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FIVE QUESTIONS
Turning kids
from crime
Carlos J. Martinez,
Miami-Dade County chief assistant public
defender, serves on the Juvenile Justice Board, which makes
grant recommendations to the Florida Department of Juvenile
Justice.
Q. How would you rate the county's
juvenile-justice system's performance?
A. We're heading
in the right direction. The state is spending more on prevention
programs other than detention, such as functioning family
therapy. We're lucky to have the University of Miami's Center
for Treatment Research on Adolescent Drug Abuse. It focuses on
resolving the difficulties of the child in the home, for
example.
And the culture has changed at our juvenile
detention center. The employees don't look at the kids like
they're little criminals now. Instead, they see the kids' time
in detention as a chance to teach them. But in the system
overall there's a lot more that can be done.
Q. Your office often defends students
arrested in Miami-Dade public schools, where arrests once
skyrocketed. Any advice for school administrators?
A. The school
district is starting a program to avoid arrests when possible,
which is good. But about 40 percent of the students arrested are
in special-education programs. Some are learning disabled, and
there are no diversion programs for them. So they end up in
detention. That's the worst outcome for them.
Say a student throws a pencil, which is
considered a weapon. Under the zero-tolerance policy that's a
second-degree felony. If he's arrested on campus his
fingerprints go into the national crime data base and his case
is filed with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Under
state law, no matter the outcome of his case -- even if it's
dismissed -- his fingerprints and case remain on file. When he
applies for a job this data will pop up, which could prevent him
from getting hired. We need to fix the law.
Even students under 12 can get arrested. They
don't have the same level of understanding of what's happening
as older kids. They're very likely to re-offend if they're
incarcerated. Children 12 and under should be handled
differently.
Q. What about boot camps?
A. There are lots
of studies on which juvenile programs prevent recidivism and
which don't. Boot camps don't work well for youths under 18, but
they can be effective for those aged 18 to 24. The Miami-Dade
boot camp is for older violators. A study found its performance
pretty impressive. Experts also have found that the
scared-straight approach and the anti-drug DARE program in
schools don't work well.
Q. What else needs to be improved?
A. A lot. But we
definitely should restore funding for monitoring juveniles who
are released for home detention. The state used to pay for
supervision, but it stopped after 2001. Then for six months the
county funded it, and it had a remarkable record -- 98 percent
of the juveniles didn't get rearrested or appear in court. Right
now we're expecting the parents not to rat on their own kids.
Q. Some lawyers avoid juvenile court,
considering it a downer. What keeps you and other PDs involved?
A. Juvenile court
is sometimes seen as the place to send young lawyers to get
experience. Years ago, Public Defender Bennett Brummer decided
to put half experienced attorneys and half rookies in juvenile
court. The newcomers learn from the veterans who know where the
resources are and have an institutional history that is a great
teaching tool. You start to really care about children. It's why
I'm here.
Editorial Board member Kathleen Krog prepared
this report.
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