Thread by @ScottHech

When I hear of a 13 & 15 year old charged w/ murder:

I dont think "killer." I think "child."
I dont think "punishment." I think "help."
I dont think "murder." I think "tragedy" for all.

We can call for justice for Mohammad Anwar w/o calling for the heads of young black girls.

For all of those claiming I'm "racializing" this by & wouldn't have said the same if they were white, clearly you don't know me. I don't think children should be punished as adults. And I don't think prison helps anyone. Survivors or families of survivors included.

The idea that prison is not a place for people charged with acts of violence or a solution to violence is so foreign & crazy to so most. But by any measure--rehabilitation, accountability, reducing recidivism, healing trauma for survivors, deterrence--prison just fails.

This is not just about "leniency" & "mercy" or a more nuanced approach for people who harm others, including these girls. It's also about not assuming all survivors (or families of victims) would want harshness. Or that punishment actually heals. Thread:

https://twitter.com/ScottHech/status/1124705731310125056?s=20

In Brooklyn, @daniellesered started an org called Common Justice that employs a “restorative justice” model. 16-26 y/os charged w/ violence sit across from & work w/ those they harmed. *90% of survivors* who 1st went to police choose this when given option over incarceration.

Also thinking about “Behind Yellow Tape." Poem by @dwaynebetts. “Statistics ain’t prophecy, & ain’t none of us expect to be in the NFL or a cell.” Powerful rejection of the deterrence rationale of prison. Teens aren’t thinking about future. Living in moment. Impulsive, immature.

I am also thinking about this essay by the father of 16 y/o sentenced to life for murder & another murdered. "To a great many people, my son deserves to die in prison. To another great many, Kyle Rittenhouse deserves the same fate. Neither outcome is just."theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…

All of the increasing numbers of comments condemning these young girls to die in prison, calling them "killers," "ghouls," "inhuman," "disgusting," "vicious," calling for their deaths, is why mass incarceration persists. Gut reaction anger & cruelty w/o imagination for different.

The US is the only country in the world that still allows children to be condemned to die in prison. And the Supreme Court is increasingly limiting its use as cruel and unusual punishment. Death penalty for children outlawed in 2005. But you do you.

https://twitter.com/montrealer97/status/1376180894738841602?s=20

Now receiving DMs like this. Reported.

What about 25? “Scientific research has proven that brains of juveniles are not the same as brains of adults; there are pockets that do not fully develop until the age of 25.” See also: Justice Kennedy & the Supreme Court:

https://twitter.com/joshuaclaybourn/status/1376199816078888960?s=21

nope. i always call for less incarceration, less harm, and alternative approaches to punishment across the board.

https://twitter.com/blaqsoup/status/1376170440390025219