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September 27, 2017  |  By Douglas Keillor In News

Rebecca Rosefelt Goes to Prison

Special post by Rebecca Rosefelt, our 2017 Summer Intern:

Entrance to the Ciudad Juárez juvenile detention center.

I had prepared myself for the worst. Over the year I’d read a variety of articles and stories on prison: stories about inmates who fought for prison education; a journalist who went undercover as a correctional officer; an exposé on visiting relatives who were molested by prison officials. I understood to not wear a bra with an underwire, lest it set off a metal detector, and rushed out to buy colorful t-shirts when I learned I couldn’t wear gray or black, the respective uniform colors of the detainees and guards. If one had access to the user history of the Spanish dictionary app on my phone, that person would think I was planning something horrendous, but I was merely collecting new words I thought I might hear.

A new, stricter, juvenile penal code was implemented last year in Mexico, and it mandates that only certain crimes merit time behind bars. As a result, most of the kids sitting at the table across from me were accused or convicted of more heinous crimes, such as homicide, rape, and robbery. I wasn’t sure what to expect from the teenagers, already generally unpredictable. “How long does it take for a kid to become hardened in prison,” I wondered. Or is that just a trope?

On Saturday morning, I passed a cluster of unattended women’s purses hanging on a hook in the parking lot, the personal effects of visitors who were not afforded the luxury of a cubby behind the reception desk. I was handed a laminated number, representing one of many empty spaces available to store my dusty sunglasses and faded wallet. I passed through a metal detector, unblinking, unplugged – a decoration, or maybe a decoy. A pat down removed a granola bar wrapper from my pocket; my bra style remained irrelevant. There were plenty of words I didn’t understand, and they had nothing to do with prison conditions.

I trailed my coworker to the units where the boys are housed. Inside the dim, round dormitories, boys dangled listless arms or gently rested their foreheads against the barred doorways while hearing our invitation to attend our monthly Know Your Rights workshop. It may not have been the most enticing activity that could have been planned, but it’s time outside of a cell, and soon a gaggle of boys dragged desks with them into the auditorium. Understandably, no activities at the prison can be co-ed between the detainees, so we would pay a visit to the girl’s side later. From the visitor’s courtyard, a few boys led their mothers to benches, leaving a protective arm around their shoulder as if to say please don’t look so sad, I am still your loving son and I am ok. As with any group of kids, several eagerly volunteered to read aloud, while others shyly hung back during group activities. I spied one boy helping his friend, who did not know how to read, fill out our survey. Never was there a hint of aggression one might anticipate from juvenile offenders, but instead, vestiges of compassion and youth.

Entrance to the Chihuahua juvenile detention center.

During the week, I spread out in quiet, air-conditioned spaces, where I met one-on-one with boys who would politely shake my hand before sitting impassively across from me. Accustomed to enduring the desert heat in sweatpants, some shivered in the air conditioning. The few girls I met greeted me with wide smiles. Many offer their names upon introduction, but the interviews are anonymous, and I instead remember individuals by minute details that often aren’t reflected on paper – the teen who hasn’t met his daughter, the line cook proud of his work, the sheer tininess of a boy who allegedly murdered someone. The unwavering respect and honesty I receive from the kids lends a warm humanitarian aspect to what often feels like a slow road to success in the world of legal advocacy.

As anyone who has studied any aspect of history knows, there is nothing new under the sun. There is both solace and horror to be found by knowing that others have shared any hardship that you might encounter. On one hand, you know that you are not an anomaly and can survive this pain, and on the other, you know that such terror has been inflicted many times over. The first time a young boy confessed to me that his mother drove him to the police station after he raped his younger sister, I spent days thinking about how his mother mustered the strength to handle pain on that scale. By the third or fourth time a boy told me a similar story, it became clear that the recourse each mother took was one of necessity, arising from a desire to see justice and perhaps an inability to turn a blind eye like so many others. I saw collective strength in these women, one necessary to slowly turn the tide against the normalization of domestic assault. This is not new, but if we have learned anything from history, we have learned that we cannot sit still and expect it to change for the better.

Guards transferring a teenager back to his cell.

I interviewed 75 teens and young adults, nearly three quarters of the juvenile prison population in the state of Chihuahua. Although a significant percentage, the sample size was still small enough to leave large gaps in quantitative data. The numbers indicate clear areas for improvement, such as time to trial and a need for more hours of education. Qualitatively, it shows a lot of kids who miss their parents and look forward to leading a normal life with a job and family. From speaking with kids who entered the detention system before the implementation of the 2016 law, it is clear that detention conditions have improved significantly. The new entrants, however, remind us that there is much to be done before the conditions can be considered acceptable. The local government’s interest in JJAI’s risk analysis survey indicates a willingness to keep working to meet international, or at least higher, standards for these kids. There are countless hours of research and petitioning ahead, but every small victory is a reminder that this has been done before, and can be done again.

 

Chihuahua juvenile justice legal intern Rebecca Rosefelt
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How the U.S. exports failed policies:

  • International Funding

The U.S. funds more police, court, prosecutor and prison development projects around the world than any other funder.

  • Prison Accreditation.

With U.S. financial support, the American Correctional Association (ACA) has accredited prisons in Mexico, Columbia and the United Arab Emirates. Many of these facilities have documented histories of grave human rights abuses, systemic child abuse and cartel infiltration despite accreditation and re-accreditation by the ACA.

Senator Elizabeth Warren’s report on the failure of the ACA in the U.S. shows why the U.S. should not be funding the ACA overseas.

  • Police Training

U.S. police officers with documented histories of misconduct are hired by the U.S. State Department and sent to developing countries to train police units. 

  • Mass Incarceration and Plea Bargaining 

U.S.-backed plea-bargaining reforms have proliferated across the globe, endangering defendants’ rights to a trial and incentivizing excessive bail and pretrial detention.

  • Drug War Policies

Drug war policies have led to the dramatic growth of incarceration in Latin America, particularly of women. 

  • U.S Criminal Justice Sold as the “Gold Standard”

There is often an assumption that U.S. practices and policies represent a “higher standard,” are “more modern” and “more professional.” 

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  • Rejecting Key International Laws

The US is not a party to key human rights treaties governing criminal justice, such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child  and the American Convention on Human Rights despite the fact that nearly every country where the U.S. promotes its practices are parties to these international instruments.

  • Prioritizing Security Interests over Human Rights

Security, not human rights or community safety, is the priority of the U.S. criminal justice’s foreign investments. This can undermine local reforms to limit police and prosecutor power or reduce incarceration.


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“Convention on the Rights of the Child”

“A Broken Prison and Detention Facility Accreditation System That Puts Profits Over People,” the Office of Senator Elizabeth Warren, December 2020. 

“How Washington Exports Failed Criminal Justice Policies,”  Douglas Keillor, The Crime Report, August 27, 2020.

“Prison: America’s Most Vile Export?” Baz Dreisinger, The Atlantic, September 30, 2015.

“Rights of persons deprived of liberty and privatization of the penitentiary system in Mexico,” Hearing before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, ACHR, April 7, 2016.

“Privatización del sistema penitenciario en México,” Documenta, et al, 2016. 

“Defund the Global Policeman”, Studart Schrader,  n+1 Magazine, Issue 38, Fall 2020, 

Schrader, Stuart (2019) Badges Without Borders: How Global Counterinsurgency Transformed American Policing, University of California Press.


Guerrero

Después de años de lucha y problemas de inseguridad, decidimos en 2022 cerrar nuestro proyecto en Guerrero. Pudimos implementar nuestro instrumento de evaluación previa al juicio para garantizar que los jóvenes de bajo riesgo permanezcan en sus comunidades. Y brindamos apoyo a más de 220 jóvenes, como parte de nuestro proyecto de Movilizando Voluntarios.

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Chiapas

Por invitación del Poder Judicial del Estado de Chiapas, realizamos un estudio para evaluar la viabilidad de implementar nuestros proyectos en la región. En 2022, nuestro equipo presentó los resultados y recomendaciones. El gobierno estatal ahora está decidiendo cómo quieren colaborar con nosotros en el futuro.

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Guerrero

After years of struggle and security issues, we decided in 2022 to close our project in Guerrero. We were able to implement our pretrial screening instrument to ensure low-risk youth stay in their communities. And we provided support to over 220 youths, as part of our Mobilize and Empower project.

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Chiapas

In the state of Chiapas, at the invitation of the state judiciary, we conducted a study to assess the viability of implementing our projects. In 2022, our team presented the results and recommendations. The state government is now deciding how they want to collaborate with us in the future.

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CDMX

Vista como líder nacional en las prácticas del sistema de justicia, la Ciudad de México tiene más adolescentes en detención que cualquier otra jurisdicción. Sin embargo, también ha desarrollado una unidad de seguimiento en libertad con numerosas alianzas con organizaciones. Nuestros proyectos fortalecerán esta área crítica.

JJI está trabajando en la Ciudad de México desde dos vertientes. En Alternativas a la Detención con un monitoreo que comenzó en 2019, pero por causas sanitarias y la pandemia por COVID, se retomó dos años después con un equipo de especialistas el cual ya está preparándose para continuar la actividad. En Movilizando voluntarios, se continúa con los esfuerzos para reunir a más adolescentes con sus familias, gracias al apoyo: “Reunificación familiar”. Así como también se han realizado entrega de enseres en los 6 centros.

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Durango

A pesar de tener un número menor de adolescentes en el sistema de justicia, Durango es una jurisdicción que busca la mejora continua. Durango es el primer estado donde tanto el poder judicial como el ejecutivo han firmado convenios de colaboración para la implementación de nuestros proyectos de Alternativas a la Detención.

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Chihuahua

Chihuahua es nuestro sitio piloto y un estado considerado líder en la reforma penal en México. Nuestros proyectos comenzaron en el 2016. Desde entonces, los tiempos en detención preventiva han disminuido, los adolescentes son supervisados con mayor eficiencia en sus comunidades y se ha mejorado la calidad de vida de aquellos adolescentes que siguen privados de su libertad.

En Chihuahua trabajamos con varios proyectos, como son el monitoreo que se trabaja en conjunto con la autoridad, y con los adolescentes y sus familias trabajamos en talleres, mesas de trabajo, eventos lúdicos, acompañamiento post penal, reubicaciones y traslados de familiares para audiencias y visitas, así como donaciones de enseres, ropa y material deportivo.

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Chihuahua

A national leader in criminal procedural reforms, our pilot project in Chihuahua started in 2016. Since that time the rates and duration of pretrial detention have declined, youth are being successfully supervised in their communities and new programs in the detention center have improved daily life for those children still deprived of liberty.

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CDMX

Looked to as the national leader in youth justice practices, Mexico City has more youth in detention than any other jurisdiction but has also developed a robust probation office and numerous alliances with nonprofits. Our projects will further fortify this critical work.

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Durango

Despite being a smaller jurisdiction, Durango is constantly looking to improve. Durango is the first state where both the Executive Branch and Judicial Branch have signed Memorandum of Understanding to launch the Alternatives to Detention initiatives.

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