it’s a tough battle, ** Needs2KNOW** with every new election, it gets tougher.
the worst thing to be labled is “soft on crime” and things like waiving kids over to adult court has great appeal to the public who, despite a decade downward trend in crime (especially violent crime), still voice “crime prevention” as one of their top concerns.
I was in Chicago when they dropped their age down. I was horrified, til I got back to MI and WE erased it. ANY child can be bound over. They’ve prosectued an 11 year old (yea, he was 13 by the time the trial started). But they DID say well, the 6 year old is too young. (and frankly there were people questioning that one). very scarey.
You got a fairly civilized thread here, not likely to happen in the real world.
Practical things you can do:
watch your local courts - work to elect officials who will attempt to bring justice back to juvenile justice.
watch your lawmakers - when they’re out there tooting their horns about how tough they’re being on crime, follow it up.
Check with your local city/county government, many have some public entity dealing with youth and the courts.
write op ed pieces to your local papers. generate discussion vs. knee jerk responses.
You’re asking me how you might go about changing the world? Well, at least you don’t expect much!
Seriously though, it all depends on how much of your own life you are willing to give up in order to make a difference. There are some folks who can become crusaders for a cause, devote all their time and energy to it, and make a real difference. Look at the man behind America’s Most Wanted, John Walsh. After his son was abducted and killed he made a grass-roots campaign into a huge organization. They captured hundreds of criminals and returned many children to their families during the run of that TV show, and that’s only one part of what his organization is involved in. Others like Elizabeth Glaser have done the same and influenced lawmakers and political platforms. Read some books about people like these, and they will likely have far more information that would be helpful to you than you will get from me or most other posters here.
Unfortunately, most of us are busy leading our own lives, raising our kids, and putting food on the table to opt for the full-time crusader option. I know I personally lack the organizational, personal, and political skills to be able to manage such a thing, as well as the level of all-consuming passion needed to dedicate my life to a cause. But if you want to make a difference, it’s not really necessary to get the ball rolling. You can usually find one already in motion and just give it a helpful push. If you want to make changes without restructuring your whole life, make contributions to organizations that are already out there. Give money and time. Write letters to congressmen, judges, newspaper editors. Make people think about the issue, like you are doing here. Start a web page, or write for established pages. In short, get your ideas heard in every forum you can and work to change the minds of the people you reach. Learn why people oppose you and try and capitalize on your areas of agreement. (Seems like a little of that in this thread between us compared to other threads with similar topics.) Look for unlikely allies. After all, the stupid Drug War is part of this problem, so look for opponents to it for help, and give them your arguments to add to their own.
Locally, pay attention to the records of judges. They are currently the ones who are making the determination of whether juveniles are tried as adults, and hardly anyone ever pays attention to these elections at all beyond the campaign ads on TV.
I have never been involved in a campaign to make great changes, so all these ideas I am spouting off are not from experience, but observation and educated guessing. Maybe we’ll all be reading about your efforts in the news someday!
