Moreover, in order to fix this "problem", shouldn't you have to start at the top of the criminal justice system?
That is, the top of the justice system is not the police, not the district attorney, not the mayor, and not the city council persons.
The top of the criminal justice system are the judges.
Real change of the criminal justice system starts at the top and that means the judges, and this especially includes the juvenile judges.
If judges (and those of the general public who don't believe in incarceration or punishment), don't actually jail and/or punish juveniles or criminals, why should the juveniles and criminals listen to the advice of their parents, the police, the district attorney, church leaders, community leaders or counselors?
WHY SHOULD WITNESSES TESTIFY and VICTIMS PRESS CHARGES IF.........
And if judges don't incarcerate and have a record of light sentences, why should WITNESS and VICTIMS come forward when they know the judge will only let the criminal back on the street to terrorize again? And why should the police risk their lives going after criminals when the judge is going to recommend some program where the criminal is back out on the streets again in 2 hours?
WORDS of the parents, teachers, and community leaders
versus
WORDS of the court-ordered drug rehab programs
What do these court-ordered drug rehab programs say to these drug offenders/addicts that are different than what the parents, teachers, and community leaders say to them for years? The drug rehab programs are like a month long so what do they say that is different than the years of words and teaching from the parents, teachers and community leaders?
Without meaningfully incarceration or punishment, wouldn't the criminal justice system, the parents, the police, the district attorney, church leaders, and counselors all be a "paper tiger"?
All talk, no action?
There are some who suggest that with jail overcrowding the non-violent offenders be let out on the streets and violent offenders be put in jail.
However, how is this different than say the juveniles who commit some non-violent crime, e.g. theft or burglary, and are out back on the streets in like 3 hours? Wasn't that 14 yr old teenager described as "someone who wouldn't hurt anyone" by people who knew him. i.e. a non-violent juvenile criminal?
I also hear the same thing for the homeless being "non-violent" and that the homeless wouldn't hurt anyone. Yet now there are laws all across the country against aggressive panhandling. Basically, the non-violent homeless have become mentally ill from continued drugs and alcohol addictions and bad daily decisions.
Second, the non-violent homeless, which have now progressed into being mentally ill, can't hold a job even when given (a) free shelter, (b) free food and (c) many jobs opportunities. Hence, these non-violent homeless become angry at the world and accordingly, aggressive and violent.
So now we have over-crowded jails and our government, local, state and national,
can't afford the costly mental and social services. And from what I can see, these mental services and charities, have rarely been effective and there is a constant addiction relapse.
This "ineffectiveness" also includes the "community centers", NORD and any of these "give-them-something-to-do" government programs as we apparently have too many of these 14 yr olds professional thieves AND gangs of juveniles attacking random strangers.
Perhaps one of these days, we can talk about Big Picture Prevention, that is, proactive crime strategies? For example, Alcohol restrictions. Weren't some in America expecting great things like increased sales tax revenue and reduced crime if there is a liquor store on every corner of a ghetto? Or did stupid things happen where there was lots of alcohol consumed?
And contrast this with reactive crime strategies, e.g. the short-term solution of releasing non-violent offenders due to jail overcrowding?
HIGHEST INCARCERATION RATE or HIGHEST REPEAT OFFENDER RATE?
Yes, but aren't most crimes committed by repeat offenders against repeat offenders, e.g. Black on Black crime?
And the crimes committed are violent crimes. Plus, hasn't New Orleans had a murder rate that is 10 times the national average and also had 424 murders in a single year in 1994? Additionally, many jail sentences appear to be reduced and juvenile punishment appears to be non-existent while it is recorded a type of incarceration. For example, a 14-year old juvenile, Marshall Coulter, was shot in 2013 and described as a professional thief and arrested at age 10. Yet, he surprisingly recovered from a gunshot wound to the head only to begin burglarizing homes again!
Moreover, don't repeat offenders, once arrested, get out of jail in 3 hours? Hence, is there really any real "incarceration" to begin with? And can't prisoners in Orleans Parish Prison carry their own gun in prison and sometimes get out of prison and party on Bourbon St. while also making a videotape of themselves?
PRIVATE CONTRACTOR "FOR PROFIT" PRISON SYSTEM
OK, you could say Louisiana's Prison system
doesn't rehab and train prisoners and likewise they don't come out prepared for a job. However, the real question is not "Why isn't the prison acting like a school?", It is, "Why aren't schools acting like schools and working in the first place?" And where are the PARENTS of these kids in the first place? And where is the discipline in the school where a single bad unruly kid can act up and disturb an entire classroom much like a person on their phone in a movie theater? What is IRONIC is that the judge says that its the teacher's problem to control the CLASSROOM but cannot use discipline or corporal punishment. YET, inside the COURTROOM, these same judges demands complete order in the courtroom, i.e. bailiff.
DAYTIME TALK SHOW INSIDE THE HOME OF THE POOR STUDENTS
And inside the home, many of these poor kids are studying in an environment that is similar to a daytime talk show where the guests are constantly yelling, screaming, cursing, fighting against each other, e.g. who's sleeping with who, who's turn to take care of the kids, who was too lazy to get up for work since they were out too late the night before partying, etc.
Public Schools, Teacher for America, Unions, Tenure, Charter Schools, Common Core, you name it. It Is not going amount to anything positive overall if inside the home is a 24/7 non-stop constant daytime talkshow - reality drama with the parents, that is, if they are parents in the first place.
JUDGES IN LOUISIANA ARE ELECTED AND SOLICIT CAMPAIGN MONEY FROM...
And this is not to mention the Bail Bond Companies and Defense Attorneys who are big time campaign contributors to Louisiana Criminal Court Judges. Can you really believe that Louisiana has the highest incarceration rate in the world when the judges have a conflict of interest with their campaign contributors who are the bail bond companies and the defense attorneys?
NO COMPUTER DOCKET COURT SYSTEM FOR CRIMINAL COURT
Orleans Parish Criminal Court has no real "functioning" computer docket system; hence many cases are not properly tried since no one knows when to show up in court. The 2014 Criminal Court candidates have all said that if there was one thing they could to do make Criminal Court better, it would be to install and implement a computer docket system.
PARTY and DRINKING CULTURE
And unlike other states or cities, the Louisiana and New Orleans culture of 24/7 "alcohol" has played a part in many DWI's, shootings, rapes, and murders.
Stupid things happen when a person drinks too much and Louisiana has lots of festivals, parties and Bourbon St that promote drinking.
Lastly, New Orleans is named The Big Easy, which was not meant to be a compliment. This as opposed to the culture that its residents believe "helps" New Orleans overall, including tourism.
Many juveniles end up being repeat juvenile offenders. The SEALED records of juveniles appear to be a big problem in getting juveniles to change their behavior as it covers up the truth, not just once, but many times. Hence, they have far less incentive to listen to their parents, counselors, teachers, police, and community leaders as no one knows about their past of "repeat" offenses, nor can they ask about it.
PROPOSAL: For juveniles, there should be a two (2) strikes and you lose your juvenile SEALED records privilege if the juvenile commits any type of crime, misdemeanor, traffic ticket, truancy, or other crime. Juveniles get one (1) chance to keep their records sealed. Commit another crime and the cloak of juvenile secrecy is completely gone.
NOTE: Something like this could be for the New Orleans Ban The Box, on asking if you have a criminal record. For a single misdemeanor, you can keep your record sealed. Anything else, e.g. felony, multiple misdemeanors, you don't get to keep it a secret and the city can ask you about your record immediately at the job interview as they are going to ask them anyway in the hiring process.
Being "UPFRONT" about your past mistakes at the first job interview will be a lot better for all parties instead of a surprise later in the hiring process as it wastes time for everyone.
The key to reducing recidivism is not just to get a job for the applicant, but for the applicant to admit their mistakes and change their daily decisions. Hence, does Banning the Box amount to just a cover-up of the past history of bad decisions and behavior?
Honesty is a better policy than criminal secrecy in the job interview.
You want Parent Accountability, correct? OK, here's an idea.
ONE STRIKE AND THE JUVENILE CLOAK OF SECRECY
REMOVAL LAW 1- After the first offense, the Juvenile Cloak of Secrecy should be removed.
2 -Any other offense after the 1st, the Juvenile's Name PLUS the Parents Names should be published. 3 -Lastly, on the 2nd offense or more, both the Juveniles AND Parents' PHOTOS should be published.
How's that's for Parental Accountability?
It's Takes a Village to Raise a Child, correct? Photos of the Juvenile and the Parents would allow the Village to help both the Juvenile and the Parents. With a Cloak of Secrecy, how can the entire Village really help raise the child if they don't even know there's a problem?
Some say abstinence-only sex education is a failure, however, didn't the sex education of 1950's and earlier work effectively to where crime was so low people didn't have to lock their doors? And it was so low, you almost never heard of "divorce" and certainly not "living together" or even one-night stands. Now, many people get pregnant before marriage and are congratulated for it as they don't want to hurt their "feelings". Yet, who pays for these irresponsible actions? Seems like the entire village does as America is trillions in debt with social programs getting bigger every day, both public and private, and nothing but more failures to show for it for the last 50 years. Heck, you can't go some big box store, restaurant or retail store without being asked to donate for some charity cause.
