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The Michigan Daily, MI
Oct 9 2004
Film exposes life of juveniles in adult prisons
Leslie Neal, director of "Juvies," a documentary on the juvenile
prison system, answers questions after a screening of the film at the
Michigan Theatre yesterday. (Shubra Ohri/Daily)
By Alex Garivaltis, Daily Staff Reporter
Sixteen-year-old Michael Duc Ta was driving with two friends near Los
Angeles five years ago when his friends started shooting at another
car. Although no one was injured, Ta stood trial as an adult for
first-degree attempted murder and received a sentence of 35 years to
life.
Ta is profiled in "Juvies," a documentary by filmmaker Leslie Neale
screened yesterday in the Michigan Theater. The film was an outgrowth
of a video production course Neale taught at Los Angeles Central
Juvenile Detention Hall. It chronicles the experiences of 12
adolescents charged with violent crimes.
The adolescents featured in the documentary were all involved in
violent crimes. As a result of toughened criminal laws, the teenagers
are forced to stand trial as adults in the film. Every one has been
convicted and sentenced to serve in an adult prison.
Neale, who answered questions after the screening, said in the past
few years violent crime has decreased nearly 40 percent. Juveniles
are increasingly required to stand trial as adults, and media
coverage of such events has intensified.
Neale said officials at the California department of corrections told
her that state law officially bars them from offering rehabilitation
programs to prisoners. When asked by an audience member why the film
had little emphasis on rehabilitation, she responded, "That's the
point – there is no rehabilitation." She said she thinks the criminal
justice system has "swung to a punishment model."
At the beginning of the film, California pedestrians are asked
whether they believe teenage criminals should be sentenced as adults.
The consensus among those interviewed was that adolescents who commit
adult crimes should be forced to stand the consequences as adults.
Anait, a 14-year-old Armenian immigrant and one of Ta's juvenile-hall
classmates, was sentenced to seven years for having inadvertently
driven the getaway car for two boys that had murdered another boy at
their high school.
Most of the characters in "Juvies" have lived childhoods of abuse,
poverty and molestation, and they are disproportionately people of
color. Many of them began abusing drugs at an early age, and several
have children of their own. A number of them ran away from home at an
early age.
Ta, who was physically abused by his father from an early age,
refused to allow his father visitation while he was in prison. Ta's
father, a Vietnamese immigrant, acknowledged that he often beat his
son, but argued that such behavior was cultural. Once his father put
a gun to Ta's head and threatened to kill him because he had been
suspended from school.
"Juvies" catches up with the kids in Ta's juvenile hall class three
years after their convictions. The characters, now young adults,
reflect on what prison life has done to them. Several female inmates
remark that prison has had the opposite effect of rehabilitation.
They said they had turned to drugs to deal with prison life.
Los Angeles district attorney Gil Garcetti said he thought sentences
like the one Ta received are unfair and should have never been handed
down. Garcetti said this although Ta's 35-year sentence was handed
down during his tenure.
Neale discussed the disparity in sentencing, even among the 12 youth
featured in the film. Several were convicted of identical crimes but
were given sentences that differed by decades.
She also noted that recently a Michigan teen who was tried as a
juvenile and convicted of murder will be freed at age 21.
Neale said she thought taxpayers would prefer to have their money
spent rehabilitating and educating citizens, not incarcerating them.
"Every warden I have talked to has said juveniles are the most
rehabilitatable group among violent criminals." She then made an
analogy between sending adolescents to adult prison and "feeding coal
to a furnace."
She emphasized the financial implications of sending young people to
prison as opposed to rehabilitating them and letting them return to
society.
"It costs one million dollars to lock a kid up for life," she said.
LSA student John Smith, said the film was illuminating. "It's
absolutely shocking what they did to those kids – the sentences are
egregious," he said. He blamed the phenomenon on overzealous
politicians and a public that has been confused by an alarmist media.
At the film's end, the pedestrians who said they were in favor of
juvenile criminals standing trial as adults were told what Ta had
done and asked what punishment he should received. The pedestrians,
who seemed to agree on a sentence of several years, were in disbelief
when informed that he had been given 35 years.
Neale, who has won several awards for previous films, will be on the
Montel Williams show later this week. Mark Wahlberg, the narrator of
"Juvies," spoke about the film this January on Good Morning America.
The screening was hosted by the University chapter of Amnesty
International.
--Boundary_(ID_CVUR1AsjS66M+p6CdcUz9Q)--
Oct 9 2004
Film exposes life of juveniles in adult prisons
Leslie Neal, director of "Juvies," a documentary on the juvenile
prison system, answers questions after a screening of the film at the
Michigan Theatre yesterday. (Shubra Ohri/Daily)
By Alex Garivaltis, Daily Staff Reporter
Sixteen-year-old Michael Duc Ta was driving with two friends near Los
Angeles five years ago when his friends started shooting at another
car. Although no one was injured, Ta stood trial as an adult for
first-degree attempted murder and received a sentence of 35 years to
life.
Ta is profiled in "Juvies," a documentary by filmmaker Leslie Neale
screened yesterday in the Michigan Theater. The film was an outgrowth
of a video production course Neale taught at Los Angeles Central
Juvenile Detention Hall. It chronicles the experiences of 12
adolescents charged with violent crimes.
The adolescents featured in the documentary were all involved in
violent crimes. As a result of toughened criminal laws, the teenagers
are forced to stand trial as adults in the film. Every one has been
convicted and sentenced to serve in an adult prison.
Neale, who answered questions after the screening, said in the past
few years violent crime has decreased nearly 40 percent. Juveniles
are increasingly required to stand trial as adults, and media
coverage of such events has intensified.
Neale said officials at the California department of corrections told
her that state law officially bars them from offering rehabilitation
programs to prisoners. When asked by an audience member why the film
had little emphasis on rehabilitation, she responded, "That's the
point – there is no rehabilitation." She said she thinks the criminal
justice system has "swung to a punishment model."
At the beginning of the film, California pedestrians are asked
whether they believe teenage criminals should be sentenced as adults.
The consensus among those interviewed was that adolescents who commit
adult crimes should be forced to stand the consequences as adults.
Anait, a 14-year-old Armenian immigrant and one of Ta's juvenile-hall
classmates, was sentenced to seven years for having inadvertently
driven the getaway car for two boys that had murdered another boy at
their high school.
Most of the characters in "Juvies" have lived childhoods of abuse,
poverty and molestation, and they are disproportionately people of
color. Many of them began abusing drugs at an early age, and several
have children of their own. A number of them ran away from home at an
early age.
Ta, who was physically abused by his father from an early age,
refused to allow his father visitation while he was in prison. Ta's
father, a Vietnamese immigrant, acknowledged that he often beat his
son, but argued that such behavior was cultural. Once his father put
a gun to Ta's head and threatened to kill him because he had been
suspended from school.
"Juvies" catches up with the kids in Ta's juvenile hall class three
years after their convictions. The characters, now young adults,
reflect on what prison life has done to them. Several female inmates
remark that prison has had the opposite effect of rehabilitation.
They said they had turned to drugs to deal with prison life.
Los Angeles district attorney Gil Garcetti said he thought sentences
like the one Ta received are unfair and should have never been handed
down. Garcetti said this although Ta's 35-year sentence was handed
down during his tenure.
Neale discussed the disparity in sentencing, even among the 12 youth
featured in the film. Several were convicted of identical crimes but
were given sentences that differed by decades.
She also noted that recently a Michigan teen who was tried as a
juvenile and convicted of murder will be freed at age 21.
Neale said she thought taxpayers would prefer to have their money
spent rehabilitating and educating citizens, not incarcerating them.
"Every warden I have talked to has said juveniles are the most
rehabilitatable group among violent criminals." She then made an
analogy between sending adolescents to adult prison and "feeding coal
to a furnace."
She emphasized the financial implications of sending young people to
prison as opposed to rehabilitating them and letting them return to
society.
"It costs one million dollars to lock a kid up for life," she said.
LSA student John Smith, said the film was illuminating. "It's
absolutely shocking what they did to those kids – the sentences are
egregious," he said. He blamed the phenomenon on overzealous
politicians and a public that has been confused by an alarmist media.
At the film's end, the pedestrians who said they were in favor of
juvenile criminals standing trial as adults were told what Ta had
done and asked what punishment he should received. The pedestrians,
who seemed to agree on a sentence of several years, were in disbelief
when informed that he had been given 35 years.
Neale, who has won several awards for previous films, will be on the
Montel Williams show later this week. Mark Wahlberg, the narrator of
"Juvies," spoke about the film this January on Good Morning America.
The screening was hosted by the University chapter of Amnesty
International.
--Boundary_(ID_CVUR1AsjS66M+p6CdcUz9Q)--