incarcerated brought a variety of emotions to me. It made me angry, and then it saddened me and now I am asking the question of how and why can this be? As we progress through this class, I feel like I have been living in my own world, my own box of some sort. I really had no idea issues like this existed in our country today. Does Florida really have 201 incarcerated youth who are 13-15 years old?! Who are on death row without the possibility of parole and this being a law that was passed in 2012?!
In “It’s not about ‘stand your ground’ it’s about race,” Mark O’Mara stated it perfectly, ” I believe that we can fix the problem of racial inequity in our justice system, but first we have to admit that the problem exists, and then we have to have the courage to engage in an open, honest and thoughtful conversation about the true state of race relations in America.” I will admit it, I was one of individuals who didn’t want to believe that race relations still existed today in 2014. It exists and it’s a huge problem, but now I’d like to do something about it.
Native Nevadan Latina 