NEW LATINO YOUTH JUSTICE REPORT SHINES SPOTLIGHT ON THE CASE

OF EFRÉN PAREDES, JR.

by Marisa Treviño on 20 de Mayo 2009 11:23 AM

According to a new report released today by The National Council of La Raza (NCLR) and the
Campaign for Youth Justice (CFYJ), one out of 4 incarcerated Latino youth is held in an adult jail
facility.

The report, "America’s Invisible Children: Latino Youth and the Failure of Justice" discovered
several key facts that underscore the institutionalized prejudices that exist in our legal system towards
Latino youth and other youth of color.

These prejudices have resulted in a domino effect of

discrepancies in treatment among youth inmates resulting
in Latino youth being overrepresented in the judicial
system, receiving harsher treatment, being dealt a
sentence that is more punitive than their white
counterparts for the same offense and more likely to be
placed in adult prisons.

Yet, one of the more surprising, and disappointing, finds

of the report, is that "a higher proportion of white youth
prosecuted in the adult system are released pretrial (60%)
than any other racial or ethnic categories. While most
(54%) of Latino youth prosecuted in the adult system
were detained pretrial; of the Latino youth detained
pretrial, 72% were held in adult jails."

The obvious question from such a finding is: What makes

white youth seem more trustworthy to be released pretrial
than Latino youth?

Is it who their parents are? The school they went to? The
section of town they live in?

Or is it the color of their skin?

The report's authors admit that "there is no simple answer to the question of why Latino youth are
being treated so unfairly." However, the overriding message from this report is that the current justice
system is not just committing a disservice to Latino youth but is trapping them in a failed system with
little recourse for rehabilitation or rejoining society where they can make a decent living and improve
their lives.

In a system that is all too ready to commit juveniles into an adult facility, Latino youth are at an even
greater disadvantage because they are subjected to rape and assault in those adult prison facilities.
Fortunately, this gross disparity has not gone unnoticed.

Florida State University Clinical Law professor Paolo Annino told Latina Lista readers in March of
he and his students drafting legislation titled the Second Chance Act for Children in Prison of 2009 .

Professor Annino wrote:

Florida takes the lead in placing the youngest children in the adult prison system. The
most recent Florida data shows, there is 1 inmate who was 10, 4 inmates who were
11, 5 inmates who were 12, and 31 inmates who were 13 years old at the time of their
offense.

These children all received adult prison sentences of more than 10 years. Of the four
inmates who were 11 at the time of their offense, three are Hispanic.

In total, there are 448 inmates who received adult prison sentences of 10 years or
more and who were 15-years-old or younger at the time of their offense.
Approximately 10 percent of these child inmates who received long adult prison
sentences are Hispanic.

Florida State University College of Law, Children in Prison Project has been
researching the issue of children in Florida prisons for over 11 years and based on
this research, FSU law students have created the Second Chance for Children in
Prison Act of 2009 (House Bill 757 and Senate Bill 1430)…

This Act provides these 448 adolescent offenders adjudicated as adults in Florida the
opportunity of parole. Only those adolescent offenders who have worked to get their
lives back on track while in prison and who have already served at least 8 years of
their prison sentence are eligible for parole under this Act.

When he wrote this piece, Professor Annino had high hopes that the bill would pass. The Senate
version of the bill passed but it was blocked in the Criminal & Civil Justice Policy Council by the
committee chair — effectively killing the bill.

“After interviewing each committee member, I believe the votes were there to pass the bill,” said
Professor Paolo Annino. "We will re-file in December 2009 for the spring legislative session in
2010."

A bill, such as proposed by Professor Annino, would go a long way in pulling Latino youth out of a
judicial system that has made it clear that it has no desire to review Latino juvenile cases or
rehabilitate Latino youth.

One Latino, who experienced the prejudice and discrimination of a judicial system that has
effectively locked him up and thrown away the key, is Efren Paredes Jr.

Efren was a 15-year-old high school honor student in Michigan who was convicted in 1989 for
murder and armed robbery — charges that he has steadfastly and consistently denied and to which
others have plead guilty.

His sentence — three consecutive life sentences.

After the trial, it came to light that several improprieties were committed by the prosecutor. Yet, after
all this time, 20 years, the injustice that was committed against Efren has yet to be addressed in a
serious manner that acknowledges that this was a boy who had no criminal record when he was
arrested, was a student athlete and honor student.

His arrest was based on the statements of people with a criminal history.

Since he's been in jail, Efren has accomplished much. He's earned his GED, attended college,
received degrees and certifications, delivers presentations at national conferences via telephone. Lord
knows what he would have become had he not been implicated in this crime.

To be 15 and handed three consecutive life sentences

does not make sense for Efren or any other young
person put in jail. Though the evidence overwhelmingly
points to the innocence of Efren Paredes Jr, for those
kids who do commit crimes and are handed life
sentences, only to show through what they accomplish
in prison, that their lapse in youthful judgement was but
for a moment in time, they certainly don't deserve to
have the key thrown away.

As with Professor Annino's bill, these kids do deserve a

second chance.

Over the years, a small army of supporters have tried

their best to bring Efren's case before the court of public
opinion. They want the governor of Michigan to
commute his sentence.

The big question is why hasn't he done so?

So, in the meantime, Efren's supporters carry on his

20-year battle for justice. They have created an online petition, a Facebook page, MySpace, a blog.

They have also made available powerpoint presentation about Efren's case which underscore why his
continued imprisonment defies explanation and common sense.

It is time the national Latino community took up the cause of Efren Paredes Jr.

Where is MALDEF? Where is NCLR? Where is LULAC?

Reports are fine to alert us all to what has been transpiring but we've reached a point in our evolution
as a community where reports are meaningless, unless we identify those who suffer from the very
injustices outlined in these reports, and put our collective voices towards correcting those injustices.

The time to act is long overdue.#

Source:
http://www.latinalista.net/palabrafinal/2009/05/new_latino_youth_justice_report_shines_i.html