The Marion Experiment by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Southern Illinois University Press

Your Honor,

My name is Christopher Bickel and I have been a volunteer and mentor to detained and incarcerated youth for two years. Today, my fingers type with a profound urgency because I am terribly alarmed by how Danny Rockford has been and continues to be treated by the functionaries of juvenile justice. He has spent the last three months in solitary confinement-like conditions, living 23 hours a day in a 6 × 8 cell. This is the context in which Danny’s behavior inside the detention center must be understood. That thick, official file from which you must base your decision is disturbingly one-sided. It tells of his actions, his behaviors, but it doesn’t tell you about the other side, about how he has been treated inside the secured walls and how that affects his behavior, or more importantly, his view of the world.

I have spent the last four months mentoring, teaching, listening and learning from Danny. In that time, I have witnessed first hand Danny’s struggle to deal with the feelings evoked by his confinement, neglect and abuse. He is strong, much stronger than any 14 year-old should ever have to be, but I worry that he will falter under the weight of it all if he sent to a state institution.

Danny is an exceptionally bright young man with a lot of potential. At first, I was surprised and even overwhelmed by his desire to learn. I made a deal with Danny. I promised that I would bring in a new book of his choice as long he wrote a four-page report, expressing his feelings about the book. At the time, to be honest, I had no idea how many books he would eventually read. Everyday I came in, three times a week, he had finished reading and reporting on the previous book I gave him.

Your honor, I have worked with a lot of incarcerated teenagers and I sincerely believe that Danny is on the cusp of change. He is now thinking critically about his life, about his past and his future. Drug and alcohol treatment, I hope will be a part of that future. It certainly will help him grow to his potential rather than stifle him as the state institutions have so clearly done. Danny is ready to change, and I hope the court has the courage to change with him by offering the help he needs. Please, your Honor, allow Danny the treatment he needs. His life, his hopes, his dreams depend on it. Thank you for your time.

Respectfully, Christopher Bickel

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