I received a few emails/tweets from readers asking for my thoughts about the conviction of two young men for raping a young woman (Jane Doe) in Steubenville, Ohio. Some wanted to know if I thought that “justice” was served. Others asked a variation of this question that came from a Twitter follower: “How do u respond to Steubenville case? How to remain survivor-centered but show that “rot in prison” is not an answer?” I had resolved not to write about the verdict and sentence but since I feel a responsibility to respond to the emails/tweets, I have decided to share my thoughts here today.

Those who don’t know the background about Jane Doe’s rape in Steubenville should read this excellent article. What she experienced is unacceptable, immoral and wrong. PERIOD. How she has continued to be treated in her community is unconscionable but unfortunately unsurprising. It points to how endemic rape culture is and also to the failure of a primarily criminal legal focused approach to eradicating sexual violence.

Currently, survivors of violence have one option for seeking public accountability for the harm that we experience: the courts. For a number of individual and systemic reasons, many survivors decide not to pursue this option. For example, rape can be hard to prove and as has been the case in Steubenville survivors are often blamed for our victimization. So those who do choose to pursue a legal avenue for accountability are often faced with a broken system that is usually unable to produce the outcomes that we seek. The truth is that the courts fail most survivors. This has led many advocates to suggest reforms that they say would make the courts more responsive to survivors’ needs. When reforms have been made however, they have mostly fallen short.

It’s no wonder then that news of a conviction in the Steubenville rape case was greeted with relief and in some cases optimism. This is perfectly understandable. Few rape cases ever even make it to trial. When they do, convictions are rare. Most people are very invested in the law and the legal system. They desperately want to believe that it can provide “justice.” This verdict feels like some vindication of that hope.

Read more »

This is a print by Sarah Atlas that is included in the Black and Blue exhibit. If you are in Chicago, you are invited to stop by for the exhibit opening on March 19. Details are here.

School Crossing by Sarah Atlas (2013)

Sometimes people email to ask about my work. I appreciate that anyone is interested. I love young people and I want to see them thrive in the world. My life’s work is to ensure that this happens for the ones who I encounter.

I try very hard through this blog to convey the voices of some of the young people who I am privileged to support and walk alongside. However there is nothing better than when they can speak for themselves. Who are the young people behind the headlines and statistics about juvenile justice and the criminal legal system? Last year, I organized an event where some young people shared their stories of incarceration, struggle, and perseverance. Today, I want to share a few of their stories in their own words. If you have a few minutes, I hope that you will listen to what they have to say…

My friend, Eva Nagao, is multi-talented. The following print “Crook County” will be featured in our upcoming art on policing, violence, and resistance exhibition which opens on March 19. Details about all associated events are here.

Crook County by Eva Nagao (2013)

1. There are 2.7 million children in the U.S. with an incarcerated parent.

2. We spend a lot of money to incarcerate young people.

Created during Just Us Comic Workshop 2010

3. “The youth incarceration rate in the nation dropped 37 percent from 1995 to 2010. In 1995, 107,637 young people were held in correctional facilities on a single reference day, while in 2010, this number had dropped to 70,792, the lowest in 35 years. The rate of youth in confinement dropped from 381 per 100,000 to 225 per 100,000 over the same period. But the United States still incarcerates a higher percentage of its young people than any other industrialized country — in 2002 the nation’s youth incarceration rate was almost five times that of South Africa, the nation with the next highest rate. Most of the young people incarcerated do not pose a clear public safety threat: almost 40 percent are incarcerated for nonviolent reasons such as status offenses, public order offenses, low-level property offenses, drug possession, or technical probation violations, while only about one quarter are incarcerated for a Violent Crime Index offense (homicide, aggravated assault, robbery, sexual assault). (Source).”

4. According to the ACLU, “In 2011, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) held a record-breaking 429,000 immigrants in over 250 facilities across the country, and currently maintains a daily capacity of 33,400 beds—even though, in the overwhelming majority of cases, detention is not necessary to effect deportations and does not make us any safer.”

by Molly Fair

5. The numbers of elderly prisoners (65 and over) are increasing in the U.S.

6. Sexual assault and rape is rampant in U.S. jails and prisons.

7. The PIC is very costly. Preliminary data from the Census Bureau’s annual State Government Finance Census indicate states spent $48.5 billion on corrections in 2010, about 6% less than in 2009. Between 1982 and 2001, total state corrections expenditures increased each year, rising from $15.0 billion to $53.5 billion in real dollars.

Pew Center on the States

Special Bonus:

Stop and Frisk is a policing tactic that is used across the U.S. but particularly in New York City. The practice criminalizes mostly young Black and Latino people.

Learn more about the origins of this lynching map here

Haiku
by Etheridge Knight

1
Eastern guard tower
glints in sunset; convicts rest
like lizards on rocks.

2.
The piano man
is stingy at 3 A.M.
his songs drop like plum.

3.
Morning sun slants cell.
Drunks stagger like cripple flies
On jailhouse floor.

4.
To write a blues song
is to regiment riots
and pluck gems from graves.

5.
A bare pecan tree
slips a pencil shadow down
a moonlit snow slope.

6.
The failing snow flakes
Cannot blunt the hard aches nor
Match the steel stillness.

7.
Under moon shadows
A tall boy flashes knife and
Slices star bright ice.

8.
In the August grass
Struck by the last rays of sun
The cracked teacup screams.

9.
Making jazz swing in
Seventeen syllables AIN’T
No square poet’s job.

Here is another image that we will be featuring in the upcoming Black & Blue exhibit. All of the events that are part of the Black & Blue programming can be found here.

Today, I am sharing a comic by artist Eric Garcia. He depicts the case of Chris Drew. All of us who knew Chris even a little bit were saddened when he passed away from cancer last year. I wrote about Chris briefly here after Tiawanda Moore was acquitted back in 2011.

I’ll be sharing other pieces of art that will be on display from March 18 through March 29th.

by Eric Garcia (Please do not reproduce)

Bringing Down the New Jim Crow is a radio series produced by Chris Moore-Backman. Below is a description:

Inspired by Michelle Alexander’s groundbreaking book THE NEW JIM CROW: MASS INCARCERATION IN THE AGE OF COLORBLINDNESS, this series of radio documentaries explores the intersection of the drug war, mass incarceration, and race in the contemporary U.S.

Listen here.

It’s Women’s History Month and my friends are pretty great… My friend, Katy, made this coloring page illustration of Audre Lorde and the PIC. Feel free to copy and share with the young/older people in your lives. You can download the PDF HERE.

by Katy Groves