Teen Found Dead in Rikers Cell (NY Daily News)

BY SIMONE WEICHSELBAUM AND ALISON GENDAR
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

Monday, October 20th 2008, 1:25 AM

The NYPD is investigating the murder of an 18-year-old inmate found dead in hisRikers Island jail cell, officials said Sunday. Christopher Robinson was discovered faceup in his cell Saturday morning, his body covered by welts and bruises, police sources said.

City Correction Department officials worked to revive him, but he was declared dead at 11:58 a.m., sources said.

Detectives were poring over Rikers' security tapes for hints at what might have happened, a police source said.

"He was given a beatdown, a fatal one," another police source said.

The city medical examiner will determine a cause of death, but detectives from the 41st Precinct in the Bronx are investigating Robinson's death as a homicide, police sources said.

Juvenile Detention Trap - NY Times Editorial - Jan 5, 2008

One way to lessen the chance that troubled young people grow up to be full-fledged criminals is to send them to community-based counseling and probation programs instead of to detention centers where they are often traumatized and inducted into a life of crime. The community-based programs are less expensive than detention and more effective when it comes to cutting recidivism. But states and localities are often hampered by policies that provide perverse financial incentives for sending young people to the lockup. That’s the case in New York City, which is struggling to remake its juvenile justice system. Detaining one youth for a year costs city taxpayers $200,000 — many times what it costs to care for troubled children in community-based programs. Unfortunately, the system encourages officials to choose detention for juveniles. The state reimburses the city 50 percent of the cost of pretrial detention, but pays nothing for community-based alternative programs that can make all the difference in getting troubled young people back on track. Another serious problem, according to a recent study by the city’s Independent Budget Office, is that the juvenile courts close at 5 p.m. and aren’t open on weekends. Police officers who arrest young people at those times usually have no option but to send them directly to detention until the courts open. In some cases, the process can take several days. That’s outrageous — especially since statistics show that once young people do make it to court, two-thirds are defined as low-risk suspects and are released to their parents pending trial. It would never be tolerated in the adult system where the law requires that suspects be swiftly arraigned. Thanks to innovative policies, New York City has begun to reduce the number of low-level young offenders who are sent to state-run detention facilities. Many are now diverted to community-based programs where they can receive mental health and counseling services. That’s a good thing, since more than 80 percent of young men who are sentenced to detention facilities end up arrested again within three years.

Cover Story: How Can You Distinguish a Budding Pedophile From a Kid With Real Boundary Problems?

This cover story from the New York Times Magazine (7/22/07) discusses the problem of treating juvenile sex offenders as adults. Many juveniles accused of sex offenses are being tried as adults, added to sex offender registries, and mandated to sex offender treatment programs developed for use with the adult population. Researchers, however, are questioning whether juveniles who engage in sexual behavior with younger children are actually future pedophiles, or simply engaging in inappropriate sexual experimentation. Can you tell the difference? "It can be difficult," reads the tagline, "but research is showing that when it comes to sex crimes, youths are not just little adults. So why does the law tend to treat them that way?" I believe this is indicative of a common pattern in U.S. juvenile justice policy over the last several decades: a) A serious issue involving juveniles comes to light (gang involvement, sexual misconduct); b) Media coverage ignites public fear and alarm over the issues; c) Politicians move swiftly, and often hastily, to create laws to respond; d) A juvenile or criminal justice response to the problem is developed with the worst case offender in mind, but is written in such a way that it draws in far too many youth only present a marginal risk to society. Read the full text of the article here.

Editorial: The Wrong Approach to Gangs, NY Times July 19 2007

This piece from the NY Times Op/Ed page raises concerns over the nation's current approach to gangs, citing a study by the Justice Policy Institute which shows that "police dragnets that criminalize whole communities and land large numbers of nonviolent children in jail don’t reduce gang involvement or gang violence." Rather, efforts aimed at prevention and promoting positive youth development for youth who are at risk of gang involvement have a greater chance of improving public safety. Read the full NY Times editorial here: The Wrong Approach to Gangs