A Young Parolee Won't Give Up Fight Despite Lack of Reforms at California Youth Authority
Pacific News Service, Commentary, Will Roy, Posted: Sep 10, 2004
After months of hearings and testimony, the California State Assembly last week didn't enact any significant prison reforms. After reading this, I was furious -- it felt like all the work juvenile justice organizations were doing this past year went for naught.
We organized people, went to protests, talked on the news, went to State Senate hearings and even wrote to several different publications about how we felt -- to no avail. However, the more I mulled it over, the more I realized how pressing youth authority reforms are and that we can't stop fighting for them.
The members of the Assembly who didn't vote for the bills dealing with prison reform -- which addressed issues from inmate health care to the protection of prison guards -- must either be ignorant, cold-hearted, or scared. They've been making it obvious that it's the latter.
No human being with feelings would say it's okay to treat children the way we do in this state, and the reason I'm specifically bringing children into the discussion is because that's what I'm most familiar with. I was incarcerated in the California Youth Authority from age 15 to 21. From the suicides to the cages, the beatings to the vicious dog attacks, everybody knows it's inhumane and yet nobody is doing anything about it.
Why is the notion of prison reform so hard to grasp in this state, while states like Missouri, who have had similar problems, are now boasting about a 10 percent recidivism rate due to reforms they've adopted?
The California Correctional Peace Officers Association (CCPOA) is the most powerful lobby in California, that's why. Essentially, the Assembly is sacrificing what's right in order to please the people who are keeping money in their pockets, which to me is no different from the guy on the corner selling drugs.
In fact, the similarities are frightening. The guy on the block ignores the pain he's causing dope fiends because he needs money to survive. The assemblyman ignores the pain he's causing incarcerated children because he needs a job that's in jeopardy if the CCPOA doesn't get what it wants. Both want the quick dollar, so they overlook the consequences of their actions.
So you can probably understand why it's so disappointing and frustrating to know that despite our efforts and how many people we organized to fight for reforms, the CCPOA got its way. These are the same people who say they want us to rehabilitate but won't give us any resources to help us do so. We're set free with a pat on the back, $50 of our own money, a list of about 20 rules to follow, and nothing else.
Some kids don't even make it that far. There were two suicides in February this year, and if that wasn't enough, they found a 24-year-old man dead in a cell at CYA's N.A. Chaderjian facility over Labor Day weekend. Going in is bad enough, not coming out is unjustifiable.
Those of us who do make it out realize it's almost as hard as being incarcerated, if not harder. It's a challenge to get out to a parole system that would rather send you back to prison than help you. Plus, there aren't many community groups that cater to the needs of a struggling child fresh out of jail. I practically had no preparation when it came to getting a job. But I've accepted the challenge because I know I made a mistake and must take responsibility for it. Why can't the authorities do the same? Isn't that hypocritical?
The CCPOA at least needs to be challenged by someone with enough power to get its officials to actually talk and not dodge questions with ease like a crooked politician. My problem is that though I can explain the problem, which is the CCPOA, I have no solution to how we can stop a union more powerful than any other in California. I'm just one individual who wants to see something change for those who are suffering the same pain I suffered not too long ago.
In the meantime, keep in mind that the same people who are teaching us to fear murderers, drug dealers and thieves are perpetuating the same damage by ripping kids out of their communities, subjecting them to more violence and sending them right back out. They've got people in the Assembly scared to push for what's right because they want to continue doing what they're doing, and that's teaching kids to be violent adults. However, I've lived through it, so I will never stop fighting for what I think is right.
Writer and former CYA-inmate Will Roy, 22, is an organizer with Beat Within, a project of PNS. He vows to work harder for reforms.
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